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Celeb Home Map Shows Even A-List Properties Don’t Always Go for Asking
It turns out that the old phrase “ask and you shall receive” doesn’t always work in real estate, even if you’re a celebrity. A-list stars might have fame and money, but many listed their homes at A-list prices and were sadly disappointed by the final sale of their properties.
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Redfin Real Estate dug into some numbers on homes bought and sold by 60 celebrities and then pitted them up against the sales of comparable homes in the area. They found that celebrity-owned homes tend to be bigger with more bedrooms and bathrooms, and they cost more per square foot than other abodes nearby. That might not be a shock to most BUT we did find it interesting that, on average, star-owned properties stay on market for about 36 days longer than other homes and they usually sell for less than the original asking price.
“Celebrities will sometimes add amenities to a home, which might not be a selling point for future homebuyers,” said Redfin real estate agent Alec Traub. “For example, a celeb might install a basketball court in the basement of a home, where another person might want to use that space for something else. Those homebuyers may be less inclined to want to pay the initial asking price.” Alec says that another reason why star-owned homes tends to be harder to sell is because they’re harder to show. “You wouldn’t want to show a famous person’s home to just anyone, since stars value their privacy and don’t normally want to make their business public. Anyone looking to tour a celeb home would have to go through a vetting process, so the sale of the home takes a little longer than other homes.”
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Selling for anything less than what you expected to get for a home is never fun, but some of these celebrities sold their homes for more than $1 million under the asking price. For example, Matthew Perry had to settle for $2.85 million less than the original $25 million he thought his Malibu home was worth. Katy Perry suffered a similar fate and sold her Los Angeles home for $1.36 million less than the original asking price. Jessica Simpson is in the same boat, selling her Beverly Hills estate for $6.4 million, which is $1.595 million less than what she wanted for the home. You’ll find these three homes with a gold star on the Redfin Real Estate celeb home map.
These stars didn’t always break even either; some of these celeb homeowners didn’t even get back what they originally paid for their not-so-humble abodes. Check it out for yourself.
