Sure, short sales have come to a relative crawl after carving out a decent slice of the real estate market over the past couple years, but there are still some stragglers gaining bank approval and closing.
One of the more notable short sales to sell this week was in Greenwich, Connecticut. I say notable because it also happened to be the nation’s most expensive single-family home sale on record as well.
The so-called “Copper Beech Farm,” the only 50-acre estate located along Greenwich’s waterfront, sold this week for a reported $120 million.
Prior to the sale, the 12-bedroom, 7-bathroom (and two half-bathrooms) Colonial/Victorian residence was “enjoyed” by the Lauder Greenway family, who purchased it all the way back in 1904.
I guess that makes it the world’s oldest short sale too…
Original Asking Price Was $190 Million
The seller originally listed the sprawling property for $190 million last spring, earning it the distinction of the most expensive single-family home to come to market in the United States.
However, most realized it wouldn’t actually fetch that price, and after falling flat during its debut, the agent decided to get aggressive.
The asking price was dropped twice, including an initial $50 million price cut, followed by another $10 million price reduction.
That pushed the price down to $130 million, enough to garner a bite from a very rich buyer, who eventually paid $120 million.
It had plenty of room to fall and still snag the record, seeing that the next most expensive property to sell was a nine-acre Silicon Valley estate that went for $117.5 million.
That doesn’t include the $132.5 million sale of Montana’s Broken O Ranch, which is considered a working farm, not a SFR.
The 13,519 square-foot Greenwich property is actually zoned two-acre residential and subdivided into two tax lots of 20 and 30.6 acres, which could eventually be divided further.
The sales price of $120 million means it may have been sold short because property records indicated that the house was carrying at least $124 million in mortgage debt.
Of course, the owner may have paid the mortgage early since those numbers were reported, or simply brought in cash to make the deal happen.
It Is Located 40 Feet Above Mean High Water
Ironically, the property is situated “40 feet above mean high water” so you’ll never have to worry about it being underwater again. Well, until Greenland melts.
But if you like the water, you’ll love its 75-foot pool with spa (good thing because I hate when people skimp on spas!), along with its (almost) mile of shorefront and two private islands.
There’s also a grass tennis court if clay and hard court aren’t your thing, as well as a massive greenhouse, a stone carriage house with clock tower, a shingle cottage, a wine cellar, an elevator, and six garages.
Now that Copper Beech has sold, the next most expensive single-family residence on the market is a mansion occupied by Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola, which is currently going for $114,077,000.
The property, which is located close to Central Park on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, was purchased for a mere $20 million back in 2005. It spans some 20,000 square feet.