From the WSJ:
In what might be labeled a fire sale, J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has chopped the asking price for his Chicago home by more than 25%.
We’ve previously written about Mr. Dimon’s trouble selling the regal 13,500-square-foot home with eight-bedrooms and nine-bathrooms. Several years ago, Mr. Dimon was asking $13.5 million, but it was priced at $9.5 million earlier this year. Now, it’s $6.95 million. Mr. Dimon can still come out ahead: He paid $4.68 million in 2000.
“They’re trying to make a bold move to get ahead of the market,” says Jim Kinney, vice president of luxury sales for Baird & Warner, a residential brokerage in Chicago. “This time next year, that house is not going to be on the market. They’re going to find whatever it takes to get it sold.”
The home built in 1870 boasts a chef’s kitchen, a workout room that includes a steam room, a rooftop terrace and staff quarters. But be warned: The listing pictures were taken when the house was furnished. Mr. Dimon hasn’t lived there since 2004 when he relocated to Manhattan after the J.P. Morgan Chase’s merger with Bank One, where he had been chairman and CEO.
more photos: http://www.luxist.com/gallery/25-east-banks/3186049/
I would buy that Dimon house in a heartbeat if I lived there and had that style of life.
Assuming its in a mega high end submarket you couldn’t rebuild it for $5mm. Look at all the detail and woodwork. Out here that would likely cost you $500/sf+ to build in a turnkey manner. Not to mention the land, historical nature of the facade, etc.
I think the high end exaggerates the general need for hyper-knowlegable local real estate advice (be it a REALTOR or JTR…). Understanding the nuance of property has always been much more detailed and deep that most people truly respect. Especially in a market which is very subjective relative to value.
Even the uber-rich can follow the market all the way down.
Just think–if he would have posted it at about $8 million a few years ago, it probably would have sold in a heartbeat. Instead, he’s had to carry an empty house for years.
-Erica
As I mentioned on CR the other day, these multi-million-plus home’s pricing is more about ego than some fundamental value. For the most part, the people that could afford them before can still afford them now. The go-go, bigger-is-better boom-time psychology is gone though.
My wife and I used to own horses. The thing about a horse is that the price of the horse is the least of your worries. The maintenance is what kills you. It’s very easy to spend two grand a month owning a horse.
This house is a lot like a horse. No matter how low you price it on the front end you still have to consider what it’s going to cast on the backend. The backend maintenance on this house is easily several hundred thousand per year.