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- Los Angeles has a surplus of mega-mansions and not enough people to buy them, Katherine Clarke reported for The Wall Street Journal.
- Real-estate brokers are going to extreme lengths to get these luxury homes off the market.
- They’re throwing lavish $100,000 parties to attract buyers, using sound baths and crystals to change a home’s energy, slashing prices by millions, and even resorting to putting the massive mansions up for rent instead.
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Mega-mansions continue to pile up in Los Angeles.
It started back in 2014 and 2015, when a couple of high-profile, high-price-tag sales to foreign buyers prompted a flurry of construction of massive homes priced at $20 million or more, Katherine Clarke reported for The Wall Street Journal.
Today, about 50 ultra high-end spec houses are being developed in posh neighborhoods like Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, and Brentwood, and there aren’t enough ultra-wealthy buyers wanting to buy them.
To get them off the market, real-estate brokers are resorting to increasingly inventive tactics to get them off the market, as Business Insider’s Hillary Hoffower recently reported.
Here are some of the ways they’re trying to sell these massive mansions, from offering $100 million price cuts to throwing lavish parties.
Massive price cuts: Los Angeles-based brokers are selling mega-mansions at $100 million price cuts.
Berlyn Photography
A Bel Air mansion nicknamed "Billionaire" went on the market more than two years ago for $250 million, making it the most expensive listing in the US at the time.
But it wasn’t selling, so 15 months later, it got a $62 million price cut.
And earlier this year, it got yet another price chop, bringing the asking price down to $150 million — a whopping $100 million less than its original asking price.
"Today’s billionaire and mega-wealthy homebuyer just isn’t ready to spend $200 million on a home at this current place in time so we’ve relisted it with a price tag that will open the door to a significantly larger audience," developer Bruce Makowsky said in a press release.
Movie trailers for mansions: They’re producing elaborate, dramatic movie trailers filmed in the mansions.
The Society Group
Alexander Ali, founder and CEO of PR firm The Society Group, creates dramatic, Hollywood-style real estate trailers to help sell multimillion-dollar homes.
"We produced the world’s most-watched real estate trailer viewed over three million times worldwide that caused shockwaves through the industry," Ali told Business Insider. "Some loved it, some hated it, Buzzfeed said it was ‘the most extra thing ever.’"
Over-the-top parties: They’re throwing lavish, $100,000 parties in hopes of attracting buyers.
The Society Group
With the help of Ali, luxury real-estate agents Rayni and Branden Williams of Hilton & Hyland throw outrageous, exclusive parties in hopes of attracting potential buyers.
In February 2019, about 500 guests were invited to a mysterious bash at the $55 million mansion of developer Nile Niami, where they found aquatic performers, virtual reality experiences, an edibles bar, and a camel.
The event did attract a potential buyer, Williams told The Hollywood Reporter.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- An LA real-estate broker with $5 billion in sales reveals how she sells mega-mansions in a city overflowing with them, from energy cleansing to unveiling a home like a movie premiere
- The founder of Safeway Insurance is selling his $12 million condo in America’s richest zip code, a private island off the coast of Miami. Take a look inside the 6-bedroom villa.
- Jeff Bezos is spending $80 million on 3 NYC condos, but he already owns 4 apartments in the city. Take a look inside the building where he owns $13 million worth of real estate
Source: Business Insider – kwarren@businessinsider.com (Katie Warren)