Just because a celebrity has lived in a house doesn’t mean it’s a hot commodity, a new report from Redfin shows. The real estate website crunched the numbers for 60 homes bought and sold by celebrities, then pitted those sales against those of comparable homes in the area. Some of the findings aren’t shocking: celebrity-owned homes tend to be bigger, with more bedrooms and bathrooms, and cost more per square foot than a non-celebrity home. What’s more interesting is that on average, these properties spend around 36 days longer on the market and tend to sell under the original asking price.
There are a few good reasons for this. Celebrities are known to add kooky amenities—like a basketball court in the basement—that a new homebuyer doesn’t necessarily want. It’s also harder to hold open houses. "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," said Redfin real estate agent Alec Traub. "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."
Redfin was able to come up with several examples of celebrities deciding to sell their home more than $1 million under the asking price. Last year, Matthew Perry sold his Malibu abode (pictured above)—initially priced at $13.5 million—for $10.65 million. Katy Perry sold her LA home $1.36 million less than the ask, while Jessica Simpson unloaded her Beverly Hills estate for $6.4 million, $1.595 million less than what she wanted. There are also celebs who didn’t even break even with what they originally paid for their houses, the study found.
The prices may get chopped, but many of these glitzy properties eventually find a buyer. Even the Playboy mansion found a taker (who only paid half of the $200 million asking price), and that sale came with Hugh Hefner staying on the property.
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