Big Names on the Block
A star athlete and a software tycoon are turning to auctions to unload multimillion-dollar properties. Former National Basketball Association star Karl Malone is putting his Salt Lake City home on the block May 19, according to J.P. King Auction Co., the firm handling the sale.
It's the third time he's tried to sell the log and stone mansion; it first went on the market shortly after he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers from the Utah Jazz in 2003.
The original asking price, $6.1 million, was reduced last year to $5.75 million, according to James Marchant, the broker who had the listing, "There aren't many buyers in this price range in Salt Lake," Mr. Marchant says. "Higher-end buyers either build what they want" or buy property in upscale communities like Deer Valley or Park City, he says.
Mr. Malone, 41, ranks second all-time in points scored and was selected as the NBA's Most Valuable Player after the 1997 and 1999 seasons. The custom mansion was built in 1997. It has eight bedrooms and 11 baths and measures 17,230 square feet. The home has three guest suites, basketball and tennis courts and two swimming pools. The sale will be an absolute auction, which means the property will be sold regardless of price. Mr. Malone couldn't be reached to comment.
McAfee and Molokai
On March 10, software developer John McAfee will put more than 1,000 acres of undeveloped land on the Hawaiian island of Molokai on the block, according to National Auction Group in Gadsden, Ala., the company handling the sale. He paid $1.3 million in 2003 for the coastline property, records show. It stretches from the ocean to the mountains and includes two fish ponds. Mr. McAfee, 60, founded the Santa Clara, Calif., software company McAfee Inc., formerly Network Associates and one of the largest antivirus-software companies.
The 1,046 acres will be sold either in its entirety or in five parcels; three oceanfront lots and two lots on the mountain side of the property. "Sometimes your eyes are bigger than your stomach," says Mr. McAfee, who owns two other properties on the island as well as homes in Colorado, Texas and Arizona. "I can only be in one place at a time," he says.
In 2004, $48 billion in real estate was sold at auction, up from $42.3 billion in 2003 and $37.6 billion in 2002, according to the National Auctioneers Association. Owners who don't want to maintain the high costs often associated with expensive properties often turn to auctions, says National Association of Realtors spokesman Walter Molony. (Property taxes on Mr. Malone's home are nearly $34,000 a year, according to the Salt Lake County assessor's office.)
Does This Capri Fit?
The Capri villa owned by Italian actress and movie producer Edwige Fenech is on the market for €10 million (about $13.1 million). Last year, Ms. Fenech co-produced "The Merchant of Venice," starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons. She starred in a string of Italian comedies and thrillers in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as movies like "The Great Battle" in 1977 with Henry Fonda. Ms. Fenech, 54, bought the villa in 1990. Built in 1931, it has 7,000 square feet of living space and seven bedrooms, each with private bath. The home has a private beach, panoramic views of the Bay of Naples and Porto Grande and a 650-square-foot wine cellar. Raphael T. Harris Jr. of www.worldrealestate.it in Messina, Italy, has the listing. Ms. Fenech declined to comment.
Home View / Strong Seconds
Sales of second homes surged 16% in 2004 to 2.82 million, with many of those buyers speculating on the real-estate market, according to new surveys by the National Association of Realtors, a trade group that represents real-estate brokers. The study, released earlier this week, shows that 23% of all homes purchased in 2004 were second homes bought for investment, according to the homeowners, while another 13% were vacation homes.
"With real estate seen as a solid investment the past few years, more people are looking at property investment as a way to diversify their portfolios," says the NAR's vice president of research, Ellen Roche. For properties purchased between mid-2003 and mid-2004, the median price of a vacation home was $190,000 compared with $148,000 for investment homes. The surveys, conducted by mail and e-mail, looked at approximately 8,200 home-buyers and at about 3,300 home transactions.
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