Owning a mansion might seem like a dream come true for the average person – who among us hasn’t spent an afternoon browsing Zillow (ZG) listings and imagining what life might be like living on a palatial property?
But for some poor, unfortunate millionaires and billionaires, owning a multi-million dollar home can come at a cost. Namely, paying property taxes for years on unwanted houses that they just can’t seem to sell.
Negative press attention, hyper-customized properties, and unreasonably high asking prices can all contribute to the ultra-wealthy spending years attempting to offload an unwanted mansion. Continue reading to see five multi-million dollar houses that sat on the market for years.
The Symphony Townhouse – sometimes referred to as “Versailles in Manhattan,” has lingered on the New York real estate market for more than two decades. Nestled in the Upper East Side, the stunning Victorian mansion boasts five bedrooms, six bathrooms, an 18th-century tapestry, and a Venetian chandelier, to name just a few of its amenities.
Despite its long history and elegant decor, the townhouse has bounced on and off the market, from brokerage to brokerage, since 2003. Some experts suggest Versailles isn’t selling because of its too-high asking price – at its peak, it was $35 million, but it has since come down to $15.99 million. Others believe that the current owner, retired real estate broker Kenneth D. Laub, doesn’t actually want to offload the property.
Alec Baldwin purchased this property for $1.75 million in 1996. Decades later, the actor has spent years trying to sell his clearly beloved property.
“I fell in love with this place the moment I came here,” Baldwin said in a video attached to the property’s real estate listing. “You just can’t get this here anymore. You can’t buy big pieces of land, especially in Amagansett, at least that I know of.”
In recent years, however, Baldwin has dealt with personal and legal challenges, including accidentally fatally shooting a crew member with a prop gun, mistakenly loaded with live bullets, on the set of his film “Rust” in 2021.
Baldwin first listed the property for $29 million a year after the shooting incident, and the beach house has gone on and off the market ever since. Some experts attribute his inability to sell the property to the stigma surrounding the “Rust” shooting.
“The celebrity connection is likely a drawback for most buyers in this case,” Jenny Lenz, managing director of Dolly Lenz Real Estate, told Realtor.com.
“Typically, a property associated with an A-list star would command a premium. However, given the negative publicity surrounding [him] at the moment, [his] connection and active participation in marketing the home is probably a detriment and clients have suggested it has an ‘ick’ factor.”
In another instance of a celebrity name serving as a drawback rather than a benefit, Michael Jackson’s infamous Neverland Ranch lingered on the housing market from 2015 until 2020.
Ronald W. Burkle, the co-founder of the investment firm Yucaipa Companies and a former business associate of Jackson, purchased the 2,700-acre property in Los Olivos, California, for $22 million. The property’s original asking price was $100 million, but even with extensive renovations and several price decreases, it took years to find a buyer.
Kylie Jenner and her ex-boyfriend, the musician Travis Scott, purchased this property in 2018 at the start of their romance. They bought the seven-bedroom, 8.5-bathroom home for $13.4 million before listing it for $21.9 million in 2022.
The property failed to sell, and the erstwhile couple repeatedly discounted it. The price eventually dropped to $15,995,000 before Jenner and Scott removed the listing altogether late last year.
It took 12 years for legendary basketball player Michael Jordan to sell his nine-bedroom mansion in the suburbs of Chicago. While the 56,000-square-foot compound was visually stunning, it was also highly customized. The front gate was emblazoned with Jordan’s jersey number, while the indoor basketball court and the outdoor putting green both featured the Air Jordan logo.
Jordan first listed his former home for $29 million in 2012; the property went on and off the market for over a decade before selling for $9.5 million in December 2024.
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