The sport itself affects decisions, too.
“A lot of baseball players make their off-season homes in Arizona and Florida, simply because that’s where spring training is,” says Erik Gunther, senior editor at Realtor.com, who covers celebrity and unique homes. “Football players tend to buy close to where they went to college or where they grew up, or tend to congregate in Florida, too.” Gunther has yet to find any pattern in basketball players’ homes.
Weiner adds that athletes may also choose a primary residence because of low income taxes, as in Texas and Nevada (while maintaining a second or even third residence for spring training and in-season months). It’s no surprise that those in entertainment tend to roost in Southern California or New York, but they also snatch up real estate in Nashville or South Florida.
MVP Amenities
As for the homes themselves, a few things seem to draw these types of clients.
Security: “Some of them had bad experiences,” says Weiner. “Coaches and general managers would come home to find a ‘for sale’ sign or dead animal in the backyard.” Fanatical fans may make for a good season, but they can be bad neighbors, so gated communities are a draw. Opulence: “If they’ve just signed a new contract, they want something that speaks to their newfound wealth,” says Gunther. “Players tend to want something newer, something built within the last 10 years.” Home theaters: “They use screening rooms to watch dailies or break down games,” says Weiner. Shoe closets: Gunther has noticed this trend in the homes of athletes to house sneaker collections.
Beyond such generic features as a home theater, Weiner cautions players to renovate and decorate, or to buy with a future sale in mind.
“Sometimes the homes have been customized too much,” he says. “They’ve personalized them with murals of themselves or inlays with their initials in the floors or the pool. In the garage, I’ve seen private rooms set up like nightclubs, with DJ booths and dance poles.”
“With all unique homes, if it’s too much of one person’s vision it’s hard to find a buyer,” says Gunther. “If someone’s spending many millions of dollars, they want it to be their own vision, not somebody else’s.”
Off the Record
On the brokerage side, cultivating a list of private listings is key.
“There’s a fair share of purchases and sales that are off-market transactions,” Weiner says. These are high-profile people who might not want their names in the papers or pictures of their homes splashed across the Internet.
Weiner estimates that 20 percent of his transactions are whisper listings, and he employs former executives in the NHL and NFL, a former MLB pitcher, and a fashion model, among others, to maintain an inside track.