What My Sellers Can Learn from Michael Jordan

People love to follow and watch real estate shows, listings and brokers on the process, the negotiation and the roller coaster of an experience. Michael Jordan’s personal residence at 2700 Point Drive (Highland Park) is no different. Michael's home went under contract yesterday after a SUPER long listing period (4,589 days or twelve years) but there are some quick lessons we could all learn from MJ. And the short answer is no... I unfortunately did not represent the buyer.

In purchasing and/or building the home, Michael did not adhere to the first three rules of real estate, (1) location, (2) location,(3) location.?We can assume the location was driven by proximity to the Bulls practice facility, the Berto center in Deerfield. That plus access to Highway 41 for access to the United Center (for games) and downtown Chicago made the location desirable and preferred to Michael and his family. Or maybe it was all the spectacular north shore golf courses. The home does sit just west of busy Highway 41, train tracks to the east and Half-Day Road to the south, Point and Museum Drive are secluded streets with only a few homes and the house is gated, but still not an “exclusive” block or neighborhood.?

The home was built in 1995 on just over 7 acres. The home is 56,000 sq. ft., nine bedrooms, fifteen bathrooms and four powder rooms. Custom design features include a regulation-sized inside basketball court (of-course), circular infinity pool, putting green, tennis court and cigar room. Annual property taxes averaged just under $150,000.

An issue that often happens with professional athlete’s (or movie star) homes is they over customize the home with features they may like or want (a barber shop or a bowling alley for example), but may not be desirable (or functional) to future buyers and/or the open market.??Owners over improve the property and expect a return on these customizations.??Enjoy your cigar and poker room with friends and consider it a write off.?Appraisers use the word “contributory” or giving/contributing that money away to the market.???

The biggest drawback for the list price, the home is not a lake (Michigan) front property. The most expensive homes sold in the Chicago land area are often lake front estates in Winnetka and Lake Forest. More acreage and larger homes can help, but the water and lakefront is a larger driving force in price and property values. Dennis Rodkin of Crains reports on these homes annually.?They even attempted an auction, through Concierge Auctions, in 2013 with a $13 million minimum-reserve bid that was not achieved. The current list price is $14,855,000.

In terms of pricing, I often joked that if I had the honor to list the home, $23 million would have been the natural price to list at, leveraging his uniform number that is legendary and world renowned. The original list price was $29 million. A missed marketing opportunity in my humble opinion.??Setting and managing expectations is a key skill-set of any top broker and Katherine Malkin of Compass is one of the best luxury brokers and to have the goat as a client can be rewarding in many ways and maybe frustrating too. But Michael should be lauded for his loyalty and staying with the same broker throughout the entire sales and listing process, especially when it is twelve years. The home will close in coming weeks and at that time the public will be able to see the sales price and potentially the new owner, although most likely the home was bought under a trust or limited liability corporation for privacy and discretion. ?

As the famous Nelson Mandela quote states, “I either win, or I learn. Failure does not have to be an event. It should be viewed as feedback to help you get better.” I think there is a lot the average home seller can learn from Michael Jordan and the most talked about home under contract this week in Chicago. Have realistic expectations, be educated and trust your real estate broker and success often follows. Congrats to Michael on closing his final chapter in Chicago and forever changing this city's global brand and identity by winning six NBA championships and launching his historic Nike Air Jordan brand as a Chicago Bull.

I am a 19-year veteran real estate broker who has worked with clients from the Chicago Bulls, White Sox and Cubs, have done deals in Highland Park and Hinsdale, as well as the city, was awarded the 2016 Community Service Award for philanthropic efforts and am a published author. My passion is helping people with their real estate goals, plans and needs. Reach out anytime with questions.