The socialite Sonja Morgan, who gained notoriety for her lengthy appearance on Bravo’s Real Housewives of New York, has been having difficulty selling her five-story, six-bathroom brownstone from the Gilded Age for many years.
In 1998, Morgan paid $9.1 million for the Upper East Side house with her ex-husband, John Adams Morgan, and then another $3 million for repairs.
The 4,500-square-foot townhouse has a koi pond in the garden, a luxury primary bathroom with a big tub and Murano chandeliers, and mosaic hardwood floors and silk wallpaper. There’s also a nautical star in the doorway on the ground floor.
Morgan is now offering it for auction, with a meager $1.75 million as the opening bid.
“I will always call New York home. In an interview with Curbed, Morgan declared, “I just don’t need all this.” “All I want to do is eat, sleep, and get laid.”
A final option
Morgan stated that she no longer needs the home, which she previously referred to on Season 12 of Real Housewives as a “financial drain, an emotional drain,” now that her daughter is enrolled in college.
In 2008, she advertised the townhouse for $12 million, and in 2020, she listed it for $10.75 million. According to Realtor.com, it was subsequently made available for rent in 2021 for $32,000 per month.
“I made most of the recent renovations to make my renters happy,” Morgan stated. “My rental market has always been robust.”
She states that during COVID-19 lockdowns, a wealthy bidder made an all-cash offer of $11.25 million, but the buyer ultimately withdrew from the deal. After failing to get any takers for the property when she finally attempted to sell it again in 2022 for $8.75 million, Morgan revealed in April of this year that the property would be up for auction.
Jed Garfield, the Upper East Side realtor who represented the seller when the Morgans first bought the house, told Curbed that it was a last choice. Garfield thinks Morgan was waiting for a higher offer, but to attract purchasers, the property needs some more recent renovations.
“In any case, the market isn’t great right now,” he continued. According to a Redfin analysis from April, New York City has experienced the largest decline, with the median sale price dropping by over 10% to $3,250,000 since last year, even though luxury home prices nationwide have increased by 9% (twice as quickly as non-luxury home prices).
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Look into Lower Prices
Some affluent homeowners are having trouble selling their houses.
With Concierge Auctions, bidding for Morgan’s townhouse began on May 16 and will run until May 29. The biggest bid made thus far is $4.25 million, which is less than half of what she and her spouse initially paid in 1998.
Even with all the extravagance and glamour that a former celebrity’s mansion may have, it may still be difficult to attract purchasers, particularly for those who are unable to make all-cash offers.
Consider Michael Jordan’s house in Chicago. The Highland Park house has been on the market for more than 10 years, despite Jordan’s best efforts to cut the price in half and even provide a pair of Air Jordans as a bonus.
Co-founder of the luxury brokerage Westside Agency in Los Angeles, Stephen Shapiro stated to The Real Deal in 2018 that “almost without exception” purchasers won’t pay extra for a home simply because it is owned by a celebrity.
However, who tends to believe that a home’s value increases just because a famous person is there? Shapiro stated, “The celebrity is attempting to market it.
Senior economist Kenny Lee of StreetEasy also told Business Insider that one of the key obstacles to selling luxury real estate is the high cost of upkeep and maintenance.
The anticipated monthly property taxes for Morgan’s townhouse, according to StreetEasy, are $6,003. This amount does not include other costs such as homeowner’s insurance, repairs, improvements, and landscaping.
Even still, Morgan stated that she is prepared to sell the property for a loss to be rid of it.
She told Curbed, “I want to be free to travel and garden without worrying about the house, but I’m not taking nothing.”
