I had lunch yesterday with a mortgage executive at his office in Cary. He had read the post a few days ago about the drastic price reduction ($23M to $12M) of what is still the most expensive listing in the Triangle. It turns out the original owner was an acquaintence of his and he had attended a political fund raising event there back in 2000. Because I’m neither a gossip nor a journalist who has checked his facts, I’m not going to share the story details. I will say that the home was built the way it was with a purpose in mind beyond shelter or a comfortable home, a point common to many luxury homes that is often overlooked in their marketing.

My friend also mentioned some locational problems that might arise marketing this home. Although this property is adjacent to the North Ridge Country Club in North Raleigh, it is also near the intersection of Falls-of-the-Neuse Rd. and Spring Forest Rd., both busy thoroughfares with commercial traffic and modest apartments and condos. The other active listing on the same block as this estate is a modest condo listed for $124,000.

I didn’t start out to make this property a case study when I used it as an illustration about agent commissions in the Durham Luxury Home Report or about pricing in the post a few days ago. However, these additional details also illustrate why luxury homes  require more sophisticated marketing than the average listing. What I thought was a pecularity when I first noticed the listing back in November…it’s listed by a commercial real estate broker…might actually be pretty shrewd if the goal were to turn it into some commercial use like a spa or a conference center.  

One other detail…If the presidential election breaks one way later this year, the home might actually acquire a little history worth repeating based on a quote about the home made by the candidate who was being feted at that fundraiser back in 2000.