The story of how the man who created Minecraft aced out Jay-Z and Beyoncé for an ultra-luxe Beverly Hills, CA, mansion makes for great headlines and easy jokes about a nerd vanquishing the glitterati.
It’s also pretty easy to list off the amazing amenities packed into the 23,000-square-foot SoCal home—the candy wall, the 16-car garage and the Toto Neorest toilets in every one of the 15 bathrooms—but we wondered how difficult it was to keep the complex transaction quiet until closing.
We spoke with Sally Forster Jones, president of Aaroe International Luxury Properties, who was one of two brokers to represent Markus “Notch” Persson in his successful purchase. Jones worked together with Katia De Los Reyes on the buyer’s side of this $70 million transaction.
“The people who knew about the transaction were kept to a total minimum,” Jones said. “We were able to keep the purchase very hush-hush, and that in itself requires a lot of work. It’s pretty close to a miracle that there were no leaks prior to the announcement.”
Beyond keeping the prying eyes of the press at bay, there was a lot of work taking place behind the scenes to ensure the purchase went off without a hitch.
“It was intense, to say the least,” Jones said. “There was lots of coordination, lots of moving parts. Everyone pitched in and worked together. There were no conflicts—which makes it a very special transaction.”
Jones drew on plenty of expertise and experience in high-profile sales, having worked on the sale of the multi-multi-million dollar Spelling Manor in Beverly Hills.
She said it also helped to have plenty of previous experience with the brokers who worked for the dazzling spec home’s seller, Bruce Makowsky.
Branden Williams and Ben Bacal represented the seller, and Jones told us, “We know each other and there’s a credibility factor that truly makes a smooth transaction possible.”
“We all worked well together,” she added. “The property is a great property, the buyer was a great buyer—it was just a very smooth transaction from start to finish. The buyer saw the property and came back to view it one more time. From there, we made an offer, went into escrow and closed in six days.”
We also asked Jones about high net-worth buyers (such as Persson) coming into Southern California to look for properties to add to their real estate portfolio.
“Right now, we’re seeing a lot of international interest in the L.A. area,” the agent said. “We’re dealing with buyers coming in from China, Russia and Europe. They’re all looking for high-end luxury properties.”
And what do these buyers from around the world look for in a home?
“The international buyer is very impressed with views,” Jones told us. “The grander the view, the greater the demand. It’s exponential when you have views such as the ones offered by this home. Everyone wants to live the indoor-outdoor lifestyle L.A. offers.”
Because Jones has walked through so many high-end properties, we had to ask what she thought when she first saw the place that Persson is now calling home.
“It’s a very sophisticated and sexy house,” she said. “The quality inside and outside are above and beyond. It’s extremely well-crafted and has so many unique features. The views are breathtaking. I can sum it up in four simple words: view, volume, openness and quality.”
Source: Realtor.com By: Erik Gunther
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