President Donald Trump’s childhood home in Queens, New York, is up for auction again with an undisclosed reserve price. Bidding launched today and will be open until Nov. 14.
The Jamaica Estates home listed earlier this year for $2.9 million, well over the median single-family home sale price of $1.1856 for the area, according to Zillow. After it listed, it swiftly went to auction with Paramount Realty USA.
“The value is not in the bricks and mortar, it is in the association with the president of the United States,” said Misha Haghani, principal of Paramount Realty USA. If it were just a house, it would be listed with a broker and worth about $1 million, he added.
Mr. Haghani said he could see it selling for anywhere between $2 million and $6 million.
The modest 2,500-square-foot home last sold in 2017 for $2.14 million at auction to a buyer who bought it for investment purposes, Mr. Haghani said, days before Mr. Trump’s inauguration. Before that, it sold for $1.39 million just two weeks prior to an investor who flipped it for a profit. It was also on the rental market for $4,000 per month and on short-term rental site Airbnb for $725 per night in 2017. The identity of the current owner was not clear from property records.
Mr. Trump’s father, Fred Trump, built the five-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bathroom house in 1940. The family lived there until Mr. Trump, 73, was 4 years old. The home features a fireplace, a sunroom and a finished basement. There is also a patio and space for seven cars, including a two-car garage.
Mr. Haghani said he is expecting the buyer to be a “Trump enthusiast,” influencing the sale in one of two ways. Someone who loves Trump could purchase it to own as a “collectible” item or convert into a museum to honor the president, or someone
opposes Trump could buy it to knock down or donate it to a cause inconsistent with Mr. Trump’s agenda.
“I really see some sort of crowdfunding campaign—from the lovers or the haters—to carry out some sort of mission,” Mr. Haghani said. He said he has already begun fielding calls about possible GoFundMe campaigns to buy the home.
Paramount Realty USA is also hosting a competition on ListingNut.com for people to submit guesses for the house’s next sale price, for which it will award $10,000 to whoever predicts it correctly.
The New York Times was first to report on the auction.
Source: https://www.mansionglobal.com/
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