Below is snippet of my feature in the Star Tribune.
If you think it’s tough to find a buyer for grandma’s silver and the family china, imagine trying to unload an expensive old house with a butler’s pantry and a foyer too fancy for muddy boots and dirty dogs.
For five years, Mark Perrin has been trying to sell one of the most beautiful houses in Minneapolis, a 10,000-square-foot mansion on Mount Curve Avenue. It is now priced at $3.1 million, half his original asking price and below what he paid for it.
“It boggles my mind,” Perrin said. “You get to the point where it just gets silly.”
More homes changed hands in the Twin Cities this year than ever before, and transactions of $1 million and more also set records. But at that exclusive level — the homes most people can only dream about — something is changing: Houses that couldn’t be replicated today are sitting unsold as well-to-do buyers seek technology over turrets and perfection over patina….
…Jennifer Kirby, the agent who has the Perrin listing, said that selling a house in Minneapolis can be challenging because there’s a perception that when you factor in property taxes and lot sizes, you get a better value in the suburbs. Of the 22 houses that have sold for more than $3 million in the Twin Cities so far this year, 19 have been on Lake Minnetonka.
“Even rich people care about their money,” Kirby said. “There are plenty of people who have the money, but we’re competing with Lake Minnetonka.”