Van Elslander mansion sold for only $3.75 million

[DetroitBoy]

The place is just '80s millionare over the top. It's the kind of place you'd find in Houston during the oil boom not in Newport or W Palm Beach.

Do you think they get a lot of fish flies there during the summer ?

[Patrick]

The place is just '80s millionare over the top. It's the kind of place you'd find in Houston during the oil boom not in Newport or W Palm Beach.

Do you think they get a lot of fish flies there during the summer ?

You can find houses just like that being built right now in the Dallas area.

[poobert]

Why the hell does the Detroit News keep going on an on about how this place was so desirable and such a bargain? If it was so great it wouldn't have gone for 1/4 of its asking price.

[DetroitBoy]

Why the hell does the Detroit News keep going on an on about how this place was so desirable and such a bargain? If it was so great it wouldn't have gone for 1/4 of its asking price.

Because a lot of the staff live in the Pointes and they don't want people to understand how much the neighborhood has declined.

[Gpwrangler]

Because a lot of the staff live in the Pointes and they don't want people to understand how much the neighborhood has declined.

Lakeshore has declined? Lmfao.

[DetroitBoy]

Lakeshore has declined? Lmfao.

Well you tell us why a house for sale for $15M went for $3M? That means the property value has declined which means the market says the area is less desirable. Or perhaps you think the house went for cheap because the view isn't good?

[Bham1982]

Well you tell us why a house for sale for $15M went for $3M? That means the property value has declined which means the market says the area is less desirable. Or perhaps you think the house went for cheap because the view isn't good?

Lakeshore Drive hasn't really declined [[maybe somewhat on a relative basis to other areas, but not on an absolute basis), and the property was just absurdly overpriced.

I'm surprised they got over $3 million, I would be very happy at the sales price if I were selling that property.

$15 million, in Michigan of all places, is insanely expensive. You can get really enormous, nice-looking real estate in super-prime Manhattan or London or Beverly Hills at that price. And it won't look like interior decoration from hell.

[Gpwrangler]

Well you tell us why a house for sale for $15M went for $3M? That means the property value has declined which means the market says the area is less desirable. Or perhaps you think the house went for cheap because the view isn't good?

$3 million is not cheap. The new owners probably like it just fine, just like the rest of us you say "left years ago". You're not getting anywhere trashing someplace you [[your parents?) moved away from years ago. You obviously know nothing about this place.

[Bham1982]

Why the hell does the Detroit News keep going on an on about how this place was so desirable and such a bargain? If it was so great it wouldn't have gone for 1/4 of its asking price.

Because the News and Freep [[whether knowingly or they're just idiots) has no idea of anything related to market values and locational preferences in the region. Everyone knows if the same home were in Northville it would have 2x the value and if in Bloomfield/Bham/Franklin it would have 3x the value.

If you blindly red the News and Freep you would think all the rich people still live in the Pointes, Hamtramck is still Polish, 7 Mile is still Chaldean, the Jews live in Southfield, downtown/midtown are boomtowns, gentification is a major threat in Detroit, sprawl is some new phenomenon, and other assorted nonsense.

I assume they aren't that stupid, they just have an agenda that blends nostalgia for past times with wildly exaggerated claims about present trends..

[MAcc]

Everyone knows if the same home were in Northville it would have 2x the value and if in Bloomfield/Bham/Franklin it would have 3x the value.

Sorry to call you out, but perusing zillow shows this is a gross exaggeration. I found less than five tacky Oakland County monsters from the past couple of years that closed north of $3M. I'm not so sure this house sells for any more than $4M if it was on Orchard Lake or next to Bob Seger on Upper Straits.

[Bham1982]

Sorry to call you out, but perusing zillow shows this is a gross exaggeration. I found less than five tacky Oakland County monsters from the past couple of years that closed north of $3M. I'm not so sure this house sells for any more than $4M if it was on Orchard Lake or next to Bob Seger on Upper Straits.

And these were all 15,000 square feet homes on waterfront? Source, please?

GP, compared to prime parts of Oakland County, is much cheaper. It isn't close.

And Orchard Lake/Upper Straits are hardly the most expensive parts of the county. On a per square foot basis, they aren't close to the top.

Somewhere like Quarton Lake area, or Bloomfield Village, you pay $1 million for a typical 60's colonial, you pay $2 million for a larger, upgraded mini-mansion, and you pay $3 million+ for anything really nice. Those values, on a per square foot basis, are probably close to 3 times what you pay in the Pointes.

[MAcc]

And these were all 15,000 square feet homes on waterfront? Source, please?

GP, compared to prime parts of Oakland County, is much cheaper. It isn't close.

And Orchard Lake/Upper Straits are hardly the most expensive parts of the county. On a per square foot basis, they aren't close to the top.

Somewhere like Quarton Lake area, or Bloomfield Village, you pay $1 million for a typical 60's colonial, you pay $2 million for a larger, upgraded mini-mansion, and you pay $3 million+ for anything really nice. Those values, on a per square foot basis, are probably close to 3 times what you pay in the Pointes.

There's a hell of a lot in the $800k-$2M range, no doubt. But the mega mansions are probably deemed more of a tacky hassle than anything. I mean you think Alon Kaufman can find someone to pay $10M for his monster some day? Unlikely. I recall a Novi mega mansion and a place on Vaughan in BH that sat on the market forever -- I think both sold for $2M to $3M. I think your numbers are 10 years removed from reality. Birmingham is still very healthy though, for sure. Probably the safest bet in Metro Detroit residential.

[EASTSIDE CAT 67-83]

Because the News and Freep [[whether knowingly or they're just idiots) has no idea of anything related to market values and locational preferences in the region. Everyone knows if the same home were in Northville it would have 2x the value and if in Bloomfield/Bham/Franklin it would have 3x the value.

If you blindly red the News and Freep you would think all the rich people still live in the Pointes, Hamtramck is still Polish, 7 Mile is still Chaldean, the Jews live in Southfield, downtown/midtown are boomtowns, gentification is a major threat in Detroit, sprawl is some new phenomenon, and other assorted nonsense.

I assume they aren't that stupid, they just have an agenda that blends nostalgia for past times with wildly exaggerated claims about present trends..

Bham82, I gotta hand it to ya that was one helluva precision verbal airstrike about the local rag pundants you laid out there. Kudos my brutha