Mystery:why's this new Mcmansion in Lothian not sold in 12 years?

Question

Do any of you Marylanders know the answer to this mystery? Why has this beautiful, new construction Mcmansion, located south of Annapolis and within commuting distance to D.C., on acreage in beautiful horse country, not sold after 12 years of being up for sale? Why would the bank, or whomever owns it, just let it sit vacant for twelve years, and not keep lowering the price or put it up for auction? (I assume after 12 years that it went into foreclosure at some point, but I can't find any info about that online. It sure doesn't look like a typical foreclosure, though!) If there are any locals on this forum, they probably know exactly which house I am talking about! People have actually posted jokes about it on Facebook, with a photo of it and saying things like, "You know you are from Calvert or South County (Anne Arundel) when you know darn well this house has been sitting vacant since '05!" link to its listing on realtor.com The inside photos look of it look very nice (though the style is getting slightly dated after 12 years) and the outside is still well-maintained. I drive by it on my way up to Annapolis all the time, and always wonder about it as I drive by. Could be some great object lesson about the risks of speculative building real estate, LOL?!!!

The only negative I can see, (besides the price) is that the house is located slightly close to the road, considering how much acreage it is on, but that is really just relative; many homes in the area are that close or closer to the road. It isn't probably a total deal breaker I imagine, if they would price it right. Is this probably some sort of lucrative tax write-off for the owner, or what? If any one out there knows the answer to the mystery of this un-sellable Mcmansion, inquiring minds want to know! Thanks!

The only negative I can see, (besides the price) is that the house is located slightly close to the road,  considering how much acreage it is on, but that is really just relative; many homes in the area are that close or closer to the road. It isn't probably a total deal breaker I imagine, if they would price it right. Is this probably some sort of lucrative tax write-off for the owner, or what?  If any one out there knows the answer to the mystery of this un-sellable Mcmansion, inquiring minds want to know! Thanks!

Phyllis E. · Answer

@David Dachtera ---I like what you wrote above, "...it's likely someone who'd rather be right than be "rich"!  That would make a good quote! That must be the explanation. Realtor.com doesn't have as much of the history showing; seems like this year they have really cut back on how much property history they actually show, and they've also put it further down on the listing page--as if they don't want most buyers to notice it and actually look at it, LOL. I will have to go to the zillow listings from now on to check out the property histories in depth.

David Dachtera · Answer

@Phyllis E.,

If you look it up on Zillow you'll see the long list of listings, delistings, offering for rent, rent offer retractions, ... It's quite impressive, really.

Yeah - it's likely someone who'd rather be right than be "rich". Some folks will stop at nothing to avoid "being a push-over" or admitting a mistake.

Phyllis E. · Answer

@David Dachtera-- I agree that it must be overpriced, but the mystery is why wouldn't the owner/bank just keep aggressively lowering the price until it does sell???? Are there some tax advantages to the loss they must surely be taking on this after all this time? Do foreclosure laws (assuming it is a foreclosure) prevent them from lowering the price too much ? Perhaps they don't really want to sell the house--maybe it really is being used as a front for a mafia hide-out, LOL! (Heh- I'm from the Chicago area. We had some legendary Al Capone hang-outs in our area!) You start wondering about crazy explanations like this!!  Do any local realtors know the inside scoop on this home?

Or could it be that it has a very stubborn, wealthy owner, still paying the mortgage and refusing to look at reality?  (I had a neighbor like that --just as the real estate market was starting to tank, he had an offer on his house for  just slightly less than his asking price, and he refused to budge off his listing price! He said, "My price is my price!" Well, the market kept dropping and it didn't sell for about 4 years, and when it did, it ended up being a short sale for far, far, less than that original offer!!!)

David Dachtera · Answer

Great example of how NOT to invest in real estate.

Looks like it's one of the biggest / best in the area. Most of the market in that area looks like it's below $1 MM. Bit of a white elephant, I guess ...