REPOST: Former Disney estate sells for $74 million

The famous Disney estate has been bought, remodeled and resold to the highest bidder. Read this article from MSN.com to know more about the historical property.

Image Source: msn.com

The former Walt Disney estate in Los Angeles has sold for $74 million to an undisclosed international buyer, according to people familiar with the deal.

The Carolwood Drive property in Holmby Hills had been listed for $90 million with Jay Harris and Mauricio Umansky of the Agency.

The seller is investor Gabriel Brener, who co-owns the Houston Dynamo soccer club. Brener bought the property from the estate of Walt Disney’s wife in the late 1990s for nearly $8.5 million, tore down the house and acquired more land. He built a limestone mansion on the nearly 4-acre property. Brener couldn’t be reached to comment.

The roughly 35,000-square-foot mansion has eight bedrooms and 17 bathrooms, including a master suite on the main floor. There is a pool, a wine cellar, tennis court and putting green.

Disney purchased the property in 1949 and lived there until his death, according to Michael Campbell, president of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society. Disney selected this property with the intention of building a one-eighth scale steam railroad around the house, Campbell said. The resulting “Carolwood Pacific Railroad” had a 90-foot long, S-shaped tunnel and a trestle that was nine feet in the air. The train was one of the inspirations that led to the Disneyland theme park.

The train and tracks have been removed, but the tunnel remains on the property, with a stone archway etched with the date “1950.”

 

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Why residential property developers are still confident about the 2014 housing market

Image Source: thedigeratilife.com

 

According to Freddie Mac’s report, U.S. Economic & Housing Marketing Outlook, June 2014: A Mid-year Assessment, the year has posed some interesting challenges for the residential property market. Salaries have risen, rents and property prices are going up, and there is an increased demand for multi-family homes which are currently not being met by landlords and bearish property developers.

While the housing market as a whole appears to have stalled, certain local markets are doing much better than others, with some at all-time highs since March 2014. Listed below are three of the country’s strongest housing markets.

1. Alaska

Housing prices have steadily increased from 2009 to the first quarter of 2014 and home sales are projected to stay strong, appreciating at an average of 3.8 percent over the next ten years. Anchorage is seeing the largest increase in average sales prices of new and existing condos in the stage and a substantial increase in single-family home sales, second only to Bethel.

 

Image Source: alaskadispatch.com

 

2. Colorado

Colorado has seen a 45.8 percent decrease in foreclosure rates and home prices are steadily increasing with a forecast 20 percent increase in the next four years. Home prices are currently at an average of 18 percent higher than in surrounding areas. Employment rates are also good, with Loveland and Fort Collins beginning to make their marks in the tech industry.

3. Georgia

Georgia has a forecast four-year price increase of 19.51 percent. An expansion of Fort Benning and the construction of a business park in the Columbus metro area are expected to create thousands of jobs.
Residential property owners and developers in those areas remain confident. Although 2014 may not have the booming growth that turned the real estate industry into the comeback kid of the 2013 economy, local markets are still healthy and pose a lot of opportunities for owners and developers.

 

Image Source: housingpredictor.com

 

Clarence Butt is a manager at CTV Capital LLC., a real estate development firm in California. For more articles on the real estate industry, subscribe to this blog.