BusinessTN

It’s not easy being rich. Sure, building or renovating a multimillion dollar dream house can be fun, but when it comes to selling it, the market of potential buyers can be smaller than a bejeweled toy poodle.

No one knows this challenge and the time involved better than the state’s elite residential Realtors. Steve Fridrich, a partner in Nashville-based Fridrich & Clark Realty, says he feels honored when a seller calls on him to market one of these homes, but the high-end listing means he will have to perform.

“There’s a huge amount of responsibility that goes along with it,” Fridrich says.

Fontaine Taylor, president and owner of Memphis real estate firm Coleman-Etter, Fontaine, says agents can adjust a home’s price and improve its condition, two variables that are critical to selling a home. But there’s not much one can do about the third important factor—location.

As each of the following homes reveals, affluence brings with it unique struggles and obstacles, especially for homeowners looking to sell their multimillion-dollar homes. Money may or may not be able to buy happiness, but it certainly can’t guarantee a homebuyer.

Villa Collina (Knoxville)
Owner: Deane Conley List price: $17.5 million Location: 5606 Lyons View Neighborhood: Lyons View area Features: • down the street from the blue-blooded Cherokee Country Club • Tennessee River-front property • visited by celebrities • top-of-the-line interiors • taxes are $80,000 a year • 26 rooms • two-story basement Square footage: 36,720 Acreage: 11.3 Realtor: David Smith at Dean-Smith Realty On the market: 647 days (withdrawn in late February)

Villa Collina is the state’s prime example of an exuberantly priced home with few prospective buyers. The 36,700-square-foot Knoxville residence recently was listed for $17.5 million, far more than prime oceanfront property along the East and West coasts. Located on 11.3 acres on the Tennessee River, Villa Collina has eight bedrooms, nine bathrooms and five half-baths, but not one serious buyer.

Homeowner Deane Conley recently withdrew the house from the market after almost two years and only a couple of showings. She received the property in her divorce from Mike Conley, president and chief executive of Knoxville-based Regal Corp., a company that exports replacement parts for earth-moving machinery. David Smith at Dean-Smith Realty has served as the agent for Villa Collina. He says, “I think most people want to build their own castle, not buy someone else’s.”

The Cloisters (Memphis)
Owners: Kirby and Priscilla Smith
List price: $2.15 million
Location: 188 Cloister Green Cove
Neighborhood: River Oaks
Features:
• thirteen rooms
• guard-gated neighborhood
• neo-classical design
• walnut and marble floors
Square footage: 9,367
Acreage: 0.9
Realtor: David Okeon at Marx & Bensdorf
On the market: 450 days

With some high-end homes, it’s more a matter of matching tastes than matching price tags. That is the case with a Memphis home offering almost 10,000 square feet of space and an unusual design. Situated in The Cloisters, this $2.15 million home has been on the market for about 15 months and has been a challenging sell for Realtor David M. Okeon, half-owner and chairman of Marx & Bensdorf. According to Okeon, the home’s interior was designed to display an art collection. Extremely high ceilings, elegant millwork and a neoclassical design make this property a “match-up home,” Okeon says, explaining that he expects to get a quick sale as soon as he shows it to a family shopping for a home with such an expansive interior.

West Meade Mansion (Nashville)
Owner: Tom Black
List price: $5.2 million
Location: 6204 Harding Road
Neighborhood: Hillwood Estates
Features:
• totally restored 1884 home with state-of-the-art kitchen
• two wine cellars
• pool house
• lighted tennis court and guest house
Square footage: 10,758
Acreage: 8
Realtor: Steve Fridrich at Fridrich & Clark
On the market: More than a year

Even the most desirable interiors cannot save a multimillion-dollar home from an extended stay on the market. Ex-Private Business CEO Tom Black’s home on Harding Road in Nashville has been on the market for more than a year even though the 1884 home has all the buzzwords homebuyers want: It’s totally restored with a state-of-the-art kitchen, a pool house and a guest house. But so far no one has handed over $5.2 million to buy this gorgeous old home.

Fridrich, who is listing the home, says a buyer would have to be committed to owning a 120-year-old home. And at any price range, all buyers are picky, Fridrich says. “Every buyer’s home is their castle.”

Wood Trail Cove (Memphis)
Owner: Private Trust
List price: $2.1 million
Location: 6019 Wood Trail Cove
Neighborhood: River Oaks
Features:
• built in the 1940s
• designed by Memphis architect Oscar Menzer and interior designer Stan Topol of Atlanta
Square footage: 6,100
Acreage: 1.9
Realtor: David Okeon at Marx & Bensdorf
On the market: On and off since 2000, sold in November 2003

Outside influences also play a role in moving the most high-end residential inventory. Realtor Okeon recently sold a home on Wood Trail Cove in Memphis for $2.1 million, but he says he could have gotten a few hundred thousand dollars more if the seller had waited for subsequent improvements in the national economy. But the waiting game had been going on since 2000, when the 6,100-square-foot home first went up for sale. The home features top-of-the line architectural and interior designs, but an initial deal fell apart when the buyer backed out. Then, as the economic slowdown was really kicking in, the seller yanked the house off the market, even as a second sale was coming together.

Massey Home (Nashville)
Owner: Alyne Massey
List price: $7.5 million
Location: 4431 Tyne Blvd.
Neighborhood: Belle Meade
Features:
• across the street from Belle Meade Country Club
• rich architectural history
Square footage: 10,800
Acreage: 4
Realtor: Peggy Hutton at Fridrich & Clark
On the market: On and off for two years

Beyond macroeconomic factors, some sellers just cannot make up their minds. Alyne Massey, widow of the late HCA co-founder Jack Massey, has officially and unofficially put her Nash- ville home on and taken it off the market a handful of times. Currently residing in Palm Beach, Fla., Massey has enlisted Realtor Peggy Hutton of Fridrich & Clark to quietly show the 10,000-square-feet-plus Belle Meade home to a few prospects.

Hutton says she has shown the Tyne Boulevard home about four or five times but has never aggressively marketed it because Massey is not really sure she wants to sell the architecturally stunning home, which is across the street from the exclusive Belle Meade Country Club.