Talk about a markup: TMZ reports that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are selling their Bel Air mansion for $20 million — more than double the $9 million they paid for it in 2013.
We get that the housing market is hotter than Kim’s Internet-breaking derriere. But are their hopes — and asking price — too high? Will anyone buy it?
Granted, the power couple poured $2 million into massive Euro-style renovations, inspired by a trip to Versailles. After the purchase closed, the couple gutted the property and installed a gym, movie theater, bowling alley, basketball court, glam room and indoor pool. Last but definitely not least, the couple reportedly spent $750,000 — nearly half their entire reno budget — on four gold-plated toilets. We’re pretty sure Versailles did not have all of the above, but hey, who’s going to disagree with Kimye?
Shortly after renovations began, however, the star duo reportedly grew frustrated by delays, and became concerned the Bel Air property didn’t have enough land. So last year they started shopping around for another home, buying one in Hidden Hills, Calif., a mere five minutes from mom Kris Jenner.
The new place has more than enough space: a 16,000-square-foot property sitting on 3 acres, boasting two pools, two barbecue centers, a 1,000-square-foot entertaining pavilion and two vineyards. (That’s a lot of his-and-her features, if you ask us.)
For any of us mere mortals who wonder how the couple could so blithely ditch their first “starter home” as man and wife, area Realtors® say it’s fairly common when Hollywood’s rich and famous “don’t get too emotionally attached to their properties,” says Aaron Woodman, the Los Angeles operations manager with the Boutique Real Estate Group based in Corona del Mar, Calif.
Will the eventual new owners wind up keeping the exorbitant renovations intact? As nice as it would be to sit on a gold toilet seat, our guess is that most buyers would rather melt those down and recoup some of the costs — especially if they end up coughing up anything close to $20 million for Kimye’s cast-off digs.