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(NewsNation) — Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s second marriage was a quick and expensive disaster.
And nothing is more symbolic of the expensive mess than the white elephant of a home they purchased together for cash.
The couple are set to lose at least $25 million on their huge dream home when it eventually sells.
While currently idling on the market for $68 million, my West Coast real estate guru says the Bennifer 2.0 manse is not selling — because it’s horrifically overpriced, way too big and in an undesirable location.
The home, a 38,000-square-foot monstrosity, has 12 bedrooms, a mystifying 24 bathrooms (two for each bedroom!), sits on five acres, has a 12-car garage and a state-of-the-art gym, boxing ring and pickleball court.
“That house is actually worth between $40 and $50 million,” my insider said, explaining, “It’s in a terrible location. Wallingford Estates is a gated community with no guard. Most homes in the area are from the 1970s and are worth between $5-10 million. This is just a huge white elephant. It’s garish, too big and dated with amenities that are just silly and not necessary (like an indoor sports complex).”
Wallingford Estates is technically in Beverly Hills but “on the back side” of the posh area.
Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez’s ‘house is ugly’
Moreover, the real estate investor said: “The house is ugly. It was built in 2001 by a mediocre developer with just bad taste in architecture … it’s a mish-mosh of styles with a faux French roof. When it was built, it sat on the market for years and was listed at $100 million, so maybe (Affleck and Lopez) thought they got a deal for buying it at $61 million. But remember, they also put millions into renovating it to their tastes.”
A potential buyer will not only have to fork over tens of millions to buy the house — but have plenty of cash to maintain the chimeric mansion.
“The property taxes alone on that house are $762,000 a year — and another $750,000 to insure it and maintain it. So, whoever buys it, they’re out at least $1.5 million per year just to keep the lights on.”
Meanwhile, after it eventually sells (“Someone will buy it – they always do. It just needs to be priced correctly and will take some time”), Affleck and Lopez still have to pay a pretty sum.
Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez: Mansion tax
The former couple will lose at least 10% of the sale price to the mansion tax — 5% of large home sales goes directly to the state of California – and realtor fees that hover between 5 and 6% (meaning around $10 million is lost – so if the couple sells for $50 million, they only get to split $40 million).
“It’s just a big, flawed diamond,” my source said. “People with that kind of money would rather spend $10 million on a (smaller) perfect diamond, rather than dropping $5 million on a huge diamond with visible flaws.”
Ben Affleck has moved on from Jennifer Lopez
In the meantime, Affleck has moved on. Instead of visiting Lopez in New York City for her birthday, as she had hoped, he stayed in LA to finalize the purchase of his own home in the Pacific Palisades for $20.5 million … on Lopez’s actual birthday (ouch).
He is said to be “relieved” the marriage is over and throwing himself into work.
Lopez has yet to find another home but wants to steer clear of the couple’s former love nest as “there are too many memories” and is currently searching for her own LA home.
Reps for Affleck and Lopez didn’t return emails.
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Source: New York Post
