After more than two years of construction, Michael Jordan has officially made the full time move into his sprawling 3-acre mega mansion down in Jupiter, Florida. Subsequently, Michael no longer needs his sprawling, 7-acre mega mansion in Highland Park, Illinois, that he called home for more than 19 years. This Chicago mansion is mind blowing. And because it's going up for auction on November 22nd, today his realty company released an amazing, unprecedented, all access, 360-degree, extensive video tour of the entire property. You'll see every incredible square inch of the house from top to bottom, including overhead aerial shots filmed from a drone helicopter.
Michael's Chicago mansion is listed as being worth $29 million, but that is actually deceptive. $29 million is just the starting bid in an open auction that is expected go much, much higher. After all, how do you put a price on owning the house that the one and only Michael Jordan slept, partied, relaxed and trained in throughout the peak of his Bulls championship years? Reasonable expectations might place the final bid tens of millions of dollars higher than the opening price, but no one would be surprised if a Russian, Chinese or Arab billionaire steps in and scoops it up for $100 million. Or more. Even if you put aside the fact that the greatest athlete of all time once lived here, based solely on amenities alone this house is one of a kind.
Let's pretend for a minute that you were somehow able to buy this house for the starting bid of $29 million. Assuming you put 20% down and got a 4.5%, 30 year fixed rate loan on the remainder, your monthly payment would come out to right around $116,000. Furthermore, Highland Park is located in Lake County, which happens to have one of the highest tax rates in the United States at 2.19%. That means, in addition to the $116,000 mortgage, you would need to come up with another $70,000 every month just for property taxes. Tack on another $20,000 a month for maintenance, utilities etc.. and you're looking at a monthly after-tax nut of $206,000, roughly $2.5 million per year. In other words you need to earn at least $5 million per year, before you buy groceries or pay any other bills, just to cover your living expenses. Not a problem for Michael Jordan, but maybe a little harder for mere mortals like us.
Here is a quick summary of the property's most notable features: Nine bedrooms, fifteen bathrooms. 56,000 square feet on a 7.4 acre lot. Regulation sized, NBA-quality basketball court that was built to Michael's precise specs, with a custom sound system, full fledged locker rooms and a sky-lounge. Attached to the basketball court is a state-of-the-art fitness studio that once was the weekend practice retreat for the entire Bulls organization. A pool pavilion with retractable canopy that can turn indoor swimming to outdoor swimming with a touch of a button. The pool pavilion also has a 110 screen television, lavish grilling area and a full bar. The garage contains 15 heated parking spaces. Card room, home theater, tennis court, PGA-quality putting green, full service beauty salon, 500-bottle wine cellar and an air-controlled cigar room that perfectly filters all smoke from the room.
Ok, enough delaying, you need to watch the video to fully comprehend this house's awesomeness:
So what's Michael's new Florida mansion like? Michael spent $8 million building his Jupiter, Florida mansion from scratch after plunking down $5 million for the 3-acre empty lot. The Florida house is located in Jack Nicklaus' ultra-exclusive Bear's Club community, where residents pay $350,000 per year just for the basic membership fee. This 28,000 mansion has 11 bedrooms, athletic center with an NBA quality basketball court, several two-story guard towers, massive media room and much more.
If you had to pick one house, which you choose Jordan's mansion in Florida or Chicago?
