Real Time Real Estate | Listen to Your Agent!
By Douglas Alan Ros
Wardour, Annapolis
Primary Structure Built: 1991
Sold for: $6 million—Original Listing Price: $12.5 million
Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5
The most important thing to keep in mind when listing your home for sale—particularly in a housing market climate such as we’ve experienced over the past few years—is being realistic when determining your asking price. As the old saying goes, there’s a buyer for every house, be it modest and “run of the mill” or grand and “as good as it gets.” But a home is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay, so pricing it considerably higher than the market can bear at any given point in time will only result in a home languishing on the market for months on end without even a nibble.
Case in point: Even though this spectacular, gated, 1.65-acre estate—“Horseshoe Point,” located in the waterfront community of Wardour—is an unparalleled Severn River landmark property, the $12.5 million asking price when it first came on the market in July 2005 was much too high to attract any interested buyers. Even though listing agent Fletcher C. Bauman had recommended $6.9 million, the sellers set their price at almost twice that amount. From the get-go, “A big adjustment was quite necessary,” says Bauman, and eventually the price was significantly reduced to $8.5 million. In early 2008, two-and-a-half years after first being listed and still unsold, Bauman convinced the sellers to a further reduction—this time to the $6.9 million he’d originally advised. “I was very patient…and once it was priced appropriately, there were four serious potential buyers who were weighing their options. One of them ‘pulled the trigger,’ and the property was soon under contract, finally closing in September 2008,” he says. In the end, Horseshoe Point had been on the market for 1,013 days!
The original home, which was built in 1935 and last sold for $550,000 in 1982, was destroyed by a fire. In 1991, it was masterfully revived with careful attention paid to its reconstruction, including a thicker-than-standard brick exterior, grand fireplace, imported Georgian oak wood floors, custom windows, and a water view from every room. Living space in the main house consists of 2,550 square feet on the first floor and 2,900 square feet on the second floor. A separate guest house features pine floors, an efficiency kitchen, sleeping quarters on the second floor, and an adjoining two-car garage; while a third building on the property houses a detached, three-car garage with an upper-level sail loft/office.
In describing the estate’s scenic location, Bauman says, “When one stands on the lawn at the tip of Horseshoe Point, a feeling of the enormity of the property takes over.” At water’s edge, alongside the 960 feet of shoreline, an extensive promenade offers uncompromising, 270-degree views that extend from Round Bay to the Naval Academy, Chesapeake Bay, and beyond. Completing the picture are in-ground pool, heated spa, pier with electricity and telephone, and two boat lifts.
Even though Horseshoe Point is no longer available, buyers with their sights set on a magnificent waterfront estate in Anne Arundel County still have a large inventory from which to choose—but sellers should heed the professional advice of their agents, take into consideration what comparable homes in their area are selling for, and collaborate on a realistic price for getting your home sold in a timely manner. At the present time, says Bauman, “The high end of the market is dynamite—very, very hot. Great homes at great prices are moving.” In other words, unless you price it right, the buyers won’t bite…and a serious offer won’t be forthcoming any time soon.
Photos: © Fletcher C. Bauman
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