How do you sell the homes of celebrities in Greater Boston? With discretion and aggression, apparently. By weeding out the voyeurs and yet titillating the masses. Take Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen's Back Bay spread a few years back: "The listing debuted with big buzz but no interior images. That was at the famous sellers' request. Understandable, since winning Super Bowls brings far more fame than winning legal arguments. As with many celebrity homes, prospective buyers were screened carefully before they could see inside the 5,311-square-foot spread with its three bedrooms and 3½ bathrooms."
Still, according to Shira Springer in The Globe, the best example of the yin/yang approach to selling celebrity homes can be found in Gloucester, where acting legend Greta Garbo once had a seaside retreat: "The reclusive movie star once made a seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom Bauhaus-style oceanfront estate her 'summer hideaway,' according to its Gibson Sotheby's International Realty listing. The Garbo connection gives the property an air of mystery, a touch of bygone glamor. Her history with the house makes for a unique narrative during showings, but it doesn't overwhelm."
Of course, there's also the approach taken by attorney Alan Dershowitz, who sold his Cambridge house last August for $3,400,000: "Dershowitz didn't mind that would-be buyers knew it was his house. At the start of the process, he told Barry: 'I don't have anything to hide. People know I live here. Let's not try to call it something that it's not.'" That, and let's chop the price tag a lot.
· How Do You Sell Celebrity Homes? [Globe]
· Here's the Sales Price for Tom Brady's Back Bay Penthouse [Curbed Boston]
· Alan Dershowitz Lops Six Figures Off Cambridge Manse [Curbed Boston]
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