Musk: Seeking ‘freedom,’ CEO lists Hillsborough estate for $35M
It’s move-in ready, amply spaced for extended family, and could probably serve as a formidable redoubt if the pandemic becomes the apocalypse.
On the market for $35 million, Elon Musk’s sweeping estate in Hillsborough checks all the boxes. But he picked a tough time to sell.
Ultra-luxury mansions — think $20 million and up — take about six times as long to sell as a typical Bay Area home, according to local real estate data. And that was before coronavirus restrictions punched a hole in the housing market.
Musk announced May 1 he was selling most of
his worldly possessions, including four mansions in Los Angeles and the Hillsborough estate. The Tesla CEO, with an estimated worth of $36 billion, listed his four Southern California properties for a total of $62.5 million.
When asked why he was selling, Musk replied, “Freedom.”
It may take a while for his liberation.
In the last three years, just 17 properties in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties sold for more than $20 million, according to data from MLSListings. One of those included the Musk estate on Crystal Springs Road, which the tech mogul bought for $23.4 million in June 2017. He got a hefty discount from the $34.9 million original list price, according to Zillow.
Large estates usually sell for under the asking price and sit a long time on the market — even without a pandemic.
The average time on market for mansions over $20 million was about 139 days, and that was in the record-setting Bay Area home market of the last three years, according to MLSListings. Overall, homes in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties took an average of 23 days to close, and involved bidding wars and sale prices above listing.
The priciest Silicon Valley estates have sold at a 9% discount after waiting on the market. After all, few buyers can afford the price, and those that can have other homes and properties, and don’t have to hurry into another purchase.
The pandemic has brought even more uncertainly into the market. The National Association of Realtors reported last week existing home sales in the West fell by one-quarter in April from the previous year.
The median home value in Hillsborough is $4.5 million, but a few things set Musk’s property apart from the rest. The hilltop estate was built in 1916 and features panoramic views of the Bay Area. It’s a 25-minute commute to Tesla headquarters in Palo Alto on a good day, and a 35-minute trip to the electric car maker’s Fremont factory.
It boasts 10 bedrooms and 10 baths in 16,000 square feet — a little bigger than your typical Trader Joe’s. The space includes a ballroom, banquet dining room and upgraded, yet preserved, professional kitchen.
It sits on 47 acres, more than twice the size of the entire Levi’s Stadium facility. The grounds feature pools, hiking trails, canyons and a reservoir. Property taxes and insurance run about $30,000 a month. It’s not for everyone.
Musk noted his girlfriend, singer and musician Grimes, was mad at his decision to embrace a simpler life.
But the twosome and their new baby should be able to find a comfortable Bay Area pad. There’s a rental house a mile away in Hillsborough for the downsizing couple if they’re interested in staying in the neighborhood — just five bedrooms for $25,000 a month.