House of death will be ‘tough sell’ -- agent

OSCAR Pistorius is hoping to raise about R3-million from the sale of his ill-fated home to pay his legal bill — but even his estate agent is sceptical about whether anyone will want to buy it after what has happened there.

The timing of the sale, shortly before he is due to take the stand in his own defence, is also questionable and could be seen as a bid to arouse public sympathy.

The athlete comes from an incredibly wealthy family and, given the fortune he amassed on the track, it is hard to believe he is cash-strapped.

Pistorius has not returned to his home in the expensive Silver Woods Country Estate in Pretoria since the shooting.

“Let’s be honest, this is going to be a tough sell. But my advice is they should not settle for under R5-million,” said Ansie Louw, the sole agent.

A statement by Pistorius’s lawyers said he wanted to sell the four-bedroom house to help to fund his legal fees. After 13 days in court and with a legal team comprising two advocates and three attorneys, the trial so far will have cost him more than R100 000 a day.

His lawyers said the athlete, who at one stage boasted of earning R12-million a year, was funding his own defence. That excludes the costs of his own private forensic team and the use of a US company called The Evidence Room, which specialises in crime scene re-enactments.

Louw, the wife of Pistorius’s long-time coach, Ampie Louw, said the sale would be a “closed bidding process” and interested buyers would have to pay an unspecified deposit before receiving the house plans.

“We can’t put the house on show because then everyone who is curious about the case will simply pitch. The sale is for serious buyers who want an investment because this is a really good area,” she said.

Louw and Pistorius’s lawyers want to close bids on March 31 and will make a decision on the best bid by April 14.

The Paralympian bought the house in 2008 for R3.9-million.