Real Estate Mogul Barbara Corcoran Issues Stark Warning to Celebrities Struggling To Sell Homes: ‘Get Realistic!’

Celebrity real estate guru Barbara Corcoran has never been one to mince words—and she certainly held nothing back when issuing some words of wisdom for her fellow A-listers who are trying (and failing) to sell their homes.

Corcoran, 75, who founded her own eponymous real estate brokerage, The Corcoran Group, in 1973, offered up some advice to celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Ciara, both of whom have faced bitter struggles to offload their pricey properties in recent years.

In an interview on popular podcast “Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin,” the real estate guru had one clear message for any A-listers hoping to score a huge profit on a property sale: “Get realistic.”

Corcoran said that one of the worst things a celebrity—or indeed anyone selling a high-value home—can do is routinely lower the price of their mansion, because it suggests to buyers that they are struggling to sell and encourages interested parties to put in lower offers.

That is a mistake that many A-listers have made in recent years, particularly those who were hoping to sell megamansions in Los Angeles before the April 2023 implementation of a so-called “mansion tax,” which adds a 4% tax to the total transaction for property sales over $5 million and a 5.5% rate for sales above $10 million.

Real talk to celebrities on their property prices

Jenner and Scott are two such celebrities called out by “Shark Tank” star after they listed their Beverly Hills house at a super high price of $21 million in 2022, and then, with no takers, slashed the price several times.

The on-again, off-again couple, who share two children, initially listed the seven-bedroom, 8.5-bathroom home for $21.9 million in 2022, around the same time they split for a second time.

Built in 1971, the mansion has since been extensively remodeled. It has 9,171 square feet of living space, including six bedrooms and nine baths.

Out back, there’s a pool, spa, lounging area, and dining space.

Other perks include a home theater, wine cellar, smart home technology, and a three-car garage.

The two jointly paid $13.4 million for the Beverly Hills mansion in 2018, and seem to believe they can walk away from the home with quite an upside.

Corcoran notes, “You have to be realistic. I don’t think it’s a good idea to drop prices on expensive or lower priced real estate. It’s always a signal to the buyer there’s a problem and they’re encouraged to make an even lower offer.”

She adds, “You’re much better off taking your home off the market, waiting three to six months, listing with a new broker and coming on as a new listing.”

She points out that if the listing drops in price, it causes the buyer to wonder, “What’s wrong?” She says, “It puts the emphasis, underlines what’s the new news there, which is the price dropped: why, why, why?”

The couple appear to have taken her advice to heart. They recently removed the listing from the market after two years of trying unsuccessfully to sell the posh property.

NFL player Russell Wilson and music icon Ciara had faced a similar challenge. They put their Washington state mansion on the market for $36 million in 2022—at the time, it was the most expensive listing in the state.

The couple did finally unload the property but only after making a steep price cut. They eventually slashed the ask by $10 million and sold the property earlier this year for $21 million, a huge discount. However, Wilson also reportedly sold a lot next door, bringing the haul to somewhere around $31 million.

The entire transaction took over two years. Corcoran notes that she would give the couple struggling to sell their spread the exact same advice: Take it off the market for between three and six months, and then list at a new price.

The Bellevue, WA, mansion had been on and off the market since April 2022, shortly after Wilson changed jobs and jerseys, from the Seattle Seahawks to join the Denver Broncos.

Wilson and Grammy-winning wife Ciara picked up the 11,104-square-foot compound for $6.7 million in 2015 while he was still with the Seahawks.

Most celebrities ‘overpay’

For most celebrities, Corcoran states, the reality of real estate sales is “famous people always pay more for their real estate and almost always overpay.”

She recalls when her colleague was working with comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who splashed out millions more than the listing price for a property in New York City because he was so desperate to secure his dream home.

“I distinctly remember being a young broker and one of my colleagues that worked for me was working with Jerry Seinfeld when he was at his peak, and he bought a magnificent apartment on Central Park West,” she recalled, referring to the primo park-facing street on the Upper West Side.

“And once he saw the apartment, the owner increased the price I think it was by like $2 million on a $6 million home, thereabouts. Seinfeld says, ‘That’s OK’ and closed on it anyway.”

But the funnyman wasn’t done overpaying. Not by a long shot.

“Then he wanted to buy a townhouse building to house his collection of cars, next door, convert it into a multistory garage; they raised the price on that. He said, ‘No problem, I really want it.'”

Corcoran concludes, “Celebrities are used to being overcharged. When you’re coming in, there’s a lot of hoopla about you, the seller always knows it, they don’t want to leave any money on the table. Typically, a celebrity overpays for their real estate.”

What about the other way around? Would a buyer want to pay a little extra for a celebrity-owned home for the bragging rights?

“Sometimes people will pay a little extra if it’s not overpriced to begin with … it gives you bragging rights,” she said, before warning: But “it’s a premium that isn’t worth all that much. It’s a little more sex appeal. In the end, people would like to pay the least amount for the house anyway.”