Michael Vick mansion furnished with a past

If potential buyers ask Lance Hempen about the man-size No. 7 woven onto the downstairs carpet of a certain Sugarloaf Country Club home, the real estate agent simply replies: “It was my client’s college football number.”

That’s true, even if it spares a little detail. Namely, the owner’s identity.

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Hyosub Shin/hshin@ajc.com

Suspended Falcons quarterback Michael Vick’s well-publicized troubles could make selling his mansion a bigger challenge.

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Bloomberg News

Michael Vick is currently serving a sentence in federal prison for felony charges related to dogfighting.

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Hempen of Funari Realty is trying to sell the nearly 20,000-square-foot white stucco mansion at 2927 Darlington Run in Duluth on its merits: sky-high decorative ceilings, two-story cherry-paneled study, home theater and lake view. Its biggest claim to fame isn’t necessarily its top selling point, he thinks. That would be the man who lived in it for two years: Michael Vick.

Selling any home in a down market is tough. In the case of Vick’s mansion, which went to auction March 10 with an asking price of $3.2 million but did not sell, the suspended Falcons quarterback’s well-publicized troubles could make it a bigger challenge. Or, just possibly, attract a buyer drawn by the ex-Falcon’s notoriety.

Vick purchased the home in April 2005 for $3.77 million, according to Gwinnett County property records. He is currently serving a sentence in federal prison for felony charges related to dogfighting and is scheduled to be released to home confinement in Hampton, Va., in May.

Novelty fades, value remains

Patrick Finnick, owner of RE/MAX Center in Atlanta, said in many cases, a residence’s troubled ties can quickly fade. He should know: His firm just oversaw the sale of a Sugarloaf home that was also used as a brothel by Lisa Ann Taylor, the “Mansion Madam.”

“For that particular house, the novelty wore off fairly quickly as media died down,” Finnick said. “In today’s market, the value is in the real estate — not the novelty.”

Finnick believes real estate agents shouldn’t hide a home’s past, nor do they need to advertise unsavory associations.

“Absolutely it takes away some potential buyers from the home,” he said. “Whenever a property goes on the market, everything contributes to its value or takes it away. There’s a percentage of the population who would be ashamed to own a house in which a crime was committed.”

An expert on stigmatized properties, Beverly Hills real estate broker Barbara Nichols deals in homes with issues ranging from murders, owners prosecuted for a crime, places believed to be haunted or even boisterous neighbors.

“Anything that is notorious should be disclosed,” Nichols said. “The reason is, the first day the homeowner moves in, the neighbor next door will run over and tell them immediately.”

Nichols cites some high-profile examples: the O.J. Simpson home and the house where the Charles Manson murders took place (both of which were ultimately torn down). She even has a friend who bought the home in which former TV Superman George Reeves is said to have committed suicide in 1959. (Some believe it was murder.)

“This is a disclosure — a material fact,” said Nichols, author of “The No Lawsuit Guide to Real Estate Transactions.” “Some buyers want to avoid the aura, the energy … they can [otherwise] use it as an excuse to sue somebody later.”

While California laws require sellers to disclose any potential stigma to serious potential buyers, not so in Georgia, said Seth Weissman, general counsel to the Georgia Association of Realtors.

Georgia real estate transactions operate under a “no ask, don’t tell” system, Weissman said. If no one asks whether a crime was committed in the house, or about the owner, the broker is under no legal responsibility to disclose that information.

Vick’s Sugarloaf home isn’t a crime scene, and none of his dog-fighting misdeeds that sent him to prison were tied to the mansion. Still, real estate agent Hempen knows the name itself will keep some buyers at bay.

“I could not sell this home to an Atlanta Falcon,” he said. “From a marketing standpoint, [Falcon teammates or employees] can’t do it. And for others it’s a moral issue.”

‘They know what they’re coming to see’

Hempen said he has shown the home to nearly 45 qualified buyers — a mix of athletes, entertainers, producers and other professionals — 90 percent of whom already knew of the home’s owner. Besides, it’s public record, he noted.

“For those who have made it to that point, they know what they’re coming to see,” he said. “They’re there because it doesn’t bother them.”

Any discomfort with the Vick association may be outweighed by the eight-bedroom home’s offerings, such as its two-story foyer with a jaw-dropping chandelier and flanking curved stairways; an exercise gym with adjacent spa; a custom bar on the basement floor and an elevator. Most of Vick’s belongings have been packed up and moved out, save for large-scale items such as bedroom furniture, more than a half-dozen sectional sofas and an indoor golf simulator like those used in sporting goods stores.

Still, even those who have toured the home knowing of its owner are on the lookout for evidence of pets, some inquiring about a curious section of carpet in the master bedroom.

“They ask: ‘Is this where he kept the dogs?’ ” Hempen said, explaining that the indentations they see came from the tiny feet of stools.

Whether Vick’s ownership will affect the mansion’s value should become clear Tuesday. The funds from the sale will first pay off the mortgage; remaining proceeds will be distributed by a bankruptcy trustee to Vick’s creditors.

“It’s hard to say whether it hurts the value,” Nichols said. “Nobody died, there are no dog graveyards in the back … but it is a disclosure item.”

Weissman bets the Vick name will actually boost its chances at auction. “I think that would be a positive notoriety,” he said. “There are certainly a lot of people who would like to say to their friends: ‘Michael Vick lived here.’”