In L.A., hidden armies of workers keep mega-mansions on the market – for decades
For the past year, I have heard a constant refrain in Los Angeles: The place is teeming with billionaires who are ready to snap up mansions with a view.
There are an estimated 1,200 such mansions on the market, according to William S. Burden, the real estate broker and broker-owner who is credited with inventing the art of the multi-million dollar Los Angeles home.
“The prices are astronomical right now. I feel like I have a full time job,” said Burden, who has been trying to sell one of his six top-rated multimillion-dollar homes on Beverly Drive for the past three years.
It’s not just billionaires buying these houses. It’s the neighborhood’s elite: film stars, studio executives and the creative and business elite.
“It’s become a real estate boondoggle,” said William Waddington, an L.A. housing expert and author. “The problem is they can’t sell them fast enough and they can’t sell them at the price they want to sell them for.”
Burden started his career as a real estate agent, but in 2004 developed the strategy for his practice. He would call people who were on the market, and he would show them what their property was right now and what it might be in five years. He would ask if they needed his assistance to get their properties ready to sell.
His theory was that they would be more likely to sell if they knew their house would be around for the next five years, not now.
Since then, he has developed a multi-million dollar network marketing business that has brought more than 90% of the homes on his client list up for sale.
Burden owns his own, four-bedroom, 3-bath home in the hills above Malibu. It was listed at $3.2 million two years ago but is now priced at $4.6 million, based on today’s market. It is one of four homes he has on the market in this pricey area of Malibu.
