Pippen Laying Bricks Trying to Sell His Home

For most Americans, dunking is impossible. Throughout his NBA career — which featured six NBA titles — Scottie Pippen made it look easy. However, he is finding that selling a home, which millions of Americans do every year, is quite challenging. While most people don’t list their Fort Lauderdale mansion for $16 million when they originally list it, needing seven years to sell a property is rare. However, Pippen’s home, which was originally listed in 2007, has been on the market ever since.

Originally, Pippen bought the double lot for a cool $1.34 million in 2000 and he built the home in 2004. The latest re-listing of the property gives it a price tag of around $11 million. Even if that doesn’t reach what Pippen had originally hoped, a sale will prove to make the initial purchase a healthy investment.

The 13,500-square-foot Mediterranean style home is not only big with six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, it is as lavish as they come. It features a custom outdoor kitchen, a playground and putting green, a movie theater, a club room, and a wine cellar. And, of course, the star included a basketball court in the plans to build. The pool, complete with a whirling slide and full weight room almost make the home look like a luxurious hotel.

Perhaps the exuberance of the home have scared buyers away. The price has dropped and the home has been de-listed and re-listed several times. As of now, Pippen’s real estate agent Gilles Rais says he has had interest and plans on fielding offers soon. He took over the listing just last month. Perhaps he can channel his inner-Pippen and make a championship-caliber sale.

“This is a tricky question for all Realtor’s. It’s very common. Unfortunately, a lot of people have put too much money into their property, which limits the number of potential buyers for that property,” explains Nobel Davis, Owner and Broker atSanta Fe Exclusives. “The bad news is that somehow they have to justify taking a loss. His [Pippen’s] only option could be to lease it to someone who doesn’t want to make a long-term commitment, allowing him to recoup some of his investments, at which point the market could change and allow him to find a buyer.”

The luxury homes market can be a fickle one, and mastering it can be much more difficult than learning to shoot a jump shot. Former NBA superstar Scottie Pippen is learning that the hard way.