They’re just like us! “Billionaire” manse buyer takes out $58M mortgage

The mystery buyer of Bruce Makowsky’s over-the-top spec mansion “Billionaire” has taken out a $58 million mortgage on the property, city records show. That jumbo loan is equal to about 62 percent of the $94 million purchase price. Coincidentally, the home also sold for about 62 percent less than its original $250 million asking price.

The lender on the 10-year mortgage is HSBC, according to property records cited by Bloomberg. At current rates, the buyer’s monthly payments would be about $560,000, according to the publication, which noted that the loan is even bigger than the $53 million mortgage Jay Z and Beyoncé took out to fund their $88 million Bel Air megamansion purchase in 2017.

The 38,000-square-foot mansion at 924 Bel Air Road boasts a helipad, a 40-seat movie theater, a bowling alley, a massage studio, and $30 million worth of exotic cars. The $94 million sale, which closed in October, was one of 2019’s biggest residential deals in L.A., a list that includes Lachlan Murdoch’s $150 million purchase of the Chartwell Estate in Bel Air, and Ron Meyer’s $100 million sale of his Malibu mansion. The deed for 924 Bel Air was signed by Charles Cohen, who is listed as president of WinterSun Properties LLC.

Banks have been eager to do business with high-net-worth individuals on luxury home purchases, with interest rates sometimes as low as under 3 percent. Real estate data firm CoreLogic found that over 200 active “super” jumbo mortgages – loans between $10 million and $20 million – have been originated in the United States since 2013.

Many headline-grabbing ultra-luxury home deals of last year were all-cash, including Ken Griffin’s $238 million purchase of a quadplex at Vornado Realty Trust’s 220 Central Park South on Manhattan’s Billionaires’ Row, and Jeff Bezos’ $81 million deal for a penthouse and two adjacent apartments at 212 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s NoMad neighborhood. [Bloomberg] — TRD Staff