Mansion, once asking $39 million, sells for $4.6 million. Here’s what

A mansion that was once hailed as one of the most expensive homes for sale in New Jersey has seen its price drop like a ton of bricks.

Back in 2013, the 28-room estate at 83 North Woodland St. in Englewood, New Jersey, known as the Gloria Crest Estate, hit the market with a $39 million price tag. The property’s name harkens back to its original owners in the 1920s, but soon after it was built, the extravagant ivory-colored home was dubbed the White House of Englewood.

In the eight years following its debut at $39 million, public records show, the almost 100-year-old mansion located in Bergen County saw its jumbo price tag chopped down to size in a series of massive price reductions.

In 2014, after a year on the market, the price was reduced to $25 million. The price cuts continued over the next couple of years and by 2017 it was down to $17 million. Then in February of 2018, court records show the property was foreclosed upon when the owners defaulted on a $7.3 million mortgage by U.S. Bank.

It was briefly taken off the market until June 2018, when it was put up for sale again, this time for $12 million under a new listing agent. Then from 2019 to 2021, the listing was represented by yet another broker and the price got hacked six more times, falling from $9.99 million down to $5.99 million.

Over those same eight years, the property went through at least four listing agents. The most recent real estate broker to represent the home was Michelle Pais, CEO of Signature Realty NJ. It was Pais’ listing through the last six price cuts — before she finally got it sold.

“A home is worth a what a buyer is willing to pay for it,” Pais told CNBC. “What a buyer wants and what an appraiser says is irrelevant, and that goes for any home.”

Last month a buyer, who Pais isn’t at liberty to name, was willing to pay $4.6 million for the mansion and the almost 5 acres it sits on. The closing price was a whopping 88% discount from its original asking price and wasn’t even enough to cover the 2018 loan default.

According to floor plans, the home has about 15,000 interior square feet across four levels, putting the mansion’s price per square at about $300. That’s 34% lower than the $436 average price per square foot seen in the Englewood Cliffs’ August home sales data, according to Redfin.

So why did the price of the fancy White House plummet? Pais offers her insight. While she appreciated the home’s history and its architecture, which dates to 1926, some potential buyers did not. And for those who were fans of the home’s Mediterranean-villa inspired…