- Trump's childhood home in Queens recently sold for a $1.2 million loss.
- The home last sold for $2.1 million in 2017 but has fallen in disrepair.
- The CEO of the auction house that sold it in years past said it was his most-profiled sale.
President Donald Trump is known for the art of the deal. However,his childhood home in Queenssold at a $1.2 million loss last month.
While Trump had nothing to do with the sale of the Jamaica Estates home, where he lived until he was 4 years old, it sold for just $835,000 after selling for $2.1 million in 2017.
New York City records show the 2,500-square-foot home, located 22 miles from Manhattan, was sold to a New York-based LLC named 1388 Group. The home sold in an off-market deal, and the seller "just needed the money," according to the New York Post.
Unlike the previous two sales in 2016 and 2017, this sale went under the radar — those sales were auctions with major national media attention. Misha Haghani, the CEO and founder of Paramount Realty, the auction firm that handled the first two sales, said he'd never seen anything like it.
"I don't think there has ever been an auction on the planet for a property that was more high-profile — I'm pretty sure of that," Haghani told Business Insider.
"He was running to be the 45th president of the United States," he added. "Before that, there were only 44 US presidents. How many of their childhood homes do you think still stood?"
Trump's childhood home sold for $2.1 million in 2017.
picture alliance/Getty Images
Initially, an in-person auction was planned for the day of the final presidential debate in 2016, but there was so much attention that it had to be postponed.
Haghani believes the commotion surrounding the first sale increased the home's value — he thought it was worth about $950,000 at the time.
Haghani said the seller still received a bid and wanted to accept, so they sold the home for $1.39 million in December 2016.
In January 2017, the house was up for auction again — this time, a sealed bid auction, where hopefuls submit a bid blindly by a certain deadline. The second sale raised the value another 50% as the home sold for $2.14 million.
Haghani said he "was surprised" by the numbers.
However, the more recent sales price wasn't surprising, as the home had recently fallen into disrepair. In October, the real estate website Curbedreportedthat 20 to 30 feral cats commandeered the now-abandoned property.
Trump's father, a real-estate developer, built the five-bedroom home and the neighborhood itself. According to Realtor.com, the median listing price for a home in the neighborhood today is $1.5 million.
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