Breaking News: Phil Romano Not Selling $17.5 Million Dollar Home Because of Me

Or so a mystery source told my office manager. My manager won't divulge the person's name but here's what they said. Doris Jacobs, the listing agent for Phil Romano's $17.5 million dollar abode on Strait Lane, is apparently upset with me because she says I am responsible for Mr. Romano pulling his house from the market a few months ago. While I appreciate the implication that my little blog weilds such power over the psyche of the restaurant mogul and recent house-flipper, I'm afraid that accusation is nothing short of absurd. Indulge me while I break it down for Mrs. Jacobs and the mystery source and set the record straight.

December 5th, 2007 - Romano home hits the MLS for $17.5 million.

December 30th, 2007 - The Real Estalker gives her opinion on the Phil Romano house decor. Let's just say it was none too flaterring.

January 2nd, 2008 @ 9:54am - Kristiana Heap over at Park Cities People's blog Overheard, picks up on the news from Real Estalker and brings it home to Dallas.

January 2nd, 2008 @ 11:46am - D Magazine's real estate blog, Dallas Dirt, catches wind and enters the fray via D's Adam McGill.

January 2nd, 2008 @ 10:15pm - Candy Evans posts some pretty personal information (rhymes with "Three Forks") from an anonymous "high profile real estate source" that says this is the reason the Romano's pulled their home from the market.

January 3rd, 2008 - Little ol' DREB posts what everyone above has already been blogging about.

January 8th, 2008 - The Romano's pull their listing from the MLS. Prompting a few blogs (inlcuding DREB) to discuss why they did so.

I hope this timeline of blog posts will clear things up for Doris and the mystery source who tattled on me to my office manager. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure the Romano's had their own reasons for pulling their $17.5 million home off the market after 34 days. Phil Romano has been ridiculed by the likes of D Magazine for years, and he's going to get his feelings hurt over my little blog regurgitating what other blogs have already discussed? That's giving me a little too much credit and the Romano's too little.

UPDATE: Phil Romano's House Off the Market

The MLS shows the home was taken off the market on January 8th. What gives? It was in the MLS for a whopping 34 days. Maybe the Romano's feelings were hurt because some people didn't care much for their taste in decor.

The Real Estalker Gets All Up In Mark Teixeira's Bizness

Your Mama, aka The Real Estalker, doesn't care too much for Texas decorating it seems (Phil Romano's house anyone?) but she actually doesn't have too many bad things to say about former Texas Ranger Mark Teixeira's decorating style other than he uses too many browns and beiges everywhere. She also had this to say,

"Your Mama thinks that Tex, Missus Tex, and their decorator have actually shown an admirable restraint on much of the interior spaces."

Check out her blog and then check out the MLS listing for this $5.75 million home.

Sidenote: I LOVE the covered patio.

$12 Million Strait Lane Home Back On Market

They don't get much bigger than this house featuring almost 16,000 square feet, 7 full baths and 6 half baths (seriously, 6 half baths?), 5 car garage, tennis court and an elevator that takes you to the wine room all on 2.38 acres on one of the most expensive streets in the country when it comes to real estate. But here's the kicker. This thing isn't even completed! The landscaping and pool is flawless but the interior was never completed. I've walked through this one and it was definitely left high and dry by the owners. I heard from the listing agent that the husband became ill and the house dropped to the bottom of life's priority list which is certainly understandable. But with virtually no flooring or ceilings in the place I can imagine someone is going to have to spend a pretty penny finishing this one out. The other thing is that when homes have been left vacant for as long as this one has (close to a year I think) and has never been lived in I can't imagine what is in need of repair. That's just wrong when it comes to "new construction". This is an estate in the truest sense of the word and I'm not sure why the contract just fell out but I'm sure it had something to do with the cost of deferred maintenance and the costs associated with that. But I hope someone will hurry and snatch it up. Another vacant year and this home is going to be racking up more deferred maintenance costs. And when you're talking about cleaning up 16,000 square feet of sheet rock or lack thereof, that can be pretty pricey I would imagine.

Why not just buy this one? It's practically right next door!

Phil Romano's $17.5 Million Dollar Home

One of my new favorite blog authors, Your Mama the Real Estalker, shamelessly rips apart Mr. Romano's Strait Lane pad in this post. Park Cities People and Dallas Dirt caught wind of it but I saw it first thanks to my source. Thankyouverymuch. Although I think Candy Evans over at Dallas Dirt is being a little too harsh on Your Mama in this post...and this one...and this one. It is commonly known that very personalized homes take longer to sell because they naturally appeal to a smaller pool of buyers. Yes. Even at this price range people watch the dollars. That's how they got to be rich in the first place. Think about how much it will cost to change 15,000 sf of crazy ceilings! I have seen $50,000 coffered and hand carved mahogany ceilings in dining rooms and I guarantee you no one is going to change that. But the decor and ceilings in the Romano house are pretty personalized and I can see someone spending a pretty penny changing them. Now is that a reason someone isn't going to buy this house if they have the cash? Probably not. But having $50K ceilings in the first place that are going to appeal to pretty much everyone in the first place couldn't hurt could it?

Oh, and thanks to Dallas Dirt for the breaking news about the reason the Romano's are selling. Big 'D', indeed.