Terrell Owens’ NFL comeback hit a major bump when the Seattle Seahawks dropped him this weekend. That won’t help the former 49er’s well-publicized financial troubles. According to a February GQ profile, real-estate losses caused a large part of the wide receiver’s money problems:
And of course there were the houses and condos, which he had always figured he could rent out; they became dead weight when the real estate market collapsed in 2008. Individually they weren’t terribly lavish, but together the mortgage nut is reportedly almost $750,000 a year.
Not terribly lavish? Well, the mansion in New Jersey that Owens sold at a loss in 2010 looks at least a little lavish, at 8,977 square feet, with a fountain-flanked pool, a library, a whirlpool for each bedroom and something called a Roman bath.
Terrell Owens’ Moorestown, NJ, Mansion
Owens’ mansion in Moorestown, NJ, was featured on the MTV show Cribs. It sold for $1.7 million in 2010. (Melissa Young, Prudential Fox Roach Realtors)
The pool has multiple fountains. (Melissa Young, Prudential Fox Roach Realtors)
When listed for sale, the chef’s kitchen had three refrigerators. (Melissa Young, Prudential Fox Roach Realtors)
Owens paid $3.9 million for the house in 2004, but sold it at a $2.2 million loss. (Melissa Young, Prudential Fox Roach Realtors)
Listed at 8,977 square feet, the home has multiple living areas. (Melissa Young, Prudential Fox Roach Realtors)
The home has eight bathrooms, with multiple whirlpool tubs. (Melissa Young, Prudential Fox Roach Realtors)
Floor coverings in the mansion include carpet, hardwood, laminate, softwood and tile. (Melissa Young, Prudential Fox Roach Realtors)
The house has five bedrooms. (Melissa Young, Prudential Fox Roach Realtors)
It took TO five years to sell the property. (Melissa Young, Prudential Fox Roach Realtors)
The mansion has a children’s playroom, a sunken den, a conservatory and a library. (Melissa Young, Prudential Fox Roach Realtors)
MTV’s Cribs has featured both the New Jersey home and Owens’ mansion in Lithonia, Ga., which has a full-sized basketball court with spectator seating, as well as an outdoor kitchen. That 7,694-square-foot home has six bedrooms, including one that looks like it could easily host a pickup basketball game itself. We’d call that crib at least a teensy bit lavish.
TO’s Georgia Home
TO’s mansion in Lithonia, Ga., was built in 2002. It has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and a basketball court in a separate building. (Zillow)
Owens said on the Dr. Phil show that he has children with four women. (Zillow)
Owens’ “resort-style” swimming pool. (Zillow)
It’s rare to see a full-sized indoor basketball court with stands for spectators at a private home. (Zillow)
A closet with plenty of elbow room. (Zillow)
At nearly 7,700 square feet, this house has plenty of room for games. (Zillow)
Screening rooms like Owens’ are popular in athlete’s mansions, according to The Wall Street Journal. (Zillow)
What couple wouldn’t like Jack and Jill toilets? (Zillow)
TO’s compound from above. (Zillow)
Both mansions have proved difficult to convert to much-needed cash. The New Jersey home went for $1.7 million, a $2.2 million loss, after five years on the market. The Georgia home has been listed for as high as $4.9 million and as low as $1.5 million, before being pulled from the market last year, according to Zillow.
“That’s probably the most expensive home within 10 miles of there, and that’s the problem,” the broker representing the Georgia property told the Wall Street Journal in 2007.
A little less lavish are Owens’ condos in Dallas, at least two of which have faced foreclosure. One of the condos is a compact 881 square feet, with one bedroom and two baths.
Dallas Condo in Foreclosure
Earlier this year, Owens’ Dallas condo in this exclusive building, The Azure, was reported to be in foreclosure. (Realtor.com)
At 881 square feet, the condo is much more modest than the mansions. (Realtor.com)
The kitchen boasted European cabinetry, a Sub-Zero refrigerator and a Miele range. (Realtor.com)
Another Owens condo in Dallas measures more than 3,500 square feet, with three bedrooms and three and a half baths. Both are in the exclusive Azure building, home to other pro athletes. TO is not the only high-profile resident with a troubled real estate portfolio. Deion Sanders is reportedly offering a two-story penthouse at the Azure for below market value as well.
Terrell Owens (AP Photo/Joe Mahoney)
Carrie Kirby is a freelance writer who recently returned to the Bay Area after living for six years in Chicago. Carrie is more heavily invested in real estate than she ever expected to be, since she and her husband are now long-distance landlords of their Chicago home, and have also purchased a house in Alameda. She posts about interesting properties and real estate trends in San Francisco and Silicon Valley every Tuesday. Carrie also shares money-saving tips on her blog, Frugalistic Mom.
Open all references in tabs: [1 – 10]