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Inside Harvey Weinstein’s Desperate Home Sale: The Steep Price of Disgrace

Harvey Weinstein haters have a reason to feel a little bit better today: The much vilified ex-movie mogul has just sold his Hamptons mansion for $10 million—$1.4 million less than what he paid for it in 2014, and $3.5 million less than the list price last year.

Weinstein, who was ousted from the Weinstein Company in October after being accused of sex crimes by dozens of women, faces huge legal bills to handle the allegations (in addition to the cost of a bitter divorce from Georgina Chapman). So, it comes as no surprise that he was compelled to recently close a deal on his 9,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom house in Amagansett, NY, which was originally placed on the market in prescandal March.

Back then, Weinstein’s asking price was an optimistic $13.5 million. In April, he cut the price to $12.8 million. Still hearing crickets, he then cut the price to $12.4 million. Finally there came a very low offer for $10 million, which he accepted, according to Newsday.

Losing a hefty chunk of change on this gorgeous 1.83-acre waterfront estate—complete with a heated pool, vaulted ceilings, and a 3-D screening room—couldn’t have been an easy pill to swallow, but that’s the price of ignominy.

In fact, some would argue the house sold for more than Weinstein deserves.

“The price is not low enough,” says New York City celebrity real estate agent Dolly Lenz. “Nobody wants anything to do with him.”

The ick even extends to Weinstein’s brother, Bob Weinstein, who is currently trying to sell an apartment on Central Park West in New York City.

“I was walking through the apartment with a buyer, but upon learning it was Bob Weinstein’s house, he walked right out,” says Lenz, who posted a pic illustrating his swift exit on Instagram (below). “The buyer said, ‘I would never buy Bob Weinstein’s apartment.’ And given this guy was buying a place for $25 million, he can vote with his dollars any way he wants.”

“There is such a thing as property karma,” notes Rachel Valentino, a luxury real estate agent in Washington, DC. “All things being equal, people prefer to buy a home from a seller they like. They also idealize that a home will bring happiness, love, and great memories, not crime, cruelty, and broken families.”

So could Weinstein’s price reduction affect the home sales of other famous and powerful people also facing charges of sexual misconduct, like, say, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., Matt Lauer, and Mario Batali? Lenz thinks probably not.

“Obviously it’s not a good thing, but I don’t think Matt Lauer and the others will have the same problems selling their properties,” says Lenz. “I don’t think they’re quite as vilified. Weinstein was so awful, he rises to a different level than the other alleged abusers. Weinstein hit the cord.”

Other reasons why Weinstein’s home sold at a loss

Some say Weinstein’s bargain-basement price has less to do with the charges of sexual assault than it does with the stagnant Hamptons market overall.

“The Hamptons luxury market has been sliding since 2015,” says real estate agent Edward Kalisvaart at Keller Williams in New York City. “That’s not a Weinstein price reduction; that’s the market. We’re 20% lower from the top two years ago.”

But others still blame Weinstein’s mounting legal bills, and his divorce.

“Personal scandals such as this do not tend to suppress property value, unless it is a murder or death in the property that is widely known,” says Valentino. However, “a seller’s urgency to liquidate assets does affect value, as it puts potential buyers in a more powerful position. Mr. Weinstein needs to cover mounting legal bills, and selling assets assists in covering his insane legal budget now needed. I would assume the property selling at a discount is a function of Mr. Weinstein’s urgency for cash. Also, Mr. Weinstein and his wife have reportedly reached a settlement agreement, and it would be common that the marital properties need to be sold within a set period of time.”

Yet one question remains: Who bought Weinstein’s home? Currently that remains unknown, but Lenz hopes that the buyer tears it down to rid the property of Weinstein’s bad juju.

“Then it’s no longer his house,” Lenz says. “Then it’s OK to live there.”

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