He shoots, he scores … again! Steph Curry isn't just racking up wins on the basketball court. The NBA MVP also scored a really sweet deal on his second home in the San Francisco area for $5,775,000, proving that even the nation's most competitive real estate market is no match for Curry's magic.
Located in Alamo, CA, the 10,290-square-foot, five-bedroom, 8.5-bath mansion features a library, billiard room, and five fireplaces (one of which is a freestanding, two-way fireplace between the formal dining and living rooms).
The 1.5-acre property also has a six-car garage, outdoor pavilion with a kitchen, and fountain-filled formal gardens. There's also an infinity-edge swimming pool and detached guesthouse with a Finnish-style sauna so visitors can really relaaax.
And let's not forget about Curry's two adorable kids with wife Ayesha -- Riley, 4, and Ryan, 1 -- who will no doubt enjoy having a playground on the premises all to themselves.
Best of all? The property (listed by Carolyn Gwynn of Paragon Real Estate Group, who declined to comment) came on the market in October 2015 for $7.8 million. So for Curry to swoop in and nab it for a mere $5,775,000 sounds like a steal. Gooooo, Steph!
Steph Curry's winning real estate formula
This is hardly the first time Curry has flexed his real estate muscle. In November 2015, he bought a home in Walnut Creek, CA -- another in-demand market near San Francisco -- for the bargain price of $3.2 million. Even more impressive, just this June, Curry sold his home in Orinda, CA, for $4.65 million -- $755,000 more than his reported asking price and $1.55 million more than he'd paid for the property three years earlier.
Is it possible that when not shooting three-pointers and leading the Golden State Warriors to NBA glory, Curry has a hidden talent for navigating the cutthroat world of real estate? At the very least, it suggests he's the type to buy low and sell high, rather than just throw his money around.
"With this latest acquisition, he let market conditions work in his favor," says Florida Realtor Cara Ameer, who specializes in helping athletes purchase real estate. For one, San Francisco's white-hot real estate market seems to be finally cooling a bit, in part due to some pullback from foreign investors reluctant to pay the sky-high premiums of the past. As a result, home sellers are losing leverage, and need to set asking prices at a more practical range. The housing market in Alamo reflects this new reality to a tee.
"While the average listing price in Alamo is $3,068,551, the average sold price is $1,767,807, which would mean that properties are selling at 57% of their asking price. That's quite a dip," explains Ameer. "That data is somewhat in range with the list price to sales price ratio of the home Curry bought."
Curry's eye for real estate deals is unusual among professional basketball players.
"It's not always like this for every athlete," says Ameer. "As an agent, you usually have to get them to formulate an exit strategy when they buy real estate. You have to ask them the critical question: If something happened and they had to move tomorrow, could they sell the property or rent it out and for how much?"
It's a question more athletes should be asking themselves, because their professions often force them to move even when housing market conditions aren't in their favor. Real estate is an important component in building wealth, and a 2009 Sports Illustrated report found that 60% of NBA players end up broke within five years of retirement.
The NBA apparently agrees; in 2015, it held its first symposium on real estate investment to better equip players for their post-NBA lives.
It seems like Curry is already on his way.