Lou Holtz’s former Lake Nona estate sells twice in 100 days

Sep 22, 2021 | ARMEL NEWS

By Alex Soderstrom – OBJ Staff Writer & Orlando Inno Reporter, Orlando Business Journal

Sep 22, 2021

When Deanna Armel in June represented the buyer and seller in a $4 million sale of retired football coach and ESPN analyst Lou Holtz’s Lake Nona home, she called it a “special sale.”

However, Armel recently got the chance to relive the deal all over again.

Armel, broker and owner of Kissimmee-based Armel Real Estate Inc., represented the seller in a Sept. 13 sale of the 10,773-square-foot estate at 9209 Cromwell Park Place for $4.3 million. The original buyer decided she needed to move to South Florida and asked Armel to sell it only a month after her purchase of the home closed, Armel told Orlando Business Journal.

Soon, a Realtor colleague called Armel asking if she knew of any multimillion-dollar homes for sale. Armel showed the home, and the buyer paid the asking price — in cash. The home sold for $300,000 more than it was bought for 96 days earlier.

“I can’t believe what’s happening in the luxury market,” Armel said.

The quick sale of a property that’s pricey even for Orlando’s luxury real estate market demonstrates the atypical rate at which expensive homes sell right now. High-end homes usually take much longer to sell than homes priced for the everyday buyer.

For example, online real estate brokerage Redfin Corp. reported in fourth-quarter 2019 that homes in the top 5% spent a median of 60 days on the market, while homes in the other 95% of the market typically sold in 43 days. Plus, it’s not unusual for expensive properties to take more than a year to sell.

However, the following quarter was marked by the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic, business closures, stay-at-home orders and other sudden changes to daily life. The desire for a bigger home in which to spend the pandemic led to an increase in demand for luxury Central Florida homes, especially as buyers from states like New York and California moved to Florida with money to spend.

Armel said the reason is simple: There are not enough homes to meet the local demand. Central Florida’s inventory of homes priced at $1 million or more dropped 13% from 328 homes in January to 285 homes in August, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

In a bid to secure these homes before they’re scooped off the market, luxury buyers are paying cash. In fact, Armel estimates 90% of sales for more than $1 million she’s involved with are all-cash.

Even homes with record price tags are grabbing buyer interest faster than normal. For example, the $12.95 million Orlando estate at 9225 Lake Mabel Drive was listed July 16 and went pending 47 days later. The house went pending only two weeks after she had the property professionally photographed for its listing, Karan Wienker, broker and owner of broker and owner of Windermere-based Florida Golf and Beaches LLC, told OBJ.

The number of local luxury home sales, while still high, dropped for the second straight month in August. There were 100 homes sold for $1 million or more, down from 102 in July and 130 in June, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

Trends in the residential real estate market are important, as every home sale in the state has an estimated local economic impact of $90,300, according to the National Association of Realtors. In addition, the housing market often is considered a reflection of the local economy’s overall health.

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Lou Holtz’s former Lake Nona estate sells twice in 100 days

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