A waterfront South Florida home may be located in a neighborhood called "SoSo" but the residence near President-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is anything but average, the owner and listing agent says.
The five-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot home and guest cottage on West Palm Beach, Florida's, scenic Flagler Drive is on the market for $13.95 million, according to the listing on Homes.com. The property is in an emerging district south of Southern Boulevard known as SoSo.
Although luxury buyers often don't take out mortgages, the next owner who puts 20% down would spend more than $73,000 a month in principal and interest on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage, Homes.com data shows.
A family or empty nesters who enjoy entertaining would be ideal buyers, according to Samantha Curry of the Douglas Elliman brokerage. Curry is listing the two-story property and also owns it with her husband, John Michael Collins. They bought it for $3.3 million in 2020, public records show.
Aside from Mar-a-Lago, the home with 100 feet of waterfront overlooks a famed stretch of Palm Beach mansions called Billionaires' Row. Given that the once and future president's residence is nearby, privacy and security are assured, Curry said. In fact, Secret Service agents recently showed up as a photographer was taking drone images of the property for the listing.
The SoSo district encompasses an area along Flagler Drive west to South Dixie Highway from Southern Boulevard to the canal that separates West Palm Beach from Lake Worth Beach. The south end of West Palm Beach, minutes from downtown, features renovated, ranch-style homes built in the 1950s.
Eclectic shops and restaurants along Dixie Highway are within walking distance of some SoSo residents, who also like to walk their dogs and ride bicycles along Flagler Drive.
"When COVID happened, it put SoSo on the map," Curry said in an interview. "Prices skyrocketed around the area, but it's still a nice, family neighborhood."
Curry said she and Collins undertook a total renovation, spending $2.5 million since 2021 to redo the flooring, kitchen and bathrooms. The renovations included taking part of the living room space to build a waterfront bar and lounge.
The property, built in 2003, also features natural light, a putting green, an elevator, a heated saltwater pool, a custom-designed wine wall, a cabana and a gated driveway, according to the listing. It also is one of the few homes in the surrounding area to have a private dock and boat lift, Curry said.
"We did it room by room, and we finished it about six months ago," she said. "We have custom, high-end finishes. It's a totally different house now."
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It's within minutes of Palm Beach International Airport and luxury shopping on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach. An adjacent lot also is for sale, offering a buyer the opportunity to expand.
Curry said she's marketing the home through local media and in publications across the Northeast, where part-time Palm Beachers often spend the winter months.
Many luxury buyers waited for the outcome of the presidential election, and that was quickly followed by the holidays, the slowest period in residential real estate, Curry said. Now the new year brings the winter buying season, and the worse the weather is up north, the busier home sales are likely to be in Florida, Curry and other agents say.
"Everybody will tell you there's an uptick in business after the election," she said.