On Wendesday, April 26, Kofi attended The Hollywood Reporter's Top 100 Power Lawyer's reception at Spago Beverly Hills. It was a great time to network with other business professionals, as well as a who's who of Hollywood power attorneys.
Click here to see Kofi's ad from the April 26th issue of The Hollywood Reporter.
Lakers star Nick Young has just put his Los Angeles home on the market for $3.595 million.
According to property records, he bought the San Fernando Valley home for $3.45 million in 2013 through the 2 LEGIT 2 QUIT TRUST, for which Nick’s mother, Mae Young, is listed as a trustee.
Mr. Young previously lived there with his ex-fiancee, Australian rapper Iggy Azalea, but they split up in 2016, according to reports.
The NBA player is not the only celebrity to have owned the house, though. The previous owner was Selena Gomez, who purchased it through Warren Street Trust.
The 6,630-square-foot, six-bedroom house was built in 2012 and has been remodeled since, according to the listing. Features include a fountain in front of the house, a large chef’s kitchen that opens to a family room, a large game room, as well as a guest house.
Outside there is a pool plus spa, basketball court (what else would you expect from an NBA player?) and outdoor kitchen and fire pit.
Kofi Nartey of Compass, the listing agent, told Mansion Global that the basketball court is about 60% the size of a full one and it was already there when Mr. Young purchased the home.
As for the guest house, he added that this is where Ms. Gomez lived, while the rest of her family occupied the main house.
“This particular house provides a lot of privacy which is why it has attracted Selena and her family and Nick,” he added.
MORE: Beverly Hills Mansion with Indoor Basketball Court Hits Market for $40M
Spokespeople for Ms. Azalea and Mr. Young did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
The sale was first reported by Trulia.
Iggy Azalea and Nick Young have been making a lot of headlines over the past year. This time it’s for listing the Los Angeles home they shared.
The “Black Widow” singer and the Lakers shooting guard bought the property from another high-wattage star, Selena Gomez, in 2014. With a listing price of $3.595 million, the couple is asking for just $100,000 more than they paid nearly three years ago.
The 6,630-square-foot pad is located in Los Angeles’ affluent Tarzana neighborhood.
The sprawling home boasts a rare single-level floor plan with 6 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms and a half dozen gathering spaces. In the master suite, a separate seating area with a fireplace and double doors that open out onto the back patio set the scene for relaxation.
In addition to lush landscaping, an outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and luxurious in-ground pool grace the dreamy backyard. There’s even a basketball court for Young to keep his skills sharp during the NBA off-season.
Kofi Nartey, MBA, of The Nartey Group/Compass holds the listing.
Lakers wing Nick Young, who can opt out of his contract this off-season, has put his home court in Tarzana on the market for $3.595 million.
The traditional-style home has been reported to be owned by Young and his former love interest, rapper-model Iggy Azalea. However, listing agent Kofi Nartey of Compass confirmed to The Times that the Lakers guard is the sole owner.
Speaking of soles, Young, a devout sneakerhead, had the guesthouse on the property converted into a “shoe house” during his ownership. A pair of “shoe keepers” were hired to oversee the collection, which includes vintage LeBrons, Kobes and Air Jordans, according to Sports Illustrated.
Also on the acre of grounds is a lighted and fenced basketball court, an outdoor kitchen and a swimming pool with a spa. Lush landscaping surrounds a blue-stone courtyard with a fountain feature at the front of the home.
Inside, the two-story has 6,630 square feet of living space that includes an updated kitchen, formal living and dining rooms and a game room. The master suite has a fireplace and French doors that lead to the backyard.
Including the guest/shoe house, which has its own entrance and kitchen, there are six bedrooms and nine bathrooms.
Young, 31, has L.A. roots, having starred at Cleveland High School and USC.
The former first-round draft pick averaged 13.2 points a game for the Lakers this year, his fourth with the team. He holds a player option for next season as part of the four-year, $21-million contract he signed in 2014.
He bought the property three years ago from singer-actress Selena Gomez for $3.45 million.
Broker Associate, Kofi, is the Managing Director of the Compass Sports & Entertainment Division. Also a Certified Luxury Homes Marketing Specialist, Kofi joins Compass after successfully creating and managing the sports and entertainment division for his previous firm.
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Having been traded by the Padres to the Braves last season, Matt Kemp is ready to play ball for his home in San Diego County. The professional ballplayer has listed his mansion estate in Poway’s Heritage community for sale at $11.5 million.
Kemp bought the property three years ago for $9.075 million and has spent another $3 million in renovations, according to Kofi Nartey of Compass, who shares the listing with Morgan Trent of Paramount Properties. Features of the 15,884-square-foot home include custom Travertine floors, a cigar lounge with a humidor and a 1,200-bottle wine cellar with a separate tasting room. Other living areas include a contemporary kitchen with an oversized island, a solarium, five bedrooms, five bathrooms and two powder rooms. The custom home theater sports tiered seating and a snack bar. Two walk-in closets, two showers and a secondary laundry room are highlights of the master suite, which takes in an unobstructed view of the golf course at the Maderas Country Club.
Outdoors, the manicured grounds include an infinity-edge swimming pool, a large pool deck and a tennis court. A separate pool/guest house, currently outfitted with a gym and a roman spa, has doors that open to an outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven. A five-car garage and a large motor court also lie within the gated grounds. The 32-year-old Kemp began his career with the Dodgers and spent his first nine seasons with the team, making two all-star teams. The outfielder hit .268 with 35 home runs and 108 RBIs in 156 games for the Padres and Braves last year.
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There are some amazing perks to making it big in the NFL: name recognition, fame, power—and don’t forget that killer $2 million average salary (even if it is the lowest among major pro sports). The league’s next superstars shouldn’t worry that guac is extra. Heck, fly first class all the time! And if the cash is really flowing in, why not pay off mom’s mortgage?
And while you’re at it, why not plunk down some cold, hard cash for your own place, too? A really sweet one, maybe with a 12-acre lake like “Neon” Deion Sanders’, or a heated indoor-outdoor kennel like Peyton Manning’s, or even a private drive-in movie theater like the one installed by LaDainian Tomlinson.
Time out!
NFL players are renowned for their frequently used, not-so-secret housing playbook: Buy big and buy fast. But history shows this may be a very bad idea.
Rentals might not seem worthy of NFL superstars’ high-flying, Cristal-popping lifestyle, but unless you already are Tom Brady, real estate brokers agree it makes better sense to lease. After all, players move around. A lot. For every Drew Brees, soon to start his 11th season with the New Orleans Saints, there’s a Josh Johnson—who’s bounced among eight franchises in search of an ever-elusive backup quarterback job.
Hopefully, Johnson didn’t buy a house along the way.
Football players in foreclosure might as well be a meme. There’s JaMarcus Russell, who purchased a $2.4 million Oakland mansion after the Raiders picked him first in the 2007 draft. Four years later, the bank foreclosed. Or former Tennessee Titans running backEddie George, whose $1.67 million Brentwood, TN, home was listed for auction in 2012. The list goes on (and on): Adam “Pacman” Jones. Dameon Reilly. Daunte Culpepper.DeAngelo Hall. Joey Porter. Matters aren’t helped much by the fact that these players often wind up buying high-priced homes in relative real estate backwaters like Buffalo, NY, or Baltimore.
So what do you do if you have a high-paying, high-profile gig that you could get booted from at a moment’s notice?
“Renting is simply better in most instances,” says Aaron Swerdlow, a Los Angeles sports lawyer who counsels coach and player relocations. And more often than not, players now dorent, he says. It’s a savvy decision for surviving the league, where contracts are short and players could be traded or released in a heartbeat.
Buy vs. rent: Let’s go to the videotape!
Even with the ever-present threat of joblessness, players still often insist on buying—and in those cases, Swerdlow breaks down the numbers.
“I would give player clients two statistics, which they never liked to hear,” he says.
Stat No. 1: Most players spend less than three years in the NFL. Bummer.
Stat No. 2: “Approximately 75% of retired NFL players are divorced or bankrupt within five years of their career ending,” he says. Even bigger bummer!
“Sometimes giving out those statistics worked. Sometimes they didn’t,” he adds.
Imminent financial collapse isn’t the only reason players should wait to buy, experts say. Just like us unathletically inclined folks, they should know what a city and its neighborhoods offer before committing to a mortgage.
“Most of them do want to rent so they can get a feel for the lay of the land,” says Kofi Nartey, a Los Angeles broker and director of the Global Sports and Entertainment Division at Compass.
Still, even the most conservative financial advisers concede that not every hotshot NFL player needs to rent. Especially if they really are a hotshot—think franchise players like Tom Brady, Richard Sherman, or Aaron Rodgers.
“It’s mostly when they sign contracts of at least three to four years that I start to see players buy,” says Swerdlow.
Long-term contracts create some certainty, meaning—for the most part—players feel safe to lock themselves down in their team’s town.
But in today’s NFL, money isn’t guaranteed unless a player is on a team’s roster. Signing bonuses and long-term deals are nice, but fully guaranteed money is paramount.
“I tell players, ‘Make sure it’s locked in before committing yourself to a large mortgage,’” Nartey says. “But if you’re signing a two-year deal, you should just rent. You don’t know enough about that city to know if you’ll stay there.”
But what about those players with less guaranteed money, but with a burning desire to own their own (plush) piece of the American dream?
The determining factor in whether a big-money real estate investment winds up being a fourth-quarter touchdown or a game-losing fumble is whether or not an NFLer plans on sticking around his playing city—or eventually, moving back—regardless of whether he’s traded or injured. Family-oriented players looking to settle down might fall in love with Green Bay, WI (there’s the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary and the National Railroad Museum). With the off-season lasting half the year, there’s plenty of time to enjoy a new abode, even after a job transfer.
And while a party-hopping bro might not want to lock into a 30-year fixed mortgage in Wisconsin or Buffalo, he’ll surely study up on ARMs in Los Angeles or Miami.
“Is it a city where they’ll spend their off-season as well?” Nartey says. “Even those guys who play for the Baltimore Ravens or the Carolina Panthers generally spend time in L.A., for example. If you’re spending more and more time there, it can make sense to buy in that city.”
Behind the ‘Jock Tax’
Florida is another special case. Athletes love Florida—and not just because they’re really into fresh oranges and Miami’s club scene (but certainly partly because of those things). The real reason: The Sunshine State is lax on tax. Several states subject players to a “jock tax,” meaning they owe money if they play a single game in the state. But not Florida.
“If Tom Brady comes to California to play the Rams, he’s charged 13.3% of what the Patriots pay him for that game,” Swerdlow says.
Even the Tax Foundation finds this fee a little unfair. It states, “the tax hits many people who may not be able to easily absorb the substantial compliance costs associated with the tax.”
But in the short term, the rule won’t go away, making an NFL player’s tax bill excessively onerous. That’s why Swerdlow encourages professional athletes to invest in a state without state income tax—like Florida or Texas.
“Players might be attracted to purchasing a home by the mortgage payment deductions. When it starts to make fiscal sense to purchase, oftentimes they choose a state where there isn’t an income tax,” Swedlow says. “That’s one of the primary reasons why a lot of players live in Florida.”
But even in utopian Florida, the taxman—or the bank—cometh, and he also taketh away. From Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. From Jevon Kearse. From Clinton Portis. And so we’re back to the line of scrimmage.
Maybe it’s just better to rent. Even for a baller.
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Stars’ house-hunting expeditions look quite a bit different from everyone else’s. Never mind what the celebrity magazines say: When it comes to home listings, the stars are not just like us. Agents who represent celebs on either side of a real estate transaction must tread carefully.
“The last thing you want is your neighbor taking a selfie with your Academy Award,” said Kofi Nartey, who recently launched Compass’ global sports and entertainment division.
1. No cell phones allowed
Nartey and other agents frequently prohibit cell phones inside properties listed by stars. Allowing them is not worth the trouble, and people who are truly interested in buying the home — sometimes celebrities themselves — tend to understand.
2. Discretion is key
Because paparazzi and gossip mongers are constantly lurking, it’s important to be discrete about all sorts of things — including what exactly a celebrity client is looking for in a home. Take the star Nartey represented who was deciding whether to buy homes “based on how many people could fit in the shower.”
That was a tricky expedition. “Sometimes you can tell from photos; sometimes you preview it,” Nartey explains. “Sometimes you call the listing agent and say, ‘This is going to sound odd, but how many people can fit in the shower?’”
3. Tell a story
Celebrities who agree to publicity for their multi-million dollar listings often have more control over the message, and an agent can have a lot of fun with those stories both in the media and in presenting homes to potential buyers.
When Nartey was marketing the Michael Jordan estate outside Chicago, which is listed for $14.855 million, “we were able to talk about the breakfast club, which was a group of his teammates who got together for breakfast and to train at his house.”
Even former homes of everyone from Cher toGroucho Marx can gain publicity points for the lingering stardust.
4. Some stars are shy
Fame brings more eyeballs to a property, and sometimes more money. But it can cut both ways: Stars who value privacy must take extraordinary steps to hide their ties to a home.
That can start when the home is bought, by using a trust name and address that’s not traceable to the real owner. Still, photographers and fans have a way of ferreting out celebrities’ homes — one reason that, by the time they sell, they’re ready to leverage their celebrity.
Even then, the going can be rough.
One star had people trying to climb over his fence as soon as news of his listing hit, said Sally Forster Jones of the John Aaroe Group. She has brokered her share of celebrity real estate transactions, including for Mariel Hemingway, Candy Spelling and baseball player Coco Crisp.
5. Other celebs are just weird
It helps when celebrity sellers move to another home so prospective buyers can drop by without invading their privacy. But some insist on staying.
Christophe Choo of Coldwell Banker Previews International in Beverly Hills had one client who hung out in her bedroom during showings and hid behind a screen while potential buyers were in the room.
“I can’t tell you how private some of these clients are,” he said.
6. Watch out for looky loos
People used to dropping by open houses just to snoop can forget about that with celebrity homes — or almost any luxury listing.
Agents are good at sussing out whether you have the dough to buy a place, and whether you’re genuinely interested. There’s the Internet, the polite-but-probing telephone interview, and the network of other agents. Some agents require people to come with their own real estate agents.
“We vet who the buyer is, so they’re not going to see a home just because of the star appeal,” said Forster Jones.
On occasions when an open house is permitted for a select group of brokers, there will often be security guards in bedrooms and even in large closets, Choo said. “There can be maybe 10 people manning a private open house.”
7. Keep the entourage happy
Control is a big deal for many high-end clients, whether they’re used to the limelight or the board room.
“A well-paid billionaire or businessman likes to be in control of situations,” Choo said. Even celebrities who are not control freaks can have PR managers, lawyers and others who are, he said, adding that he can’t mention the names of famous clients whose homes he’s sold.
Read the original article here
Kofi Nartey is not your average real estate broker. Heading up the newly-created Compass Global Sports & Entertainment Division, his past experience as a former athlete and actor gives him a certain edge and knowledge that most real estate brokers might not have.
With over 13 years of industry-leading experience, he’s worked with high profile clients such as Kevin Durant, Iggy Azalea, and Michael Jordan. Now that the LA Rams are back and kicking off with a pre-season game on August 13 against the Dallas Cowboys, we sat down to discuss how Nartey is helping the team relocate, how he gets his game face on before meeting a client, and the hottest neighborhoods in LA right now.
Did your past experience as a former athlete and actor help in dealing with high-profile clients? KOFI NARTEY: It definitely gives me an advantage because I’ve been in similar spaces. When I transitioned into real estate, it did a couple of things for me. Most of the athletes I meet, there’s always someone that we know in common. And the same thing [goes] with the entertainment space. The degree of separation is drastically reduced, and the understanding and appreciation of the lifestyle are increased because of that.
How do you get your “game” face on before you meet with a client? KN: (laughs) Well, my game face is very similar. I’m writing a book called Sellebrity, and it’s about breaking into and servicing the sports and entertainment industry. In that book, I have two chapters: Things That I’ve Learned From Sports and Things That I’ve Learned From Acting. In terms of getting my game face on it’s because I’ve practiced what I said. Actors review their lines, know their script, know the people that they’re going to deliver the lines to, and how that effects what you’re going to say. It’s knowing what I’m doing, understanding it, knowing it well, and feeling confident about it.
Did you help relocate any of the LA Rams this year? KN: We’re still working with some of them now. We have a full team that helps with everything beyond real estate itself. My immediate team focuses on finding the properties, whether it’s a purchase or a lease. Then we have our sole concierge arm, which helps with movers, car transport, getting enrolled in schools, finding a nanny, finding a cleaning service, all of the above.
With the Rams coming to LA, what’s the energy been like? KN: Personally, it’s been exciting. I had the good fortune of having met Stan Kroenke, the owner of the Rams, and Jeff Fisher, head coach of the Rams. That’s what I talked about with them—it wasn’t about business, it was about the excitement of having football back in LA and what that means for those Sunday outings with the family, watching the game, the energy of the crowd, and so forth.
What are the hot neighborhoods in LA right now? KN: LA has so many pockets. The Hollywood Hills continue to remain in demand. Things are picking up in Calabasas and Thousand Oaks because of the Rams coming into town and looking for property out in those areas. We see growth in the Silicon Beach area and Venice continues to stay hot. And even as you go east to Silverlake and Los Feliz, [things] have been heating up.
