If you’re a crypto kingpin looking for lavish living quarters in the Bayou City, Tony Buzbee has a deal for you.
The Houston trial lawyer and one-time mayoral candidate is looking to part ways with his one-acre brick mansion in the city’s upscale River Oaks neighborhood, and according to real estate brokerage Douglas Elliman, is open to accepting alternative currencies as payment for property’s $27.5 million listed price.
Indeed, down near the bottom of property agent Beth Cassidy’s description of the 12,000+ square-foot home—a stately affair boasting five bedrooms, a six-car garage and cavernous walk-in closets—sits an interesting note for potential buyers: “Bitcoin accepted as a form of payment.” According to The Wall Street Journal’s E.B. Solomont, Buzbee purchased the home with his then-wife Zoe in 2013 and paid in cash for the residence. Since then, Buzbee has remarried and, according to Solomont, is now looking to “take advantage of the market” and sell the property on Houston’s red-hot real estate market.
As for the Bitcoin aspect, the prospect of exchanging an unregulated digital currency in return for one of Houston’s most expensive current home listings presents an interesting quandary for a seller, particularly in light of recent fluctuations in the cryptocurrency market. An alternative currency based on a digital blockchain, Bitcoin and its crypto siblings are largely unregulated financial instruments subject to extreme volatility, particularly in recent months. After hitting record highs in November 2021, the price of a single Bitcoin has plummeted from $67,500 to just below $44,000 as of this writing—a 35 percent drop in value.
At current exchange rates, Buzbee’s River Oaks mansion would cost roughly 625 Bitcoin to buy, versus the 407 Bitcoin it would’ve cost at the currency’s November high. Thus it would appear Buzbee is betting his long term prospects on a big rally in the crypto-space. He would hardly be the first notable figure in recent memory to stake their financials at least partially in the realm of alt-currencies and crypto speculation. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson and New York City mayor Eric Adams are just a few high profile individuals who have opted to receive portions of their paychecks in Bitcoin or other non-fiat forms. Los Angeles Rams receiver Odell Beckham Jr. reportedly lost an estimated $350,000 after converting a $750,000 paycheck into Bitcoin during the ensuing crypto downturn, showcasing the high-risk nature of the largely unregulated crypto marketplace.
The good news for Buzbee, however, is any risk he undertakes with the sale of his home will be mitigated by surging property prices in Texas thanks to low mortgage rates. A Texas A&M study found that home values in the Lone Star State rose 18.6 percent year-over-year in 2021.
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