A gentle old soul like Yolanda knows precious little about sports — professional or otherwise — but even we know that the world of pro boxing can be a highly lucrative — ahem — “arena”. It’s almost unfathomable to us how people like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather have tens of millions from bashing other folks’ faces in, but that’s America for y’all. And we love it nonetheless. There’s so many roads to wealth in the good ol’ US of A.
33-year-old bachelor Andre Mike Berto may not be quite as well-known as Manny or Money, but he nonetheless was once the world WBC Welterweight champion (until his 2011 defeat courtesy of Victor Ortiz). He’s also got more than 156,000 followers on Instagram and has apparently been in enough bloody brawls to stockpile a $6,620,000 wad of cash. We know that because he just dumped that much on a brand-new contemporary house located in a prime area of Beverly Hills.
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To be precise, the property is located in the foothills — several blocks north of Sunset and tucked in between Coldwater and Benedict canyons. The house also has the luxury (if that’s how you look at it) of having some very rich and powerful new neighbors. Just a few doors up the street is the massive Pickfair estate, currently owned by Korea-born businessman Corry Hong. Next door to that is another huge house that billionaire Alki David sold to ex-con Victorino Noval for a whopping $24,950,000 last month. And directly across the street from Pickfair is a two-mansion compound owned by billionaire Elaine Wynn.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Crafted by Bravia Design, Mr. Berto’s new pad includes a large (but not humongous) 4,922-square-feet of living space with an ample 5 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms. Things are as you might expect indoors: expensive-looking hardwood floors, LED recessed ceiling lighting, smart home technology, top-of-the-line appliances, and disappearing glass doors/walls. And all this on a .33-acre parcel.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Perhaps the most striking feature of the property is the mammoth kitchen, which seems to stretch on endlessly and includes slim skylights and swanky Miele gadgets.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
The master bedroom has hardwood floors and a private balcony overlooking a small slice of Beverly’s rolling hills. We’re not fond of the overly stark bathroom with its slim counter space and the tub wedged bizarrely between the two vanities.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
There are lots of classically outdoor/indoor blended spaces like covered patios and rooms with walls of glass. Plenty of room here for entertaining or a friendly family fistfight.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
The home’s exterior is very contemporary in that very forgettable way. Blah. Although it ain’t huge, the backyard does have a patch of grass and a rectangular pool.
Now, professional sports stars often have a rep for making poor financial decisions. But our Mr. Berto did indeed buck the trend with this purchase, or so it would seem. You see, although the $6,620,000 sale price may seem like a huge amount of money — and it is — it’s actually more than $3 million less than the $9,750,000 that the seller originally wanted for the house back in February (2016). After more than a year on the market, a brokerage change and multiple pricechops, along came our Haiti-connected buyer.
So either Mr. Berto got a great deal or the house was almost ludicrously overpriced, eh?
Although he’s playing in the big real estate leagues in Beverly Hills, Mr. Berto appears to keep things almost shockingly modest in his sunshine-y home state of Florida. His main residence is a 2,874-square-foot house in the not-quite-fancy town of Winter Haven. The property is located on an unassuming cul-de-sac in a gated community, and records show Mr. Berto paid $340,000 for the premises back in 2006. Low as that price point may seem, he must’ve still overpaid because Yolanda dug up evidence that the house was on the open market last year with an asking price of just $274,000. And it does not appear to have sold.
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And what guy doesn’t love his mama? Mr. Berto sure does. On Mother’s Day 2016, he presented his mama with something a little different than the typical red rose bouquet — a $1+ million dollar home (also in Winter Haven).
Home sweet (!) home.
Listing agent: Blair Chang, The Agency