The lot with the 700 m2 covered property and 500 m2 of parkland with a swimming pool remained vacant. The same occurred with a 45 m2 apartment in the seaside city of Mar del Plata (400 km south), valued at a base price of $65,000.
Taken from Infonews and AFP
Diego Maradona's iconic house in Villa Devoto, which had a starting price of US$900,000, received no bids in the international auction held online today, while the most expensive item was the painting "Between Fiorito and the Sky," which sold for US$2,150.
The "Auction of the 10", held by the Adrián Mercado group, ended at 2:15 p.m., after almost three hours, and raised $26,000, without any of the most valuable properties on display belonging to the former Argentine national team player being sold, such as a two-room apartment in Mar del Plata, two BMWs and a Hyundai multiseater.
As a fun fact, a game of toads that Maradona took to Dubai was sold: from a starting bid of 200 dollars, the hammer fell at 1,700.
"The object was located in one of the four living rooms that made up part of Diego's residence in Dubai. Every now and then, he would stop to throw some of the coins and challenge those who were visiting. Always, for one reason or another, he won," the organizers noted regarding lot 62.
The painting "Between Fiorito and the sky" that fetched the highest price, an oil painting measuring 1.70cm x 1.70cm, was created by the artist Lu Sedova.
When offering the most expensive properties, the auctioneer emphasized that the commission is "3%, not 8% like everything else we have sold, free of all debt and encumbrances.".
Thus, he offered the 2-room apartment in Mar del Plata for $65,000, "a super affordable price compared to what they're charging for rent," he said, trying to entice the participants.
Even so, there were no offers for that apartment or for the two BMW cars (based on $225,000 and $165,000) and a Hyundai multiseater ($38,000).
Nor was there one for the Villa Devoto chalet that Maradona gave to his parents, Doña Tota and Don Diego, with 700 square meters of covered area and whose starting price for the auction was $900,000.
In total, the auction house offered 87 lots, of which three were withdrawn before the operation began, leaving 22 unsold.
"That's the thing about auctions; you can't know the outcome until it's over. There were high expectations, but the reality is that it's always an unknown. That's just how our job is; you get used to it and prepared after so many years," Mercado told AFP.
About 1,500 people from Argentina, Mexico, the United States, Spain, England, Germany, Colombia, Venezuela, Belgium, Dubai and Brazil participated in the bidding, Mercado reported as the auction progressed.
In addition, 81,389 people saw the event advertisement and 98,140 "clicked to be able to enter to see the lots," he explained.
They also watched the auction, whose proceeds are destined for the heirs of Diego Maradona, with more than 100 interested parties who paid 600 pesos to access the event, a price that rose to 10 dollars for foreigners.
Sources: Infonews and AFP
