Million-dollar homes are hard to find around Springfield.
It’s not because they don’t exist. It’s because Missouri is a real estate sales nondisclosure state – one of maybe 10 in the nation.
The absence of a disclosure law puts comparable sales data exclusively in the hands of real estate agents and those who pay for multiple listing services – unless the million-dollar home is built by fraud. That’s the case of a $1.6 million mansion in Bois D’Arc, a rural town about 15 miles west of Springfield. This month, businessman
Michael Ussery was sentenced on 12 counts of bank fraud related to the 16,700-square-foot home’s construction reportedly beginning in 2007. The 12-acre property on a private drive at 1780 S. Circle U Lane is now in James Bonis’ name, according to Greene County assessor records.
Without Ussery’s missteps in carrying out a fraudulent plan and a subsequent federal investigation, little would be known about this Bois D’Arc mansion barely visible through the trees from Interstate 44.
My next thought is how many million-dollar homes exist in our market? The Greene County assessor could help identify those upon request, but that’s based on taxable appraised values that might not equate in the fair market.
The problem is nondisclosure states do not require sellers or buyers to provide price information to third parties, typically government agencies. Disclosure laws provide actual numbers rather than statistical gauges.
So following our natural curiosities, we can assemble our own lists from observations, conversations, real estate websites and the available public record, which also serves to verify the aforementioned sources.
Here’s a smattering: There’s contractor DuWayne Eoff’s 10,620-square-foot property in south Springfield. There’s a 15,180-square-foot residence owned by the Larry P. O’Reilly Trust north of Millwood. There’s Tim O’Reilly’s 7,500-square-foot home tucked away off East Battlefield. Behind the gates of Highland Springs Country Club, rows of seven-figure homes are on Eaglescliffe Drive and Glen Abbey. In Rogersville, there’s former NFL player Grant Wistrom’s nearly 7,000-square-foot pad on 10 acres. And there’s dermatologist Raffaele Pennella’s 8,500 square feet on tree-covered Pickwick in Springfield’s old-money neighborhood.
Then trucking magnate Robert Low’s 200-acre horse farm and 26,500-square-foot residence under construction isn’t even in the same ballpark.
The public data through the Greene County assessor’s office is limited.
But in other parts of the state, say in St. Louis and Jackson counties, transaction values are required to be reported to governing bodies.
While Missouri is in the minority of nondisclosure states, it’s actually an island all to its own. We live in a hybrid state. Because the legislature is silent on disclosure laws, only the handful of charter counties can set their own disclosure laws – and they have, says Greene County Assessor Rick Kessinger.
All states but Missouri have answered the disclosure question.
It’s time that changed.
At least one state representative has tried. For several years Democrat Jeanne Kirkton, of Webster Groves, has filed sales disclosure bills only to watch them die. Again this year, House Bill 2579 calls for a certificate of value reported to the assessor when property deeds are recorded.
Push back might come from the real estate industry. However, in talks with executives of the local and state Realtor associations, neither has a position on the matter. They indicated, though, real estate professionals would oppose a law change if challenged.
“My guess is we are a nondisclosure state because of our heritage of privacy and the ‘that’s none of your business’ mindset,” says Jeff Kester of Carol Jones Realtors and the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors president.
That makes the battle ideological – and maybe more personal than industry based.
I could understand Realtors wanting to hold on to the exclusive rights to actual sales data to bring more value to their work. But sales disclosure works for the public and for the industry in some 40 states.
Why not Missouri?
Springfield Business Journal Editor Eric Olson can be reached at eolson@sbj.net.
