Donald Trump's childhood home haunted by negative presidential campaign as auction postponed and price cut
The Republican nominee lived there until he was four years old and may have fond memories of the estate, but it has failed to attract big buyer interest since it hit the market
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump’s childhood home in a leafy, suburban estate in Queens is generating a lot less buyer attention than the glass skyscrapers along Fifth Avenue.
An hour subway ride from Trump Tower, the much more modest five-bedroom, five-bathroom home in Jamaica Estates, where the presidential nominee grew up with his parents and siblings, is selling for a suggested price of $1.25 million at auction.
"That is where I was born," the Republican said when comedian Jimmy Fallon showed him an image. "I had a really good childhood; oh that's sad to look at that, I want to buy it."
Despite intensive media interest in the Republican, the price of his first home has been slashed by $149,000 earlier this month.
Other five-bedroom houses in the region are selling for as much as $2 million.
Misha Haghani from Paramount Realty USA told The Independent that the auction was rescheduled to allow buyers more time.
"We’ve just lowered it towards the reserve price, the price closer to their [the seller’s] actual expectations," he said.
The reserve price has been set but has not been disclosed, which means the owner can reject the winning bid if it does not exceed that price.
The current owner of the 2,500 square foot house paid around $780,000 for the home almost a decade ago, said Mr Haghani.
One potential purchaser, who did not want to be named, came out of the property on Sunday, studying a leaflet with pictures of wood panneling, kitchen tiles and a pink ceramic bathroom - far removed, some might say, from the black glass and steel towers that the Republican favours in 2016.
She said the house was "dated" but it had many beautiful features from the 1940s.
"The fireplace was great. Oh my god, the layout was amazing, I would make it into a palace — the attic was beautiful," she gushed.
But was she as impressed by Mr Trump?
"No, I won’t be voting for him," she said, before hurrying to her car.
The designer of the brick and stucco Tudor house, Donald Trump’s father, Fred, had lived in Queens for decades.
In 1927, when he was arrested by marching in support of the Ku Klux Klan, he was living around the corner, at 175-24 Devonshire Road.
A neighbour, Lily Philippe, who moved in across the road in Wareham Place in January 1994, is the second longest resident on the street.
She said she would not be voting for Mr Trump either.
"Hillary Clinton has a lot of baggage, but she’s the better choice," she said, sweeping autumn leaves in her front garden and waving to neighbours as they drove past.
"This area has changed a lot in my time,” she added. "Before me there were antique dealers and Cooper Union professors on this street. Now it is much more diverse."
In 1950, after four years on Wareham Place, four-year old Mr Trump and his family moved into another house that Trump Sr designed, which backs up to the first house's garden.
The new house still stands and is more like a mansion, with grecian-style pillars and a wide porch.
Would the current owner vote for Mr Trump?
"This whole media onslaught has been very unwelcome. No comment," he said, shutting the front door.
Although Fred Trump worked and lived locally, played golf in Queens, and even built houses, including a block of flats on the nearby Midland Parkway, there is no sign of Trump in the neighborhood.
There are rumours that Fred Trump placed his name under the saddle in the front doorways of his house and others - perhaps an inspiration for the golden, glitzy Trump branding of modern times.
The suggested opening bid for the house on Wareham Place is $849,000, which would be a bargain for the neighborhood. Bidders have to place a deposit of $90,000, and will have to buy due diligence documents that include Mr Trump’s birth certificate with the address on it.
But with reports that the Trump brand may be suffering as a result of Mr Trump’s election campaign, does Mr Haghani believe the bad press may further affect the value of the house on Wareham Place?
"As far as how much it affects the Trump property value, that remains to be seen - I’m not sure it will actually affect the value of the house," he said.
"It’s likely a family will buy the house and live in the wonderful community of Jamaica Estates, which is a great community with great schools and a nearby station."
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