Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide while in prison in 2019.

The former financier left behind luxury real estate in a number of locales, including an enormous ranch in the Southwest.

His vast New Mexico property was listed a year ago for $27.5 million, a price that made it the most expensive home in the state. A year later, the price has been reduced by 22%, to $21.5 million. It’s now the third most expensive property in the state.

Zorro Ranch

Epstein purchased the sprawling 7,588-acre property about 40 miles east of Albuquerque in the early 1990s. He built a massive, 33,339-square-foot mansion on the site in 1993.

The secluded property near the tiny town of Stanley had a land-grazing deal with the state for approximately 1,300 acres of the parcel. That deal has since been canceled.

Proceeds from the sale of the ranch will go toward “the regular administration of the estate, including its payment of claimants, creditors, and taxes as necessary,” according to the Epstein estate.

The 11-square-mile property has several structures, including a three-story, four-bedroom main house; a caretaker’s home; a firehouse; a yurt; and stables. There’s also a grass airstrip as well as a hanger.

Despite all of its luxurious amenities, the ranch is plagued by the multiple crimes alleged to have taken place there.

Jeffrey Epstein’s previous properties

However, Epstein’s many crimes didn’t stop his other homes from eventually selling.

Epstein’s 28,000-square-foot Manhattan townhouse on the Upper East Side first came on the market in July 2020 for $88 million. The priced dropped to $65 million, and a buyer finally snapped up the seven-story monolith in 2021 for $51 million.

His Palm Beach palace, which was also associated with his nefarious crimes, was listed for $22 million in 2020. It was sold in 2021 for $18.5 million, with the buyer planning to tear down the waterfront home and building anew.

Who will buy Zorro Ranch?

In addition to the stigma associated with Epstein, the property has other challenges to overcome to attract an offer.

“The compound seems wildly expensive for the area,” says luxury specialist Dolly Lenz, founder and CEO of Dolly Lenz Real Estate. “The next lower-priced home/compound is asking $17.5 million, and is quite stunning with great provenance.”

Of course, the location is also a factor.

“New Mexico, nice as it is, certainly isn’t known as a top-flight ranch area such as Colorado, Wyoming, or Montana,” says Lenz, who notes that price reductions helped to move Epstein’s more desirable properties.

“New York and Palm Beach were blessed with world-class locations, addresses, grandeur, and scale, and yet were priced very well to sell quickly,” says Lenz. “Although all the homes will always be stained with horrible juju, the below-market sales prices made them very tempting indeed and too good to pass up.”

A local agent we spoke with agrees that the price needs to come way down.

“There are many other properties out there that offer more amenities and no dark history,” says Jacob A. Martinez with Keller Williams in Santa Fe. He believes the property is worth “no more than $10 million.”

Of potential buyers, Martinez says, “There are some interesting people out there, so you never know.”

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