Selling a luxury home is probably tough enough at the moment, so spare a thought for Atlanta, GA real estate salesman Lance Hempen, who when asked about “the man-size No. 7 woven onto the downstairs carpet of a certain Sugarloaf Country Club home”, tells prospective buyers, “It was my client™s college football number.   As Lionel Hutz might say, “there’s the truth….and, the truth.” From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Katie Leslie :

Vick™s Sugarloaf home isn™t a crime scene, and none of his dog-fighting misdeeds that sent him to prison were tied to the mansion. Still, real estate agent Hempen knows the name itself will keep some buyers at bay.

œI could not sell this home to an Atlanta Falcon, he said. œFrom a marketing standpoint, [Falcon teammates or employees] can™t do it. And for others it™s a moral issue.

Hempen said he has shown the home to nearly 45 qualified buyers ” a mix of athletes, entertainers, producers and other professionals ” 90 percent of whom already knew of the home™s owner. Besides, it™s public record, he noted.

œFor those who have made it to that point, they know what they™re coming to see, he said. œThey™re there because it doesn™t bother them.

Any discomfort with the Vick association may be outweighed by the eight-bedroom home™s offerings, such as its two-story foyer with a jaw-dropping chandelier and flanking curved stairways; an exercise gym with adjacent spa; a custom bar on the basement floor and an elevator. Most of Vick™s belongings have been packed up and moved out, save for large-scale items such as bedroom furniture, more than a half-dozen sectional sofas and an indoor golf simulator like those used in sporting goods stores.

Still, even those who have toured the home knowing of its owner are on the lookout for evidence of pets, some inquiring about a curious section of carpet in the master bedroom.

œThey ask: ˜Is this where he kept the dogs?™  Hempen said, explaining that the indentations they see came from the tiny feet of stools.