Five reasons why no one's bidding for Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Villa

News trickled in earlier in the day that SBICap which is auctioning Vijay Mallya's properties on behalf of lenders had failed to get any bids for his lavish Kingfisher Villa in Goa. Earlier too, attempts at auctioning the 17,000 square feet centrally located Kingfisher House in the erstwhile headquarters of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, in Mumbai, had not met with success. SBICap has been trying to auction these properties to help lenders recover a little over Rs 7,000 crore that Mallya and his companies owe to them.

The reserve price for the Kingfisher Villa - the site of many of Mallya's lavish parties including his 60th birthday celebrations where Enrique Iglesias crooned for him and his friends - in Goa was set at Rs 85.29 crore. Not unreasonably high for the beach front property spread over three acres located in Candolim, Goa, considering the earlier base price which was set at Rs 150 crore. There were even murmurs of interest from hospitality companies given its location. But in the end, not even a single bid was made.

A property consultant in the town, who did not want to be identified, cited five possible reasons why no bids were made.

Clear titles and Litigation: Mallya is still battling it out in courts for a settlement and if it ends in his favour, the buyer may end up with prolonged litigation.

Attention and Scrutiny: Some prospective buyers might have stayed away so as to not attract too much attention. Such large deals are usually done quietly but buying any property of Mallya or his companies is guaranteed to attract public and media scrutiny, which they might want to avoid.

Miasma of ill-fortune: The property consultant also said that a small number of players who could afford to buy such properties, might think that it would bring bad luck. "Even though most might not admit it, the large buyers do look at things like Vaastu and the background of the property. Given Mallya's run of luck, they might have decided to not take chances," the consultant said.

Customisation: A highly customised Villa built to suit an individual's taste might not be of interest to a hospitality company.

Lower Price: Still some might be waiting to see how low the reserve price might go, before jumping into scoop up a steal, which is why he says several might have inspected the property but maybe waiting for others to show their hands before jumping into the bids. Irrespective of whether any or all of the reasons cited by the property consultant are accurate, lenders though will have to wait a little more before they sell Mallya's assets to recover money owed to them.