THIS. IS. HOW.
You "sell" your townhouse to an agent of a foreign government for $22.5 million dollars more than market value:
Also, billionaire Andrew Farkas, a close buddy of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the founder of real estate merchant bank Island Capital Group, has sold his townhouse at 12 E. 73rd St. to a representative of oil-rich Qatar for $42.5 million.
A real estate source told us, “Andrew sold it to Qatar directly, with no broker involved. They bought it because it backs directly onto their property at 7-9 East 72nd St. Andrew spent no expense renovating the place, but apparently it will be used for maids’ quarters.”
The source added, “Andrew was lucky because the Upper East Side townhouse market is slow. If he’d sold it on the open market, he’d have [gotten] $20 million for it.” He didn’t respond to requests for comment, nor did the consulate-general of Qatar.
https://pagesix.com/2017/07/03/qatar-buys-townhouse-just-for-the-maids/