Kimi’s troubles extend to home, too

And I mean that, literally.

I just turned up a Bloomberg story, from a few days ago but which didn’t see to pop up the search charts before: Kimi Raikkonen is having difficulty selling his “second home” in Finland. Kimi now lives in Switzerland, where all the smart big money-makers go to avoid taxes.

Apparently, there is not a huge market around Helsinki for a 14.5 million Euro (about $21.5 million) home, even if the neighbors include fellow F1 champ Mika Hakkinen and Finland’s two political leaders. The house comes in just under 10,000 square feet (about 900 square meters).

Now, the Bloomberg story also points out that last year, before being dumped by Ferrari, Kimi was the second highest paid athlete in the world (being golf’s Tiger Woods). So having to sit on the property may not be the hardest thing in the world.

The home apparently is the most expensive on the market in Finland.

However — and here’s where this “fun celebrity story” gets a bit relevant — from some periphery dealings with a few rich and famous people, I know that their money doesn’t always extend as far as we’d expect it to. I know it is difficult to imagine that Kimi has serious money troubles, but the upkeep on that home — any taxes, whatever mortgage he’s likely paying (I’m assuming he didn’t drop cash on it when he bought it) — can add up and add up fast.

So not being able to off-load this home could affect his decision about 2010, especially when there are rumors that he might make more by not driving. It also could make the Nick Heidfeld to McLaren rumor a bit more substantial.

Don’t discount the affect of having this home on the market, anyway. And that isn’t even taking into account whether the home’s value has dropped in recent years.

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