The ins and outs of Real Estate

Ed McMahon Facing Foreclosure!

ed-mcmahon, originally uploaded by Ranger Rad.

 

Tonight show co-host/announcer, Star Search Host, and Publisher's Clearing House Spokesperson; Ed McMahon is facing foreclosure on his 6 million dollar Beverly hills mansion!

 

85 year old McMahon was once reportedly worth over $200 Million dollars!  Today, after several divorces, bad investments, and bad financial advice, McMahon is over $644,000 behind on mortgage payments!

 

Yet, in 2003 McMahon won a 7 Million dollar law suit against his home's developer because of toxic mold in the home that killed his dog.  Yet, after his attorneys fees, and rebuilding and repairing the mansion, he apparently wasn't left with much!

 

The next person that McMahon, and many other stars in his shoes, should sue is his financial adviser! 

 

Stars, Celebrities, Athletes and Multi-Millionaires, listen up!  I am not a financial adviser nor financial planner, but I can tell you that when you have net worths in the multi-millions of dollars, don't finance homes that are less than 1/5th of your net worth, BUY THEM OUTRIGHT!

 

$6,000,000.00 is only 3% of $200,000,000.00!

 

(unless it's a super hot real estate market and you are buying the home to flip it for a fast profit) Forget about the mortgage interest being tax deductible, save the interest by paying cash, and prevent future foreclosure!   

 

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-06-04-mcmahon-foreclosure_N.htm?csp=34

 

World's Most Expensive (27 Story Single Family) Home!

billion dollar home, originally uploaded by andy_utoledo.

If you were one of the richest men in the world and had a net worth of over $43 Billion dollars, how big a family compound would you build and how much would you spend for it.

Mukesh Ambani, of Mumbai, India is worth $43 Billion dollars and he's building a 27 story 400,000 square foot single family home!  The home includes...

• A 65 seat theater
• A swimming pool and spa
• Six stories of parking
• Separate gyms for each family member
• four stories of open air gardens
• A ball room
• An ice room, (that makes snowfall as in winter climates)

Personally, I'm much more conservative than Mr. Ambani.  [No, seriously, when I was searching for homes I ultimately purchased one that was 30% less than I was approved for!]  If I were sitting on $43 Billion dollars, I'd build a family compound also, but on several hundred private acres and with everyone having their own separate abode.

For less than $50 million, one could build a luxury family compound with all the bells and whistles, and have it include 10 luxury single family homes for relatives and family members. 

With the savings I'd start a charitable organization, fight world hunger and poverty, give small business loans, and bail out home owners by allowing them to refinance at lower than the going interest rates, say 3.8% fixed for 30 years. 

Mr. Ambani's home was supposed to cost $1 Billion but is already over budget at $2 Billion and still isn't finished yet!

The home is obviously more about having the most expensive single family residence in the world, and the record and status symbol that goes along with it, than anything else!  The only problem is, that can't last.  Someone else will come along sooner or later and have to build a more expensive, taller and larger single family home, just to have the new world record!

Complete Article

http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/30/home-india-billion-forbeslife-cx_mw_0430realestate.html

Pictures

http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/30/home-india-billion-forbeslife-cx_mw_0430realestate_slide_2.html?thisSpeed=20000

Videos

http://www.forbes.com/video/?video=fvn/billionaires/er_billionairehome043008

At $140 million the previous world's most expensive home seems like a bargain.

 

Jose Canseco Vindicated and Foreclosed on!

Jose Canseco, a former AL MVP who made millions during his baseball career, has lost his Encino, California mansion to foreclosure.  Canseco said that "it didn't make financial sense to continue making payments" on the $2.5 million dollar home given the current state of the housing market.

Jose Canseco Vindicated, originally uploaded by william_lee_138.

Actually, It didn't make financial sense to have earned $35-$50 million dollars and have a mortgage on a $2.5 million dollar home in the first place!  Why, for the mortgage interest?  Chances are that if he had paid for the home over 30 years he would have ended up having spent $6-$7 million in principal and interest payments - substantially more than the homes $2.5 Million dollar price tag.

Other than drug use or ........... uh...........'steroids' I don't see how or why many multi-multi millionaire celebrities take out mortgages on properties that they could pay for outright.

Even if some of my posts on celebrities who loose their homes to foreclosure seem a bit harsh, it doesn't mean that I don't admire or like the celebrities otherwise.  For instance, while I'm not a big baseball or traditional sports fan, I have come to appreciate Jose Canseo for his blatant honesty and for basically giving the middle finger to organized baseball by outing it's acceptance and even encouragement of players' illegal use of steroids!      

It is speculated that many more celebrities, other than the few that I've reported on, have lost homes.....mansions to foreclosure.  Yet, Canseco is one of the first to publicly admit it.

His honesty is refreshing!

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=4768489

Ellen DeGeneres has sold her Montecito estate!

Ellen DeGeneres, originally uploaded by Project M·A·R·C.

Ellen DeGeneres  has sold her Montecito estate.  http://www.celebritybabylon.com/features/exclusive-ellen-sells-montecito-estate-for-20-mill/  Apparently, a viewer/fan of Ellen and her show saw the home when Ellen took matters into her own hands and did a show featuring her home and added the home to her website!

The home was purchased for 15.75 million and put back on the market six months later for 24 million, 52.38% more!  Of course, in this market, the 24 Million dollar listing price was extremely optimistic, if not totally unrealistic, even given the exclusive area and all of the remodeling and improvements that DeGeneres made to the property before re-listing it.

After we factor in the (undisclosed) amount that DeGeneres paid to upgrade the home, seller concessions to the buyer (if any), closing costs and real estate commissions when buying and selling the home, and capital gains taxes, her actual profit could be anything from 8 million dollars to fifty cents!  Worse yet, she could have even taken a loss!  Until you see the Settlement statement, you never know for sure.

One thing that is certain is that selling a home in the current real estate market depression and with the present credit crunch and economic recession [yes, I said the dreaded R word] is difficult for real estate agents and even more so for sellers to do themselves, especially given the fact that most people don't have their own network television shows, nor the incredible amounts of money that it would cost to do prime (day) time advertising on a major television network!

This is a very trying real estate market, and I'm happy that DeGeneres was able to finally sell her home, but .........since she sold the home through her own TV show, an awesome and super creative feat, maybe she should get a refund on her real estate commission?

http://www.celebritybabylon.com/features/exclusive-ellen-sells-montecito-estate-for-20-mill/

 

Ellen DeGeneres Selling Montecito California Mansion

ellendegeneres-11, originally uploaded by Alan Light.

Oscar 2007: Steven Spielberg takes a picture Ellen DeGeneres and Clint Eastwood, originally uploaded by idealterna.

Ellen DeGeneres is selling her Montecito, California home and is asking $24 million for it.   That's 52.38% more than the $15.75 million she paid for the home just six months ago!

This isn't the right market to try (retail) flipping homes in.  Especially in California, where buyers have walked away from $30,000-$50,000 or more down payments in droves, rather than close on homes that they've had accepted contracts to purchase!

I'm guessing that DeGeneres' home will be reduced several times before it is sold, and won't sell for close to what DeGeneres is asking. But......I wish her luck!

Britney Spears buys new Home

britney-spears, originally uploaded by seb the web 71.

Britney Spears has recently purchased a fully furnished Beverly Hills home. The 7,400 square foot home boasts a pool, a spa, a maid’s quarters, and six and a half bathrooms.

Spears reportedly plucked down 7.2 Million for her new digs. With a net worth of over 250 million she's proving herself to be a smart and conservative real estate investor/purchaser.

The home, with it's murals of trees and rolling hills, chandeliers and the like, is also being described as "the epitome of good taste."

Let's hope the furnished home also came with........ummm.......underwear. LOL

Click the link to see the pictures of her new beautiful home  http://usmagazine.com/node/4833

50 Cent buys Mike Tyson's 25 Million Dollar Mansion for 4.1 Million

50-Cent-Pictures-17, originally uploaded by barons_baby_girl.

Super star rapper 50 cents has purchased Boxer Mike Tyson's 52 room 48,000 square foot mansion, which originally listed for 25 million, for 4.1 Million!  I know we're in a buyer's market, but that's just ridiculous!

Tyson was reportedly worth over $300 Million at one time! I don't get it.  Where did all of the money go!

http://www.brasscu.com/articles/stry_temp.asp?aid=89

Sammy Sosa looses on Sale of Condo

I’m often told that I ‘look just like Sammy Sosa.’  So, it’s only fitting that I include some news of his condo sale last year among the stars and their homes info.

Sosa listed his 55th floor Lake Point towers condo, which was three combined units, for 4.5 million in February of 2005.  He had purchased the unit in 1997 for an undisclosed amount.  This usually means a stupid….I mean a stupendous amount of money!

At any rate, after several price reductions, he eventually sold the unit in September of 2005 for 2.1 million! 

Where are all of these super rich, charismatic ………..umm……’jock types’ when I’m looking to sell them some real estate?  I don’t know, probably tied up in goofy deals (that twist and turn) with the likes of Tony Rezko.

Actor Dustin Diamond; Screech of Saved by the Bell fame in Foreclosure!

Actor Dustin Diamond; “Screech” of Saved by the Bell fame is selling Autographed T-Shirts in an attempt to save his two story home from Foreclosure.  http://www.getdshirts.com.

Again, here is a (former) star who has made millions, yet took out a mortgage and is about to loose a home that is worth $250,000.00!  I don’t get it and I have to wonder if drugs didn’t also play a part in his financial ruin.

THE GAYEST CEREAL, originally uploaded by davecobb.

I did find the show entertaining at times when it was on television, but …….I’m going to have to take a pass on the autographed T-Shirts!  He’s doing stand up comedy, but I guess it isn’t going so well.

DSC01108.JPG, originally uploaded by linuxpunk81.

I hope he can get a gig at Dancing with the Stars, I really did find him funny on Saved by the bell.  And hey, at least he isn’t a moron like Michael Richards of “Seinfeld” fame.

http://www.foxnews.com/story0,2933,199934,00.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13406364/

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/dustin-diamond-save-my-house-screech-c1446.html

Whitney Houston Facing Foreclosure!

Word is out that superstar singer and …………….'crack head' Whitney Houston, is facing foreclosure on her New Jersey Mansion!  She is apparently more than 1 million dollars behind on her mortgage and tax payments and the home is scheduled to be auctioned off by the County Sheriffs! 

The singer also lost her suburban Atlanta home, which she had previously shared with soon to be ex-husband, Bobby Brown to foreclosure.  She had purchased the home in 2003 for 1.1 Million.  The home is now being sold by it’s new owner who is asking 1.4 million for it.

At one point in her career Houston was reportedly worth over 200 million dollars! 

⌂ Where did all of the money go? 
⌂ How did she end up owing more for the house than she paid for it?
⌂ With a 200 million dollar net worth, why didn’t she simply pay for the houses in cash?

I’m sorry to say it, but, I really don’t have a lot of sympathy for stars like her.  What should she do now?  I think she should take a page out of ‘Forrest Gump’s’ book and do what she does best.

Sing Whitney, SING!

http://news.aol.com/entertainment/music/articles/_a/houston-faces-mansion-foreclosure/20061116071909990001?cid=918