12 Celebrity Homes For Sale.....

A lifestyle is what you pay for; a life is what pays you...

Being a realtor, this caught my attention.  Always interesting to see how the "other" side lives....

 Celebrity homes are among the most glamorous and most expensive in today's real estate market and throughout the recession, celebs have had their share of trouble selling high-priced properties.

However, a celebrity listing can carry with it the intangible feature of being the former home of a pop culture personality, adding more allure than a larger pool or additional bedrooms may for a similar high-end home.


Real estate website Zillow compiled for CNBC.com a list of 12 celebrity homes that currently listed for sale, and as it turns out, each property is as unique as the celebrity who is selling.

Michael Jackson

Listing price: $28,995,000
Interior: 17,171 sqft
Bedrooms: 7
Bathrooms: 13


Although the listing price has dropped more than $9 million from 2008, it is also infamously the home where Michael Jackson passed away last year, which could potentially either lure or scare away buyers. Although Jackson did not own the home, he was renting it for a reported $100,000 per month while he rehearshed his "This is It" tour.


This French Chateau is located in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles and includes a "glamorous" theater room, wine cellar, elevator, gym, guest house, a pool and expansive gardens on the 1.26 acre property. The home also features 12 fireplaces and an indoor spa.
In order to even view the home, interested buyers must go through an extensive "pre-buying" check, to avoid any paparazzi.

Ricky Martin

Listing price: $18,900,000

Interior: 9,882 sqft

Bedrooms: 5

Bathrooms: 7


Singer Ricky Martin's home is listed for just under $19 million in Golden Beach, Florida. The two-story Mediterranean-style estate features a 108-foot stretch of private beach and 29,088 sqft of total land.



Dr. Phil McGraw
Listing price: $16,500,000
Interior: 11,036 sqft
Bedrooms: 8
Bathrooms: 7

Dr. Phil's Hollywood home is currently on the market for a cool $16.5 million. With a prime "north of Sunset" location, this Mediterranean villa is completely walled and gated and features a grand 2-story entry, theater room, gym, billiard room, a 2-bedroom guest house and an outdoor dining room. The estate sits on land measuring approximately 31,360 square feet.


Uma Thurman
Listing price: $14,200,000
Interior: N/A
Bedrooms: 7

Bathrooms: 6.5


For $14.2 million, you could be the owner of the home formerly owned by actress Uma Thurman. Located in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, this 5-story apartment features a full-floor master suite, grand parlor, a stylized garden, outdoor cooking area, roof deck and a separate guest apartment. Zillow's estimated monthly mortgage payment on this home comes to $76,623.


Mel Gibson
Listing price: $12,750,000
Interior: 5,403 sq ft
Bedrooms: 6
Bathrooms: 5.5

On nearly 2.6 acres in Malibu, California, one of Mel Gibson's several highly-priced homes is on the market. After being listed earlier this year at $14.5 million, the home is currently for sale at $12.75 million.

The home features "park-like" grounds, fruit orchards, a lighted tennis court, 3 guest houses, a detached gym, library and a garden cabana.


Carmelo Anthony
Listing price: $9,500,000
Interior: 21,083 sqft
Bedrooms: 8

Bathrooms: 15


Denver Nuggets superstar Carmello Anthony has a high valued piece of real estate on the market. The 21,083 sq ft house is located in Littleton, Colorado in the gated community of Polo Ridge Estates and features a 7 car garage, guest house, home theater, a three-stall barn with a pasture and a 54-foot pool.


Anthony has the chance to opt-out of his contract in 2011 and is expected to test out free agency. When his home was put on the market, it signaled to many in the sports world that he would likely be on the move to a NBA different team.


Nick Lachey
Listing price: $6,800,000
Interior: 4,722 sqft
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 4.5

The singer and TV personality purchased this house, which was formerly owned by fashion model Heidi Klum, for $5 million shortly after his highly publicized break up with Jessica Simpson. Since then, he's redecorated the home to be the "ultimate bachelor pad." It sits atop a ridge overlooking Los Angeles and the Pacific ocean.




Ed McMahon
Listing price: $4,600,000
Interior: 7,013 sqft
Bedrooms: 6

Bathrooms: 5.5


Another home in the market is that of the late Ed McMahon, who during the final years of his life struggled with the prospect of foreclosure on this property.


The Mediterranean-style estate is located in a prestigious area of Beverly Hills known as "The Summit" and features imported doors and "meticulously chosen" fireplaces. Sitting on approximately 1/3 of an acre, the home measures approximately 7,013 square feet.


Jerry Garcia
Listing price: $3,995,000
Interior: 7,189 sqft
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 6




For ultimate "Deadheads" in the market for a high end home - look no further than this property 35 miles north of San Francisco. Once home to the Greatful Dead's Jerry Garcia, it was the home he owned at the time of his death in 1995.


The home sits on 11 acres with views overlooking Mount Tamalpas, the Pacific Ocean and the skyline of Berkeley, California. The home features a long driveway bordered by palm trees, a theater with an 8'x10' screen, a master bedroom with a private deck and sauna and a 73,000 gallon swimming pool.
For a Grateful Dead enthusiast with nearly $4 million to spare, this home remains on the market.


Pierce Brosnan
Listing price: $3,900,000
Interior: 3,412 sqft
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 3.5

Another celebrity looking to unload property is actor Pierce Brosnan. The Malibu home, which is in close proximity to the beach, provides both ocean and mountain views.

The property also features tropical landscaping, while the home has several wide balconies and makes use of a flowing, open floorplan. According to Zillow, Brosnan purchased the home in 1996 for $600,000.


Mary Schmidt Amons
Listing price: $2,350,000
Interior: 15,000 sqft
Bedrooms: 6
Bathrooms: 5.5

Although other members of the "Real Housewives" have faced trouble with foreclosure, eviction and jail time, the Washington DC housewife, Mary Schmidt Amons, is listing her Virginia home without the backdrop of financial or legal hardship.


The home is located in the highly desirable Langley Farms neighborhood of McLean, Virginia, and includes a gourmet kitchen, a master suite with a private deck, sun room, library and 4-car garage. This 15,000 sqft home currently is on the market for $2.35 million.


John Wayne
Listing price: $2,263,000
Interior: 4,448 sqft
Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 4.5


That's right, if you want to live like The Duke, you can do so in his former home, located in Newport Beach, California. The property has been listed for about 1 month and has had two previous owners since John Wayne. It last changed hands in 1998 for $895,000.


The house borders the Big Canyon Golf Course, right by the tee for the fourth hole. The home features a two-story living room with floor-to-ceiling windows, parquet floors, marble fireplaces, balconies and a formal dining room with a custom console designed by Wayne himself.
This "Versailles style" home is currently on the market for $2,263,00

So what do you think?
 

I'm living my life, not buying a lifestyle......

Back To The Sunshine State...:)

If it's not fun, you're not doing it right.....

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.....

This past week has been hectic.  Lots of packing and gathering all sorts of papers we need to take back with us to Florida.

Finally the day is here and we will be leaving our home in Chicago until next year.  We are actually excited to be going back to Florida because now we have a goal and this always gives us something to look forward to and something that needs to be done..... right now that would be finding a place to call home again.

We are almost all packed.   Brutus also seems to be getting pretty excited because he just keeps running and running all the time....either he is nervous (doubt it), sad because he thinks we may be leaving him alone again or he has caught on to the excitement of a soon to have new home.  Arvid keeps telling him he will soon be living in a new home in Florida.  He (Brutus) seems happy and relaxed about that:)

We have really had a wonderful summer in Chicago.  Could not have asked for a better place to be in during the summertime.......now all set to head back to the warmth of The Sunshine State and a new place to call home.....



Until next year Chicago.....we have had the time of our lives:)

I'd rather have a moment of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special......

until next year Chicago....

A NO!! NO!!!!!

As a rule we always unplug the telephones before going to bed.  Unfortunately, for some reason Arvid forgot to turn off his cell phone last night and lo and behold 4:30 am our time the phone rings.

So it is 11:30 am somewhere else in the world but people please remember we have a time difference.  We live in different time zones!!!   This just goes out to those few people who live in their own world and sometimes tend to forget that there are others out there.....

Just something that irritates me...people being inconsiderate....not the first time it has happened.  Irrittates me because we have mentioned this time difference several times in the past.... 

until later....

The 10 Most Expensive Cities In The USA To Buy A Home

Only buy something that you'd be perfectly happy to hold if the market should shut down for 10 years.......

OK all.  While we were in the process of buying a place in Florida I did a little research on different properties and I came across an interesting article.

Here it is.....

According to the article,  Newport Beach, Calif., is the most expensive real-estate market in the country and Detroit is the most affordable.

The Coldwell Banker Home Listing Report looked at more than 18,000 four-bedroom, two-bathroom properties listed between February and August, in nearly 300 markets where the real-estate firm has a presence. The average listing price of the homes studied was $353,000, though there was a $1.7 million difference between the average price in the most expensive and most affordable markets.

The findings didn't produce many surprises: The most expensive markets can be found mainly in California and the Northeast, and the least expensive ones can be found in the Midwest.

 The 10 Most Expensive Cities to Buy a Home

People like the sun, they like the beaches, they like the mountains. [California] has been the land of opportunity.   It's one of the biggest economies in the world, and even its real-estate market has started to bounce back.
On the flip side, the middle of the country typically has more modest home prices. And cities like Detroit and Cleveland have been wrestling with depressed economies, bringing down home prices in those areas even more.

In Detroit, the average listing price is about $68,000. The monthly mortgage payment, including interest and principal, on a $68,000 home is $350.

The priciest cities

At the top of the list of most expensive markets is Newport Beach, the setting for many television shows, including "The O.C." and "Arrested Development," according to the Coldwell Banker news release. Five other California cities also made the list of the priciest markets.

Below are the most expensive cities, and their average listing prices, according to the report:

1. Newport Beach, Calif., $1.83 million

2. Palo Alto, Calif., $1.48 million

3. Rye, N.Y., $1.33 million

4. San Francisco, $1.33 million

5. La Jolla, Calif., $1.21 million

6. Greenwich, Conn., $1.20 million

7. Wellesley, Mass., $1.08 million
8. Pasadena, Calif., $1.04 million

9. Honolulu, $1.03 million

10. Santa Barbara, Calif., $1.02 million

I consider myself very fortunate because I have been to all of those cities in California with the exception of San Francisco which we plan to do sometime in the very near future.  California for me was a wonderful experience and I would highly recommend visiting that beautiful state....as you can tell by the pictures.


Most affordable cities

Nearly 30% of the markets studied had home prices that averaged $200,000 or less for a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home - a home size that some buyers may aspire to own, according to the report.

But average listing prices in the top 10 most affordable markets are much lower than that, with the average listing price in four of the cities below $100,000.

Right now the market is at one of it's lowest I have seen... yet for some reason it is so difficult to actually buy something......

Everyone says buying your first apartment makes you feel like an adult. What no one mentions is that selling it turns you right back into a child....

until next time....

6 Things You Think Add Value to Your Home -- But Really Don't

Man was created as a being who should constantly keep improving, a being who on reaching one goal sets a higher one.

Since we are in the process of buying a place I have been reading up quite a bit on advice from different sources.  In the end we make our own decision but it is also very good to have some external input.  With that in mind I came across this article which was helpful.  For those of you who are looking into buying you may also want to consider the following .....in the end though we all make our own choices depending on what is right for us.

Every homeowner must pay for routine home maintenance, such as replacing worn-out plumbing components or staining the deck, but some choose to make improvements with the intention of increasing the home's value. Certain projects, such as adding a well thought-out family room -- or other functional space -- can be a wise investment, as they do add to the value of the home. Other projects, however, allow little opportunity to recover the costs when it's time to sell.


Even though the current homeowner may greatly appreciate the improvement, a buyer could be unimpressed and unwilling to factor the upgrade into the purchase price. Homeowners, therefore, need to be careful with how they choose to spend their money if they are expecting the investment to pay off. Here are six things you think add value to your home, but really don't:

1. Swimming Pools

Swimming pools are one of those things that may be nice to enjoy at your friend's or neighbor's house, but that can be a hassle to have at your own home. Many potential home buyers view swimming pools as dangerous, expensive to maintain and a lawsuit waiting to happen. Families with young children in particular may turn down an otherwise perfect house because of the pool (and the fear of a child going in the pool unsupervised). In fact, a would-be buyer's offer may be contingent on the home seller dismantling an above-ground pool or filling in an in-ground pool.

An in-ground pool costs anywhere from $10,000 to more than $100,000, and additional yearly maintenance expenses need to be considered. That's a significant amount of money that might never be recouped if and when the house is sold.

2. Overbuilding for the Neighborhood

Homeowners may, in an attempt to increase the value of a home, make improvements to the property that unintentionally make the home fall outside of the norm for the neighborhood. While a large, expensive remodel, such as adding a second story with two bedrooms and a full bath, might make the home more appealing, it will not add significantly to the resale value if the house is in the midst of a neighborhood of small, one-story homes. (Overbuilding might be anticipating your neighborhood's next move.)

In general, home buyers do not want to pay $250,000 for a house that sits in a neighborhood with an average sales price of $150,000; the house will seem overpriced even if it is more desirable than the surrounding properties. The buyer will instead look to spend the $250,000 in a $250,000 neighborhood. The house might be beautiful, but any money spent on overbuilding might be difficult to recover unless the other homes in the neighborhood follow suit.

3. Extensive Landscaping
Home buyers may appreciate well-maintained or mature landscaping, but don't expect the home's value to increase because of it. A beautiful yard may encourage potential buyers to take a closer look at the property, but will probably not add to the selling price. If a buyer is unable or unwilling to put in the effort to maintain a garden, it will quickly become an eyesore, or the new homeowner might need to pay a qualified gardener to take charge. Either way, many buyers view elaborate landscaping as a burden (even though it might be attractive) and, as a result, are not likely to consider it when placing value on the home.

4. High-End Upgrades

Putting stainless steel appliances in your kitchen or imported tiles in your entryway may do little to increase the value of your home if the bathrooms are still vinyl-floored and the shag carpeting in the bedrooms is leftover from the '60s. Upgrades should be consistent to maintain a similar style and quality throughout the home. A home that has a beautifully remodeled and modern kitchen can be viewed as a work in project if the bathrooms remain functionally obsolete. The remodel, therefore, might not fetch as high a return as if the rest of the home were brought up to the same level. High-quality upgrades generally increase the value of high-end homes, but not necessarily mid-range houses where the upgrade may be inconsistent with the rest of the home.

In addition, specific high-end features such as media rooms with specialized audio, visual or gaming equipment may be appealing to a few prospective buyers, but many potential home buyers would not consider paying more for the home simply because of this additional feature. Chances are that the room would be re-tasked to a more generic living space.

5. Wall-to-Wall Carpeting

While real estate listings may still boast "new carpeting throughout" as a selling point, potential home buyers today may cringe at the idea of having wall-to-wall carpeting. Carpeting is expensive to purchase and install. In addition, there is growing concern over the healthfulness of carpeting due to the amount of chemicals used in its processing and the potential for allergens (a serious concern for families with children). Add to that the probability that the carpet style and color that you thought was absolutely perfect might not be what someone else had in mind.

Because of these hurdles, wall-to-wall carpet is something on which it's difficult to recoup the costs. Removing carpeting and restoring wood floors is usually a more profitable investment.

6. Invisible Improvements
Invisible improvements are those costly projects that you know make your house a better place to live in, but that nobody else would notice -- or likely care about. A new plumbing system or HVAC unit (heating, venting and air conditioning) might be necessary, but don't expect it to recover these costs when it comes time to sell. Many home buyers simply expect these systems to be in good working order and will not pay extra just because you recently installed a new heater. It may be better to think of these improvements in terms of regular maintenance, and not an investment in your home's value.

The Bottom Line

It is difficult to imagine spending thousands of dollars on a home-improvement project that will not be reflected in the home's value when it comes time to sell. There is no simple equation for determining which projects will garner the highest return, or the most bang for your buck. Some of this depends on the local market and even the age and style of the house. Homeowners frequently must choose between an improvement that they would really love to have (the in-ground swimming pool) and one that would prove to be a better investment. A bit of research, or the advice of a qualified real estate professional, can help homeowners avoid costly projects that don't really add value to a home.

So before you start over improving on your home think if you will ever recoup what you put into in.  If this is of no concern then my advise is to go ahead overimprove...it's yours and why not live in the most beautiful space you can create......just like my sister did.  This is her backyard and they enjoy it everyday....

There comes a point through where “SUPER SIZE” does not necessarily equal Kick Awesome......

until next time...

CHOICES....House Or Condo?????

 Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions. 

We have been looking and looking online in the MLS now for day and days trying to decide on a place to live. 

I have come across hundreds of properties......so many beautiful places to choose from.  Of course among all these gorgeous places there are also tons of scary looking ones. 

Being reators we know that pictures do not tell the entire story when it comes to buying a place and for that reason we need to be there to look and to make sure we are getting the right place.

  

 

 

Here are some pictures of what I have come across so far.  Of course will only show the nice ones because who really wants to see the scary ugly ones?

So many choices.....now just to find something .... 

In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.....

until next time...