Russian spy Anna Chapman wasn't just a lingerie model and corporate spokeswoman; before she got shipped back to the motherland, she was also a New York real estate agent. So the release of new FBI documents this week that detailed Chapman's alleged espionage activities got us to thinking about why selling real estate is the ... Continue Reading »

American families have gotten pretty creative in coming up with ways to trim the budget on vacations. So here's a vacation idea that could save the whole country money. HomeAway, a company that arranges vacation stays in private homes, crunched the numbers and came up with this fun factoid: If the First Family rented ... Continue Reading »

This mansion's appearance fits well with the name of its town, Fort Washington, Pa. That's because the residence, named "Arbor Hill," looks and feels like a fort. Or perhaps we should say castle (a word that seems to do more justice to its stucco and concrete exterior). OK, compromise: We're going with "fortress." ... Continue Reading »

There are man caves and then there are man caves. This oceanfront La Jolla home has the mother of all man caves: a 27-seat home theater with 10 screens so that you can watch simultaneous sporting events without switching channels. The home theater cost $1 million, according to the listing and has a state-of-the-art ... Continue Reading »

Matt Drudge, who runs the conservative news website The Drudge Report, just plopped down $1.45 million in cash to buy a second home in South Florida. The Miami Herald reports that his new home is a 6,400-square-foot ranch that's fit for a recluse -- which the 45-year-old Drudge is known to be. Uber-private, the home ... Continue Reading »

Pearl and Bud Crispell hit the road in their RV the day after they retired in 1976. And for decades, that's where they stayed, living in their 40-foot motor home and traversing the country at will. But, as is the eventual story of all road warriors, the day came when they hit the proverbial dead end. Unable to manage ... Continue Reading »

Built in 1932 for the renowned American muralist Ezra Winter, this 8,000-square-foot house/studio in Northwestern Connecticut is the housing equivalent of Suzanne Sommers -- it is simply age-defying. Now listed for $3.45 million, the 82-acre estate has had some touch-ups through the years -- the studio was renovated ... Continue Reading »

Don't cry for him Argentina, for the truth is he never visited you anyway. Gazillionaire Larry Ellison has listed his Woodside, Calif., property at $19 million, which is a few million less than he reportedly paid in 2005. Sorry, we're still not crying here; Forbes puts his wealth at about $33 billion, so this is chump ... Continue Reading »

By Nancy Hiller Like most girls born circa 1960, my sister and I were raised to want two things in life: a husband and a house, in that order. So pervasive was this expectation among the members of our middle-class, third-generation-American cohort that it did not even have to be spoken. The message was everywhere -- in ... Continue Reading »

AOL Real Estate asked Utah-based real estate investors Doug Clark and Mike Bard, whose show "Flip Men" premieres this week on Spike TV, for tips on how to flip a foreclosed home. Here's what they had to say to novice investors: 1. Pick a property that is well within your means. Don't allow yourself to get too ... Continue Reading »

Perhaps not everyone shares our belief that Halloween should be declared a national holiday with schools closed and mail delivery halted. But for those who embrace the holiday for what it is -- a chance to dress up in clever costumes and hit up strangers for vast quantities of candy -- AOL Real Estate offers this guide to ... Continue Reading »

You've heard the expression that there's no such thing as bad pizza, right? That's kind of how it is with houses in Malibu, Calif. Throw in a view of the Pacific Ocean and the random dolphin-sighting, and what more do you really need? But the truth is, occasionally a house comes down the pike that makes you remember ... Continue Reading »

Sorry, did I just repeat myself? There are moments when it's clear that I simply don't have anything more to say. Thank you to Curbed for helping me realize this. So in a supreme example of meta-journalism, I will quote Curbed who quoted me: "I've been waiting an entire journalism career to write this next sentence: ... Continue Reading »

We totally trust Simon Cowell's sharp eye for picking the best and his even-sharper tongue for dismissing anything short of it, so are paying close attention to the house that sources say he recently bought in Beverly Hills' Trousdale Estates. It wasn't an active listing, but sources say he paid about $13.5 million for the ... Continue Reading »

Saddle River, N.J. comes in at No. 2 on the list of richest towns in the Garden State, according to Wikipedia. That tells us the place is brimming with mega-mansions. But we think it's safe to say that only a rare few can compete with this $12.995 million whopper. Case and point: The 19,000-square-foot dwelling delivers ... Continue Reading »