AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog/media/feedlogo.gif AOL Real Estate - Blog http://realestate.aol.com/blog en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Best Cities for Sports Fanshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/02/02/best-cities-for-sports-fans-new-england-new-york/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/02/02/best-cities-for-sports-fans-new-england-new-york/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/02/02/best-cities-for-sports-fans-new-england-new-york/#commentsFiled under: , ,



Not all cities are created equal, and some cities are certainly better than others when it comes to sports. The more major league sports teams a city has, the more a it has to offer to those who love the game. Additionally, the more successful a team, the happier its fans become. With this in mind, 24/7 Wall St. set out to identify the best cities for sports fans.

In order to decide which cities have the luckiest fans, we started with those that have at least two professional teams in or near the city. We then ranked each city based on the number of teams it has and the total number of sports the teams represented. We also factored in the popularity of the teams -- based on attendance and change in attendance -- the win-loss records of the teams in each city, and the number of championships each team won. (Click the gallery below.)

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A good city for sports fans has to have lots of teams. And not just the number of teams matters, but also the diversity of sports they represent. A city has to have at least one team in each of the four major sports: hockey, baseball, football, and basketball. A city like Chicago, which has at least one team in each sport, is ranked higher than Los Angeles, which also has 6 sports franchises, but doesn't have an NFL team.

Arguably, nothing is more important to sports fans than winning. 24/7 awarded points to a city for each team that had a win-loss in the top 50 percent of its league. The New England Patriots earn Boston a point for having won three games for every one it lost over the last 10 seasons. Neither of New York's two basketball teams -- the Nets nor Knicks -- earned a point in this category, because their 10-season records are in the bottom half compared to the rest of the NBA. We also awarded points for each championship won by a team in the past 10 years.

Finally, a good community of fans is also necessary. We awarded points for cities where home game attendance increased significantly in the past 10 years. The Detroit Tigers, whose annual home attendance increase by more than 1 million fans between 2002 and 2011, earned a point. On the other hand, the St. Louis Cardinals' attendance declined, not earning the city a point, despite the fact that attendance in 2011 was higher than in Detroit. A city also ranked better if teams regularly sold at or above capacity over the course of the year.


More from 24/7 Wall St:
10 Cities Crushed by the Global Recession
Eight Brands that Wasted the Most on the Super Bowl
The 10 Most Educated Countries in the World

 

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]]>Adrian PetersonAnaheim DucksBostonBoston Red SoxCalvin JohnsonChicagoChicago BlackhawksChicago White SoxColorado AvalancheDallasDenverDenver NuggetsGreen Bay PackersLos AngelesLos Angeles ClippersLos Angeles DodgersLos Angeles KingsMatthew StaffordMinnesota TimberwolvesMinnesota TwinsMinnesota VikingsMinnesota WildMontreal ExposNational Football League playoffsNBA FinalsNew England PatriotsNew YorkNew York CityNew York GiantsNew York KnicksNew York MetsNew York YankeesPhiladelphiaSportsSt. Louis CardinalsStanley CupSuper Bowl VIITim TebowTwin citiesWall StreetWashington CapitalsWorld Series24/7 Wall St.2012-02-02T14:00:00+00:00Home Staging Magic: Vacant Home Gets Major Makeoverhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/01/12/home-staging-magic-vacant-home-gets-major-facelift/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/01/12/home-staging-magic-vacant-home-gets-major-facelift/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2012/01/12/home-staging-magic-vacant-home-gets-major-facelift/#commentsFiled under: ,

By Roslyn Ashford, Zillow Blog Contributor

Plenty of home stagers will tell you that the best time to hire one is every time a home is listed for sale. But as a stager, I have found some homes need more staging assistance than others. My experience has found that the strongest cases for home staging are either:

o. Vacant properties with an open floor plan (e.g., a living and dining combo)
o. Vacant properties with rooms that seem small, or their purpose is confusing

While some buyers can visualize their possessions in a vacant home, staging certainly helps the seller when furniture, art and accessories showcase a home's layout and help potential buyers see it as a home. A great example is a home for sale in Takoma Park, Md., that we recently staged (photos below). The layout was a bit awkward as the house had been recently renovated, but some of the architectural elements of the original home remained intact, as shown below.

Before:







After:









More on Zillow:
Financial Resolutions for 2012
You Bought a Home and the Basement Flooded. Now What?
See Top 5 Requests for Home Design

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]]>home staginghomes for sale in Takoma Parkhow to sell your houseTakoma Park real estatevacant homesZillow2012-01-12T13:15:00+00:00Best Gingerbread Houses Ever?http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/12/22/best-gingerbread-houses-ever/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/12/22/best-gingerbread-houses-ever/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/12/22/best-gingerbread-houses-ever/#commentsFiled under:



It's that time of year again, when soccer moms, competitive decorators, and children of all ages turn over-baked cookies into confectionery masterworks -- that's right: gingerbread houses.

Using photos from two of Curbed.com's totally rad gingerbread house slideshows (one New York-centric, the other a nationwide free-for-all), we've put together a gallery of 15 of the most elaborate, aesthetically delectable gingerbread houses around. Click the gallery below to kick the holidays into full gear.

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Also see:
Google Engineer Turns Home Into Gamer's Fantasy-LAN
Artist Constructs Victorian House of Legos
Hair Castle Raises Wonder and Disgust

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]]>best gingerbread housescandy cane housescandy housesChristmas gingerbreadChristmas housesgingerbread housegingerbread houseshouses gingerbreadTeke Wiggin2011-12-22T11:10:00+00:00Watch the Bay From Pamela Anderson's Rentalhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/28/pamela-anderson-renting-malibu-colony-beach-house/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/28/pamela-anderson-renting-malibu-colony-beach-house/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/28/pamela-anderson-renting-malibu-colony-beach-house/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

pamela anderson"Baywatch" queen Pamela Anderson -- and for the record, we're Borat-size Pamela fans -- is either giving the website Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO) a major publicity boost or the businesswoman in her (the only Malibu mom we've ever seen reading The Wall Street Journal at Little League games) sees a way to put her empty Malibu Colony home to good use. We suspect it's both. The rental price to sleep where Pamela once slept: $20,000 a week or $75,000 a month.

The Canadian-born Anderson identified herself on the VRBO site as the property owner and explains that she has been traveling a lot and spending more time with family in Canada. Who needs an empty property that is just sucking up money for mortgage and taxes and not earning its keep?

The house is described as a three-bedroom with a pool and rooftop deck. She proclaims her remodel of the green "Lautner-inspired" home as her "humble stab at perfection." Anderson, known as an animal rights activist, welcomes well-behaved dogs.

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Readers, what do you think? How much is celebrity afterglow worth to you?

Click on the images below to see other celebrity real estate recently on the market in Malibu and beyond:



See more celebrity real estate and homes for sale in Malibu, Calif., on AOL Real Estate.

See also:
Bruce Willis Lists His Idaho Ski Retreat
Lady Gaga's Pre-Stardom Pad Hits Market
Rent Oprah's Chicago Co-op for $15,000 a Month

 

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]]>BaywatchBoratcelebrity homescelebrity real estateMalibu ColonyMalibu Colony homes for rentPamela AndersonAnn Brenoff2011-11-28T14:40:00+00:00Bruce Willis Lists His Idaho Ski Retreathttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/23/bruce-willis-lists-his-idaho-ski-retreat/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/23/bruce-willis-lists-his-idaho-ski-retreat/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/23/bruce-willis-lists-his-idaho-ski-retreat/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,




Actor Bruce Willis is a fixture on the Sun Valley Idaho real estate scene, owning multiple properties in the ski resort area. He's about to own one less though, having just put his 20-acre, lakefront ranch on the market for $15 million.

Willis' agent, Janine Bear with Sun Valley Sotheby's International Realty, told The Wall Street Journal that Willis is selling because he just isn't spending enough time there. He bought and rebuilt the 8,400-square-foot main house in 2003. The property in Hailey includes a detached guesthouse and Willis added a gym. There is also a heated pool with water slides, a waterfall and a rope swing, as well as several man-made ponds on the grounds.

Willis (pictured at left) starred in the "Die Hard" franchise and in the movie, "The Sixth Sense." A much-in-demand actor, he has multiple films slated for release in the next 12 months. Willis has also listed for sale his Sun Valley bar and restaurant complex called The Mint, with a current price tag of $4.5 million, down from about $6 million in August 2010.

Willis' ex-wife Demi Moore and her soon-to-be-next-ex-husband, Ashton Kutcher, reportedly spent some time together at Willis' other vacation home in the Turks and Caicos trying to work out their marital issues. Maybe they should have tried the ski place instead.

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Click on the images below to see other celebrity real estate recently on the market.

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]]>Bruce WillisDie HardSun Valley IdahoAnn Brenoff2011-11-23T14:51:00+00:00The New Homeless: Living Behind the Wheelhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/23/the-new-homeless-living-behind-the-wheel/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/23/the-new-homeless-living-behind-the-wheel/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/23/the-new-homeless-living-behind-the-wheel/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



During the Great Depression, people who were forced to live in their cars were known as "Ford families." Today, they go by the far more impersonal name of the "vehicular homeless," and you can count 45-year-old Carey Fuller and her two daughters, 8 and 17, among them.

The Fullers (pictured above) became homeless in April 2004 when Carey lost her job in the financial services sector in Seattle. With the job loss came a move from a three-bedroom apartment into a two-bedroom -- but that wasn't enough to cut expenses. Seeing what was waiting for her around the corner, Fuller took her final bit of income, a tax refund, and used it to buy an RV that she and her girls could live in. After a while, even gas and maintenance on the Winnebago became more than she could afford, so she traded down for a minivan. Fuller takes whatever work she can find, often landing part-time jobs. She also blogs about her life as a homeless mother living in a van.

As the economy continues to circle the drain and the number of foreclosures rises, more and more people are following in Fuller's tracks. Some cities, like Venice and Palo Alto in California, have even created parking areas for people who live in their vehicles.

"Cars are the new homeless shelters," says Joel John Roberts, CEO of PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) Partners, the largest services provider for the homeless in Los Angeles County. Car and van dwellers don't show up in U.S. Census Bureau data because census workers don't knock on car windows, Roberts says.

How They Got There

How did so many families wind up sleeping in cars, vans and RVs? In most cases, they were hit with a job loss or health crisis that cost them their home. The move from roof to backseat is often swifter than expected, and in the case of those whose homes have been foreclosed, there is often a sense of disbelief that the actual day of eviction will come. Departures are often fast and furious, with things thrown into a van. Often, the newly evicted don't travel far; they camp out in the neighborhood where they lived. They quickly learn which public parks leave their restrooms unlocked and that joining the local YMCA provides access to a shower.

In some cases, it's divorce, not unemployment, that puts people in their cars at night. Rudy Salinas, director of outreach for PATH, recalls finding a man living in his car in a supermarket parking lot a few months ago. The man had a stack of neatly dry-cleaned uniforms next to him, which he wore to work each day. But at night, separated from his wife and unable to support two households, he slept in the market's parking lot.

Salinas said that PATH did its own census of the homeless population in Hollywood, Calif. They counted 748 people without homes; 151 of them were car dwellers.

"In my 19 years of doing outreach, I have never seen such a spike in numbers like the one in the past 18 months," he says.

Carey Fuller, the single mother in Seattle, advocates for the homeless while being homeless herself. She says that she parks "anywhere I can" at night, picking spots near foreclosed homes to avoid police detection. Her daughters do their homework in the school library and they do laundry in public laundromats. Meals are taken at church soup kitchens or purchased in convenience marts that have microwaves to heat things up. She lives on an inconsistent child support payment of $150 a month and $500 a month in food stamps for the three of them. Showers are taken at the community pool; on weekends, they hang out at the library where there are many free events.

She gave up trying to use the overtaxed housing assistance system, because of the long waiting lists for apartments.

Is she just a job away from being able to rent an apartment? Fuller says it isn't as simple as that. Landlords discriminate against the vehicular homeless, she says, and demand to see a current rental history. After sleeping in the car for nearly eight years, she doesn't have one.

She's been doing this for so long that it's become a way of life.

"My life feels normal to me," she said, "We live just like every other family except we sleep in the minivan."

A New Community

Car and van dwellers have formed a community of their own, often exchanging survival tips online. Fuller has taught people how to make a "coffee can cooker" on Facebook.

For a long while, the Wal-Mart Stores chain was known for its tacit willingness to let RV-ers use its parking lots overnight. In the evening, the campers served as a de facto security force, making sure that no one did anything to give the police reason to come calling. In the morning, the campers frequented the store, often buying their day's food and supplies there. Gradually, more and more Walmarts became less hospitable to the community. Word quickly spread among the van dwellers about which ones you could park safely in without getting in trouble.

Warm climates tend to draw those living in their vehicles, for the obvious reasons. Southern California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada are popular among the displaced, although many people initially try to stay close to the spot where they fell. They want to keep their kids in the same school, stay close to family and friends. And they lack the money for gas to crisscross the country without direction or purpose.

Salinas tells of the single mother who works at a minimum-wage job and has her 5-year-old son sleep in her sister's Section 8 apartment. She herself sleeps in the car out in front of the apartment each night, fearing that her presence inside would violate her sister's HUD-landlord agreement, which limits the number of adults allowed. She doesn't want to cause her sister to become homeless too, Salinas said. It's not illegal to sleep in your car, by the way, unless a municipality makes it so.

As for today's "Ford families," it's not without some irony to give them the moniker. Although Henry Ford did help a small number of distressed families by giving them loans and some land to work, he also laid off thousands more. And he deeply angered many with public comments about how the unemployed should do more to find work for themselves.

Also see:
Detroit Mom Offers to Trade Her House for a Car
Protesters 'Liberate' Foreclosed Homes
Squatting: Social Menace or Economic Necessity?

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]]>Carey Fullerfamilies living in carsfamily living in vanhomeless familieshomeless living in carsliving out of a vanRudy Salinasvehicular homelessAnn Brenoff2011-11-23T11:45:00+00:00House of the Day: French Norman, Now Remove Your Shoeshttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/22/house-of-the-day-french-norman-now-please-remove-your-shoes/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/22/house-of-the-day-french-norman-now-please-remove-your-shoes/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/22/house-of-the-day-french-norman-now-please-remove-your-shoes/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



There are some architectural styles that just dictate my behavior. For instance, whenever I see a French Norman estate, I feel like I should lower my voice to a whisper and put paper slippers over my shoes before I traipse on in. This is one of those places.

Located in Bel-Air, a Los Angeles community of expensive homes that prefers understatement to exclamation points, the home came on the market at $18 million -- although this is one of those situations where if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.

One of my favorite features of the 7,500-square-foot mansion is not just that it has eight bedroom suites, but that there is a separate children's wing. How many times have I dragged my weary bones home from work and wished our house had a separate wing for the little ankle-biters?!

The estate occupies almost an acre, most of it spent on creating a mini-park -- all behind gates, of course.

The rooms are of a grand scale: formal and everything looks manicured and perfectly royal -- the way a French Norman home should be.

There is a motor court and a three-car garage.

Joe Babajian of Rodeo Realty has the listing.

Click on the images below to see other homes for sale in and around Bel-Air:


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Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email ann.brenoff@huffingtonpost.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to respond to each submission.)

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]]>Bel Air real estateBel-AirBel-Air CaliforniaFrench Normandyhome of the dayhouse of the dayJoe Babajian of Rodeo RealtyRodeo RealtyAnn Brenoff2011-11-22T06:00:00+00:00Longtime Resident k.d. lang Lists Laurel Canyon Homehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/15/longtime-resident-k-d-lang-lists-laurel-canyon-home/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/15/longtime-resident-k-d-lang-lists-laurel-canyon-home/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/15/longtime-resident-k-d-lang-lists-laurel-canyon-home/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



There is no finer driving music than k.d. lang singing "Hallelujah" with the volume cranked up so loud that it rattles the windows in the car next to you. Don't even think about arguing with me on this one. And with the news that the four-time Grammy award-winner is selling her longtime home in Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles, we're wondering if the Canadian-born lang (pictured below) is leaving us.

She listed her single-story eclectic-but-rustic cabin at $1.975 million. The home has almost 3,000 square feet and sits on a heavily treed lot. Privacy is a good thing.

The MLS says that lang's house was featured in Metropolitan Home magazine and has Craftsman influences that are eluding us for the moment. There are stone fireplaces in the living room, dining room and master bedroom.

The home has hand-crafted beams, hardwood floors, and all the rooms have either French doors or big old windows looking out at the trees. There is a pool and large outdoor entertainment area.

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Denny Kagasoff of Prudential Realty, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

In the meantime, enjoy!



Click on the images below to see other celebrity real estate recently on the market.



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]]>kd langAnn Brenoff2011-11-15T17:02:00+00:00House of the Day: Tuscany on the Beachhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/15/house-of-the-day-tuscany-on-the-beach/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/15/house-of-the-day-tuscany-on-the-beach/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/15/house-of-the-day-tuscany-on-the-beach/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


There comes a time in every real estate writer's life when she simply can no longer see the forest for the trees. She complains aloud that there should be a lifetime ceiling on just how many Mediterraneans one can reasonably be asked to describe and prays that the one she just wrote about will be her last.

And then along comes a not-so-little charmer that just has a twinkle in its marble flooring that brings her back home. Yes, I'm back in love and checking my sofa cushions to see if $7,195,000 has fallen out of my pockets.

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This Tuscan-inspired estate in Vero Beach, Fla., has a whopping 10,000 square feet of living space and actually does what other listings only claim to accomplish: combines Old World craftsmanship with state-of-the-art modern construction. The six-bedroom home has a gourmet kitchen, wine cellar, separate guest house with elevator and, according to the listing, "a covered loggia with a summer kitchen." (Sorry, but isn't it summer all-year-round in Florida?) There is also a lagoon pool with spa.

The home sits just 20 feet above sea level and has a seawall and gated privacy wall. Zoning in Vero Beach has kept high-rise hotels and large commercial centers at bay, so what remains is a quiet atmosphere of vacation homes and gated communities.

Kimberly Hardin of Treasure Coast Sotheby's International Realty in Vero Beach has the listing.

Click on the images below to see other Vero Beach, Fla. listings:



See more Houses of the Day and other homes for sale in Vero Beach, Fla. on AOL Real Estate.

Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email ann.brenoff@huffingtonpost.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to respond to each submission.)

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]]>Vero BeachVero Beach FloridaAnn Brenoff2011-11-15T06:00:00+00:00Howie Mandel Lists Malibu Home for $7.25 Millionhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/14/howie-mandel-lists-malibu-home-for-7-25-million/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/14/howie-mandel-lists-malibu-home-for-7-25-million/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/14/howie-mandel-lists-malibu-home-for-7-25-million/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Will it be "Deal or No Deal" for comic and TV host Howie Mandel, who just listed his Malibu ocean view home at $7.25 million?

Mandel's Cape Cod has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms in almost 6,000 square feet. The Point Dume area home was designed by architect Douglas Burdge and sits on more than an acre. It has a large pool and outdoor patio area.

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Mandel, always recognizable with his signature clean-shaven head, spent six seasons on the NBC medical drama "St. Elsewhere" before moving into TV game-show hosting. He is best known as the host of NBC's "Deal or No Deal," but also replaced David Hasselhoff in the fifth season of "America's Got Talent." Mandel created and starred in the children's cartoon, "Bobby's World."

Click on the images below to see other recent celebrity listings:


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]]>Deal or No DealHowie MandelAnn Brenoff2011-11-14T18:30:00+00:00Former Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill's Central Park Penthouse Hits Market at $88 Millionhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/11/sandy-weills-central-park-penthouse-hits-market-at-88-million/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/11/sandy-weills-central-park-penthouse-hits-market-at-88-million/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/11/sandy-weills-central-park-penthouse-hits-market-at-88-million/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Let's just say it: If there is such a thing as a bad time to be rich, it's definitely now.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Sanford I. Weill, a one percenter who is the former chairman and chief executive of Citigroup Inc., has listed his postwar Central Park West penthouse in Manhattan for $88 million, with the intention of donating the proceeds of the sale to charity. He told the Journal that in this difficult period in the country's history, it is "a pretty good time" for wealthy Americans "to be quiet." Can't argue with logic, can you?

Weill and his wife, Joan (pictured left), won't be going far. He plans to move from the full-floor 6,744-square-foot penthouse with a terrace and garden that wraps around three sides to a smaller place on the building's sixth floor, according to the Journal. Downsizing, just like the rest of us, and saying goodbye to his 33-foot-wide living room.

The building at Fifth Avenue and Central Park West opened in 2007 and immediately drew the Masters of the Universe -- plus Sting and Denzel Washington. If Weill gets his price, it will break all kinds of records, which in itself, might be the nicest thing Weill could do for the local economy.

While he didn't say which charity would reap the rewards of the sale, our money is on Carnegie Hall, where he sits on the board.

See photos of one of 15 Central Park West's ultra-posh units below.





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]]>15 central park westcelebrity real estateSandy WeilSanford WeillAnn Brenoff2011-11-11T09:30:00+00:00Nancy Sinatra Sells Long-Time Beverly Hills Homehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/08/nancy-sinatra-sells-long-time-beverly-hills-house/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/08/nancy-sinatra-sells-long-time-beverly-hills-house/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/08/nancy-sinatra-sells-long-time-beverly-hills-house/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



Her go-go boots were made for walking and that's just what Nancy Sinatra did. She just sold her long-time Beverly Hills home for $5.3 million, reports the MLS.

The 8,085-square-foot home belonging to the daughter of singer Frank Sinatra had been listed for just 45 days at $5.995 million. Her signature song, "These Boots Were Made for Walkin' " was an anthem for U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, before whom she performed regularly with her equally signature big-hair, white boots and mini-skirts.

She also had a brief acting career in the 1960s, co-starring with Elvis Presley in "Speedway" and Peter Fonda in "The Wild Angels."

The house she just sold has five bedrooms and features a grand room with high ceilings. There is a family room, bar-lounge and two wood-burning fireplaces. The kitchen features original tile work and a butler's pantry. There is a first floor guest suite. The property was sold "as-is."

Rory Barish of Keller Williams Realty, Beverly Hills, represented both the buyer and seller, according to the MLS.

Frank Sinatra's former Bel-Air home remains on the market at $23.5 million.

[UPDATE: Rory Barish says that the MLS inaccurately reported his status. She represented Sinatra only, not the buyer.]

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]]>Beverly Hills CAFrank SinatraNancy SinatraRory Barish of Keller Williams RealtyAnn Brenoff2011-11-08T19:46:00+00:00'Big Bang Theory' Stars Brave the Market Busthttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/08/big-bang-theory-stars-brave-the-market-bust/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/08/big-bang-theory-stars-brave-the-market-bust/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/08/big-bang-theory-stars-brave-the-market-bust/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



Who needs to save for a rainy day when you star in a hit TV show?

In moves that we suspect have the financial managers of "Big Bank Theory" stars Kaley Cuoco and Simon Helberg pulling out their hair, both TV stars have recently listed (and in Cuoco's case, sold) their houses for less than they paid for them.

Obviously content to walking away from hundreds of thousands of dollars, Cuoco (pictured at left with Helberg) purchased her home for $1.355 million in 2005 and sold it for $822,500 in August 2011 after three price drops.

Helberg purchased his two-story Craftsman-style home in Los Angeles' Hancock Park area (pictured above) in May 2008 for $950,000 and currently has it listed for $849,000. OK, so maybe a $100,000 hit isn't the worst thing in the world for a guy making in the $100,000 to $125,000 per episode range, according to Deadline Hollywood. His estimated net worth, according to our tabloid friends, is around $4 million.

Go ahead, make him a low-ball offer. He and his wife, actress Jocelyn Towne, recently bought a larger home with more privacy.

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Helberg's house for sale has 3,760 square feet, which includes five bedrooms and four bathrooms on an 8,000-square-foot lot. There are hardwood floors throughout and the property includes a full guest house above the garage.

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]]>Big Bang TheoryCraftsman homesCraftsman stylehancock park homes for salehancock park real estateKaley CuocoSimon HelbergAnn Brenoff2011-11-08T17:34:00+00:00Beatty & Bening Hope To Lease Their 'Temporary' Homehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/08/beatty-and-bening-hope-to-lease-their-temporary-home/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/08/beatty-and-bening-hope-to-lease-their-temporary-home/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/08/beatty-and-bening-hope-to-lease-their-temporary-home/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

They don't make Hollywood pairings very often that outlast that of Warren Beatty and Annette Bening's, so we're sending some good karma their way in their plans to lease out a Beverly Hills home they own for $27,500 a month.

What do you get for that much? Six bedrooms and eight bathrooms in a 10,500-square-foot Mediterranean with a sign that says "Warren Beatty and Annette Bening slept here for the past dozen years or so." OK, we're making up the part about the sign.

They bought this house after the 1994 Northridge earthquake did a dance on the Beverly Hills house they were living in a few miles away. One thing led to another -- you know how remodels go -- and the years crept up. Now they've apparently moved back to the original and expanded home and are hoping to lease out the "temporary" place.

Beatty, nominated for Oscars for his roles in "Bonnie and Clyde," "Shampoo," and "Heaven Can Wait" has four children with Bening, Oscar-nominated herself for "The Grifters," "American Beauty," "Being Julia" and "The Kids Are All Right." Imagine the size of the fireplace mantle they'd need if they had won them all.

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]]>Annette BeningBeatty and Bening homeBeverly Hills homes for leaseWarren and Annette homeWarren BeattyAnn Brenoff2011-11-08T16:23:00+00:00Jennifer Aniston May Be Buying Gramercy Park Apartmenthttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/07/jennifer-aniston-may-be-buying-gramercy-park-apartment/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/07/jennifer-aniston-may-be-buying-gramercy-park-apartment/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/07/jennifer-aniston-may-be-buying-gramercy-park-apartment/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



Celebrity real estate writers are playing the Internet version of "Telephone" with Jennifer Aniston. The story, if true, is that she just spent almost $9 million on a three-bedroom Gramercy Park home that she'll share with her beau Justin Theroux (pictured with her below) as they prepare to start a family.

We hate to burst any bubbles here, but Aniston hasn't bought anything. She may have made an offer and had it accepted -- which is why the the listing is now marked "contract signed," (and thank you Trulia for posting that!). But having an accepted offer just puts the property in escrow and escrow is not the same as being sold. There are inspections, approvals and sometimes loans that must be worked out before that "sold" sign goes up -- and about a third of all escrows today never conclude in a sale. And, we we won't even go into the fickleness of celebrity buyers who open escrows all the time and then weasel out of them when they see something they like better.

But back to our little exercise of playing "Telephone." As best we can determine, the first online report of the purchase came from AMNY.com on Nov. 3, attributing the source of the information to Life & Style magazine. The next day, Curbed carried the story, linking back to AMNY. A couple of days after the original report, Forbes ran the story, attributing it to Us magazine, which credited The Hollywood Reporter. Still with me? Then along came the Real Estalker, dishing it up and crediting AMNY too. The Daily Mail and more than 20 other news sources and websites ran some version of the story, some with attribution, others without.

We are happy to report the details of what the unit Aniston supposedly "bought," but with the caveat that she hasn't actually bought it. And at the same time, we wonder what her plans are for the two smaller units in the Village that she bought just a nanosecond ago (yes, she actually bought those) with the speculation of making them into one larger unit.

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So for the record, the Gramercy Park unit has 2,863 square feet and views from the master suite. The larger size fueled speculation that Aniston is ready to start a family. The unit has 11.8-foot ceilings and lots of windows. The listing notes hardwood floors, a wood-burning fireplace, and spa-like bathrooms.

The building, designed by John Pawson, has amenities of a five-star hotel including housekeeping, valet, butler service, car wash service and membership in the David Barton Gym and spa at the Gramercy Hotel.

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]]>Aniston TherouxGramercy ParkJennifer and JustinJennifer AnistonJustin TherouxAnn Brenoff2011-11-07T15:05:00+00:00Anna Chapman: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier ... Realtor?http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/04/tinker-tailor-soldier-realtor/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/04/tinker-tailor-soldier-realtor/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/04/tinker-tailor-soldier-realtor/#commentsFiled under: ,

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 perfect training ground for a career as a spy.

Here's what we mean:

1. Document familiarization

Real estate agents aren't afraid of a big old stack of legal documents, and most do a fabulous job of explaining what's on those documents to their clients. They jibber-jabber on until the client's eyes glaze over and he begs, "Just tell me where to sign." It's a honed skill, practiced with dual-agency representations, counter-offer addendums, and natural and hazardous waste disclosures. HOA regulations are probably beyond the scope of even 007.

2. Good vision (night and otherwise)

Good real estate agents can be quite adept at reading contract offers upside down on their office-mate's desk and have excellent peripheral vision. And from our deep knowledge base of the espionage world, gleaned primarily from watching James Bond movies, we know that training your eye to use reflective surfaces like department store windows and other people's sunglasses is very much a spy skill.

3. Sincere delivery of the message

Learning how to say, "You don't need closets; just get rid of most of your clothes" with a straight face is a skill that can take you far in the undercover world. Even better is, "The sellers are expecting an offer today, so you need to move fast" when what's at issue is a property that's been on the market for a year. As a spy, talking people into things is highly valued trait.

4. Knowing that the best place to hide is in public

Agents know how to get their names out in front of you. They are on bus benches, on the new scoreboard at the Little League fields, in the PTA dinner-dance program, in the local news outlet for donating books to the library. By being ubiquitous, they become invisible.

5. Keeping current with the latest tools of the trade

Chapman was apparently a whiz at using state-of-the-art wireless computer communications, including burst transmitters that sent encrypted messages by radio in a fraction of a second.

Real estate agents, too, have gotten digitally savvy. Once they reel you in as a buyer-client, they put you on an automatic feeder where you get emails every time a property that meets your criteria either comes on the market or has a price drop. Since the emails are generated by the computer, half the time they don't know what you're talking about if you call them about the property. Long gone are the days where they would actually call you to tell you about properties; phones, as you know, can easily be tapped so not using them must be good practice for future spyhood.

6. Moving freely about the community

The documents released this week noted that older spies in the 11-member ring that Chapman belonged to relied on old spy tools -- invisible ink, forged documents and hand-offs of money called "brush passes." Using invisible ink would be a seriously bad idea for any real estate agent, and that goes double for forging documents or handing off money.

But according to a written surveillance report, Chapman was observed by the FBI buying leggings at Macy's while a Russian diplomat lingered outside, and on another occasion was videotaped in a coffee shop with a double agent. Now that's more like it!

See also:
How to Tell If Your Real Estate Pro Is a Secret Agent
Open Houses of the Week: Hobnob With the 1 Percent
How to Choose a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Home

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]]>Anna ChapmanespionageAnn Brenoff2011-11-04T16:00:00+00:00132 Rms, Riv Vu: What If You Could Rent the White House?http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/04/132-rms-riv-vu-what-if-you-could-rent-the-white-house/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/04/132-rms-riv-vu-what-if-you-could-rent-the-white-house/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/04/132-rms-riv-vu-what-if-you-could-rent-the-white-house/#commentsFiled under: ,



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 out the White House when they go on their seven weeks of vacation every year, it would add almost $4 million to the nation's coffers.

HomeAway, the online marketplace for vacation rentals, asked owners who use the service what they would charge vacationers to rent the 55,000-square-foot White House's 132 rooms. The answer: $551,000 per week.

While we suspect those sun-seeking Brits would still prefer Florida to Washington, D.C., in January, we do admire the chutzpah behind the idea. Of course there would be some issues to sort out: Would the Secret Service bodyguards be included? Could we use the pool?

Vacation rentals in private homes are holding their own in this economy, as many tourists see them as a way to reduce travel expenses. Having a kitchen to cook in and enough space for multiple families to share the rental fee all helps keep spending in check. More than two-thirds of owners of summer rental homes reported occupancy rates of 76 percent or higher. These owners charged an average weekly rental rate of $1,685, or $241 per night, to book an entire home. By comparison, according to HomeAway, the average occupancy rate for U.S. hotels from June to August was approximately 68 percent, with an average rate of $102 per room.

We assume that at a half-mil a week, the White House rental includes daily linen service, free Wi-Fi and complimentary valet parking. Just one question: Will the Obamas kennel the dog or would we have to walk him?

Also see:
Vacation Homes: Is Now the Time to Buy?
Open Houses of the Week: Hobnob With the 1 Percent
Feeling Presidential? Live in Your Very Own White House

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]]>HomeAwayrenting White Housevacation rental homesvacation rental housesvacation rentals by ownerWhite House rentalWhite House vacation rentalAnn Brenoff2011-11-04T15:30:00+00:00House of the Day: Fortress Looms Over Its Own Villagehttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/04/house-of-the-day-fortress-looms-over-its-own-village/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/04/house-of-the-day-fortress-looms-over-its-own-village/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/04/house-of-the-day-fortress-looms-over-its-own-village/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



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."

It's size jibes with that theme -- nearly 37,000 square feet -- and its "tower" too. There's also the regal two-story entrance hall and a living room with 30-foot-high ceilings, you know, like a medieval banquet hall.

%Gallery-138083%Boasting 70 verdant acres, the home offers two dining rooms, a library, gourmet kitchen, media room, indoor and outdoor tennis courts and myriad other amenities. In true feudal fashion, the home also commands its own mini-village: two stone farmhouses and a three-bedroom apartment. There's a pond too.

Reggie Hunt and Charlie Irwin of Best Home of The Main Line have the listing.

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]]>Fort Washingtonhome of the dayPa.Pa. homes for salePa. real estateReggie Hunt and Charlie Irwin of Best Home of The Main LineTeke Wiggin2011-11-04T06:00:00+00:00House of the Day: Just Bring the Popcornhttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/03/house-of-the-day-just-bring-the-popcorn/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/03/house-of-the-day-just-bring-the-popcorn/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/03/house-of-the-day-just-bring-the-popcorn/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



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 sound system. There is also a sports bar.

The price is listed as "$15,999,999 to $18 million," which is a marketing technique that listing agents in San Diego County famously do all the time -- provide a price range and ignore the fact that buyers are only going to see the lower number anyway.

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The Italian Renaissance-style 8,400-square-foot house has more than 150 feet of oceanfront, but we guess some people prefer watching TV to the waves. There are five bedrooms and the property sits on a bluff above the Pacific. It has an outdoor entertainment area that includes a five-hole putting green.

See the video below.



Liz Nederlander Coden of Windermere Real Estate SoCal has the listing.

Click on the images below to some other La Jolla, Calif., listings:

http://realestate.aol.com/homes-for-sale-detail/5316-Calumet-Ave_San-Diego_CA_92037_M17640-98629

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Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email ann.brenoff@huffingtonpost.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to respond to each submission.)

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]]>home of the dayhome theatersLa Jolla CaliforniaLa Jolla mansionsLa Jolla real estateover-the-top home theatersAnn Brenoff2011-11-03T06:00:00+00:00Matt Drudge Pays Cash for $1.45 Million Florida Househttp://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/01/matt-drudge-pays-cash-for-1-45-million-florida-house/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/01/matt-drudge-pays-cash-for-1-45-million-florida-house/http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/11/01/matt-drudge-pays-cash-for-1-45-million-florida-house/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



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 in unincorporated Redland sits on about four jungle-like acres and has a world-class security system to thwart liberals and other miscreants from trespassing.

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The home features marble and wood floors, a gourmet kitchen and a waterfall in the master bedroom suite. The outdoor entertainment area includes a pool and gazebo with a bar, where we are picturing the fedora-sporting Drudge serving up Mai Tais and political rhetoric.

Drudge owns another home in Florida that he bought for $1.4 million in 2003.

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]]>Florida real estateMatt DrudgeRedland Florida real estateRedland real estateThe Drudge ReportAnn Brenoff2011-11-01T15:10:00+00:00