Michael Jackson's Last Home: Will It Sell at $10 Million Less?

Alyssa Giacobbe — 2010-08-06T12:25:00 00:00

Filed under: News

Here's a thrilling prospect for real estate deal-seekers and pop culture fiends alike: After a two-year hiatus, the 17,000-square foot Bel Air mansion that was the site in June 2009 of Michael Jackson's fatal propofol overdose is back on the market -- with a $10 million price cut.

Designed by Los Angeles-based architect Richard Landry, the three-story faux-French chateau in the posh Holmby Hills area of L.A.'s Bel Air features -- in addition to the ghost of the King of Pop -- seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a wine cellar and tasting room, a theater, an art studio and a guest house (you in there, Bubbles?).

After an unsuccessful attempt to generate interest with an asking price of $38 million back in 2008, owner Hubert Guez, CEO of clothing brand Ed Hardy (dubbed "the BP of fashion" by one RealEstalker commenter), leased the house to Jackson for $100,000 a month. This week, the property was re-listed with Jerry Jolton of Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills South for a mere $28,995,000.

But don't blame the ghost.
Buyers typically aren't lured by death sites, at least non-famous ones. Back in March, the Manhattan condo in which celebrity disc jockey Adam Goldstein (aka DJ AM) overdosed on a drug cocktail sold for its $1.7 million asking price. In August 2008, when power broker Linda Stein was murdered in her Park Avenue home, the penthouse quickly sold for $1.045 million (though it was reportedly worth as much as $2.4).

Jolton declined to provide further details, supernatural or otherwise, about the house, claiming that he's bound by client confidentiality. We do know, however, that all prospective buyers are subject to a rigorous background check. Still, Jolton should expect that even the most seriously interested may require at least some version of the white glove test before signing on the dotted line.

More on AOL Real Estate:
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Rent to the Movies: Is Your House a Star?

Alyssa Giacobbe — 2010-05-18T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: News

The housing market may still be in the tank, but business is booming for location scouts who've found a way to put homes to work as settings for TV shows, films, and commercials.

Here are some real numbers: On Long Island, N.Y., the right house can earn anywhere from $1,500 to $7,000 a day. No word on whether "Law & Order"-style blood-and-guts scenes warrant a price bump.

For 20 years, Long Island scout Debbie Regan has maintained a database of more than 5,000 area homes-for-hire. She's booked houses, including her own, on shows that include "The Good Wife" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," and in commercials for brands like JC Penney and Reebok. Next week, celebrity chef Sara Moulton will film an ad for Mission Foods' tortillas in one of Regan's listings.

"It's a good way to offset expenses," says Regan. "We're always putting money into our homes. It's about time your home starts giving back!"

But can anyone's home earn Hollywood bucks?

As HousingWatch reported in April, possibly yes. And Regan says business has never been better. She used to solicit homeowners, seeking the perfect backdrop for, say, a Brooks Brothers catalog shoot. Now, she says, eager owners come to her. "Quite honestly, I can't keep up," she said. "I have e-mails from literally all over the world."

A recent shoot for the film "The Oranges," starring Catherine Keener and Hugh Laurie, transformed Regan's own 1907 home in Old Westbury into a bed-and-breakfast. The seven-bedroom colonial recently went on the market and, she said, "100 percent, its screen experience will be part of my broker's marketing plan."

Meanwhile, the video sales brochure for new properties in Stone Hill at Muttontown, a tony Long Island development, name-checks Angelina Jolie and Robert De Niro, who filmed part of "The Good Shepherd" in one of its houses.

That your house should qualify for a SAG card might make for a nice conversation starter, but whether or not screen cred improves home values -- or facilitates fatter selling prices -- is tough to prove, said Regan.

Though celebrity might have enticed buyers in the past, such high-value, often highly personalized homes become harder sells in a down market. Actor Scott Caan recently put his Laurel Canyon home on the market for less than 10 percent more than he paid for it in 2006. And many others, including Uma Thurman, who recently listed her New York City townhouse for $14.2 million, don't even advertise famous ownership, which can encourage more gawkers than genuine buyers.

Still, a little celebrity can't hurt a house, can it? One of Regan's former clients, Elizabeth Sehring, has booked her five-bedroom Sea Cliff Victorian in commercials for Hallmark, Folgers, and Healthy Choice. It has also put in time on the TLC show "American Chopper." As Sehring told The New York Times, "my house has a better resume than I do."

What's more, it paid for its own newly remodeled master bath.

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Michael Jackson's Last Home: Will It Sell at $10 Million Less?

Rent to the Movies: Is Your House a Star?