The treasury secretary has voiced his opinion on the subprime mess. A major lender has become embroiled in scandal. Some minor celebrities have made big purchases. These stories and more in this week’s real estate round-up.
Celebrity Real Estate
Celebrity psychologist Dr. Phil has bought yet another property in the L.A. area. The newest property is located at 8261 Woodshill Trl. in the Hollywood Hills. Dr. Phil normally lives in one of his houses in Beverly Hills, which he purchased in 2002 for $7.5 million, nearly three times what he paid for this new property. He also bought another Beverly Hills house in early 2007. The newest property has just two bedrooms and only a 0.1 acre estate, much smaller than his primary residence.
Tom Arnold has listed his house in Tarzana for $2.2 million. The house was once owned by American Idol judge Randy Jackson. It’s probably a coincidence that one of Arnold’s former houses was owned at one point by Paula Abdul, but maybe he just has an American Idol obsession.
Jaime Pressly has been trying to sell her Tarzana property for over a year without success. Nevertheless, she has bought herself a new home in Sherman Oaks. The new house cost her $2.25 million and features five bedrooms and five and a half bathrooms on a 0.25 acre lot.
News
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has spoken out against bailout efforts. Paulson believes that housing prices need to fall to a sustainable level in order to stabilize the housing market before anything constructive can be done. He also called for investment to open their books if they expected assistance from the Federal Reserve. The Fed’s role in the Bear Stearns buyout has come under scrutiny because investment banks are not regulated in the same way that traditional banks are.
The city of Philadelphia has suspended all sales of foreclosed homes that have fallen behind on subprime mortgage payments. The decision will save thousands of homeowners from having their homes foreclosed. It remains to be seen whether or not other cities will follow Philadelphia’s lead in dealing with foreclosures.
More reports of fraud in the mortgage have emerged: New Century Financial Corp. of Irvine overstated its profits over the past few years, allowing its executives to collect huge bonuses that they did not deserve. KPMG, New Century’s auditor, exacerbated the problems by not properly reviewing New Century’s records and allowing such practices to continue. In another scandal, two Countrywide executives are due to receive $19 million worth of stock in Countrywide’s merger with Bank of America. The two executives, CEO Angelo Mozilo and President David Sambol, presided over Countrywide’s disastrous performance last year as the subprime crisis heightened. Mozilo made over $140 million selling off Countrywide stock as the company collapsed, but is still to receive huge payments for his work running the company.
Hillary Clinton has been linked to the subprime crisis through aide Maggie Williams, who made $200,000 working for now-bankrupt Delta Financial. Delta most likely hired Williams because of her connection to Clinton.
Check out this great comedic take on the subprime crisis.
Estate of the Week
Vidal Sassoon’s estate on Mulholland Drive is this week’s top estate. The house on the estate was designed by famed modernist architect Richard Neutra. It has recently been remodeled, which included an expansion to 5500 square feet from the original 3400. This remodeling has been criticized in some quarters, however, as many people believe it destroyed Neutra’s original vision for the house. Click here to see more photos.
Events
This weekend features two major home improvement shows in far-flung places. The 21st annual Palm Springs Expo opens with a reception on Friday, April 4th at 6 PM. Tickets are $10 and all proceeds benefit the Desert AIDS Foundation. The Expo continues on Saturday from 10 AM to 7 PM and on Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM. Admission to the Expo is free. It is located at Palm Springs Convention Center, 277 N. Avenida Caballeros (Map)
The Central Coast Home Show runs from 10 AM to 5 PM on Saturday and Sunday. It’s hosted by the Santa Maria Fairpark and admission is $5 for people over 12 years of age. The Santa Maria Fairpark is located at 937 S Thornburg St, Santa Maria, CA (Map)
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