While the amount of celebrities that live in this fine city in their million dollar mansions are not few and far in between, there are a handful (or two) places of residents that are interest. You might want to keep this list handy in your case star-crazed aunt or uncle have decided to come visit

• Torrance, three blocks from Torrance High School - Buffy’s house (right) on the fictional Revello Drive Residence was actually in Torrance and was used in the widely popular series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

• Kenneth Road between Brand and Pacific, Glendale - The “Gone With The Wind House’s” terrace can be seen as you take a scenic drive through Kenneth Road in Glendale. Beware, you might be tempted to declare that you will never go hungry again when passing by.

[ Read The Full Story -> ]

Hollywood Megamansions. The real-estate market might be in the dog’s ass for most of us, but for the mega rich who are not affected by the economic kaboom, there’s plenty of Megamansions. There are dozens of new construction sights littered around LA where 20-40-60,000 square feet, palace-like mansions are dotting the hillsides. There’s no tightening of belts for the mega rich and no down time for the lesser rich builders either. In Beverley Hills, for instance, a 32,000 square foot beaux-arts mansion, sheathed in Portuguese limestone and adorned with gold-plated doorknobs, is just one the new properties still under construction. With all this money to spend, why not build a bigger home, plate the doorknobs in gold, why don’t yah.

Some say its Hollywood ego; one must have the 80-seat home cinema and the Olympic size swimming pool, set on a little ‘ME’ island. But you know what? More power to them. After all, you can’t take it with you. So let’s take a look at who is buying what!

[ Read The Full Story -> ]

More political scandals have rocked the real estate world this week. Another celebrity is faced with foreclosure. These stories and more in this week’s real estate roundup.

Celebrity Real Estate

Avril Lavigne may have finally managed to sell her Beverly Hills house, which had been on the market. According to the Times, Lavigne received an offer of $5.2 million in cash, less than the $5.8 million she had been asking, but the cash may be the deal maker. Lavigne paid less than $5 million for the house in 2004. She currently lives in the Bel Air Crest community with her husband, Sum 41 front man Deryck Whibley.

Ed McMahon is the latest celebrity faced with foreclosure. McMahon once had a fortune of over $200 million, but now has defaulted on a loan of just $4.8 million. The house, located in Beverly Hills, has been on the market for over two years and is now listed for $5.75 million.

[ Read The Full Story -> ]

Even a Congresswoman has now been hit with foreclosure – twice! One of the more bizarre political scandals in recent years has hit local Congresswoman Laura Richardson. A fairly quiet week otherwise.

Celebrity Real Estate

Ted Danson and his wife, actress Mary Steenburgen, have sold a house in the Malibu Colony that had been on the market for about a year. The house was listed for $16.75 million, down from its original price of $18 million. Located at 23610 Malibu Colony Road, the house was completely remodeled in 2002. Danson and Steenburgen still own two properties in Martha’s Vineyard and one in Ojai.

News

Long Beach, Compton, and Carson Congresswoman Laura Richardson (featured above) has become embroiled in the most high-profile foreclosure case yet to hit the headlines. Richardson’s home in Sacramento, which she bought in 2007 while serving in the State Assembly, was sold at auction earlier this month. Richardson was sent multiple notices by her lender, but did not pay her mortgage payments or her property tax, resulting in a total debt of over $570,000, $40,000 more than she paid for the house. The house was apparently somewhat disheveled when the new owner took possession – the garage was full of trash and the lawn was overgrown. Lender Washington Mutual had to write off almost $200,000 in debt to get rid of the property.

[ Read The Full Story -> ]

Even celebrities are now facing real estate problems with their high-end homes. A major L.A. real estate scam was exposed this week by the SEC. Countrywide executives may be in big trouble. These stories and more in this week’s real estate roundup.

Celebrity Real Estate

Celebrities are facing the real estate price crunch like everyone else. Numerous celebrities have been unable to sell their homes for their original listing prices and have been forced to reduce the prices to attract buyers. Sharon Stone listed a home for $12.5 million back in 2006, but has so far been unable to sell the home, reducing its price to $10 million this week. Actors Frankie Muniz and Angela Bassett and singer Avril Lavigne have also recently had to drop the prices of their homes.

News

An Altadena woman was arrested for fraud tied to real estate last Wednesday. The woman, Jeanetta M. Standefor, operated a company under investigation by the SEC for fraud in the L.A. area, Nevada, and Georgia from 2005 to 2007. Standefor offered black investors “risk-free” securities that would return up to 50% within just 45 days, claiming the money raised would help homeowners avoid foreclosure. Some of the money was repaid to early investors to make the operation, Accelerated Funding Group, look legitimate, but Standefor kept the majority of the money for herself, spending $1.9 million on personal expenses. She has now been charged with 11 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering, carrying a maximum sentence of 180 years in prison.

[ Read The Full Story -> ]

Michael Jackson was saved from foreclosure, but probably not for long. One celebrity lists her home, another takes a gander at it. The city council tries to prevent mansionization. These stories and more in this week’s real estate roundup.

Celebrity Real Estate

Christina Aguilera has placed her 5-bedroom Hollywood Hills home on the market. Aguilera bought another house in Beverly Hills from Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne last year, the same house in which the show The Osbournes was filmed.  The Hollywood Hills home is listed for $7.995 million, nearly $3 million more than Aguilera paid for it back in 2003. Adding more celebrity intrigue, actor Jason Statham of Transporter fame has apparently taken a look at the house with the possibility of buying.

[ Read The Full Story -> ]

It’s not very often that I burst into huge fits of laughter. Being a comic, I’m usually to busy making other people do that. However when the following notice appeared on my apartment door, it just couldn’t be helped.

(Effective 60 days from today the rent will be increased from $1300 a month to $1900). Curiously, I searched for a second page to this notice that should have read something along these lines. The reason for this insanely dramatic increase in rent is due to the following. We will be installing a heated pool, state of the art fitness center, and every Tuesday you will have the option of receiving a blow job from a supermodel. Strangely enough, it turned out that there was no second page. After contacting many different local housing authorities the answer to my question came back the same each time. Since the apartment was on a month to month lease this was actually “legal.”

[ Read The Full Story -> ]

At least some homeowners in the area have good news this week, as 89,000 of them have had their property tax loads reduced. Now even celebrities are suffering foreclosure. These stories and more in this week’s real estate roundup.

Celebrity Real Estate

Melissa Etheridge has sold her six-bedroom house in Hidden Hills for an undisclosed price. Etheridge purchased another house in Hidden Hills for $5.1 million last year, so she no longer had a need for this property. The house, located at 5209 Saddle Creek Road, was listed at $4.995 million.

Former major league star and author of the steroid expose Juiced Jose Canseco (seen here in his less glorious days as a member of the Long Beach Armada) has become perhaps the most-famous person to have suffered foreclosure in the current crisis. Canseco, who supposedly tried to extort former teammates in the past year, may be hurting for money, but said that he decided to walk away from his mortgage because it didn’t make financial sense to pay it any longer. Canseco bought the foreclosed home, located at 18011 Karen Drive in Encino, in 2005.

[ Read The Full Story -> ]

New predictions have been made about the future of foreclosures, a future that now looks bleaker following developments in Congress. A couple of old stars have made some big transactions. The weekend is another great one for tours. These stories and more in this week’s real estate roundup.

Celebrity Real Estate

’80s sitcom star and all-around terrible actor Tony Danza has sold a home in Sherman Oaks. The property, located at 3637 Longridge Avenue in Sherman Oaks, had been listed for $6.15 million, but the actual sales price has not been disclosed. The house on the property was completely rebuilt after being destroyed by the Northridge earthquake. It features five bedrooms, and for sports enthusiasts, both tennis courts and a batting cage. Danza is not believed to own any other properties in the Los Angeles area.

Dan Aykroyd, having finally managed relieve himself of his Hollywood Hills property, has bought a new house in the Palisades for $14.5 million. The new, 5244 square foot house is located at 851 Paseo Miramar.

[ Read The Full Story -> ]

This week was a light one on the real estate news front, but something is always going on. It’s a great week for real estate events. New information was gleaned that may affect the presidential campaign. These stories are more in this week’s real estate roundup.

Celebrity Real Estate

DreamWorks co-founder David Geffen has found himself a new house in Malibu. Previously owned by Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Peter Morton, Geffen’s new property is just a few houses down from the enormous compound where he primarily lives. The sale was for $9.8 million, $700K less than what Morton paid for it just last year. Geffen owned the house he just bought from 1996 to 1998, selling it for $1.5 million a decade ago.

Brett Butler, star of Grace Under Fire back in the ’90s, has listed her Hollywood Hills house for $2.347 million. Butler bought the house back in 1994, not long after her show debuted. The house is located at 7321 Woodrow Wilson Drive.

[ Read The Full Story -> ]

A major courtroom decision that may affect nearly every real estate transaction was made this week. The housing crisis has spread abroad. Another major lender has big problems. These stories and more in this week’s real estate roundup.

Celebrity Real Estate

Warren Christopher, Secretary of State under Bill Clinton, has listed his house in Beverly Hills for $3.259 million and has bought himself a condo in Century City. Christopher bought the Beverly Hills house in the 1970s, before he began his term as Assistant Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter, during which he negotiated the release of the hostages in the Iran hostage crisis. That house is a 1930s-style 3-bedroom house sitting on an 18,000 square foot lot. The new condo has only 2 bedrooms, so Christopher and his wife Marie may have felt the need to downsize in their old age.

Kenny Chesney has already listed his property in Malibu that he bought just recently. The property, which Chesney purchased for $7.4 million, has been newly listed for $7.95 million.

[ Read The Full Story -> ]

Recently, I received an email that told me I can save “up to $100,000 on the courtyard collection!” at the Barker Block. That sounds like an amazing deal, but I can’t imagine this offer comes without a catch.

So, I went to my homie in the ‘hood, my dude in downtown, my man in the mortgage, my lad in the lofts, my mate in the market, my friend in floorplans, my pal in pricing, Mr. Developer.

Big Al, the gal: Good sir! I’m pretty sure Barker Block isn’t just going to hand me a $100,000 check. What gives in this situation?

Mr. Developer: They were previously having an 18% off incentive campaign (about $90,000 off on a $500,000 condo). They have had minimal sales from this earlier promotion. Now, they are stepping it up and offering $100,000 off some units b/c they are just not selling them.

[ Read The Full Story -> ]