Flashback to First Class Friday

As nice as it is to drool over the multi-million dollar homes of the rich and famous and clutch your pearls in shock at the amazing prices that are being asked, it is also reassuring to realise that the people buying and selling these homes are still subjected to the challenges of trying to move real estate (there are just a few more zeros on the end of their checks than you or I would most likely write). A few posts that I put up in the past are worth going back to and seeing what the outcome was.

The Liongate Estateliongate that I wrote about last month was up for sale for a cool $65 million. Coming fully furnished throughout it’s 23,000 square feet and featuring 11 bedrooms, 17 bathrooms and even it’s own panic room it’s an absolute steal at that price. Amazingly though, someone thought that was too expensive and decided to bargain with the vendor. Lucky they did because they were obviously a motivated seller and subsequently dropped the price by a whopping $19 million (that’s almost a 30% discount!). So the lucky purchaser picked up the property for $46 million and although heavily discounted, the owner has still made a nice little profit considering their original purchase price of 12.2M.

HPEarlier this year I wrote about Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe putting his local Toorak penthouse up for sale. After owning it for 10 years and originally purchased when he was filming a movie in Australia as a teenager, he hoped to make a nice little $600k profit. After what would likely have been an expensive marketing campaign and also having moved his furniture out and getting the property professionally styled for sale he has recently pulled the property from the market. Rumor is he has another film project in the pipeline locally and might need to keep a place to unpack his carry-on luggage.

MJIf you’ve been saving your dollars for either of these previous gems, don’t be upset that they are now off the market. There are still two properties that you can pick up. Michael Jordan’s house that I wrote about in November 2013 is STILL on the market after failing to sell at auction last year (it may have been the $250k registration fee that put people off). Originally for sale at $29 million, you can now pick it up for $16 million!

2Or if you want to live beach side in Australia then you may recall the stunning Mandalay House that I wrote about in January 2014. $25 million is what the vendor originally wanted for this tropical paradise but now it’s being marketed as ‘price reduced’. Whilst no figure is being attached to this campaign I’m sure it will be enough of a saving to get that private helicopter that you can land in your front yard!

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First Class Friday

Here’s a little bit of property porn to finish off the week. It may not be to everyone’s taste but I wouldn’t say no to sleeping in one of the spare bedrooms. If you’re a regular Bravo watcher you may recognise the property developer Mohammed Hadid who when not designing mega-mansions is usually seen hanging out with one of the housewives of Beverly Hills.

And looking at the footage below it appears that they didn’t use their phone to take the footage. I guess when it’s on the market for $195,000,000 you can afford to get a proper film crew in, it is LA!

It’s real estate reality!

I’m a sucker for some reality TV and when it’s combined with real estate I’m in heaven. I’ve been addicted for a good while to Million Dollar Listing which is an American reality series filmed in a similar way to the Real Housewives series (they may not admit it but I know several readers that are regular viewers), There are series set in both LA and New York and each feature a range of over the top and outrageous properties being sold by even more over the top and outrageous real estate agents. Below are a couple of clips from previous seasons. If you love big properties and big personalities then I’d recommend getting into what some would describe as real estate porn!

Celebrity stalking

You’ll have to forgive me for being all a bit L.A. focused for a while with an imminent trip to the states on the horizon. I do love a bit of celebrity stalking so why not combine that with my passion for all thing bricks and mortar and do some celebrity home spotting!back-of-house-dusk

I’ve started early, and long before I need to pack my bags, by having a look what might be around. The first I’ve spotted on the market is the former home of Kirk Douglas currently on the market for $17 million. Whilst I go and dust off the checkbook click on the image to have a better look at what you could get for your money! It’s being listed by Hilton and Hyland real estate brokers in Beverly Hills (yes, the Hilton’s are related although you won’t see Paris putting out the open for inspection sign). Have a look through their website if you want to see some amazing homes!