Singer Fantasia Barrino became a reality TV hit when she captured the “American Idol” crown in 2004. Barrino’s now hoping for another hit with the sale of her home in Charlotte, NC. Perhaps looking for a fresh start, Barrino is willing to part with the property at a loss. The home was listed on Feb. 22 for $500,000. Just four days later, the price was dropped to $479,000. Translation? Someone wants a quick sale. The home’s low price is a bit of a shock, considering it was purchased in 2004 for $740,000. But the bargain-basement price reflects the need for “extensive renovation” to the home. Built in 1996, the 4,541-square-foot brick house sits on a half-acre lot on the Piper’s Glen golf course. It has four bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. According to current listings, similar homes in the neighborhood are valued from the mid-$600,000s to the mid-$800,000s. The interiors of Barrino’s home are bright and airy. A fifth bedroom was converted into a walk-in closet—which every diva needs—but it could easily be converted back into a bedroom. Other nice amenities include the sauna in the master bathroom and the screened-in back porch. Some design elements that might not appeal to every home owner, such as the bedroom with black walls and casino-style carpet, can be easily fixed. But the home’s bones seem solid and ripe for a makeover. Besides, rolling lawns and classic brick Southern charm never go out of style. It’s understandable if Barrino isn’t in the mood to oversee a remodel project. She spent the end of 2017 on tour to support her new holiday album, “Christmas After Midnight,” and just weeks ago, tragedy struck her family. Barrino’s 18-year-old nephew, Tyquan Von Ricco, was fatally shot on Feb. 13 in front of his Greensboro, NC, home. The teen’s father is Barrino’s brother, Ricco, who’s also a recording artist. This isn’t the first time Barrino has held a real estate fire sale. She tried unsuccessfully to unload another mansion in 2013, and eventually signed the deed over to the bank in February of that year, according to TMZ. She had purchased the home in 2007 for $1.3 million. It was later sold for just $750,000. Looking at another real estate loss, Barrino appears to be ready to cut a deal and move on. And for the right buyer who’s willing to invest some time and money, here’s an opportunity to snag a lovely golf-course home with charm to spare. The post ‘Idol’ Alum Fantasia Barrino Ready to Unload Charlotte Mansion for a Song appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®. via https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/fantasia-barrino-charlotte-mansion/
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If you don’t have millions to spend on a mansion, there are housing options for buyers in search of affordability. Behold the bungalow! This humble home offers a heaping helping of charm and curb appeal on the exterior, while harboring a cozy and warm interior space. Best of all, it isn’t difficult to find a bungalow for way less than the nation’s median home price. We set our sights on bungalows priced below $200,000—and found no shortage of candidates with plenty of fine features. None of the seven homes we highlight below is huge, but all are perfect for a first-time buyer looking to get a sweet starter home. Make way for our lucky seven… 602 S 40th St, Lincoln, NEPrice: $117,500 ——-- 2659 Ernest St, Jacksonville, FLPrice: $174,900 ——-- 127 S Terrace Ave, Liberty, MOPrice: $167,000 ——-- 4234 Curtis St, Chester, VAPrice: $162,500 ——-- 131 Wayside Ave, Hagerstown, MDPrice: $114,900 ——-- 8011 S Laflin St, Chicago, ILPrice: $169,900 ——-- 1813 Pine St, Jackson, MSPrice: $160,000 The post Bargains in Cute Packages: 7 Cozy Bungalows Priced Below $200K appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®. via https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/bungalows-priced-below-200k/ Grab a Historic Mississippi House for an Absolute Steal: $215000 for Vicksburgs Feld House2/26/2018 As far as homes on the National Register of Historic Places go, this one is an amazing deal. The Feld house in Vicksburg, MS, is a fascinating example of neoclassical revival architecture. Built in 1913, the four-bedroom, three-bath, 5,000-square-foot home looks like a little blue Italian villa was plopped down in the middle of Mississippi. According to the National Register: “In Mississippi, the Neo-Classical Revival style was most often expressed in domestic architecture in terms of a lingering Colonial Revival taste. The Old Feld House is a unique rejection of the lingering Colonial Revival style. By its use of Palladian arches, piazzas, wide bracketed eaves and a prominent blue-tile roof, a Mediterranean connotation is successfully evoked.” Built by Hannah B. Fishell, the widow of a prominent businessman, the home was sold in 1929 to the Feld family, for whom the house is named. It has been a private residence, furniture store, and most recently antiques store. The current zoning is either residential or commercial—charming Southern bed-and-breakfast anybody? The interior definitely needs some TLC, but the house has amazing bones. It’s simply drowning in columns, arches, balustrades, and cornices. It also features a receiving hall with two window seats, conservatory, parlor, formal dining room, breakfast room, butler’s pantry, four fireplaces (one clad in Italian marble), and two porches. (In Mississippi, you just can’t have too many porches!) People throw around the word “unique” a lot when talking about real estate, but the Feld house is really a singular creation. According to the Vicksburg Post, when Hurricane Katrina knocked a tree into the roof in 2005, the striking blue tiles had to be custom-made for the repair. These days it’s hard to find someone with the vision to build an Italianate mansion walking distance to downtown Vicksburg. Luckily, the Feld house can be yours for the extremely reasonable price of $215,000. The post Grab a Historic Mississippi House for an Absolute Steal: $215,000 for Vicksburg’s Feld House appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®. via https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/feld-house-mississippi/ Singer, songwriter, and producer R. Kelly was recently evicted from two properties in the Atlanta suburbs for failing to pay more than $30,000 in back rent and fees. The two properties, situated in the tree-lined Johns Creek neighborhood of Duluth, GA, have had a shadow cast on them by the scandals surrounding Kelly. There’s a large mansion and a smaller home, both of which Kelly had been renting. The homes have taken center stage in sex abuse allegations against the entertainer, in addition to dual burglaries committed in December. The mansionThe larger home on Old Homestead Trail was used as a primary residence by Kelly, according to BuzzFeed, which published a bombshell report in October accusing the popular R&B crooner of running a “sex cult” involving brainwashing, with a stable of young women kept in guesthouses near his Johns Creek home. Kelly denies these allegations. The singer rented the large mansion for $11,542.45 per month. Built in 2000, the 9,000-square-foot estate is situated on 2.5 acres and has its own batting cage and a tennis court that Kelly turned into a basketball court. Indoors, the home boasts luxe amenities, including a home theater and cigar bar. The modest homeThe second, smaller home Kelly rented is located on Saint Devon Crossing. Built in 1992, the 2,348-square-foot home sits in a cul-de-sac and has four bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kelly was paying $3,000 per month rent on the property, which is just 2 miles from the larger home. The burglaryBoth homes were allegedly burgled by Kelly’s close friend Alphonso Walker over Thanksgiving weekend. According to People, Walker hired movers to clean out both houses, and then sold the contents at a price of $6,000 per room. The theft was discovered by a cleaning lady in late November. Kelly returned from tour and recorded a video of the aftermath, and posted it on Instagram in early December. Walker turned himself in to authorities in Johns Creek days later, according to TMZ. After the burglaries, Kelly appears to have just stopped paying rent and left the homes behind. Published excerpts from court documents related to the recent eviction show Kelly hasn’t paid a dime after the December burglaries and currently owes rent and interest for January and February. The Daily Mail also reports when officials tried to serve the eviction notice to Kelly at his home, the property was empty and appeared to be abandoned. SB Property Management Global, which filed documents with the court, is seeking to get first dibs on any insurance money related to the break-ins to cover back rent and property damage. Edmond Green of SB Property Management Global, who filed the court documents against Kelly, couldn’t be reached for comment. Foreclosure bluesProperty woes like this aren’t anything new for the “Ignition” singer. Kelly simply stopped paying the mortgage in June 2010 on his megamansion near Chicago in Olympia Fields, IL. His decision led to the home’s foreclosure. Despite Kelly owing nearly $3 million on the home and its valuation at more than $5 million when it was built in 1999, it was purchased from the bank in 2013 by Isley Brother Rudolph Isley for just $587,500. Kelly left the 11,000-square-foot estate in disarray when he decided to split. The same year, Kelly reportedly got a tax bill for almost $5 million for not paying the IRS dating back to 2005, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Here’s how the home looked when the bank took over the property and put it on the market: Legal issuesWith unpaid bills mounting, Kelly is still under investigation by law enforcement in relation to October’s sex abuse accusations. Several sources in BuzzFeed’s expose on Kelly say Kelly kept six women in three rented properties in the Atlanta and Chicago suburbs, where they were controlled, abused, and kept against their will. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Kelly also rented a third property in Johns Creek, on Creek Wind Court. In July, Tim and Jonjelyn Savage held a press conference outside the home, and accused Kelly of recruiting their daughter Joycelyn into a cult and holding her against her will. “My daughter is severely brainwashed,” Jonjelyn told the gathered crowd. Joycelyn, an aspiring singer, later released a video to TMZ saying she was “in a happy place” and “totally fine” but refused to disclose where she was living. But her denial won’t be enough to put the matter to rest. According to the Journal-Constitution, Johns Creek police referred the matter to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in August. A spokesman for the district attorney says the file is still under review. In the meantime, it seems as if Kelly is done with Atlanta and left with his rental pad in Chicago’s Trump Tower. The post R. Kelly Evicted From 2 Atlanta Properties as Legal and Financial Troubles Pile Up appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®. via https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/r-kelly-evicted-two-atlanta-properties/ Fewer new homes were sold this year—and that’s not likely to help the worsening housing crunch. Only about 593,000 newly constructed homes were sold in January, according to a joint report by the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That’s down 7.8% from December 2017 and 1% from January 2018. (Realtor.com looked only at the seasonally adjusted numbers in the report. These have been smoothed out over 12 months to account for seasonal fluctuations.) “Most of that decline in sales is at the upper end of the market, among homes over $500,000,” says Senior Economist Joseph Kirchner of realtor.com®. “We may be seeing a shift by builders to produce more moderately priced homes. One of the indications is the drop in the median price. We’re [also] hearing anecdotally from builders and Realtors® this is happening.” The median price of a new home did fall a bit, to $323,000. That was a nearly 4.1% dip from December, but up almost 2.5% from a year ago. Still, buyers looking for a real bargain should set their sights instead on an existing home (i.e., one that has previously been lived in). The median price of an existing home was 34.3% less, at $240,500, in January, according to National Association of Realtors® data. That’s because land and materials costs for new homes are on the rise. There is also a national shortage of skilled construction labor, leading to delays and higher wages. Increased regulations and a harder time obtaining financing have also added to the higher prices of newly constructed residences. Only about 12% of new homes sold in January were more affordable, with prices of $199,999 and below. An additional 31% were between $200,000 and $299,999, while 25% were between $300,000 and $399,999 and 15% were between $400,000 and $499,9999. An additional 16% were $500,000 and up. January sales of new homes were down the most in the Northeast, where they dropped 33.3% from December and 44.2% from the same month a year earlier. They also fell sharply in the South, plummeting 14.2% from the previous month and 10.9% from the previous year. Sales were up in the West, rising 1% from December and 33.1% from January 2018. In the Midwest, they shot up 15.4% month over month and 2.7% year over year. The post As New-Home Sales Decline, Their Price Dips as Well appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®. via https://www.realtor.com/news/real-estate-news/fewer-affordable-new-homes/ Retired NBA star and former reality-TV fixture Lamar Odom is once again trying to sell his 8,557-square-foot mansion in the wealthy Miami suburb of Pinecrest, FL, this time for $3.65 million. He’s had an interesting history with the home, which he bought for just under $3 million in 2003, the year he joined the Miami Heat. His stint in Miami was cut short the following year, and rather than selling the house, he held on to it, at times offering to rent it for as much as $20,000 per month. In April 2017, he put the house on the market for $5.2 million, cut the price to $4.5 million, and then sliced it again to $4.1 million, before transferring the deed to an LLC he controls for $1.89 million, property records show. At the time, he took out a $2.45 million mortgage on the home, the Miami Herald reports. In October, Odom put the house back on the market for $3.8 million, and then proceeded to cut the price to $3.4 million in January. One month later, he’s relisted it for $3.6 million. The six-bedroom, nine-bath Mediterranean-style gated mansion is perfectly geared to a baller like Odom. There’s a full-sized, fenced basketball court in the backyard, and a pool with an exceptionally wide deck—ideal for a Kardashian-esque Miami pool party. Double glass doors open to a wide princess staircase, and a straight shot to the patio, pool, and basketball court beyond. The house is packed with party-ready features, like a billiards room, home theater, and a bar with a countertop longer than the average neighborhood bar. Large, modern glass doors let natural light into virtually every room. Extensive marble flooring runs throughout most of the house, and there are fireplaces in two of the bedrooms shown in the listing photos. Odom played forward for four NBA teams, but made the biggest impact with the Los Angeles Lakers, helping the team win back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and 2010. In 2009, he met Khloé Kardashian at a party and asked her to marry him a month after they started dating. The following year, E! launched a new reality show, “Khloé & Lamar,” featuring the couple and Odom’s two children from a previous relationship. The show was ultimately canceled after two seasons. In 2015, Odom made headlines after he nearly died at a Nevada brothel, and was hospitalized in a coma. In late 2016, Odom and Kardashian split for good. The post Lamar Odom Tries Unloading South Florida Mansion Again—Now for $3.65M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®. via https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/lamar-odom-pinecrest-relisted/ You know the generational drill—or at least you think you do. Millennials, the conventional wisdom goes, are tech-obsessed, self-obsessed, debt-laden, and weirdly fascinated by beards and avocados. Generation X: cynical, self-reliant, often forgotten. Baby boomers: rebellious, materialistic, obstinate, unhealthily obsessed with late-night cable news. But through all of their stark differences, card-carrying members of each group share one unifying goal: to live in a place that neatly checks off the boxes on their master list of needs, hopes, and dreams. As the millennials say, YOLO. Yet when it comes time to pack up the U-Haul and move to a new home, millennials, Gen Xers, and boomers all define this in different ways—and in different places. The data team at realtor.com® set out to discover which are the hottest markets for each generation. And we confirmed that one size most definitely does not fit all when it comes to where these generation groups are moving and buying homes. “The different generations are, for the most part, in different stages of life,” says Chris Porter, the chief demographer at John Burns Real Estate Consulting in Irvine, CA. So they “are seeking out locales that meet their specific needs.” Despite the high cost, millennials are still headed to tech centers and cultural hot spots, where they can make good money and still have a good time. Meanwhile, Gen Xers, badly scorched by the Great Recession, are all about going to places where they can score a big home without going broke. And baby boomers/empty nesters are still heading to Sun Belt metros, where costs are lower, cold weather is in short supply, and they’ll have plenty of like-minded company. As generations age, they’re likely to want some of the things generations before them did. But preferences change too. Each generation “moves in the same direction [as the previous one], but not quite as far,” says Dowell Myers, an urban planning and demography professor at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. “They’ll always be uniquely different [from one another].” To figure out the most in-demand metros for each generation, we looked at the following criteria:
(The Pew Research Center defines the millennial generation as being born from 1981 to 1998, Generation X from 1965 to 1980, and baby boomers from 1946 to 1964. Definitions of generations vary, but we tried to stick as close as the data would allow to the Pew definitions.) It’s also worth noting that although Chicago and New York City have thousands of new residents moving in every year, they lose thousands, too. So we looked at metros that gained more folks than they lost. And because it’s not fair to compare a huge metro with a smaller one, we also looked at the percentage change of new residents from each generation moving in and out. That helps to control for population size. Got it? OK, now let’s take a closer look at where millennials, Gen Xers, and boomers are most likely to head next. Some of this just might surprise you. Millennials are flocking to big cities, despite the costYou thought millennials were throwing in the towel on exorbitant urban meccas? Think again. Undeterred by the mind-boggling high prices for homes and just about everything else, young adults are continuing to flock to many of the country’s biggest and buzziest cities, particularly the tech hubs. These places simply offer the largest paychecks, as well as the lifestyle these folks are seeking. So what’s a little more debt when you’re having fun? You can’t get much more expensive than the San Francisco Bay Area. Yet the San Francisco metro grabbed the top spot on our ranking for millennials. The median home list price in the metro was $846,400, according to realtor.com. But that didn’t stop Kaila DeRienzo. The 26-year-old was at the top of her pay scale at her public relations job in Norfolk, VA. So she packed up and shipped her belongings to bet on a future 3,000 miles to the west. “Jobs in the San Francisco area kept popping up in my news feed … jobs that I didn’t even know existed,” says DeRienzo. And, surprise: She turned out to love the place. “The city is so friendly.” Hot job markets are extremely important for millennials, as is a lively nightlife scene with plenty of Instagrammable bars and eateries. And when millennials post selfies of all the fun stuff in their new hometown, it makes that place all the more enticing to pals back home. “The biggest thing for me was that more and more people I went to college with were moving here,” DeRienzo says. “You see all things they post online and want to be part of it.” Other tech hubs, small and large, were top places to be for millennials. Seattle came in second, followed by Houston; Dallas; Washington, DC; Denver; Boston; Ann Arbor, MI; State College, PA; and Austin, TX. Millennials may make up only about a third of buyers overall, but their portion is likely to keep growing. (They are the country’s largest generation, after all.) And that makes attracting these soon-to-be home buyers a priority for local governments. “Millennials are saying, ‘We are willing to move for lifestyle and job,’ as opposed to, ‘I need to stay close to home because it’s safer and lower cost,'” as previous generations may have, says Jason Dorsey, chief strategy officer for the Center for Generational Kinetics, a marketing firm in Austin. “If communities position themselves correctly, and have the type of lifestyle [millennials] want, they absolutely can be a top choice for the future.” There were some surprises on the list, smaller metros far from Silicon Valley and Silicon Mountain (Denver). But what the college towns of Ann Arbor and State College lack in size and prestige, they make up for in affordability. Every year, thousands of recent high school graduates flock to Pennsylvania State University, in State College, and the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Many of them stick around after graduation. And why not? The median home list price is just $235,550 in State College, whereas the national median is $269,500, according to realtor.com data. While Ann Arbor’s median price of $343,625 is a bit higher, the metro has a strong job market and is within commuting distance from Detroit. “Within 15 minutes you can be hiking in the mountains or trout fishing,” says Tom Fountaine, the borough manager who oversees the administrative management for State College’s city government. “Thousands of acres in just minutes.” Gen Xers want big paychecks and big homesWith older, college-bound kids putting more of a dent in their wallets, many Gen Xers are moving away from costly coastal metros in pursuit of more space and good schools at a better price. And as everyone knows, everything is bigger in Texas. So it makes sense that five of the top 10 metros for Gen X are in the Lone Star State, with its cheaper cost of living, lower taxes, and more affordable homes. “Generation X is looking for housing affordability, where they can meet the needs of growing families,” says John Burns’ Porter, adding they often prefer warmer weather and more business-friendly states as well. That may help to explain why “Texas has been one of the fastest-growing regions in the country for a while.” Houston took the top spot. Among other Texas towns, Dallas came in third, Austin was sixth, Odessa was seventh, and San Antonio hit No. 8. The other top metros for Gen Xers were Miami, at No. 2, and Washington, DC, at No. 4. Rounding out the top 10 were Riverside, CA, at fifth; Atlanta at ninth; and Charlotte, NC, at 10th. Gen Xers are big fans of 2,400-square-foot, four-bedroom suburban homes in the $260,000 price range in Houston, says Greg Nino. And he would know: The Houston real estate agent at Re/Max Compass has a lot of these clients. But that ardor was put on pause last year when Hurricane Harvey roiled the Houston housing market in August, destroying more than 15,000 homes, and causing more than $125 billion in damages, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Homes in flood plain areas are seeing price decreases. And some homeowners without flood insurance are now facing foreclosure. Yet things aren’t as bad as some had feared; much of the area was spared the devastation. And there is no shortage of eager buyers moving in as the affected areas rebuild. “We’re such a big city with so many jobs being added, that [Harvey] isn’t crippling us. It was a punch in the face, but we didn’t fall down,” Nino says. Gen Xers in particular, he adds, are “still taking advantage of the low prices and the low cost of living.” The median list price in Houston is $318,000, compared with $846,400 in San Francisco. For a generational group badly hit by the recent financial downturns, that’s a life-changer. The Dallas region, where the median home price is $342,500, has also seen a spike in buyers, as many companies have recently transferred to, expanded in, or opened up shop in the region. That includes Toyota, which relocated nearly 4,000 employees from other parts of the country. Buyers there are seeking single-family homes in good school districts with reasonable commutes to their jobs, says local real estate broker Debbie Murray, of Allie Beth Allman & Associates. In recent years the housing market has gotten hot, she says, and everything under $1 million goes fast. “Gen Xers many times are looking for master-planned communities, with lots of amenities for their families,” Murray says. Baby boomers are still moving to Florida—but it’s not No. 1Some things never change. Wisconsin is crazy about the Packers. The car registration line at the local DMV doesn’t seem to ever move. And retiring Americans flock to the Sunshine State. Florida claimed six of the top 10 metros for baby boomers, but—stop the internet--not the top spot. That honor went to Phoenix, where the median home price is $329,000. That’s not exactly cheap, but it’s still much lower than many other Western metros. “A lot of [baby boomers] are looking to downsize,” says Lori Corwin, a local real estate agent at Realty Executives. Many of these buyers want to be near golf courses in Phoenix or in homes that require little maintenance, such as in 55-plus communities. One of the pioneers of such communities is located in the Phoenix metro area. Sun City opened in 1960 specifically for retirees and snowbirds. During the peak winter months, its population soars to around 40,000. North Port, FL, ranked second for boomers, followed by Miami; The Villages, FL; Punta Gorda, FL; Myrtle Beach, SC; Riverside, CA; Cape Coral, FL; Lake Havasu City, AZ; and Naples, FL. Many of these locales also offer reasonable median home prices—which are quite a bit less than what these folks may have been paying in the pricier Northeastern states. For example, the median home list price in North Port was $350,000. Compare that with $493,000 in Boston and $415,000 in Washington, DC. Did we mention the lower taxes? In Florida, retirees don’t pay income tax on withdrawals from their retirement accounts. North Port–area real estate agent Mireille Devos has slowly watched baby boomers move in during her 15 years in the region. Initially, they bought second homes in the state while still working up north. She says many lost those homes when the housing bubble popped. In recent years, things have picked back up because the economy’s improved. And North Port has been among the top beneficiaries. Devos, a real estate agent at U.S. Invest International, says the hurricane-free region has an edge over other Gulf locations. The metro has also added the things baby boomers want: great restaurants, museums, cultural organizations, and beach activities. “Fifteen years ago you had to look around for good cuisine,” Devos says. “Over the last three years it’s improved an awful lot.” * The U.S. Census Bureau doesn’t group people by generation, so the realtor.com data team, like other publications, defined millennials as those aged 20 to 34, Gen X as those aged 35 to 49, and baby boomers as those aged 50 to 69. Individuals were grouped based on their age when they responded to the Census during the five-year period of 2011 through 2015. The post Millennial Meccas, Gen X Hot Spots, and Boomer Boomtowns appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®. via https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/millennials-moving-right-now/ Calling all sinners! Don’t worry, we’re not here to give a lecture about how you should swear less, smile more, and be a better person. No, it’s that we’ve found a place where you should live, a haven where your vices can thrive and flourish. (Just stay on the right side of the law, mmkay?) According to a new survey, your personal mecca is Florida. That’s according to a new study by WalletHub, which sized up all 50 states based on variables related to the seven deadly sins from the Bible—you know, things like sloth (measured by residents’ activity levels), lust (time spent on adult entertainment sites), vanity (number of beauty salons), and other indicators like rates of gambling, excessive drinking, and drug use. Surprise! The more obvious pits of depravity—such as New York and Nevada (home of “Sin City,” aka Las Vegas)—were goody two-shoes compared with the Sunshine State. Florida is famed for its gorgeous beaches, juicy oranges, and family-friendly vacation destinations like Disney World, The Most Magical Place on Earth! (The recent tragic school shooting in Parkland, FL, occurred after this ranking was created and is in no way a part of it.) Given bragging rights like that, how did Florida end up sinking so low on the morality scale? To be sure, some of the blame goes to those vacationers who flock to Florida for a margarita—or five—to escape the cruel winters in more “upstanding” states (the least sinful state, according to WalletHub, is Vermont, followed by North Dakota and Maine). “Because so much of the draw to Florida is its beaches and warm weather, it can foster a party atmosphere to a degree in that people are drawn to relax by the sand or on their boat, with beverage of choice in hand,” says Florida real estate agent Cara Ameer. Furthermore, “the fact that it is a haven for retirees may push the score up a bit in terms of people that are more sedentary.” But is sin bad for real estate? On the contrary, it could actually be good to be bad … or certainly not a deterrent. “I don’t think this will discourage anyone from moving to Florida due to our lower cost of living, no state income tax, and a more favorable weather climate,” Ameer continues. “Those are staples of what has made and continue to make the Sunshine State so attractive to people relocating from all over the country.” Florida’s real estate aceFlorida also possesses another real estate perk that might attract wayward sorts. “Florida has an unlimited homestead exemption in bankruptcy,” says Atlanta-based real estate agent and attorney Bruce Ailion. “You can owe everyone in the world, liquidate your assets, buy a huge home in Florida for cash, live there the short statutory period to claim the homestead, file for bankruptcy, discharge all your debts, and still keep your home. That is probably the worst sin.” Ameer concedes that some people don’t move to Florida just for the sandy beaches. “Florida can also draw some element of the population that come here to ‘start over’ after leaving a shady past somewhere else—think mobsters from New York that fled here and had to get a new identity,” she says. And homestead exemption aside, the sheer volume of people flocking to Florida could be the very reason it has more than a few bad apples. “States that are less sinful like Vermont are almost little islands unto themselves that tend not to have an influx of people relocating there versus places like Florida, California, and Texas, which are all ripe with continually moving in and out of those areas,” Ameer says. “You would be very hard-pressed to find an abundance of true natives living in Florida. So, when they come to Florida, they bring their baggage with them—both good and bad habits and everything else.” Here’s a full rundown of the most (and least) sinful states below. 10 most sinful states
10 least sinful states
The post 10 Most Sinful States in America: They’re Tops for Lust, Vanity, and Sloth appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®. via https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/most-sinful-states-in-america/ Amid the boxy modern homes, beach clubs, chic apartments, and parking lots that huddle shoulder to shoulder on the sands of Santa Monica Beach, there remain intact a few bastions of old Hollywood glamour. One of them—the former home of Cary Grant, Howard Hughes, and Joan Fontaine, among others—has just landed on the market for the first time in 38 years with a price tag of $12 million. The beachfront home was built in 1930 by architect Paul R. Crawley for silent-screen star Norma Talmadge, on what was known at the time as the “Gold Coast,” or first movie beach colony in Los Angeles. Hughes added barbed wire to the property walls, a privacy feature that was sure to have been appreciated by other A-list residents, including Grant and Western star Randolph Scott, who eventually acquired the property. The current owners have long since removed the barbed wire, but you can still imagine Hollywood A-listers from the past playing paddle tennis on the court out back, raising a glass of Bordeaux from the wine cellar, or sitting on the raised deck while viewing the sunset over the Santa Monica Pier and Malibu. “The views at dusk are stunning,” says listing agent Jade Mills of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury. Current homeowner Jennifer Diener lived there for almost four decades with her husband, Royce Diener, who died in May 2017. Mr. Diener, the president and CEO of American Medical International, was on the board of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 25 years. He spearheaded the successful campaign to refurbish the Hollywood Bowl. The couple preserved the gracious elegance of the 5,530-square-foot, French Normandy–style beach estate, which has five bedrooms and 4.5 baths. Some of the striking original features include the remarkable, colorful tile in the bathrooms and the leaded-glass windows on the main floor. Many of the wood and tile floors and the extensive custom woodwork have been exceptionally preserved. Other unique features of the home include a circular staircase in the formal foyer; a sheltered courtyard with a fountain; a heated, brick-lined pool; and a master suite with a fireplace, two baths, dressing rooms, and sitting areas. The home stands out on its particular stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway. It appears to be a private oasis, with public parking lots on either side. “With no noise from neighbors on either side, and the parking lots emptying out by late afternoon, it’s very peaceful and totally quiet,” says Mills. The location is one of the best in Santa Monica, with the beach just outside the back door. The Santa Monica Pier, the Santa Monica Promenade, the Santa Monica Palisades, and top restaurants are all within walking distance. “For beach property of this size, with a pool and court, you generally have to go far out,” Mills says. “There’s nothing else like this so close in.” The post Santa Monica Beach House With Hollywood Pedigree Is Listed for $12M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®. via https://www.realtor.com/news/unique-homes/santa-monica-beach-hollywood-pedigree/ It figures troubled actor Charlie Sheen would have a master suite with its own dumbwaiter for snacks from the kitchen, a screening room and wet bar complete with bar stools, neon signage, and a cigarette machine. However, he won’t be sleeping in his Beverly Hills, CA, home much longer if all goes according to plan. He’s just listed the seven-bedroom, seven-bath mansion in Mulholland Estates for the curious price of $9,999,999. According to public records, Sheen bought the place in 2006 for $7,200,000. While living there, he married and divorced his third wife, Brooke Mueller, and had a number of other live-in girlfriends, including his “goddesses.” It was also his home base when he had his public fracas with “Two and a Half Men” creator Chuck Lorre and Warner Bros., as well as several run-ins with the law. The 8,932-square-foot mansion on a half-acre lot comes with other unusual luxury features, including two pools, an elaborate gazebo with a bar, and high-end kitchen. There’s also a canopied dining room and a Creston home theater with heavy, red velvet drapes. Other interesting features include a children’s room with the universe painted on the ceiling (Sheen has five children and one grandchild), a bonus room that’s currently being used as a gym, and an elegant game room. The Mediterranean revival–style home also comes with celebrity neighbors, including Christina Aguilera, Paris Hilton, Vanna White, DJ Khaled, and Kendall Jenner. TMZ reported that Sheen whisper-listed the mansion in November 2016 for $9 million, but there must not have been any takers. Sheen, 52, starred in popular sitcoms such as “Spin City,” “Anger Management,” and “”Two and a Half Men.” For the latter, he was paid $1.8 million per episode, making him the highest-paid actor on TV. He’s also appeared in dozens of films, including “Apocalypse Now,” “Platoon,” “Wall Street,” “Major League,” and the “Hot Shots” franchise. The post Charlie Sheen Selling Infamous Beverly Hills Mansion for $10M appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®. via https://www.realtor.com/news/celebrity-real-estate/charlie-sheen-beverly-hills-mansion-10-million/ |
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April 2021
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