The Celebrity Beat: Relocation.com's Celebrity Real Estate Report

By Serena Norr

After a brief break to bring you the spooky Haunted Beat, we are back with the latest hot properties from La La Land. Troubled starlet Winona Ryder recently placed her vintage-inspired Los Angeles home on the market for $4.095 million. The Spanish-style home, purchased in 1998, includes a rustic kitchen, a personal gym, four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Andy Roddick, Kelly Clarkson and Flea (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) also placed their homes on the market with the only buyer this week being Julia Roberts who purchased a $3.89 million-dollar penthouse in the West Village. Let us know if you have a real estate tip or some insight about any of these properties in the comments section.

•   Julia Roberts Buys Penthouse for $3.89 Million
Julia Roberts recently purchased a co-op penthouse in Greenwich Village for $3.895 million. According to the NY Post, the building was built in 1958 and includes a rooftop terrace. Roberts is no stranger to real estate deals and owns properties in California, New Mexico as well as another NYC home in Gramercy Park.

•    Winona Ryder Selling Her Los Angeles Home
Winona Ryder recently placed her Los Angeles home on the market for $4.095 million. Purchased in 1998 for $2.6 million, the Spanish-style property comes with four bedrooms and four bathrooms – one of which includes vintage-inspired pink and blue tile work. Additional features in the home include a rustic-looking kitchen with an eat-in breakfast area, an indoor gym, a formal living room and French doors leading to an outdoor area with a kidney-shaped pool, a built-in wet bar and 3,765-square-feet of living space. Ryder also owns a 3,436-square-foot single family home in the Cow Hollow neighborhood in San Francisco.

•    Andy Roddick Lists Lake Austin Home
Andrew “Stephen” Andy Roddick and his wife Brooklyn Decker have recently placed their 5,558-square-foot home in Austin for $3.6 million. Located on a Cul de Sac, the private and gated home (that overlooks Lake Austin) features .71 acres of land, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, high ceilings and huge closets. The home also includes a personal gym, a game room, a media room and a state-of-the-art kitchen with granite countertops, a breakfast bar and stainless steel appliances. Purchased in 2003 for $2,149,500, there is no word on where the couple wants to relocate.

•    Kelly Clarkson Lists Nashville Home
“American Idol” Kelly Clarkson recently listed her five-bedroom, six-bathroom Nashville, Tennessee home for $1,449,000. Purchased in 1007, the 4,900-square-foot residence also includes a media room, a formal living and dining room, hardwood flooring, den, recreation room and a fireplace. The kitchen has also been upgraded and now includes stainless steel appliances and honey-colored cabinets. Clarkson also owns a gated home in Fort Worth, Texas.

•    Flea Selling His Home in Malibu
Michael Balzary aka Flea of the popular band Red Hot Chili Peppers recently listed his Malibu estate for $13,676,000. Encompassing 2,731-square-feet, the ocean front home includes four bedrooms and four bathrooms  located on two acres on Encinal Bluffs – which overlooks the beach at every angle. The home also includes unique architectural details such as soaring ceilings, an open floor plan and walls of glass. There are also two separate guest homes, two garages, a private spa terrace and private beach access.

The Celebrity Beat: Relocation.com's Celebrity Real Estate Report

By Serena Norr

What an exciting week in the world of celebrity real estate. The home that Michael Jackson rented before he died was listed on the market for a whopping $28,995,000! With seven bedrooms, a game/media room, a theatre and a pool the new owner will never have to leave the property. Meg Ryan also made an appearance on the Beat for leasing her home for rent. Asking price? A mere $40,000 a month — or what we figure is better spent on two years worth of rent.  Christie Brinkley is also in the news for placing her beachfront home on the market. She is reportedly a huge fan of home improvement projects but cited lack of time to maintain the property as one of the reasons for the listing. We also reported on the foreclosure of Damon Dash’s (co-founder of Roc-A-Feller Records) NYC condos. Dash reportedly fell into the old spending-more-than-what-you-have bit and was unable to pay his $78,504 monthly mortgage payments.

•    Michael Jackson’s Home on the Market for $28,995,000
Yes, those numbers are correct and yes, this is the very home that Michael Jackson rented for $100,000 a month before he passed away in June of 2009 (owner is Hubert Guez, CEO of Ed Hardy).  This Holmby Hills estate (located in Los Angeles) is certainly fit for a King, or maybe just the King of Pop. The list of amenities goes on and on for “French Chateau” such as a wood-paneled den, a library, a modern eat-in kitchen, seven bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, seven garage spaces and 12 fireplaces all of which is situated on 1.26 acres of land. On top of all, the 17,171 square feet home (about $1,689 per square foot) also has a wine cellar, a media room, an art studio, a movie theatre, an indoor bar, a spa and a gym, lush gardens and greenery and an heated outdoor pool. Property listings describe this luxurious and gated abode as a “major achievement in design and proportion, incorporating classic design and impeccable craftsmanship and offering the perfect integration of charm and elegance in a world-class setting.” With that asking price and all that is included we wonder what King or Queen will be the reigning owner of this property.

•    Meg Ryan Renting Her Home for $40,000 a Month
Back in October, actress Meg Ryan listed this California home for $14.2 million only to be removed from the property listings a mere two months later. According to Zillow.com, Ryan has now listed her Spanish-style Bel Air home for rent at $40,000 a month. A bit steep for a lease but the world of celebrity real estate follows its own set of rules. And for whoever can afford this agreement will have quite the gorgeous beachfront estate to look after. The spacious home includes six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, four fireplaces and of course stunning views of the ocean. There is also hardwood flooring, open archways, wood-beamed ceilings and a modern kitchen with state-of-the-art appliances. There are no reports as to how long the rental agreement would last.

•    Hip Hop Mogul Damon Dash Losses Home to Foreclosure
Damon Dash, Co-Founder of Roc-A-Feller Records recently lost his TriBeCa condo to a foreclosure. Sold for $5.5 million, Dash reportedly stopped paying his $78,504 in mortgage payments on his two condos — one on Moore Street and the other on Laight Street. (We wonder why one would need two condos in the same neighborhood but perhaps that is a part of the whole celebrity real estate conundrum.)  Dash attempted to sell the Moore Street condo right after the real estate market crashed for $7.9 million and again for $5.75 million in 2009 with no interested buyers. Since he was unable to pay  his loan, Dash was sued twice and finally ordered to put his home through the auction process by the New York Supreme Court. A California-based finance firm, Platinum Capital, purchased the home. His second home (on Laight Street in NYC) went unsold and was taken over by Eastern Savings Bank.

•    Steve Carell Buys Home for $6 Million
Steve Carell of “The Office” recently purchased 1.27 acre estate for $6 million dollars. Located in Toluca Lake, California, the 5,126-sqaure-foot home includes six bedrooms, five bathrooms, a pool house and a tennis court. Toluca Lake is home to many celebrity neighbors that Carell can soon mingle with. According to the Real Estalker, Eric McCormack, Markie Post, Swoosie Kurtz, Andy Garcia, Demi Lovato, and Ashley Tisdale all live in Toluca Lake.”

•    Christie Brinkley Lists North Haven Home for Sale
Model/socialite and real estate investor Christie Brinkley recently listed her New Haven home on the market for $15.75 million. Built in the 19th century, the waterfront home not only has gorgeous views of the beach and the surrounding bay but is surrounded on 4.5 acres of land and 327 feet of beachfront. The 5,500-square-foot columned mansion has five-bedrooms, six bathrooms, four fireplaces and an outdoor pool. Brinkley cited busyness and an inability to maintain the property as the reason for the sale. She has an avid interest in home improvement projects stating “love fixing up old houses, but my life is so busy between with my children, launching several new businesses and my philanthropy, I just don’t have time.”

Relocation.com’s Best Real Estate Blogs in Los Angeles

By Serena Norr

As the second largest city in the United States, and the largest city in California, Los Angeles is renowned as a hub for glamour and entertainment, amazing weather, fine dining, attractions and breathtaking beaches.

This “City of Angels” is also home to some of the most immaculate real estate properties in the world with seaside residences, homes situated in the mountains, über modern architectural wonders and green design concepts. Although these housing options are plentiful, the area was hit pretty hard by the declining housing market, causing market price to plummet and foreclosures throughout the city. However, this area is now starting to see signs of growth with the rebound of home sales. Forbes magazine even named Los Angeles one of the top 10 metro areas in the U.S that is easing from the recession. Good prospects are up ahead and relocation.com is very excited to cover these Los Angeles bloggers who are on the pulse of what’s happening in this (once again) burgeoning real estate market.

As part of the popular Curbed network, the Curbed LA edition covers anything and everything real estate throughout all of the neighborhoods in the City of Lights. This up to the minute blog is certainly on the beat of what is going on in the market through their informative, but fun articles. The site also features breaking real estate news and deals, developments in architecture, home improvement and design concepts and real estates listings, accompanied by gorgeous pictures.You can also find restaurant reviews and everything about LA fashion on its sister sites-Eater LA and Racked LA for the complete LA experience.

Covering the Westside of Los Angeles and Downtown, the Los Angeles Real Estate Blog features the point of view of real estate broker-Keller Williams and his first hand insight of this residential real estate market. Since the blog covers Downtown, most of the listings feature apartments, condos and coops, along with location information (restaurants, area amenities, etc) room features, floor plans, pictures and even YouTube videos that give users an interactive tour. The site also provides informational articles such as green living, analysis of home growth in certain areas and parking in LA with a dead meter.

Crafted by the Valerie Fitzgerald Group, Los Angeles Real Estate Talk covers the market in Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Malibu, Santa Monica and the Westside of Los Angeles. This luxury real estate blog showcases the latest buying and selling trends and listings, as well an a great resource for informational articles about home inspections, construction sites, loans, mortgage rules and tax credits. Buyers and sellers should be sure to check out the blogs resource page, where they can check out a payment calculator, moving checklist, budget calculator, closing costs, and understanding investment, among many other informational (and free!) resources.

The Malibu Real Estate Blog gives users the “low down” on high end real estate from techy/real estate agent, Michael Gardner. Auctions, listings and pictures, sales and real estate developments throughout Malibu are all covered on the site through Gardner’s straightforward tone. He even lists his cell phone number, so that users can call or text him directly with their listing information or any questions.

A Manhattan Beach real estate blog, the Manhattan Beach Confidential lists properties on the market and compares current asking prices to its previous sales, which gives buyers a comprehensive analysis on property values and real estate trends. The reviews also include open house times, location information and a straightforward review of a homes appearance. Recent posting such as: “First, there’s that exterior, with its hard-on-the-eyes adornments. It just doesn’t work” are just some of the brutally honest remarks regularly found on MBC.

Blogger/real estate broker, Irina Netchaev breaks down the real estate market in Pasadena through her site, Pasadena Views. This informational resource covers architecture, home sales, real estate market reports, as well as information about loans and mortgages. Home owners can also list their homes here, or buyers can search through the up-to-date free listing section. The site also features foreclosures, market statistics and profiles on Pasadena’s neighborhoods such as average home price and amount of time a place is listed on the market. The site also has a personal touch with Irina’s real-life stories of the buying/selling market, advice and insider secrets.

Covering Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Los Angeles, Malibu, the Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica and Westwood, the Los Angeles Real Estate Voice provides a neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown of real estate listing and housing news. The blog also features these areas through their own profile pages, as well as through lifestyle articles covering local restaurants, where the best schools are and an interactive video section where experts give their opinions on real estate in these markets.

Looks like brighter days are coming for Los Angeles, as the market is showing signs of some real change. Check out some of these blogs to stay up-to-date on current trends, real estate listings and industry news as they happen—we know we will!

The Best Real Estate Blogs in Los Angeles

So here’s a special kind of torture: Research Los Angeles real estate blogs from a dreary office in chilly, rainy New York.

All these blogs feature the things that make Los Angeles so special: sunny skies; beautiful, happy people; palm trees swaying in soft, ocean breezes. In New York we have cloudy skies; surly people; still-yet-to-bloom saplings nearly bent to the ground by hurricane-force winds off the Hudson.

So I enjoyed losing myself for awhile in these blogs.

As readers of this feature know, I’m doing a virtual transverse of our nation’s largest cities to find real estate blogs that are helpful for people looking to move to a particular community. I’ve looked at Minneapolis and Chicago thus far.

For people who are moving, these blogs are a great way to learn about neighborhoods, learn about real estate in those neighborhoods, and maybe even find a real estate agent who knows their assessments from their elbow (and is a likeable person, to boot).

I try to avoid blogs that are just a series of listings, and posts shouting ‘Now’s a great time to buy a home!’ (I assume that if people are on the blog, they’re ready to buy — and if they’re not, the plaintive cries of a real estate agent won’t convince them to do so).

So that said, here’s the best of the best that I found in the LA area.

San Fernando Valley Real Estate Blog

Judy Graff’s San Fernando Valley Real Estate Blog is really good. A nice mix of humorous pieces about real estate life, tidbits about the communities she serves, and analysis of the current housing market.

She even gets a bit snarky. This post rips overpriced homes near freeway off-ramps, and this one recounts a nightmare home showing (hint: naked guy!).

Judy’s blog gives me a very good idea of what kind of agent she is: open, honest, knowledgeable and funny. Not a bad combination for someone who’s trying to find me a home — and look out for my interests when buying it. 

Pasadena Views
 
Pasadena Views from Irina Netchaev provides a good snapshot of the Pasadena area, with a nice mix of information about the area and its amenities — it even has restaurant reviews. This post on walking areas in Pasadena is a good example of a real estate agent who’s plugged into the community.

There are also market reports on Pasadena housing, and information about mortgages, including this humorous post comparing some mortgage brokers with the stingy “Soup Nazi” of Seinfeld fame. Anybody who likes Seinfeld is an agent I could work with…

Beach City Real Estate Info

OK, deep breath before pronouncing the next blog: Beach City Real Estate Info. Rolls off the tongue, eh?

Good blog, though. It focuses on Manhattan Beach and Redondo Breach, and the pictures on the homepage make me pine for sun and palm trees, preferrably together and even more preferrably with a fruity drink adorned with a little umbrella.

But back to the real estate. This blog has a thorough listing of homes for sale in the area and other market data for the would-be buyer. There are also posts that are helpful to first-time buyers. This analysis is helpful for people looking to buy in the area.

Malibu Real Estate Blog

Malibu Real Estate Blog from Michael Gardner has a homepage that makes me even more depressed to look out my window at a dark, soul-less monolith (aka, the Goldman Sachs building).

To drive myself further into depression, I tralloped over to a post about what to look for in a Malibu beach home. It’s a nice source of information about beach property in Malibu, and I’m figuring if anyone wants to live in Malibu they should aim for the beach and not with the Malibu low-lifes who reside inland.

 This is an interesting article about how beach depth can affect the value of the property. In my case, it’s the difference between “There’s no way you can afford this,” and “There’s no way in hell you can afford this.”

Still, this is a nice site if you’re interested in moving to Malibu, or just interested in dreaming about moving there.

Um, the latter for me.

Red Square Homes Blog

The RedSquare Homes Blog focuses on Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo beaches (random new theory: life can’t suck if your town has the word “beach” in it).

Red Square has an array of listings and occasional posts on homebuying tips, including this one on what to look for when checking out agents’ Websites.

Phyllis’ LA Real Estate Blog

Phyllis’ LA Real Estate Blog is an eclectic mix of just about everything and everywhere in Los Angeles: market reports, tidbits about the community she serves, humorous observations about life in general, and tips for both home buyers and sellers.

Long Beach Real Estate

Laurie Manny’s Long Beach Real Estate offers market reports on the Long Beach real estate mark, along with things to do in Long Beach, tips for home sellers and homebuyers, and other notes about Long Beach communities.

I thought this post offered a pretty exhaustive overview of things to do and see in Long Beach — it’s geared for Valentine’s Day, but I think it’s useful year-round, for both residents and nonresidents alike.

Up2Date Real Estate

Deena and Doug Willis’ Up2DateRealestate is focused on Pasdena and is heavy on market report,s which it covers exhaustively, and features an active community of people who comment on posts. This is a particularly good (and smart) post on homes for under $400,000 and the kinds of repairs and costs you might face.

Palos Verdes Lifestyle

Norma Toering’s Palos Verdes Lifestyle is a good source of information about Palos Verdes, and also a source of tips for homebuyers and market stats about the area.

Terra Firma

Terra Firma from Christopher Hain is a great place to find the market data about communitites you’re considering. (BTW, I just learned this: Terra Firma translated is “Firm Terra.”) It’s written well and has an insidery feel that helps you trust that the author knows of what he speaks.

The analysis of trends is also top-rate — check out this post on foreclosures.

Other stuff to amaze and excite you in the Relocation.com Blog:

The Best Real Estate Blogs in Minneapolis/St. Paul

The Best Real Estate Blogs in Chicago