Hugh Hefner takes out reverse mortgage on Playboy Mansion
Back in June I reported that the Playboy Mansion, complete with private zoo and Hugh Hefner in residence, had been listed for sale for $200 million. It has now been confirmed that the property has been sold to next-door neighbor Daren Metropoulos, a private equity investor, for a mere $100 million. Terms of the sale allow Mr. Hefner to stay in the property for as long as he desires, so I suppose one could say that he has taken out a reverse mortgage on his estate.
Queen’s grandparents’ house for sale for a mere….
A house once owned by Her Majesty’s grandparents has just been listed for sale by Savills for £30 million or roughly $44 million.
For those seeking privacy, the estate has no public rights of way – which is unusual in England – while it has no fewer than 4 polo fields along with “summer and winter club houses, a full size all weather polo arena and an indoor school.”
Sounds like just the ticket.
Read more and see some spectacular photos in this Daily Mail article (more…)
Would you like red or white wine with your Texas mansion?
Everything’s bigger in Texas, including this 6,000 bottle wine cellar in a “Tuscan villa” in Texas which is being sold by auction soon:
The correct answer, of course, is champagne. here are a few appropriate ones from which to choose. (more…)
Playboy mansion AND Hugh Hefner for only $200 million
According to this Playboy mansion for sale article in the Boston Globe, the Playboy mansion, which is for sale for a mere $200 million, comes complete with a zoo license and Hugh Hefner. My understanding is that the two items are unconnected. (more…)
More sales in Marblehead’s higher end
Many of us were surprised that the higher end did not see more activity throughout 2015, but there was clear evidence of a pick up as the year progressed.
In the last 4 months of the year there were 2 sales over $4 million and 1 over $3 million. 3 sales over $3 million in one year may not sound a lot compared with, say, Boston condo sales at 22 Liberty, but 4 is the most we have had in one year. And a further sale above $4 million closed this week, while there are two more pending sales in the mid to high $3 million range.
Pictured below is 11 Crown Way which has an Open House this Sunday from 12:00 – 2:00.
In my Marblehead 2015 Housing Market Review I commented: “after 9 months it looked as though we were going to see a median price for the year well over $600,000, but sales in the last quarter were skewed to the lower end.”
Since the beginning of December, however, sales have moved to the higher end. Of the 14 offers accepted since then, 1 was listed over $3 million, 2 between $1.5 and $2 million, 3 from $1-1.5 million, and one more at just under $1 million.
Maybe my expectation for activity at the higher end in Marblehead in 2015 was just a case of being a year early. The evidence of recent months suggest that 2016 may be the year when the higher end really does see the increased activity I have been expecting for a while. (more…)
The world’s most expensive house
According to London’s Daily Telegraph this Paris chateau has become the world’s most expensive house, selling for about $300 million.
Read Paris chateau sold for Pds 200 million for fuller details, but here are some of the features:
– 50,000 sf of living space
– indoor and outdoor pools
– cinema, squash court, two ballrooms and a nightclub
– a meditation room under the moat
– a maze
I wasn’t sure this was the house for me until I saw that it has two ballrooms. That was the clincher for me. Had there been only one I would probably not have been interested. (more…)
Marblehead’s Unknown Oceanfront Properties update
A while back I published Marblehead’s Unknown Oceanfront Properties, referring to houses on or oceanside of Atlantic Avenue between Preston Beach and Beach Street.
In that article I pointed out that: “there are a lot of small streets that lead to the water and have 1 or 2 or maybe 3 or 4 houses sitting directly on the ocean at the end. And for the most part these houses sit on the rocky Atlantic coast and are high enough that flooding is not a concern, while many of them face South, have great views of Ram Island and down the coastline, and are well protected from the nor’easters that can impact more exposed areas.”
This section of Marblehead is seeing price appreciation as evidenced by the number of properties with Assessed Values over $2 million. That number was 29 in 2014, 32 in 2015 and has now jumped to 44 in the recently released assessments for 2016.
How much longer will this area be a secret I wonder?
There are two Open Houses today of oceanfront property in this stretch of town:
11 Crown Way from 12:00-2:00
and 2-4 Coolidge Road from 12:00-1:30
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected].
Read Which broker will actually sell my house?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
What can you buy for $10 million in Massachusetts?
That’s the question we are all asking ourselves, right? We’re done with the 2 bed condo, it’s time to make a statement. But what can you buy for $10 million in Massachusetts?
The answer is surprisingly little. (more…)
3 Oceanfront Open houses in Marblehead’s secret neighborhood
Recently I wrote about Marblehead’s Unknown Oceanfront properties in the stretch from Preston Beach to Beach Street.
Today there are 3 Oceanfront Open Houses in this area. They are:
2-4 Coolidge Road, listed at $3.2 million and open from 11:30 – 1:00
11 Crown Way, listed at $3.5 million and open from 12:00 – 2:00
and 40 Ticehurst Lane, listed at $2.26 million and open from 1:00 – 2:30.
If you are in the market for an oceanfront property maybe it’s Time to think outside Marblehead Neck. (more…)
Saturday Marblehead Open Houses
Open Houses are usually held on Sundays but this week there are 4 Saturday Marblehead Open Houses.
Note that both the Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty oceanfront properties in Clifton Heights/Greystone are open today from 1:30 -3:00.
Click 11 Crown Way and 2-4 Coolidge Rd for details. (more…)
2 “Unknown” Marblehead Oceanfront Open Houses
Last week I wrote about Marblehead’s Unknown Oceanfront properties, referring to houses off Atlantic Avenue from Preston Beach to Beach Street.
Well today, two of those houses – the only two on the market, both listed by Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty – are having Open Houses from 12-2.
The two are: 11 Crown Way and 2-4 Coolidge Road.
Time to think outside Marblehead Neck
You would like to buy a house on the water, but you have noticed the amount of traffic on the Neck and are concerned with exposure to storms.
So what to do?
The answer is: think outside the Neck.
Read Marblehead’s Unknown Oceanfromt properties and you may be surprised to learn that between Preston Beach and Beach Street there are 32 homes (and likely a few more when the FY2016 assessments are announced in December as this area is appreciating) with an Assessed Value over $2 million.
Two of these properties are currently for sale and details can be seen by clicking on 11 Crown Way and 2-4 Coolidge Road.
Crown Way has an Open House today 1-3 and both house will be open next Sunday (if not sold before then).
Marblehead’s Unknown Oceanfront properties
A man came to the Open House at 11 Crown Way last weekend and commented that he had driven up and down Atlantic Avenue for years and had no idea that there were oceanfront houses at the end of the streets between Preston Beach and Beach Street. This area does indeed contain Marblehead’s Unknown Oceanfront properties.
Last year in an article Marblehead sale over $4 million – guess where? I wrote this:
“There are a lot of small streets that lead to the water and have 1 or 2 or maybe 3 or 4 houses sitting directly on the ocean at the end.
And for the most part these houses sit on the rocky Atlantic coast and are high enough that flooding is not a concern, while many of them face South, have great views of Ram Island and down the coastline, and are well protected from the nor’easters that can impact more exposed areas.”
One of the houses mentioned in last year’s article has sold; the other, 11 Crown Way, has just come back onto the market. And this week another, at 2-4 Coolidge Road was listed for sale at $3.2 million.
How many houses with an Assessed Value over $2 million are there in this stretch?
Last year I identified 29 houses with an AV of $2 million or more and this year I have found 32. I also know that AVs for this area are increasing and I would not be surprised to find another 6-7 creep over $2 million when assessments are announced in December.
People who live in this area know its attractions, which may be why houses rarely come on the market. There are two now – both listed by Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty – so take a look if you want a protected oceanfront property in a great neighborhood.
There is an Open House this Sunday at 11 Crown Way from 1:00-3:00.
If you – or somebody you know – are considering buying or selling a home and have questions about the market and/or current home prices, feel free to contact me on 617.834.8205 or [email protected].
Read Which broker will sell my home?
Andrew Oliver is a Realtor with Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
You can REGISTER to receive email alerts of new posts on the right hand side of the home page at www.OliverReports.com.
@OliverReports
Marblehead Oceanfront Open House Sunday
Check out this Marblehead Oceanfront. There is an Open House Sunday 1:00 – 3:00.
The main house is 6,126 sf with 7 bedrooms and 4 1/2 baths.
The 2,400 sf carriage house is perched directly on the water’s edge and houses the pool house and separate apartment, whose huge picture window frames Ram Island perfectly. There are plans to convert the additional carriage house space to a 4-car garage.
A private mooring is available.
Long Island estate: $16 million? $100 million? Whatever.
Two years ago this Long Island estate was bought for just under $16 million. It is now back on the market for…..$100 million.
So what did the buyers do to the house to justify this huge increase? Maybe they watched HGTV and added granite counters and stainless steel appliances? (more…)
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