Jordan lists Highland Park Home for $29million

Jordan guarding the Lane

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cabinet space for over 500 Wheaties boxes

 

 

 

 

 

Media Room- Favorite movie is Spiderman

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aerial View of home: http://www.celebrityhousepictures.com/michael-jordan.php?sendfriend=yes&housephotos=

 

High concept homes that showcase features of the future

 

 

By Morgan Brennan

 

updated 1/29/2012 12:35:11 PM ET

We may not have flying cars yet, but a new residential construction project going up in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., may make you think otherwise.

The Porsche Design Tower will feature an elevator to lift owners — and their cars — to their front doors in seconds. A co-production of developer Dezer Properties and Porsche Design Group, the retail-oriented spin-off company of the luxury German carmaker, it will be the first residential project affiliated with the Porsche name. These car-friendly condos will range from $2.9 million to $9 million.

“You will drive into the building, onto the elevator ramp, shut the ignition off and be magically whisked to the front door of your apartment in 45 seconds to a minute and 15 seconds depending on what floor you’re on,” explains Gil Dezer, president of Dezer Properties. The elevator will cover all 57 floors and include technology that automatically identifies the car and the unit owner once both are on board.

Forbes.com slideshow: See some futuristic homes that are for sale

It’s just one example of how modern design aesthetics have coupled with technology to birth innovative, cutting-edge homes that not so long ago would have been reserved only for the sets of films like “Minority Report” (or TV shows like “The Jetsons”).

We rounded up a selection of futuristic abodes that challenge traditional McMansion layouts. Some are relatively new homes designed with green living in mind while others are the decades-old brick and mortar visions of celebrated artists. Realtor.com, Zillow.com, Coldwell Banker Previews International, Sotheby’s International Realty and others helped us sort through listings to handpick the sleekest, most avant-garde, in some cases zaniest, homes on the market. They conjure images of science fiction lore, and in many cases, have actually been rented out by movie and television studios for that express reason.

 

Perhaps not surprisingly, many architecturally famous homes fall into this category. For example, the Gantert Residence, also known as “Case Study House #22,” graces our list. Constructed in the early 1980s, it was the last Pierre Koenig house constructed while the architect was still alive. The $2.3 million Los Angeles residence with its boxy upper floors and cantilevered base gives the impression of a residence floating, appearing “as a giant Cubist sculpture from Hollywood Boulevard,” according to its listing.

 

California has many ultra-modern abodes up for grabs, particularly in Southern California. “The trend in real estate right now is demand for contemporary homes,” says Chad Rogers, a real estate agent with Hilton & Hyland in L.A. (and formerly one of the stars on Bravo’s TV show “Million Dollar Listing”), noting that many of the most modern-looking structures tend to be “smart homes,” fitted to be energy efficient, as well. “People want easy living and these properties afford that: clean lines and open space so you can move about your house without having to go through a bunch of rooms.”

 

Rogers, who has listed a smattering of futuristic properties including a $9.5 million Malibu eco-estate, currently represents a $10 million Hollywood Hills mansion forged of steel, glass and concrete. The 10,000-square foot structure was built originally as an art gallery with live-in space. In addition to the stone display-ready walls, it boasts a home theater, a pool and 12-person spa, a koi pond and a detached guesthouse. The kitchen is comprised almost entirely of stainless steel, designed by Porsche Design Group.

 

“These concrete and steel properties are the most expensive type of architecture to build,” says Rogers, noting that foreign investors have shown much buying interest in ultra-modern estates. “To duplicate a property like this you’re looking at a minimum of $1,500 per square foot to do it.”

 

 

Constructing architecturally outrageous homes can rack up costs. Take the Pottery House in Santa Fe, N.M. Originally the brainchild of Frank Lloyd Wright, the adobe dwelling’s construction was resuscitated in the 1980s by a developer eager to complete the project that had been designed by the famed late architect but never finished (the original owner had passed away). The builder reportedly ran out of money mid-construction and with no buyer in sight, the bank assumed ownership. Eventually the current owners bought the foreclosed estate, which is now listed for $4.75 million, and finished it.

 

The Pottery House’s design hinges on concentric circles. About 24,000 adobe bricks make up the structure and Scandinavian ship builders were actually brought in to craft the ceiling. “It has a sort of mystique. Prior to listing, this house seemed more like a local rumor,” says David Fries, an associate broker with Santa Fe Properties and the listing agent for the Pottery House. It had remained quietly tucked away behind multiple gates in an anonymous subdivision. “Even if someone could get their hands on the address, it no longer really relates to where it’s located since no one could really find the place without directions and gate codes.”

 

Fries and Rogers both think their listings will ultimately sell to affluent buyers who collect art or at least appreciate architecture as an art form. Some of the homes on our list will require buyers to appreciate geometry as well. A $19.5 million Vermilion, Ohio, spread called the Waterwood Estate is comprised of a series of triangular and rectangular buildings parsed together along the shore of Lake Erie. In Crystal Bay, Nev., a $43 million Dr. Seuss-esque house touts walls of glass, a glass elevator, a six-story glass stairwell and hidden garden rooms, all suspended off the edge of a promontory.

Cool New York City Renovation of Historic Building 10 yrs Vacant

Existing home sales to be revised lower

Ooosh- Looks like people who get paid to put numbers together to promote things for people who paid them to put the numbers together are going to take a hit to their sterling reputations…Existing home sales to be revised lower – Dec. 13, 2011…. the hits keep comin’

Sales of Existing Homes Unexpectedly Increased in October

Bloomberg News,  Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) — Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. unexpectedly rose in October, a sign falling prices may be luring buyers into the market. Purchases increased 1.4 percent to a 4.97 million annual rate, the National Association of Realtors said in Washington. The median forecast of 75 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a 4.8 million rate. The median price of a house decreased 4.7 percent from the same month in 2010, and the number of properties on the market was the lowest for any October since 2005. Borrowing costs near a record low are helping homebuyers take advantage of housing that’s growing more affordable as prices drop. At the same time, the end of a temporary halt on foreclosures may push more properties on the market, triggering further slides in value that may prevent the market from recovering for years. “The surprising upswing in the level of sales signaling further stabilization in housing market activity is quite encouraging,” Millan Mulraine, a senior U.S. strategist at TD Securities in New York, said in a note to clients. “Moreover, the steady reduction in level of unsold inventory to a new cyclical low adds to the good feel about this report.” Stocks held earlier losses after the report, extending three weeks of declines, as U.S. lawmakers failed to agree on budget cuts. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 1.9 percent to 1,192.68 at 10:28 a.m. in New York. Treasury securities rose, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year note down to 1.96 percent from 2.01 percent late on Nov. 18. Survey Results Economists’ sales estimates ranged from 4.5 million to 5.14 million. The agents’ group revised September’s initially reported 4.91 million pace down to 4.9 million. Existing-home sales, tabulated when a contract closes, rose 12 percent from the same month last year before adjusting for seasonal variations. Total sales in 2010 were 4.9 million, compared with a peak of 7.07 million in 2005 during the housing boom. The number of previously owned homes on the market dropped to 3.33 million, the fewest for any October since 2005. At the current sales pace, it would take 8 months to sell those houses, down from 8.3 months at the end of September. A range of seven months to eight months supply is consistent with stable home prices, the group has said. “Maybe we are very close” to seeing home prices stabilize, Lawrence Continue reading

How to Make a ‘Lowball’ Offer

By AMY HOAK

For some home sellers, it was a long summer without a home sale. That means this fall, some buyers — smelling the desperation — may be able to cut a better deal.

Top mistakes when making a low-ball offer on a home: If you’re thinking of making a low bid on a home, avoiding these mistakes will increase your chances of getting an accepted bid. Amy Hoak has details on Lunch Break.

“Sellers who had their homes on the market all summer are anxious to move on, especially before the holidays hit,” says Bill Golden, a real-estate agent with ReMax in Atlanta. The closer it gets to the holidays, the more anxious unsuccessful sellers can become, he says.

Other sellers will choose to let their listings expire and try again next year. They, too, may be willing to make a deal in order to sell their properties, even if they’re no longer actively trying to sell their place, says Patrick Carlisle, chief market analyst for Paragon Real Estate Group in San Francisco.

The key to making an aggressive “lowball” offer on a home is to start by finding properties that have languished on the market for a long time. The softer the market, the more likely the strategy will work, Mr. Carlisle says.

But buyers can get tripped up. Here are six things you need to do when making a lowball offer.

1. Understand the market

Before submitting an offer, your real-estate agent should do a full comparative market analysis of the property to determine what its fair market value is, Mr. Carlisle says.

For instance, it’s still a buyer’s market in the Richmond, Va., area, where Susan Stynes works as a real-estate agent for Long & Foster. Ms. Stynes says she wouldn’t hesitate to encourage a client to make an aggressive offer, after considering the time the property has been on the market and neighborhood comparables.

But in other markets a low offer won’t get you far, says Stephen G. Kliegerman, president of Halstead Property Development Marketing in New York.

2. Pick the right real-estate agent

read more at…

How to Make a ‘Lowball’ Offer – WSJ.com.

 

 

 

Armours’ Lake Forest estate fetches $7.2 million

Armours’ Lake Forest estate fetches $7.2 million

By: Mary E. Morrison September 29, 2011

  - This home on Bluff’s Edge Drive in Lake Forest sold last week. Photo from Trulia. -  This home on Bluff’s Edge Drive in Lake Forest sold last week. Photo from Trulia.

(Crain’s) — The Lake Forest estate of the late Sara Wood Armour and Andrew W. Armour III sold last week for nearly $7.2 million, the biggest price paid for a local single-family property this year.

The lakefront property on Bluff’s Edge Drive sold in two pieces on the same day, with the 7,800-square-foot home selling for $4.4 million and a two-acre vacant lot next door selling separately for $2.75 million.

Eleanor Dowling of Koenig & Strey Real Living, who represented the seller and the buyer in both transactions, declined to say whether the same buyer bought both properties. She also declined to comment on the identities of the parties involved.

Mr. Armour, of the Armour & Co. meatpacking family, and Ms. Armour bought the home in the early 1980s. Notable Chicago philanthropists, Mr. Armour died in 1991, and Ms. Armour died in August 2010.

The Bluff’s Edge Drive properties were put on the market in November, with the home listed at $5.0 million and the adjacent lot listed at $4.0 million.

The home sold fairly quickly for a high-end property in a challenging market, Ms. Dowling said. Continue reading