And Billy Can Climb Through the Window

The house where the Matthewses lived in Boy Meets World is for sale.

It's listed for $1.29m and it's actually is Studio City, California, not Philadelphia, which increases the value exponentially.
Unfortunately, because real life is not a television show, on the inside it looks nothing like the house were Cory and Eric grew up. Those rooms were of course sets on some lot at a TV studio.
But it would still be cool. If Billy were able to kick half a mil, and move to California, I'm sure were could get 300k JLeary.

I'd Buy It And Invite Johnny Fontaine Over

The house that served as Don Corleone's home in "The Godfather" is for sale.
The house is located at 110 Longfellow Rd in the Emerson Hill section of Staten Island.
The outside was used for the wedding scenes at the beginning of the movie. They didn't shoot in the interior of the house, but the home owners renovated it to replicate the rooms in the movie.
It is list for $2.895 million.

Paterno's House

Joe Paterno transferred full ownership of his house to his wife sue for $1 back in July, four months before the Sandusky scandal broke.
I bring this up not because I think Paterno was trying to avoid the consequences of a civil suit against him -- that's too much of a stretch.
I'm sure this was just part of his estate planning for his impending death.
I'm more interested in the real aspect of it.
The Paternos bought the house for $58,000 in 1969. A pretty hefty sum in those days. The fair-market value of the house currently is $595,000. Which ihttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs a very nice house, especially in State College. The average home value there is $202,000 according to the latest Coldwell Banker survey of home prices in college football towns.
It's actually kind of quaint that the Paternos never upgraded to a nicer house, even though they could have.

But here's what some experts the New York Times interviewed about the transaction said:



Lawrence A. Frolik, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh who specializes in elder law, said that he had “never heard” of a husband selling his share of a house for $1 to his spouse for tax or government assistance purposes.

“I can’t see any tax advantages,” Frolik said. “If someone told me that, my reaction would be, ‘Are they hoping to shield assets in case if there’s personal liability?’ ” He added, “It sounds like an attempt to avoid personal liability in having assets in his wife’s name.”

Two lawyers examined the available documents in recent days. Neither wanted to be identified because they were not directly involved in the case or the property transaction. One of the experts said it appeared to be an explicit effort to financially shield Joe Paterno. The other regarded the July transaction, at least on its face, as benign.




So it remains to be seen how this house, the site of the disgusting riots by Penn State students, continues to play a role in this unseemly scandal.

Which Would You Rather Have?

It's pretty well-documented that Derek Jeter has the best life of anyone, anywhere, ever. Jeter just moved into a new mansion in Davis Islands near Tampa, Florida. It is in this home where he has sex with Minka Kelly.
But I would say if you had only half of what he had, you'd still be doing much better than most. But which half would you take?

30,875 square foot mansion
34-23-33 girlfriend

Cameron's House

A suburban Chicago home made famous in 1986 movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" is up for sale for $2.3 million.

The 5,300-square-foot Highland Park house was the fictional home of Ferris Bueller's friend, Cameron Frye, played by actor Alan Ruck. In the movie, Frye accidentally sends his father's Ferrari through one of the house's glass walls and into the woods outside.

Sudler Sotheby's International Realtor Meladee Hughes says being in the home is like living in the tree house. She says there's been a lot of interest from buyers already.

Hughes says there's a wall dedicated to the movie in the home's steel and glass pavilion overlooking a ravine. The wall includes behind-the-scenes photographs of Ruck and Matthew Broderick, who plays Bueller.



This is a pretty sweet house. Check out the real estate listing to see all the photos.

Not a Bad Place To Be When Under House Arrest

Pacman Jones is moving to Dallas so he's selling his home in Tennessee.
For $1.8 million you can buy the house which is on 30 acres and has its own lake stocked with fish.
It really is an awesome house.
And unlike many other athletes' homes it doesn't have a stripper pole.
It probably would have saved him a lot of trouble it if it did.

Melo's New House

Apparently, Melo outgrew his old house because he just traded it (yes traded his house) plus cash for a brand new crib. Hopefully our Denver real estate specialist Amber can row over to this new house and get some pictures for us.


Carmelo Anthony bought the sprawling Sognare Estate mansion near Littleton. It was listed for almost $12 million.

He bought the 25,000 square foot home from a former Qwest executive who, as part of the deal, will get his old house in Lakewood.

The home was originally listed at $17 million in 2004, which was then the most expensive house the market, but last year the price was slashed to $11.95 million.

"I heard it sold for less than $12 million," said Edie Marks, a broker with the Kentwood Co.

"It’s a fabulous house on a fabulous location," Marks said. "But if it were in Cherry Hills...it would have sold for $30 million."
While one of the bigger houses in the metro area, Marks said there are even larger ones in parts of Cherry Hills and the Temple Buell Mansion subdivision.

The estate was built in 2002. It includes seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a 5,000-bottle wine center, an 11,000-square-foot barn, hand-cut limestone floors, a Brazilian mahogany paneled library, and a cutting edge recording studio.

But basically, Anthony doubled the size of his 12,130-square-foot Lakewood home, which he bought on April 15, 2004 for $3.5 million.

"This has more space, and (Anthony) liked some of the amenities of the house. It has a little more isolation than he had before and gives him more privacy."


Why does Melo need an 11,000 sq. ft. barn?
And what kind of books will he keep in the Brazilian mahogany paneled library? He already had a batting cage, a basketball court and a giant shoe/hat closet in the old crib. Now he has to commission a contractor to rebuild att that stuff for him. Plus transport his half-nekkid picture of LaLa without nicking the corners. He shoulda just stayed where he was.

Dwyane Wade's House

If you liked LeBron's, Carmelo's and Steve Alford's, you are going to love Dwyane Wade's house. He built the Miami area house only two years ago and he's already selling it, completely with memorabilia, for the bargain price of only $8.9 million.

The aerial view



Through the front gates



The foyer



The master bedroom



The kid's room



The kid's bathroom



A jungle gym behind the crib, so the kids can play, enjoy youth



Let's go swimming, let's go swimming



the rest of the backyard



The D-Wade memorabilia comes with the house

Melo's House

It's hard competing with LeBron's mansion but Melo's Denver home is pretty sweet.

I wonder how much cooking he actually does in this kitchen.

A pretty cool room in which to play video games. Nothing says class like a half-nekkid picture of your wife over the doorway.

Basketball court in the house. Melo from way downtown, bang!

And he also has a batting cage. Apparently he could have played baseball in college too.

Melo's home theater.

Now that's a lot of hats and sneakers. This looks like Mariah Carey's closet.

Nice robe dude.

Evidently, this is LaLa's room. There's a nice picture of her and no TV. This room definitely has a woman's touch.

What Does $1.65 Million Buy You...in Iowa

Former Iowa basketball coach Steve Alford is selling his home in Iowa now that he has taken the head coaching job at New Mexico.
The asking price is $1.65 million (zillow has no data for his neighborhood).
At first I was skeptical of whether it was truly his house until I got to the gym.
If you love real estate as much I as do you will enjoy this virtual tour.
If this house were in my neighborhood, with the surrounding land, it'd be $5 million easily.

LeBron's House

LeBron James' 35,440-square-foot house under construction is shaping up as a castle fit for a king -- with a theater, bowling alley, casino and barber shop.

(NOTE: he cannot have a real, legal casino in his home. It's just a casino room, a fancy, all-inclusive game room, probably.)



The house is in Bath Township, a suburban location 20 miles south of Cleveland is due to be finished next year. It is being built on 5.6 acres of land purchased, along with an 11-bedroom house, in 2003 for $2.1 million. He razed that house to clear the way for the new one.

A first-floor master suite, which includes a two-story walk-in closet, will be about 40 feet wide and 56 feet long -- bigger than half the houses in Bath Township.

The house has a dining hall, roughly 27 feet by 27 feet, a "great room" at 34 feet by 37 feet and a bigger, two-story "grand room."

The "family foyer" off the six-car garage near the elevator will be dwarfed by a "grand foyer" inside the front entrance with a sweeping, divided staircase leading to four second-story bedrooms. An outer wall will feature a limestone sculpture -- a bas-relief of LeBron's head, wearing his trademark headband.





The property is an oddly shaped tract wedged among lots that average 2.3 acres and houses that average 3,209 square feet. His property is 300 feet wide at the street and 677 feet deep.

"People who come to photograph it are disrespectful," said Tom Bader, one of nine immediate next-door neighbors. "They park their car in the middle of the street -- with their doors open! And you're sitting behind them! All I wanna do is go home after a hard day's work."

Sometimes Bader must wait to turn into his driveway because gawkers have driven up, hoping for a better view of James' place.

"As far as LeBron the man goes, I think he's an outstanding individual," said Bader, a graduate of James' alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron.

"He's great for Cleveland. I'm proud to have him. I have no issues with LeBron James at all. The problem is the baggage that he unintentionally carries with him."

Bader has discouraged his children's dream that James might have them over to shoot hoops.

"I said, 'Honey, I don't think that's going to happen. Besides that, don't ever, ever invite LeBron over to our house to play ball because he's going to twist his ankle and I will have my house eternally egged."'

While waiting for the home to be finished, James splits his time between a huge apartment in downtown Cleveland and a relatively modest four-bedroom house in Medina County west of Akron. He paid $580,000 for the house in 2005.

Matt Can Help You Get a Mortgage

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is trying to sell his 10-bedroom New Jersey mansion for more than $20 million.

The sprawling, 35,000-square-foot house includes a great room with 35-foot ceilings, a dining room with gold-leaf ceiling, a gym and a "Versace room," which features a Gianni Versace-designed bed and a 16-foot-high fireplace in the shape of a lion's mouth. The house, built in 1996 by apparel executive Arnold Simon, includes a movie theater built by Mr. Simon and modeled after the Loews Pitkin, an old Brooklyn, N.Y., picture palace, complete with popcorn and candy counters, a brightly lit marquee and a wax figure selling tickets. The four-acre property, with indoor and outdoor pools, a waterfall and a koi pond, is about 25 miles north of Manhattan in Saddle River, a Bergen County suburb that was home to Richard Nixon in his later years.

Mr. Simmons and his wife, fashion designer and former model Kimora Lee Simmons, bought the estate in 2001 from Mr. Simon, whose apparel company at the time held the license to Mr. Simmons's Baby Phat clothing line. Mr. Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Records, isn't listing the property publicly and hasn't set a precise asking price. Broker Lisa Maysonet of Prudential Douglas Elliman said the couple want "$20 million-plus" for the property. The couple declined to comment, though a representative said they plan to buy a house closer to, but not in, New York City.

Separately, Mr. Simmons has reached a deal to sell his 7,000-square-foot penthouse in lower Manhattan, said Ms. Maysonet, who represents that listing as well. The apartment -- on Liberty Street, adjacent to Ground Zero -- has been in contract once before, in 2001, when Mr. Simmons agreed to sell it to rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs for a reported $5 million. That deal fell through, however, after the building was damaged on Sept. 11. The apartment went back on the market a year ago at $12 million, but the asking price has fallen multiple times since then, most recently to $6.9 million. Ms. Maysonet wouldn't disclose the sale price or prospective buyer.