Rosie O'Donnell Lists 2 New York City Apartments

Rosie O'Donnell listed two New York City properties. Her two-bedroom, 2.5-bath full-service condominium is listed for $2.25 million. The 22nd-floor unit features floor-to-ceiling windows with views of midtown Manhattan. She bought the property for $1.97 million in 2007, The New York Times says. The headquarters for her public school program, Rosie's Theater Kids, is a few blocks away.

Rosie O'Donnell's second Big Apple property is a four-bedroom Greenwich Village duplex that she purchased for $8 million last year. The 130 West 12th Street penthouse is now on the market for $10.95 million. 

5 things to know about rising rates

By Anne C. Lee

After years of decline to rock-bottom levels, interest rates are on the rise. The average rate for a 30-year mortgage was recently 4.35%, more than a point above the 2012 low of 3.3%.

Whether you're buying, selling or refinancing a home, here's how to navigate the new environment.

1. No more record rates, but still cheap loans

If the economy continues to improve as anticipated, rates will keep inching up. Freddie Mac expects the 30-year to reach 4.7% by the end of 2014. IHS Global Insight forecasts that rates won't hit 6% until 2017.

2. The refi window is starting to close

The rate bump is already cooling off refis, but most homeowners with the equity and stellar credit to refinance have already done so.

If you didn't have enough equity to qualify, check again -- rising prices pushed 850,000 homes into the black in the first quarter, according to CoreLogic. Plus, the recovery may lead lenders to loosen up.

The average credit score for an approved mortgage has been 761, says the National Association of Realtors, up from the normal 720.

3. Higher rates won't scuttle the housing recovery

At worst, this turnaround will only dampen the pace of growth, says IHS U.S. economist Patrick Newport. A healthier economy is what's boosting prices. Rates would have to rise sharply to make a mark. "Going up three percentage points would be a major wet blanket," says Bob Walters, chief economist of Quicken Loans.

With prices rising, sellers can be patient. For buyers, mortgages are still historically cheap.

4. Once you're ready to buy, lock in

To avoid any short-term spikes, Washington, D.C., mortgage banker Frank Donnelly recommends locking in as soon as you can (typically when you sign a contract).

Most lenders won't charge for a 45-or 60-day rate lock. Pay for a 90- or 120-day lock only if deals close slowly where you live (ask your lender); the typical cost is a quarter of a point per 30 days. With a float-down option, you'll pay less when rates fall at least a quarter point. Skip that add-on unless it's free.

5. Fixed loans usually beat adjustables

You may be eyeing adjustables, which are up less than fixed loans. An ARM is the better call only if you plan to own your home for a short time.

"When you need five or six years, you might save with an adjustable," says Keith Gumbinger of the research firm HSH.com.

A monthly payment on a $250,000 mortgage is $1,194 with a 30-year loan at 4%, or $999 on a five-year ARM at 2.6%. But it's crucial to get a loan that matches your time frame.

Vince Vaughn's Townhouse for Rent

This week in celebrity real estate, Vince Vaughn listed his Chicago townhouse for rent, Scarlett Johansson sold her L.A. condo and Octavia Spencer bought in the Toluca Lake neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley.

Vince Vaughn’s Chicago townhouse for rent
In Vince Vaughn's next big role, he'll play landlord at a property in Chicago. Or, at least, that's his hope. The comedic actor has listed his townhouse for rent for $9,500 a month.

This isn't the first time Vaughn has rented out the home. He first put it up for lease in 2010 at $7,000 a month. In 2011, the townhouse was back on the rental market for $8,000, and this time around, Vaughn is hoping a new renter will pony up that extra $1,500 a month.

The Chicago native bought the townhome in 2005 for $4.1 million, upgrading to a 7,800-square-foot duplex penthouse in the Palmolive Building just a year later. Rather than sell the townhome, he's kept it as an investment property, which seems to have done well for the actor.

Located in a "prestigious" City Club development, the upgraded townhouse has 3 bedrooms and 4 baths on a 4,063-square-foot floor plan. The home includes a 3-car garage, a custom-designed home theater with plush leather recliners and a rooftop deck with views of the city.

Zillow

Actress Scarlett Johansson has sold her 1-bedroom, 2-bath unit in the Hollywood Versailles Tower for $470,000.

Scarlett Johansson sells Hollywood Boulevard condo
We imagine stars living in sprawling Hollywood estates, but sometimes a modest condo is more believable for an actress hopping between movie sets.

While formerly owning a stunning mid-century modern home with ex-husband Ryan Reynolds, Scarlett Johansson has also owned a 1-bedroom, 2-bath unit in the Hollywood Versailles Tower since 2003. Listing the place for $425,000 in May, she's now handing over the keys for $470,000, theLos Angeles Times reports.

Measuring 1,148 square feet, Johansson's former condo is average in size for a 1-bedroom, but hardwood floors, granite countertops and other high-end finishes add an air of luxury. The home is also filled with touches of Hollywood glam, from gold sinks in the master bath to a dressing-room vanity surrounded by stage lights.

Located at 7135 Hollywood Boulevard, Apt. 506, Los Angeles, Calif. 90046 in a full-service high-rise, the condo's shared amenities include a 24-hour doorman and valet, a pool, gym and recreation room.

Zillow

Academy Award winning actress Octavia Spencer just bought a 1,714-square-foot home in the Toluca Lake community.

Octavia Spencer buys in Toluca Lake
Closing on a Toluca Lake house and making a red-carpet appearance for her latest film "Fruitvale Station," Octavia Spencer's keeping busy.

The Academy Award-winning actress just bought a 1,714-square-foot home for $841,500, according to property records. In the world of Los Angeles real estate, anything less than $1 million is typically not used as a celebrity's primary residence. Time will tell whether Spencer moves in permanently.

While modest in size, the 1927 Spanish-style home is filled with character — from dark hardwood floors and plantation shutters to vintage tiles and original fixtures. The property is also in a great location: a block and a half from Toluca Lake boutiques and restaurants on Riverside Drive.

Spencer received several prestigious accolades including an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Minny Jackson in the 2011 film adaptation of "The Help."

Is Commercial Real Estate Recovering Too Quickly?

Is Commercial Real Estate Recovering Too Quickly?
Carole VanSickle

After avoiding a full-fledged catastrophe when the rest of the economy and residential housing went bust, the commercial real estate sector has, for the most part, made a pretty astounding and rapid recovery. Too astounding, fear analysts, who warn that “commercial real estate [may have] taken to the comeback trail…too quickly and could end up crashing again”[1]. This is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, recovery in commercial real estate history, says LaSalle global strategist Jacques Gordon. He believes that given the severity of the economic recession as a whole, “it should have taken more time than usual, not less, for the real estate market to rebound.” He cites high unemployment and quickly appreciating office properties as an example of the unrealistic recovery, saying that there is no reason for these two trends to exist simultaneously. Another analyst, managing director for Northwestern Investment Management Company Gregory Walz, calls the market “too frothy, too quickly.”




However, not everyone agrees that the swift improvement is a problem. In fact, accounting firm Deloitte recently released a report indicating that the markets are being “fuelled by the availability of capital, low prices, loan restructurings and alternative financing methods” and that these factors would pull the commercial market through today’s perilous waters[2]. Deloitte believes that the commercial markets are stabilizing, in part because “it was commercial real estate that felt the first impact of the downturn.” Deloitte analysts did emphasize that risks associated with refinancing remain high and that this issue will play a major role in the ultimate stability of a commercial recovery.

Do you think that the commercial market is making a comeback too fast?

Looking For A Hot Celebrity Home? The Market Is Ripe

Looking For A Hot Celebrity Home? The Market Is Ripe
John E. Miller

Celebrity properties are exceptional investment opportunities as they not only tend to be luxurious, but they also have the fame and memories associated with the celebrity that inhabited the home—an association in and of itself that increases the value of the home from that point forward.

There are some incredible celebrity homes that are currently on the market and could be amazing investment opportunities given the current buyers’ market. What hot celebrities homes are currently in play for the ambitious investor – and how do they stack up to similar properties? Read on.

Anna Nicole Smith

The late pop culture icon’s estate includes a 4,700-sq. ft., five bedroom, six bath home in Studio City, California. The home, the scene of “The Anna Nicole Smith Show”, is selling for $1.75 million. This seems like a pretty good deal because two smaller homes in the same neighborhood are selling for over $2 million each.

Elizabeth Taylor

Screen legend Elizabeth Taylor may have passed on earlier this year, but her name lives on – and so does her home. Her secluded Bel -Air home, complete with its own “secret garden” and 7,000 sq. ft. of living space, covers 1.25 acres and is listed for $8.6 million. With an average square foot of living space in Bel-Air costing approximately $539, potential buyers are paying roughly $4.9 million in markup for the celebrity connections of the four-room country home.

Harrison Ford

Film star Harrison Ford enjoys his seclusion in his primary Wyoming residence, and recently decided to relieve himself of his 5,564-sq. ft. penthouse in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood for a cool $16 million. Those purchasing the property will buy into a neighborhood that is walking distance from Manhattan’s Garment District and Theatre District.

Billy Joel

Billy Joel’s Hamptons estate is on the market, and while anyone who buys it may not be an “Uptown Girl”, they’ll still be in the thick of the New York limelight. The home originally debuted at $22.5 million and has since been reduced to $16.8 million. The price is well above the average sales price in the Hamptons of $1.9 million, but the home itself – a pretty charming, rustic beachfront abode – is probably worth far more. Considering Joel paid roughly the same as the current listing price in 2007 and has renovated the home extensively since then, this is a pretty good deal.

Slash

Saul Hudson – better known as master guitarist and rock icon Slash – is also in the real estate mix, listing his hulking, 11,000 sq. ft. Mulholland Estates home for $9.5 million. The house features seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms, but may not fetch the full $9.5 million Slash wants because of the alleged bad reputation the neighborhood has been earning lately. Charlie Sheen and Paris Hilton both reported criminal acts on their property lately, so Slash may be looking to say goodbye to the jungle.

Sean “Diddy” Combs

Music mogul Sean Combs – a.k.a. Puff Daddy, P-Diddy, etc. etc. – is placing his swank New Jersey home for sale for the asking price of $13.5 million. He originally paid $6 million seven years ago for the estate, and is banking on his reputation as a way to get a sizable return on his investment. The 26-room mansion – complete with its own home theatre and tennis court - is large and impressive, but in this climate, it is doubtful he’ll get the full asking price.

Kenny Rogers

Country legend Kenny Rogers may no longer living in his former 973-acre spread in Georgia – he sold it in 2003 – but his name will have to exert some serious attraction to potential investors in order for $20 million asking price to be met. That is because the gargantuan, yet charming, Beaver Dam Farms estate is many times the median home price in Athens, Georgia, which has been steadily falling since 2007. Of course, an investor who buys this property – still complete with many original furnishings from when Rogers called it home – would probably operate it as a privately-owned resort.

Pamela Reed

Lastly, Hollywood couple Pamela Reed and Sandy Smolan are rumored to be looking to sell their 5,400 sq. ft. Windsor Square home – a property that has been on and off the market repeatedly in 2011. It is unclear whether or not the home is actually for sale at the moment, but some allege it can be bought for the relatively-low asking price of $2,995,000. The listing is as low-key as its is current owners, who have a long yet unassuming list of Hollywood credits to their names as an actress and director, respectively. Chances are, with the home’s past history, the two will ultimately decide to place the home for sale and up for grabs.

 These celebrity homes are only a sampling of the properties available on the open market today that have some connection with celebrities, or are located in upscale neighborhoods frequented by the rich and famous. Celebrity connections are powerful – why else would P Diddy’s home in New Jersey double in price? – and prime deals are to be had.  Investors can find even better deals with foreclosures – celebrity-related or not – by using listing services like ForeclosureDeals.com.

Keeping a sharp eye on the market is always a good way to snag a valuable property – especially if a star has called it home.

Top 10 post-apocalyptic abandoned skyscrapers

Top ten post-apocalyptic abandoned skyscrapers
by Justin Delaney
When city plans exceed reality, or the money dries up, or people simply leave in a mass exodus, skyscrapers vacate and slowly decay. High winds thrash through broken windows. Rats live undisturbed amongst decades old rubble. Stairways lead to doors that may never open again. The ghost of ambition's past arrives in the present like a howling specter,creating eyesores, dangerous conditions, and free housing for opportunistic urban survivalists.

These abandoned skyscrapers range from forsaken structures aborted long before their doors opened to icons from a bygone era. While a slumper like Detroit has its fair share of empty giants, even cities with tiger cub economic growth like Bangkok are not immune to the plague of creepy abandoned high-rises. South America brings vertical favelas to the list, and Poland has a tower named after a pop-culture villain. And even San Francisco, a city with a high recreational scooter to human ratio and droves of individuals who see the world just beyond the tip of their nose, has its very own abandoned skyscraper.

From North Korea to Venezuela, these structures differ in their stories and circumstance, but each is a fine glimpse at post-apocalyptic urban decay.

Michigan Central Station
Location: Detroit, USA
Stories: 18 floors
Story: The Central Station was finished during the advent of the automobile - 1913. TheBeaux-Arts style of the classical building recalls a time when Detroit possessed the resources and momentum to rightfully emulate Parisian architecture. Its old school ambition is not lost on current Detroit residents but its function certainly is. It is a doorway into a forgotten world and a poster-boy for urban decay. The graffiti and dilapidation tells the story not just of Detroit's acrimonious decline but also the abandonment of rail travel in the United States. At its peak during the 1940's, 200 trains left this station daily. Today, none. While rail travel is receiving some political buzz in Washington, the fate of this gorgeous structure is uncertain. Many have flirted with re-purposing the old building, from the Detroit Police to casino developers, but for the moment it stands quietly on the outskirts of the modern world like an old ornate wrench that fits no bolt.
Abandoned since: 1988

Ryugyong Hotel
Location: Pyongyang, North Korea
Stories: 105 floors
Story: This massive pyramidal structure (above, furthest left) is a 105 story symbol for the absurdist ambitions of Kim Jong Il and the hermit kingdom. It has been under construction (on and off) for decades. It has been called the world's most hideous hotel. It is an unnecessary extravagance in a country that can barely feed its people. The project was abandoned after the fall of the Soviet Union due to Soviet subsidies to North Korea coming to an end. The hollow shell stood vacant for decades, just towering above the city - a failure too large to ignore but too painful to acknowledge. The North Koreans spent years denying the structure's existence, removing it from photographs and excluding it from maps of Pyongyang. Too much shame, it seems, in the very obvious failure. Construction on the structure resumed recently with Egyptian architectural firm Orascom leading the project. It is slated for completion in 2012, to sync with the 100th birthday of Eternal President Kim Il Sung, deceased since 1994.
Abandoned since: 1992, currently under construction

Tower of David
Location: Caracas, Venezuela
Stories: 45 floors
Story: The Tower of David, one of the tallest buildings in Latin America, is the quintessential slum-scraper. There is no government interference, just 2500 squatters carving up its 45 stories for purposes ranging from housing to business. The building includes apartments, home-brew PlayStation arcades, beauty salons, and perhaps the most suspicious dentistry operation in the new world. While the current occupants have yet to climb higher than the 30th floor, it is only a matter of time before the anarchic housing market pushes residences higher towards the dilapidated rooftop helipad - a symbol from Caracas' forgotten banking boom.
Abandoned since: 1994, never completed

Buffalo Central Terminal
Location: Buffalo, USA
Stories: 20
Story: The Buffalo Central terminal has been looted for artifacts, vandalized by bored delinquents, used for art exhibitions, explored by ghost hunters, and even sold for $1. It is a gorgeous old structure plagued by a series of humiliating footnotes, caught in a perpetual fall from grace. But it was not always so. At a time, the Buffalo Central Terminal was an important hub servicing hundreds of trains daily. Still an Art Deco architectural masterpiece, the structure possesses a prominent tower worthy of superlatives, and its halls are said to be haunted by ghostly apparitions waiting for trains that will never arrive. Last Halloween, the TV show Ghost Hunters filmed a 6 hour marathon in the creepy old building. It is possible to tour the structure and even get hitched in its lofty halls. Click here for more information.
Abandoned since: 1980

Szkieletor (Skelator)
Location: Krakow, Poland
Stories: 20 floors
Story: The tallest building in Krakow is a a hulking skeleton of a structure unofficially named after the villain from He-man - a show extremely popular in Poland in the early 1980's. Construction began in 1975, but the Pols ran into economic troubles. Today, the building is primarily a backdrop in which to drape massive advertisements. It is also a constant reminder of the decades old malfeasance of Skelator - an urban Castle Grayskull looming on the Polish horizon.
Abandoned since: 1981, never completed

PacBell Building
Location: San Francisco, USA
Stories: 26
Story: Once the tallest building in San Francisco, the PacBell building is a Neo-Gothic marvel abandoned last decade. Completed in 1925, the giant is capped with 13 foot tall art deco Eagles looking out over the great San Francisco expanse. While the building was purchased in 2007 for $118 million, it has since been left to decay quietly in its own upscale way. Unlike most abandoned skyscrapers though, this one still has some life in it. Security guards patrol the ground floor, and the tower is lit up at night. A couple of brave urban explorers over atBearings snuck past the guard and explored the tower's heights. Check out their first hand account of the abandoned skyscraper. The PacBell Building will likely be repurposed into condominiums in the coming years.
Abandoned since: 2005

Edificio Sao Vito
Location: Sao Paolo, Brazil
Stories: 27 floors
Story: The original vertical favela arrived on the scene in the late fifties with the intention of providing housing to Sao Paolo's middle class community and expats. Before long though, the building fell into disrepair and became an overpopulated den of urban plight - a favela that sprawled up. As basic services and utilities declined over the years, tenants began disposing their garbage out the window and obtaining illegal electricity. Many of the Edificio's 624 apartment units were split into two - stressing the already shaky infrastructure of the building known as "Balança mas não Cai" (It shakes but does not fall). By the eighties, the tap water was polluted and only one of the three elevators partially worked - making its way halfway up the building. Edificio Sao Vito was formally evacuated in 2004, though crackheads and drug dealers have taken to the abandoned structure like moths to a flame. Allegedly, the Mayor of Sao Paolo tried to demolish the building because it obstructed his otherwise pleasant view. While this bit of urban lore may or may not be true, the building has been flirting with demolition for the last decade. At the time of reading its graffiti flecked concrete walls may simply be dust.
Abandoned since: 2004

Book Tower
Location: Detroit, USA
Stories: 38 floors
Story: Construction began on the Book Tower in 1916, just a few years after Henry Fordtransformed auto-making forever with assembly line production. It is the old style of high-rise - more a kin of masonry than a child of steel and glass. For years, the classic structure with an ornate copper roof stood for the old world extravagance of Detroit. Now, it has taken on an altogether different metaphorical role as a sad reminder of when the eminent address spoke for the industrialist success of one of America's finest cities. The property has changed hands many times in the last decade and plans exist to drop hundreds of millions in restoring the old-school giant.
Abandoned since: 2009

Sathorn Unique
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Stories: 49
Story: During the Thai tiger economy of the 1990's, skyscrapers grew all over Bangkok in a display of Thailand's new-found economic prominence. This one never completely grew up. Crows circle the pinnacle and rats call its lower levels home. Locals, convinced its hallways are haunted, stay out of the ghostscraper. Expat urban spelunkers have explored the building and returned to Khao San Road with stories from its upper reaches. The verdict: it is a dilapidated mess. The future of the Sathorn Unique remains unclear but perhaps someday it will be finished. For now, it looms on the Bangkok skyline with many other abandoned skeletal structures.
Abandoned since: 1997

Sterick Building
Location: Memphis, USA
Stories: 29 floors
Story: Once the tallest building in the southern United States, the original "Queen of Memphis" is a ghostly skyscraper, boarded up and decaying from the inside. The late Gothic architectural marvel once shuttled around thousands of workers, from stockbrokers to barbers, in its eight high-speed elevators. It has been the domain of urban explorers and desperate vagrants ever since being completely abandoned in the late nineteen-eighties. While inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places preserves its era appropriate charms, the future of the towering structure is unclear. Perhaps a redevelopment boom in downtown Memphis will reignite a need for the large ghostscraper.
Abandoned since: 1980s

Offshore investors snapping up Fla. real estate

Offshore investors snapping up Fla. real estate

MIAMI -- Offshore investors are flocking to Florida's distressed real estate prices as major companies with ties to Hong Kong, Spain, Argentina and Malaysia are snapping up properties sensing the local market has bottomed.

International companies can park their investment and position themselves for the next development cycle, said Tere Blanca, president and chief executive officer of Miami-based Blanca Commercial Real Estate.

"Acquiring prime properties at discount prices in the height of the market was not achievable. Whomever has deep liquidity and can be nimble and act when opportunities arise can acquire properties at what we consider to be solid pricing," he said, according to the Daily Business Review (http://bit.ly/r12HEj).

Stephan Gietl of Austria and his partner Fernando Levy-Hara, of Argentina, have purchased 307 South Florida condo units for $40 million, since 2009. The duo has sold most of the units, mainly to international investors. Levy-Hara says the units yield between 5 and 6 percent profit per year after maintenance fees and property taxes.

"With the potential appreciation, if you're buying at half the price of the bubble, you have the potential to go up 60 to 70 percent in the next five years," he said.

As Americans worry about the economy and debt ceiling, international investors still perceive the U.S. as "the most reliable country in the world," said Andrew Hellinger, chief executive of Coral Gables-based Hellinger & Penabad.

"We are a country where you can place your money for investment and know it's safe."

South Florida's most notable recent deals have ties to investors with connections to major international companies.

Swire Properties, part of Hong Kong-based real estate and airline owner Swire Pacific, bought 2.15 acres in Miami at $14 million, along with the $13.1 million acquisition of Eastern Bank's headquarters.

In May, Malaysia-based Genting Group paid $236 million for the Miami Herald's headquarters. Genting, which also owns 50 percent of Norwegian Cruise Lines, plans to build nearly 7 million square feet of hotel, convention and restaurant space. Genting executives cited Florida's growing population, budding Miami tourism and a likely nonstop flight from Asia to Miami International Airport as motivating the deal.

Agave Holdings, with ties to the owner of Jose Cuervo tequila, paid First Bank Puerto Rico $30.55 million for a project in Coral Gables.

Espacio USA, the American arm of Spanish real estate company Inmobiliaria Espacio, is about to close on its second office building. The company paid $31.52 million for another office building last year, with renovations running more than $1 million.

Brazilians have led the Miami condo market resurgence, accounting for 9 percent of unit purchases among international buyers of Miami single-family homes and condos, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.

"The feeling in Brazil is certain aspects of their real estate and economy make U.S. real property a relative bargain," said Richard Goldstein, of Bilzin Sumberg. "In other countries like Venezuela, the currency is not as much of a factor. Political instability is a factor; they want a safe haven for their money."