Why Won’t Anyone Buy This Glorious San Francisco Penthouse?

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In the sizzling San Francisco real estate market, luxury housing moves fast. And this jaw-dropping downtown penthouse on the market for $3,950,000 would seem to possess all the right attributes for a quick sale.

It’s newly renovated, stylish, and has views for days. Yet the unit—the Tenderloin neighborhood’s most expensive penthouse—has been on and off the market for years.

“It’s an incredible property,” says listing agent Mark Levinson of Pacific Union International. Noting the solarium, the top-to-bottom redo, and the 360-degree views from the perch on the 21st floor, Levinson says, “It’s magical.”

However, the magic combination of the right buyer to match this unique property hasn’t materialized just yet. We conjured up a few of the reasons behind the languishing luxury property. Perhaps a buyer will finally make the place vanish from the market once and for all.

Pricing issues

The price at first appeared to be too much for the gritty neighborhood of the Tenderloin, which has been slow to gentrify, even as other nearby areas have been transformed. On the market for $5.25 million in 2013, it had its price cut by a million bucks a year later. It was eventually delisted, but bounced back on the market in 2016 for $3.95 million, where it stands today.

The Hamilton penthouse in San Francisco

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Too much style?

While most homes are remade in a neutral palette with an eye toward a quick sale, this design reflects a bold personal taste. It includes some quirky and fun details, including parasol-shaped lights, aqua-hued walls in the library, and jade-green tiles in the bathroom.

The unit is housed in a stunning art deco building that was once the Alexander Hamilton Hotel. The contemporary style may not jibe with what buyers expect in a building dating to the early 1930s.

Levinson estimates the renovation cost the seller upward of $680,000. The seller bought the apartment for $2.5 million in 2003.

In 1962, the former hotel became the first building in San Francisco to convert to condominiums, with 186 units. It’s a slice of San Francisco history. But for a buyer searching for a sleek and modern condo in a brand-new building, this isn’t the place.

Despite any apprehension over the unit’s decor or the age of the building, the place has plenty to offer, with spectacular views, a huge amount of outdoor space, and a solarium that seems to touch the sky.

“When you’re up there, you’re not in the Tenderloin, you’re up in the clouds. It’s not to be missed,” Levinson says.

In addition, the 3,500-square-foot spread has three bedrooms, four bathrooms, and two terraces. There’s also a formal living room with marble fireplace, dining room, library, private elevator entry, and parking for two cars. Along with the updated kitchen and bathrooms, new finishes include paint, lighting, and refinished wood floors.

Open kitchen and breakfast nook

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Terrace and views

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Living room with marble fireplace

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But it always comes back to location

The Tenderloin neighborhood developed a bad rep over the past few decades, but there are hints of changes to come. A new hospital campus is going up on Van Ness Avenue, which could bring an influx of employees needing housing nearby. The neighborhood boasts a lively nightlife with easy access to restaurants, theaters, and shopping.

For a seasoned urban dweller with a masterful bank account, the location is incredibly convenient, wedged between the shopping district of Union Square and very close to the south of Market tech hub where the Twitter headquarters are located. It’s easy to walk, bike, or take public transit. There’s one more notable reason to take a closer look.

“It’s a great deal,” Levinson says. In San Francisco, that says a lot.

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Montreal Canadiens Star Shea Weber Selling His Nashville Manse for $1.85M

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NHL All-Star Shea Weber is skating away from his Nashville home. The former Nashville Predator star was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in June 2016.

A year and a half after departing the Predators, he’s also parting ways with his Music City house, now on the market for $1.85 million.

He purchased the newly built home in 2009 for $1,045,000. The brick two-story sits on an acre lot and has five bedrooms, four bathrooms, and two half-baths spread over 7,387 square feet of interior space.

Shea Weber’s Nashville home

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Two-story entry

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Living room

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Kitchen and family room

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Large deck with hot tub

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Along with refinished wood floors, 10-foot-high ceilings on the main level, five sets of french doors, the listing promises that the modern kitchen appliances, hot tub, and seven wall-mounted TVs will all stay behind for the next owner.

The kitchen opens to a casual family room and dining space with fireplace, a living room, media room, “giant bonus room,” and exercise room with a shower.

The rear yard includes a large deck, and a level yard with room for a pool, should the next owner want to put one in.

Picked by Nashville in the second round of the 2003 draft, the Canadian-born Weber spent 11 seasons with the Predators, before his surprising trade to Montreal. He represented Canada in the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, bringing home two gold medals.

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11 Tech Heroes Of 2017 Who Aren’t CEOs

Meet the plebes among us who did something that changed the tech industry, spoke truth to power in a remarkable way that effected real change, or just made the world a little more interesting.

If you want to know which CEOs, founders, or celebrities are the most important people in tech this year, there are plenty of lists for you. And they’re great! No shade! But what about the plebes among us, the non-C-suite people who did something that changed the industry, spoke truth to power in a remarkable way that effected real change, or just made the world a little more interesting? This is them.

Susan Fowler, the former Uber engineer who led a reckoning on sexual discrimination in tech.

In February, ex-Uber engineer Susan Fowler wrote a detailed blog post that alleged her former employer had a problem with systemic sexual harassment and discrimination. In it, she said that Uber's HR failed to deal with or reprimand sexual harassers, and that the company's culture routinely devalued and mistreated women. The post went viral, and it seemed to embolden others to speak out about harassment in the tech industry and hold powerful figures accountable. It was also undoubtedly one of the things that led to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's resignation a few months later. The 26-year-old started a reckoning in tech that a thousand Lean In groups could have never done. Fowler now works as editor-in-chief of Increment, a digital magazine about technology, and is working on a memoir for Viking Books.

Shalon van Tine

James Bridle, the artist and writer who started a crackdown on exploitative YouTube Kids with a Medium post.

Bridle wasn’t the first person to point out that there are some fucked-up videos on YouTube aimed at kids — the Outline had written about deranged ripoffs of popular characters, and just a week before Bridle’s Medium post in November, the New York Times wrote about YouTube’s lack of moderation for its kids app. But Bridle, who is not a typical tech journalist, described the problem in a riveting and compelling way that grabbed people’s attention and went viral. BuzzFeed News followed up on his story with our own reporting, and YouTube quickly announced changes, including banning certain top accounts and hiring more moderators. There’s still more work to do; BuzzFeed learned that some top creators of exploitative content for kids were making as much as $100,000 a month before getting their accounts demonetized in the last few weeks.

Courtesy of the British Council

Bahtiyar Duysak, the guy who deleted President Trump’s Twitter (for 11 minutes).

Many people have called for a shutdown of Trump’s Twitter account, but one man dared do something about it. Duysak was a contractor on his last day at Twitter. In an interview with TechCrunch, he said that when someone reported Trump’s account, he went into the customer service dashboard and started the deactivation process. The account only disappeared for 11 minutes, but in that short time, a contract worker managed to silence the preferred mouthpiece of the most powerful person in the free world. Some hailed Duysak as a hero; others derided him as an enemy of free speech or a degenerate — though of course most responses seemed to hinge on how people felt about Trump.

Screenshot from deleted YouTube

Nathan the Beach Cat, an Instagram cat who loves to swim.

In 2017 we needed a true hero, something to distract us from the clobbering news cycle and divisive mood of the country. We found that in an Australian cat whose attractive owners take him swimming at the beach. If seeing a cat happily swim in the ocean doesn’t warm your heart, I’m sorry: You’re too far gone.

Instagram: @nathan_thebeachcat

Kate Wagner, the McMansion Hell blogger, who fought against Zillow for free speech and won.

Wagner’s popular Tumblr, which featured scathing and informed reviews of McMansions she found on Zillow, delighted architecture fans. Then Zillow sent her a cease and desist, saying she couldn't use the photos that realtors had uploaded. Wagner, 23, deleted her blog, sparking an outcry from fans who found Zillow’s tactics unfair. The Electronic Frontier Foundation took up her cause and wrote a letter to Zillow stating Wagner’s case for why her blog isn’t violating copyright. Zillow relented, and her blog is back up.

mcmansionhell.com

Crazy Days and Nights and Blind Gossip

These two celebrity gossip sites that specialize in “blind items” have been around for years. The stories seem sometimes dubious, and often it’s impossible to tell who they’re about. But occasionally, official news comes out that validates older blind items’ truth — which makes all the other blinds seem more credible. After 2017's revelations about the abuse and harassment by Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and more, there was a flood of “blind items revealed” that confirmed some older stories.

The reveal of long-simmering blind items gave a unique vantage point into how these “open secrets” in Hollywood worked — clearly plenty of people knew, but they couldn’t name names. That's finally starting to change.

April the Giraffe

There have only been a few truly viral Facebook Live events — BuzzFeed exploding a watermelon, Chewbacca mom, and the long wait for a pregnant giraffe to give birth. When Facebook Live first started, Facebook pushed it hard, giving livestreams extra weight in the algorithm to push the content format in front of people. But in 2017, the only memorable Facebook Live event was people watching a zoo live cam, a format that’s been around on the internet for years. Congrats to April and her baby Tajiri.

Animal Adventure Park

Fawzi Kamel, the Uber driver who recorded Travis Kalanick being a dick.

When Uber’s then-CEO Travis Kalanick got into a car with two women in early February, the driver was recording a video. Kalanick shimmied to music in the backseat, to everyone’s cringe, and when his friends left the car, the driver confronted him about changes to the system that didn’t favor drivers. Kalanick did not take the criticism graciously. His parting words to Kamel were, “Some people don't like to take responsibility for their own shit. They blame everything in their life on somebody else. Good luck!” When the video leaked to Bloomberg, Kalanick issued an apology and promised to seek leadership help. Kamel’s video was one of several revelations, along with Susan Fowler’s viral blog post detailing an allegedly toxic workplace at Uber and a lawsuit accusing Uber of stealing trade secrets from a self-driving car competitor, that ultimately led to Kalanick resigning as CEO.

youtube.com

Scott Rogowsky, the favorite host of HQ Trivia.

The comedian is the main host of the viral quiz app, and he’s amassed such a devoted and loyal audience of fans that it’s become hard to tell if people love the app because trivia quizzes are fun, or because Rogowsky is entertaining to watch. On days when other hosts fill in, the chat clamors for him, and people tweet their laments that an inferior host is on. It seems like the founders of HQ might also be worried that Rogowsky is more important to the app than the format — when the Daily Beast asked the app founder for comment about a profile they were writing on Rogowsky, the founder exploded in rage, mentioning that Rogowsky was in the midst of contract negotiations. With rumors that HQ is having trouble fundraising due to bad behavior at their previous gig, it seems that Scott “quiz daddy” Rogowsky might be HQ’s best asset.

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

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$37.8M 5-Story Building in Soho Is This Week’s Most Expensive New Listing

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An entire building in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan, on the market for $37.8 million, is this week’s most expensive new listing on realtor.com®.

For the multimillion-dollar price tag, a presumably wealthy buyer will acquire three full-floor units, plus a grand triplex penthouse. All units are currently set up as luxury residential income-producing properties. There’s also commercial space on the ground floor to bring in even more income.

The entire 12,500-square-foot, five-story structure is billed as an investment opportunity for a deep-pocketed developer to snag “one of downtown’s finest privately held historic cast iron buildings in the heart of SoHo,” according to the listing.

Built in 1872, the building was designed by architect J.B. Snook in a classical style with a cast-iron facade and storefront, and has been landmarked.

Preservationist and architect Joseph Pell Lombardi completed a conservation of the exterior, and added a rooftop penthouse, as well as converted the building to residential lofts on the upper floors.

“The property has been kept completely up to date while maintaining that history,” says listing agent Robin L. Rothman.

According to Rothman, the building had been offices until it was purchased by the current owner and converted into residential units in 1999. It has been occupied since then, but can be delivered vacant if the buyer prefers, she notes.

Triplex penthouse

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Rooftop terrace

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Each of the four residential units has a new kitchen.

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Each of the residential units comes with a private elevator entrance, oversize living spaces, high ceilings, huge windows, and a wood-burning fireplace. The units include hardwood floors, new kitchens and bathrooms, laundry units, and storage. The three apartments all measure in at 2,200 square feet,  and each comes with two beds and two baths.

The penthouse triplex is a luxurious affair featuring five bedrooms, double-height ceilings, hardwood floors, enormous windows, and two rooftop terraces.

The commercial space on the bottom floor is a currently a blank canvas ready for business. It measures 2,225 square feet and boasts high ceilings, a full basement, full bathroom, and garage next door.

The residential and commercial spaces can be purchased separately: The four residential units can go for $24.9 million, and the commercial space is $12.9 million. Either way, this week’s priciest property is quite a deal for an investor looking to score a sweet spot in Soho.

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Paul Rudolph-Designed Biggs Residence Is a Piece of Architectural History for Just $1.39M

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The Biggs residence at 212 Seabreeze Dr. is one of a few stunning Florida homes designed by architect Paul Rudolph during his Sarasota School of Architecture period.

Listed for $1.8 million last year, it’s now being offered for $1.4 million. Originally completed in 1956, the two-bedroom “laconic battleship-grey steel structure” offered an “austere, symmetrical facade to the street, creating an aggressive, acontextual relationship to the site,” according to author Christopher Domin in “Paul Rudolph: The Florida Houses.”

In less grandiose terms, the home was originally conceived as a big box on stilts.

“The old part of the house is in its original state, with exposed steel beams and perfectly fitted marine-grade wood planks,” says listing agent Linda Lake.

A sketch of the original part of the house

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Since its completion, two additions have been made to the home, bringing the total space up to five bedrooms, five bathrooms, and 4,327 square feet.

The first addition was commissioned by Sewell C. Biggs himself, according to Lake, when he realized he needed more space. While the planning for the addition was done by Rudolph, the actual drafting was completed by architect Bob Currie, a friend of Rudolph’s.

By the ocean but in the trees

The Fite Group

The addition required the house to be raised, and the structure is now a FEMA-approved seven-and-a-half feet off the ground, meaning the home qualifies for flood insurance.

The second addition was done by local designer Virginia Courtenay when she lived in the home. “The home was being historically designated at the time,” explains Lake, and Courtenay understood any addition not created by Rudolph would have to look “completely different from what Rudolph designed.”

The resulting tower has a master bedroom and bath, guest bed (or office) and bath, and elevator access.

“It’s interesting because the three [people who worked on the home] were all friends with each other, but from three different generations,” says Lake.

The Biggs residence today

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The home is just a few blocks from the ocean, yet looks out onto the verdant trees. “We understand that Mr. Biggs just loved feeling like he was living in the treetops,” says Lake. While the house is in pretty good shape, it does need a bit of modernization. “It’s a cool place; it’s just a big project,” says Lake.

Some of the exterior needs to be replaced, and the original galley kitchen doesn’t jibe with modern tastes.

“It barely has a freezer, and there’s a tiny refrigerator. One of the drawers won’t open because it can’t get past an appliance,” Lake says with a laugh. Still, she says, the place has huge potential.

“It’s on the market for $1.4 million but could easily go for $3.4 million if someone were to come in and do a really fabulous job on the inside and make the space work better,” she says.

“There are a lot of Paul Rudolph fans out there,” she says, and for the right preservationist, the house is a dream purchase.

If you’re looking to buy a piece of modern architecture history for the price of a suburban McMansion, hop a flight to Delray Beach before the Biggs residence is gone.

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Don’t Miss the Completely Bonkers Double Pyramid House in Henderson, NV

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Before the Luxor casino in Las Vegas was even a twinkle in a developer’s eye, Henderson, NV, architect Harry Wilson was busy building his dream home. The resulting twin pyramids built by Wilson were described by the Las Vegas Sun as “a giant discarded Madonna bra, one pointy side larger than the other.” To be fair, the Sun article is from 1996, so the reference was timely.

Wilson’s pyramid house juts out on a residential street, and has three bedrooms and two baths in 2,887 square feet of space.

Inspired by a trip to Egypt, Wilson started construction on his pyramids in 1981. The similarities to Egypt’s marvels aren’t simply superficial. According to the Sun, the pitch of the roof is the same as the great pyramid at Cheops (52 degrees), the home faces true north just like Egypt’s pyramids, and the bedroom is proportionally where the king’s chamber would lie.

Back of pyramids

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So how does living in a pyramid even work? Listing agent Brad Whiting explains that from the inside, the pyramid feels like a relatively traditional house.

The master bedroom is upstairs, along with a bathroom and small sitting room. The bedroom ceiling used to go all the way to the tip of the pyramid (which lights up, naturally) until Wilson and his wife started to feel weird about all the space above them and installed a translucent ceiling. Wilson also put stained glass in the upper windows of the pyramid, so that when the sun rises in the morning one window’s scene is projected on the tall bedroom wall, and as the sun sets, the other scene is visible.

Stained glass in master bedroom

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Downstairs, where the two other bedrooms are located, the walls are squared off below the windows, creating angled storage areas—and keeping wall angles from steeply sloping.

“You’d have to have an extra-long broom handle to sweep that,” jokes Whiting.

The downstairs also features a living room, dining room, family room, and kitchen. The second pyramid houses a two-car garage. There’s a covered porch, several balconies, and a pool.

“It’s been a very unusual listing,” says Whiting, and not just because of the home’s shape. The property, which was listed at $425,000, is currently in a contingency contract to a family with two special-needs kids who fell in love with the offbeat dwelling.

“The couple that wanted to buy the house got in touch and let us know they were interested but needed to wait for some money to come through before closing,” he explains.

Living room

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Their two children use wheelchairs, and the layout of the house was perfect for them.

“They thought it would be a neat experience for the kids,” he says. The angled storage spaces of the pyramid’s base are the perfect size for the kiddos to use as hiding spaces and clubhouses.

The home is a famous locally, and the prospective buyers were excited to be able to give their kids a unique place to live.

“The owners are really great people, and they agreed to let the family live in the house until they can close,” he said. “Real estate is so much more than buying and selling. It’s more than just a house. It’s people’s lives.”

Whiting adds this deal was “a perfect matching of the right buyer with the right seller, and it ended up being a great thing.”

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These homes were among Central Florida's 25 most-expensive sales in 2017

It was a good year for Central Florida homeowners looking to sell their homes. According to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, the year-to-date median cost of Central Florida homes rose by more than 9.5% to $219,000, compared to the previous year’s $201,000. However, although the median price rose, the number of new listings this year, 43,063, was down slightly from 2016's 43,283. In 2017, Central Florida’s top 25 most-expensive homes sold for a total dollar value of more $283.1 million.…

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Homeowners Rush to Prepay 2018 Property-Tax Bills

Geoff Mulvihill/AP

Homeowners across the nation are rushing this week to prepay their property taxes for 2018 before the Republican tax law kicks in Jan. 1 and effectively raises the levy on higher-end homes.

The new legislation, which President Donald Trump signed into law last week, caps at $10,000 the amount of state and local taxes that filers can deduct from their federal tax bill. That means those whose tax bills regularly exceed that amount could benefit by paying more tax in 2017, when the deduction has no limit.

Municipal offices in a number of states saw a busy post-Christmas rush on Tuesday as taxpayers calculated the effects of the new law. In Fairfax County, Va., where property values have risen sharply in recent years, hundreds of people lined up at the government center to prepay. Across the Potomac River, in Montgomery County, Md., the county council held a special session Tuesday morning to pass legislation allowing residents to prepay their taxes.

The new tax law “is a middle-class tax hike for us, and we’re trying to postpone at least some of that for at least one more year,” said Montgomery County Council President Hans Riemer.

In Massachusetts, local treasurers welcomed the sudden surge in tax receipts. “It’s been insane here,” said James McAuliffe, the town treasurer in the Boston suburb of Milton, adding that he went to the bank Tuesday morning to deposit early property-tax receipts and would likely have to go again in the afternoon.

“Thank you, Mr. Trump, for solving my cash-flow issues,” said Mr. McAuliffe, who estimated that about half the residents of his municipality would hit the new $10,000 cap. “It’s become a very expensive town.”

The $10,000 limit also covers state and local income and sales taxes, but lawmakers drafting the bill barred people from prepaying those other levies. “It left it up to the localities whether or not they would allow you to prepay” property taxes, said Nicole Kaeding, an economist at the Tax Foundation.

Some officials urged caution on prepaying property taxes, given that the new law didn’t address the issue. In New Jersey, most towns aren’t encouraging residents to prepay amid questions about whether the Internal Revenue Service would allow tax filers to take the deduction early, said Michael J. Darcy, executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.

The IRS didn’t return a request for comment.

Officials in Westchester County, N.Y., just north of New York City, said the county wouldn’t be able to calculate final tax obligations for each of its municipalities before year’s end. Connecticut, meantime, isn’t allowing prepayment of property taxes.

Nationwide, about a quarter of taxpayers deducted their real estate taxes in 2015, the latest year available, shaving roughly $5,000 from the average tax bill, according to Tax Policy Center data. At least one taxpayer in three deducted those taxes in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

“This matters most in areas that have higher levels of state and local income taxes,” Ms. Kaeding said. “Think the D.C. area, New York, California, Connecticut, New Jersey.”

The drafters of the tax bill say the unlimited deduction simply cost the federal government too much money and encouraged big spending by state and local governments.

Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the real estate tax deduction resulted in about $33 billion less revenue for the federal government in 2016. The $10,000 cap was intended to raise new revenue and offset some of the effect of the legislation’s tax cuts.

Many of those worried about less of a property-tax deduction next year could still see a lower overall tax bill, because the GOP tax package also lowers federal income-tax rates, said Kim Rueben, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.

As property values have appreciated, homeownership has often been the best-performing family asset, especially in expensive coastal states. Yet the rush to prepay property taxes on Tuesday reflects how the increased tax liabilities for some homeowners may erode the so-called wealth effect of rising property values.

Home prices nationwide were up 6.2% in October from the previous year, according to data from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index released Tuesday, up from a 6.1% year-over-year increase in September. The increase in home values has been accelerating for 16 consecutive months.

Weston, Mass., has some of the highest property taxes in the state, averaging around $18,000, said town treasurer Peter Forcellese. Local officials are getting 60 to 70 calls a day from people with questions about prepaying.

On Friday, several hundred residents came in to prepay, and a steady stream is expected all week, he said. “There is definitely a lot of activity,” Mr. Forcellese said. “There are a lot of folks looking to get the tax payment in and get inasmuch as they can.”

Sacramento County, Calif., is allowing residents to pay by year-end a property-tax installment due next April. Some would pay even more if they could, but the county isn’t yet accepting payments for tax bills further out, county spokeswoman Kim Nava said.

Santa Clara County, in high-cost Silicon Valley, said collections for April 2018 installments already total $422 million, compared with $303 million at this time last year.

Bethesda, Md., resident Leroy Walters said he planned to prepay his taxes because he typically gets above the new $10,000 cap in state and local income and property taxes. “We would even be willing to borrow against a home-equity line of credit in order to prepay,” said Mr. Walters, a retired Georgetown University professor.

In Virginia, Fairfax County tax officials told residents they could prepay their estimated 2018 tax but couldn’t guarantee that payments received after Tuesday would be processed by year’s end. That announcement sent a rush of people to the tax collector’s office.

“What we’re seeing today is unprecedented,” said Scott Sizemore, director of revenue collection for Fairfax County. “People seem to be taken aback by the line, but they seem to have anticipated there would be a potential wait.”

In New York state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo  on Friday signed an executive order setting in motion the process for paying 2018 property taxes in advance and suspending laws that limit partial tax payments. Local officials who administer that process are scrambling to make accommodations.

In Livingston County, in New York’s upstate Finger Lakes region, the county is offering to answer residents’ questions about how much they will owe in 2018 so that they can mail in checks beginning Friday, even if their town tax collectors’ office is closed.

“With the holidays this creates a bit of a challenge,” said County Administrator Ian Coyle.

To prepay or not?

For some taxpayers, prepaying next year’s property taxes this week, before the end of the year, could save them money in 2018, when the new GOP tax law comes into effect, according to tax experts. While individual taxpayers’ circumstances might change and local requirements vary from state to state, here are some scenarios in which it might make sense to prepay:

You expect you will owe more than $10,000 for all state and local taxes next year and you plan to itemize your taxes rather than take the standard deduction, which will be raised to $12,000 for individuals, $18,000 for heads of household and $24,000 for married couples filing jointly.

You aren’t not going to be subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax, a separate tax system that doesn’t allow taxpayers to deduct state and local taxes.

You pay your real-estate taxes directly rather than through an escrow account set up by your mortgage company. If you pay taxes through an escrow account and want to prepay, be sure to discuss it with your mortgage company so you don’t end up paying twice.

Speed is essential: The deductions will only be available until year-end. For more information, contact your local tax authorities. Also, check out The Wall Street Journal’s online tax calculator, which could help you decide.

—Kristina Peterson, Heather Gillers, Chris Gordon and Joseph De Avila contributed to this article.

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Sandra Bullock Renting Out Her Luxe L.A. Condo for $22K a Month

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If you have ever wanted to live in the rarefied air of “Gravity” star Sandra Bullock, now’s your chance. The Oscar winner is renting out one of the two luxury condos she owns in the celeb-filled Sierra Towers in Los Angeles, Variety reported. The furnished rental will be available in January 2018 for $22,000 a month.

While details and photos of the interior are scant, the high-floor apartment comes with views in the “coveted south east corner unit in Sierra Towers [that] are perhaps some of the finest to be found in Los Angeles,” according to the listing.

Walls of glass offer a vista of the downtown skyline, all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Sierra Towers

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Floor-to-ceiling windows

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Balcony with views

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The 1,672-square-foot, two-bedroom, three-bathroom unit is “thoroughly modern yet warmly livable with a sleek designer kitchen and sophisticated style throughout,” according to the listing. It boasts walls of glass with sliders to a small balcony, a master suite with spa bath, and a guest bedroom. Along with a compact kitchen is a combined living and dining space.

Built in 1965, the high-rise offers amenities such as a pool, fitness center, 24/7 security, full-service valet, and on-site parking.

This pad was previously owned by “Friends” star Matthew Perry, who sold it in 2011 for $2.85 million. Bullock picked it up in 2014 for $3.35 million, according to Variety.

Bullock also owns additional property in Los Angeles; Austin, TX; and New York City. The actress is set to make a splash with the all-female heist movie, “Ocean’s 8,” coming out next spring.

The post Sandra Bullock Renting Out Her Luxe L.A. Condo for $22K a Month appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

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What Tarek El Moussa’s New Solo Venture Means for ‘Flip or Flop’

Tarek & Associates

Tarek El Moussa rose to reality TV fame alongside his wife, Christina, on HGTV’s “Flip or Flop”—but now that their marriage has crashed and burned, he’s blazing his own trail in real estate, he says in an exclusive interview with realtor.com®.

Tarek has rebranded the business—and Christina no longer plays a role. Bid farewell to the unwieldy moniker of “Tarek and Christina: The El Moussa Group,” and say hello to the simple sleekness of “Tarek & Associates.” Founded in October, the new real estate company is affiliated with HÔM Sotheby’s International Realty.

“It’s a complete rebrand of the existing business,” Tarek says.

‘Flip or Flop’: Are the rumors true?

If you’ve heard rumors that “Flip or Flop” went kaput along with the couple’s marriage, Tarek put the kibosh on that: He’s still working with Christina on the show. In fact, the two are currently putting the finishing touches on Season 7, which is likely to start airing early next summer.

Tarek El Moussa

Tarek & Associates

Despite the upheaval in his personal life, Tarek admits the show has provided distinct advantages when it comes to selling real estate. Home sellers crave exposure for any property they’re attempting to unload.

“I’ve been on TV for so long, we have millions and millions of viewers, not only in the U.S., but around the world,” he says, adding that the show is seen in places such as Malaysia, Australia, and United Arab Emirates. “I can reach over a million people with a push of a button.”

Tarek El Moussa’s new focus

The international exposure will come in handy, because he’s aiming for deals at the high end of the Orange County, CA, market. Remember “The OC”?

“I live on the coast in South Orange County, and we’re going after the luxury market there,” Tarek says. His firm will focus on upscale towns such as Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and Corona del Mar.

The properties he’s currently selling include an $11.3 million beachfront home in Newport Beach and a $5.4 million waterfront home with private dock on Newport Island.

$11.3 million beachfront home in Newport Beach

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$5.4 million waterfront home on Newport Island

With luxury home prices soaring, especially on the California coast, it’s easy to see why Tarek would gravitate toward the upper end of the real estate market. But when we asked him about the red-hot SoCal real estate market, he backed away from the B-word.

“I wouldn’t call it a bubble,” he says, “and I wouldn’t say it’s about to burst, because when people buy homes today, they have to have jobs, they have to verify income, they have to verify taxes, they have to show bank statements. So today’s buyers are truly qualified.”

Call him an optimist (or a realist), but Tarek doesn’t see any signs indicating a repeat of 2007, so he’s diving in to these luxe markets right along the ocean.

Still fond of flipping

That said, his business isn’t limited to Orange County, and his company will still handle flips of nonluxury homes.

“We’ve flipped and sold homes in Riverside County, San Bernardino County, L.A. County, San Diego County,” he says. He still has his team in place in areas of Orange County where homes are more reasonably priced and flipping opportunities are abundant. Most of the show’s episodes are shot in cities such as Garden Grove, La Habra, and Fullerton.

A typical “Flip or Flop” house

HGTV

His tips for home sellers

But what your average homeowner really wants from Tarek is advice on getting top dollar in a home sale. After all, he has an estimated 400 successful flips under his belt.

“I can walk into a house and within minutes I know how to create value—and not only create value, but I know how to get it to sell faster,” he says.

Every property has its quirks, he notes. “But for starters, declutter and make sure the house is clean,” he says. “I feel that it’s very important to replace carpet if that’s necessary, fresh paint, but also pay attention to little things, walking around the house, the faucets, the doorknobs, the doors—just the little things.”

The little things add up, and he is ready to learn whether a little name change to his business will make for a successful equation over the coming months.

The post What Tarek El Moussa’s New Solo Venture Means for ‘Flip or Flop’ appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

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Ahmedabad realtor group launches ₹60-crore AIF - Hindu Business Line

A city-based group of realtors has launched a Category-2 Alternate Investment Fund (AIF), one of the first of its kind, to finance real estate projects in Gujarat, Pune, Mumbai and Bengaluru in the commercial and industrial space. Set up by Purple ... and more »

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Imprisoned SF real estate tycoon's mansion sells for $18.8 million - Curbed SF

The six bed, five bath, Mediterranean style house at 224 Sea Cliff Avenue is not your average eight-figure Sea Cliff abode. For starters, when it listed in December of 2016 realtor Mark Allan Levinson candidly told Curbed SF that the historic and once ...

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$3.5M Connecticut Home Comes With an Olympic-Size Luge Track

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With the Winter Olympics on the horizon, perhaps you’re toying with the idea of entering the competition. Do it on your own terms by scooping up this home with a private luge track in Ridgefield, CT, listed for $3.5 million with Leslie Krichko of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty.

The five-bedroom, eight-bathroom manse, which measures 11,000 square feet, is owned by Brett and Pamela West.

The other occupant—when he’s not at college, or training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY—is 22-year-old Tucker West, a member of the U.S. luge team at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Tucker, who’s been named to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games team, was the youngest slider to ever represent the U.S., in Sochi in 2014.

Aerial shot of the home’s luge track

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Details about the luge track

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The West family built the 483-foot-long luge track in 2003—a year after Tucker watched the 2002 Winter Olympics and expressed interest in competing in luge. According to a sign on the home, it is the “only known permanent ‘backyard luge track’ in the world.” There are only three other luge tracks in the entire country for aspiring sliders to train on.

Ruben Gonzalez, who recently competed with Tucker in Calgary and is a four-time Olympian in the luge event (competing with the U.S. team), is impressed by the private luge.

The track “would be a great place to practice your start and your form,” he says. “There’s not a luge store. You can’t go to a sporting goods store like you would for a basketball.”

For a guy like Tucker, it makes perfect sense to have a luge track at his disposal. “Tucker’s at a different level. He’s got a shot at a medal,” says Gonzalez, also an author and speaker on real estate.

One of the home’s bathrooms

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Tucker West’s bedroom

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The Colonial-style home features a grand circular staircase. The chef’s kitchen is equipped with a huge island, eight-burner range, and plenty of counter space.

Built in 1996, the home has distinctive features that lend a historical charm, including moldings and coffered, vaulted, and domed ceilings. But in a nod to today’s times, the garage features a shiny floor and three bays, each with its own overhead door.

Other luxe features include smart home technology, three pull-down movie screens, and a built-in bar system with a total of five taps between the main house and the pool house.

Pool and pool house

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Tennis court

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Croquet court

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The home’s 3.27-acre lot also features a tennis court, croquet court, and pool with waterfall, slide, and cave. Now a buyer simply needs to slide on in to make a medalworthy purchase.

The post $3.5M Connecticut Home Comes With an Olympic-Size Luge Track appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

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