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The 8 Buzziest Real Estate Tales That Had Everyone Talking in 2017


The 8 Buzziest Real Estate Tales That Had Everyone Talking in 2017

buzzed-about-2017

Getty Images; realtor.com

Wow, 2017 was quite a year for real estate: Every week seemed to bring headline-grabbing nuggets of news that we here at realtor.com®—and you, dear readers—couldn’t stop talking about. Some tidbits caught our attention because they seemed too good to be true (hello, $10 house), others made us ponder the end of an era (sayonara, Playboy mansion), while still other events were just too juicy to ignore.

So now that this wild year is finally winding down, let’s take a moment to walk down memory lane and recall the buzziest real estate stories of 2017. It’s all a vivid reminder of how real estate isn’t just a pretty backdrop—it also plays a major role in our lives at every turn.

1. President Trump brings gold drapes to the White House

The desk in question.
The desk Trump picked for the Oval Office

Brendan Smialowski-Pool/Getty Images; Susan Watts/NY Daily News via Getty Images

After taking office in January, President Donald Trump put his signature touches on redecorating the White House by swathing the Oval Office in gold drapes, swapping out the rug under his feet for one designed by Laura Bush, bringing in a fine bust of Winston Churchill, and switching out gray suede couches for some covered in brocade.

Trump also stocked the kitchen with Lay’s potato chips (one of his favorite snacks). Yet certain things remained the same—for one, he kept the grand Resolute desk used by former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan (as we correctly predicted, we might add).

2. ‘Fixer Upper’ announces the beginning of the end

What a ride…BUT #season5IScoming #onelasthoorah [Watch the full video at link in profile]

A post shared by Chip Gaines (@chipgaines) on Sep 26, 2017 at 8:02am PDT

Even though “Fixer Upper” fever seems to be hotter than ever, America’s favorite renovation couple, Chip and Joanna Gaines, announced that they’ve had enough. In September, they said that Season 5 of their hit HGTV show—currently on the air—would be their last. Get ready for some serious shiplap withdrawal. So, you’d better watch while you can! (And be sure to come back on Monday for our roundup of all the “Fixer Upper” highlights from 2017.)

3. The Obamas decide to stick around Washington, DC

The Obama family's new home.
The Obama family’s new home

Kristoffer Tripplaar-Pool/Getty Images

Rumors flew about where former President Barack Obama and his family would settle postpresidency. In the end, the former first family bought the Washington, DC, house they’d been renting since January. Located in Kalorama, a swanky neighborhood that’s home to other political movers and shakers (which would also end up including Ivanka Trump), the 6,441-square-foot, nine-bedroom, 8.5-bath mansion set them back $8.1 million.

The family is staying local while daughter Sasha finishes up high school at Sidwell Friends. After that, who knows where they’ll go? Speculators claim they may move on to Manhattan’s Upper East Side and perhaps a former Kennedy property on Martha’s Vineyard as well.

4. A historic home goes up for sale for a mere $10

moving a house
Own this Montclair, NJ, home for the reasonable price of $10—all you have to do is move it.

realtor.com

While home prices are still soaring across much of the country, that doesn’t mean bargains can’t be found. Case in point: A 3,912-square-foot historic mansion in Montclair, NJ, designed by Dudley S. Van Antwerp was listed for just $10. In fact, the seller was willing to give any buyer an extra $10,000.

The catch? The land underneath wasn’t included—the buyer needed to move the entire mansion so that the 500-acre estate could be parceled out by a real estate developer.

The price tag on a move like that is somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000, according to Ben Brovont, an estimator with Wolfe House & Building Movers. And that’s before you shell out for a parcel of land and a foundation for the home. Still, for a historic home valued at $435,000, it was the most eye-catching deal of the year.

5. A Washington, DC, apartment sells for less than one month’s rent

co-op apartment sold for $1,490
This co-op apartment sold for $1,490—no, that’s not a typo.

realtor.com

As if a $10 historic home weren’t remarkable enough, we also spotted a Washington, DC, apartment listed for just $1,490—and no, it’s not a scam. The apartment was part of a limited-equity co-op, which allowed tenants in the building to use a low-interest loan from the District of Columbia’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

Though maintenance would cost $1,000 a month and the transaction had to be in cash, according to listing agent Nicole Sarr, the only other caveat was that a buyer had to fall below the maximum income rate for affordable housing: $60,839 for an individual, or $69,530 for a two-person household. Though this unit sold and is now off the market, if you’re looking for truly affordable housing, keep your eyes peeled for limited-equity co-ops. What a steal!

6. Hugh Hefner dies, spelling the end of the Playboy mansion

Playboy Mansion
The Playboy mansion in all its glory

FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

In September, Hugh Hefner died at the ripe old age of 91—and that means the iconic Playboy mansion will soon follow in his footsteps. The 29-room Gothic Tudor–style estate in Holmby Hills, CA, an object of fascination for generations of men, had already sold a year earlier to neighbor Daren Metropoulos, who bought it for $100 million. But the catch was, Hef was allowed to live out the rest of his days there. Now that he’s gone, plans are to rebuild this place from the ground up, which means this fortress of bunny-filled debauchery is officially coming to its end.

7. Meghan Markle gets a housing upgrade—sort of

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry got engaged in November—which means Markle, an American actress best known for her role in “Suits,” will soon be moving into far fancier digs! In December, the home in Toronto (which is where “Suits” is filmed) that the Los Angeles native rented went on the market for $1.4 million. She is slated to move into Nottingham Cottage, a property on the grounds of Kensington Palace (which surprisingly is a bit of a dump as far as royal homes go, but we’d wager it’s still a step up).

8. Separate bedrooms for couples come out of the closet

When news broke in March that the first couple do not share a bedroom, people took note—yet as experts we interviewed rightly pointed out, this arrangement might not be as rare as one might think. According to the National Sleep Foundation, as many as a quarter of all couples don’t sleep together. Enter the new trend of dual master suites.

“I have come across many situations where couples are looking for dual master suites,” says Pate Stevens, a real estate agent with Nourmand & Associates in the Los Angeles area. Far from being a sign of problems, many couples say sleeping apart helps their relationship, eliminating fights about snoring, accommodating different sleeping schedules, and giving people their own space.

As Orlando, FL, entrepreneur and apart-sleeper Mary McGinn says: “We could share a room if we had to, but having our own rooms works better for us. Ain’t no shame in it.”

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