Mitt Romney childhood home in Michigan gets bulldozed

“Motor City” continues to “shrink to survive.”

Detroit, Mich., which recently announced that it planned to demolish/bulldoze as many as 10,000 homes to ‘redensify’ hard-hit communities, took down the childhood home of one-time Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in about an hour, according to the Associated Press.

The 5,500 sq. ft. house — where Romney lived with his mother and father (a former Michigan governor) from 1947 to 1953 — was located in the “once prestigious Palmer Woods area.” However, the house had fallen way beyond disrepair in recent years and was declared a “nuisance” in 2009.

It’s expected that the land will soon be put up for sale in a neighborhood where the average home prices hover around $257,000, which is actually on the high side for a state that has been so adversely affected by the downturn in the national economy.

The old Romney home is among 3,000 structures that the city plans to pulverize this year. Three thousand more will be turned to rubble in 2011. When all the dust settles, Mayor Dave Bing plans to raze about 10,000 structures to “protect” the city’s tax base and and get it back on the road to prosperity sooner rather than later.

Mitt Romney, who was the governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, currently resides in a $12 million beachfront home in La Jolla, California. He is currently preparing to make another run at the presidency in 2012 as a member of the Republican party.

Teresa Giudice: Bankruptcy could mean foreclosure on house in Towaco for ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ diva



The economy, not lavish overspending, is the reason that Teresa Giudice — star of the hit Bravo-produced show, “Real Housewives of New Jersey” — and her husband, Joe, recently filed for bankruptcy in a Newark court, according to a recent article in People.

And their opulent 11,000 sq. ft. home in Towaco, N.J., which includes marble and onyx floors and countertops throughout (see pictures right here), could be headed for the foreclosure auction block. New York Post reports that the $1.8 million eight-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom mansion is currently in default.

If the home is lost, it wouldn’t be a first for the couple.

Banks have already repossessed a $279,000 home at the Jersey shore, as well as an investment property in Lincoln Park. Another million-dollar home in Clifton that they owned has also recently been taken back.

All told, Teresa and Joe are $11 million in debt and see bankruptcy as a “fresh start.”

Teresa is not the only “housewife” to face foreclosure — Tamra Barney, Jeana Keough and Lisa Wu Hartwell, among others, have all had to deal with their own real estate realities. To read more about them click here.

Chamillionaire foreclosure in Houston, Texas, a ‘strategic default’

Hakeem Seriki, or the rapper also known as “Chamillionaire,” may have been caught “Ridin Dirty;” however, not by the police … it’s his mortgage lender.

Chamillionaire has made a “business decision” to walkaway from a $2 million mansion that he purchased in Houston, Texas, in 2006, according to TMZ.com.

The Grammy award-winning hip hopper claims that his constant tour schedule and demanding lifestyle in front of the microphone kept him away from the 7,583 sq. ft. house. In essence, he was paying a large amount of money for a home he never lived in.

Or, in this case, not paying — the Houston house has already been repossessed by the lender.

The good news is Seriki is still “Ridin Dirty.” He claims that he still has all his cars, as well as whatever other properties in his real estate portfolio.

He made a point (numerous times) to clarify that he currently “does not have money problems.” On the contrary, the house was so underwater, and so underused, that he decided to cut his losses.

Antoine Walker: Bankrupt NBA star’s home outside Chicago falls into foreclosure

Former three-time NBA All-Star, Antoine Walker, will lose a 12,000 sq. ft. home in Tinley Park, Ill., which he purchased for his mother for $2.3 million in 2005, to foreclosure if he can’t come up with $70,000 in delinquent property taxes, according to the Southtown Star.

Walker, who won an NCAA title as a member of the Kentucky Wildcats (1996) and a world championship with the Miami Heat (2006), recently filed for bankruptcy.

He has not played in the NBA since 2008. However, the report indicates that Walker earned an estimated $110 million during his 13-year career.

“Toine” currently resides in a $2.3 million Miami, Fla., mansion, which he intends to keep, according the bankruptcy filing, as well as a $54,000 Range Rover and $2,000 in cash.

It’s unclear at this time if he’ll attempt to save the “glitzy” Tinley Park home before it’s too late or let it go back to the bank.

Stay tuned.

In the meantime, Walker is scheduled to appear in a Las Vegas, Nevada, court to face felony charges for allegedly writing more than $1 million in bad checks to three different casinos.

Watergate hotel foreclosure in Washington, DC, sold for $45 million

The (in)famous Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., which fell into disrepair in 2007 and then foreclosure two years later, has been sold for $45 million in cash to Euro Capital Properties, according to The Washington Post.

Located at 2650 Virginia Avenue NW, the 251-room building, which also features 146 suites, is located in the same complex where perhaps the most famous political scandal in American history took place.

In 1972, five men were arrested for burglarizing the Democratic National Committee headquarters within the Watergate Office complex. It was eventually revealed that President Richard Nixon had knowledge of the illegal activities and attempted to cover them up

Nixon resigned two years later in 1974 to avoid impeachment.

In 2009, then-owner Monument Realty defaulted on a $40 million loan, forcing the lender to foreclose on the fabled landmark, which overlooks the Potomac River near the heart of the nation’s capital.

It’s that ideal location, as well as Watergate’s rich history, which convinced the new owners to make such a large investment.

Euro Capital principal Jacques Cohen explains:

“There’s no other property in walking distance of Georgetown and that close to the White House and the Kennedy Center … and that has the most gorgeous views in Washington.”

Cohen explains that Euro Capital will dump an additional $50 million into Watergate in renovations that include luxury condominiums, a spa and ample meeting space, as well as restaurants and bars, among other amenities.

Rooms, according to the report, will likely fetch more than $300 a night.