The length of the foreclosure process depends on several factors, including the lender, government programs, state in which the distressed home is located and individual circumstances, among others. Foreclosures, if ever, are rarely the same.

However, there are state-by-state averages, which Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) tracks each month. Nationwide, homeowners facing foreclosure are collectively 611 days late paying their respective mortgages.

The top places where foreclosures on average take the longest include:

• New York (767 days)
• Florida (757 days)
• New Jersey (708 days)
• Hawaii (681 days)
• Washington D.C. (676 days)

The top places where foreclosures on average take the shortest include:

• Wyoming (398 days)
• Nebraska (407 days)
• Alaska (411 days)
• Idaho (416 days)
• Arizona (418 days)

Homes in states that follow the judicial foreclosure process typically take longer to get through the system because the courts are so overburdened. Non-judicial states, therefore, are going to typically recover faster, according to Herb Blecher, a senior vice president for analytics at LPS, in a recent interview with BusinessWeek. com.

For more on the foreclosure laws in your state click here. To search foreclosed homes for sales in your area click here.

To search foreclosed homes for sale in Plainfield, N.J., or anywhere else throughout the United States click here.

Easy come, easy go.

The big spending Teresa Giudice, who stars on “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” reality show, will be forced to auction off many of her worldly possessions as part of a bankruptcy filing, according to People.com.

Televisions, sofas, chairs, chandeliers, as well as a boat and jet ski — even a suit of armor — are scheduled to hit the block at their Towaco, N.J., mansion on Aug., 22, 2010, at 12 p.m. ET. To check out a complete list of available items click here.

Giudice, who was looking for a “fresh start” after claiming a downturn in the economy crippled the family finances, is currently appealing the bankruptcy auction.

From her attorney, Jim Kridel:

“Obviously we have objections to what they’re trying to do…. I don’t think Teresa is happy seeing all her belongings displayed on the Internet. Clearly they are under the microscope because they are famous.”

If the auction goes off as planned, interested bidders are required to present a $300 refundable deposit at the time of registration. In addition to their possessions, the six-bedroom, five-bathroom “rococo chateau” is for sale for a little less than $4 million.

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.

This brings new meaning to the term “Boat House.”

Rather than a date with a wrecking ball, this original Robert Venturi-made home in Long Beach Island, N.J. — also known as the “Lieb House” — was relocated by barge to a new location in Glen Cove on New York’s Long Island, according to the New York Times.

The total cost of the unusual moving method was in the six-figure range, which is apparently a good deal for a piece of history — Venturi is among the nation’s most prominent architects and a Pritzker Prize winner. He has been described as one of the “most influential architects of the twentieth century.”

He’s a pretty big deal.

So it’s no wonder that new owners Deborah Sarnoff and her husband Robert Gotkin — who currently own another Venturi-designed home — were willing to go to such great lengths to preserve the “modern” work of art. It is expected to be used as a guest cottage at their Glen Cove residence.

And there’s no need to repairs despite the odd trek says a Venturi film maker who was on the scene:

“It looks terrific, I’m a little speechless. There no damage, not even a glass, not even a scratch. It looks like it’s been unwrapped from a box.”

Check out video highlights of the relocation mission after the jump.

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