Unsplash

Don’t you wish you owned more real estate? Of course you do. Real estate is where many of the savviest investors prefer to invest their money.

The problem is that property is also expensive. Most people don’t have hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars lying around to invest. Traditionally, investing in real estate has been a pipe dream for the average person.

But not anymore. With Fundrise, you no longer need a large sum of cash to invest in real estate. This company allows you to invest in property as little as $10, which anyone can now get into the real estate investing game.

Invest in Institutional-Quality Properties With as Little as $10

For years, real estate has been one of professional investors’ favorite asset classes. And with Fundrise, you could finally join in on the potential profits.

Fundrise has a $7+ billion portfolio for you to invest in. Their properties span across both the public markets and private markets, which allows you to diversify, reduce your risk, and improve the stability of your investments.

And thanks to Fundrise’s proprietary software, they are even able to keep fees low so that you can maximize your returns.

What’s more, it’s easy to get started with Fundrise. Signing up only takes a few minutes. First, create an account and connect it to your bank (Fundrise can automatically connect with over 3,500 different banks). Then, tell Fundrise a little bit about yourself and they will suggest a strategy that best meets your long-term financial goals.

Choose your account level and plan, and then make your first investment! After that, you can manually or automatically invest more money as you see fit.

And get this — when you sign up and fund your account with your first $10 or more, Fundrise will even give you a bonus $10 in shares (for a limited time only).

After creating and funding your account, Fundrise’s robust platform allows you to manage your portfolio via their convenient, user-friendly website and mobile app. Check in on your investments from anywhere in the world within a few clicks.

Make Your First $10 Investment Today and Get a Bonus $10 in Shares

Today, Fundrise has over 330,000 active users, and investors have earned a total of $194 million in net dividends (as of 6/30/2022).

And you could join them right now. Simply sign up with Fundrise today, make your first $10 minimum investment, get your bonus $10 in shares (for a limited time only), and allow your money to work harder for you.

The post Here’s How To Get Into The Real Estate Game With Just $10 appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Abbilyn Zavgorodniaia on Unsplash

The average homeowner moves 11.7 times over the course of their life. So, unless you plan on sticking with your home for the long haul, chances are that you’ll be putting it up for sale one day. In order to get the most money back, it’s vital that you take care of your home and maximize its value.

Today, we’ll be looking at seven of the best ways to improve the value of your home. Make these improvements and cash in when it comes time to put your home on the market!

Ways to Get Money to Improve Your Home

1. If you need help funding large home improvement projects, consider getting an investment from Hometap. Hometap could invest in your home, giving you cash today, in exchange for a percentage share in your home’s future appreciation. If you qualify, Hometap will give you up to $600k or 30% of your home’s value in cash. Unlike a loan, there’s no interest, no monthly payments, and no debt.

In exchange for its investment, Hometap will share in the profit or loss when you finally decide to sell your home and move out (up to 10 years later). If you decide you want to stay longer than 10 years, you can settle the agreement with Hometap at the end of the term without moving out. You can use the money however you’d like: make home improvements, fund a child’s education or your retirement, eliminate debt … it’s up to you.

Get an estimate of how much cash you can get now. See if you prequalify for a Hometap investment in less than two minutes.

2. Another way to potentially find thousands of dollars for your home improvements is to refinance your mortgage — replacing your home current home loan with a new loan that has a lower interest rate.

Refinancing your mortgage is easy with LoanDepot, which allows you to check your rates in minutes. Since 2010, this company has funded more than $100 billion in loans. And get this — after you refinance with them, they will waive any lender fees and reimburse appraisal fees any time you refinance again down the road.

7 Ways To Improve The Value Of Your Home

1. Hire a Pro to Identify Home Improvements

Let’s face it—we don’t always know what types of additions are going to raise the value of our homes. Something we like might not necessarily be something that a potential buyer likes.

Hire a realtor or interior designer to take a walk through your home and point out some of the different improvements that should be made. Some realtors even offer this service for free if you’re looking to sell your home in the near future!

2. Get Your Home Inspected

When it comes to the value of your home, there is much more than meets the eye. Even if your home looks good, it’s still important to ensure that all systems are in good condition and are operating properly.

By hiring a third-party inspector and having them perform a walk-through of your home, they can help you uncover any potential problems before they inevitably come to light and make it difficult for you to sell your home at the price you want.

3. Install Eco-Friendly Features

Today, there are all types of eco-friendly systems and appliances that help preserve the environment and keep utility bills low.

If your home isn’t already decked out with energy-efficient systems, consider going through and making these upgrades. Some of the most popular features include the following:

• Solar panel installation
• Window, door, and siding upgrades
• Energy-efficient lighting
• Energy-efficient appliances
• Low-flow showerheads
• Smart thermostats

4. Give Your Home a New Paintjob

Scruffs, scratches, and scrapes on your walls can quickly deter a potential buyer. Fortunately, these are very minor blemishes that can be resolved with a new coat of paint.

Before selling your home, consider repainting so that all of your home’s walls look clean and well-kept. What’s more, this is a relatively cheap improvement to make, as paint is fairly inexpensive. You might even be able to do it yourself with a few gallons and rollers!

5. Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Whenever someone drives up to your home for the first time, what’s the first thing they see? It’s not the dining room, lounge room, or bedroom. It’s the outside of your home! In order to make a strong first impression and justify the asking price for your home, you will want to maximize its curb appeal.

One of the most common ways to improve your home’s curb appeal is to invest in landscaping. Reseed and fertilize to keep your lawns looking vibrant and healthy, and trim back any bushes or trees that are growing out of control.

Planting a few trees can even make your home appear more beautiful. Plus, the shade that trees provide can help lower energy costs!

6. Prioritize Your Kitchen and Bathroom

There are all types of rooms that people consider when shopping for new homes. There are two rooms, however, that tend to make the strongest impression on homebuyers—the kitchen and bathroom.

If you’re looking to sell your home sometime in the near future, consider remodeling your kitchen and bathroom so that they stand out to potential buyers. Any updates you can make to your kitchen and bathroom—even if they are minor—can yield big returns.

7. Make an Addition to Your Home

The bigger the home, the more expensive it tends to be. So, if you want to raise the asking price for your home, make an addition!

Keep in mind that additions can be pretty expensive. If you’re unable to increase the square footage of your home, you can often make rooms appear larger with a little de-cluttering and reorganizing.

Find Out How Much You Can Get for Your Home

Want to know how much you can get for your home? It can take a while to receive an offer you like, but with OfferPad, you could receive a competitive cash offer within 24 hours—without a broker or home showings! And all you need to do is complete a simple three-minute questionnaire.

The company will then use local market expertise to assess your home’s value and get you an offer. Once you receive an offer and accept it, OfferPad will let you pick your closing day and even give you free local moving services!

The post 7 Ways To Improve The Value Of Your Home appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Universal Pictures/The Money Pit

The allure of houses is very strong. They’re one of the ultimate representations of the American Dream: a place that you own. A status symbol that tells other people you’ve made it into the exalted league of homeowners. A building that you can paint whatever crazy color you want. If any of the following things on this list apply to you, however, there’s a chance you may be more obsessed than usual with the idea of owning your own house.

1. You watch way too much HGTV.

via stfdthree.tumblr.com

You’re a veteran of shows like “House Hunters” and “Love It or List It.” You tell no one about this.

2. You can instantly describe different styles of houses and which ones you do and don’t like.

“I’m really not a fan of the Craftsman style; it’s a little ornate and old-fashioned for me, although I’d prefer it over an American colonial. Now, if we’re talking about Spanish colonial, that’s a whole different story. Can I offer you some opinions on crown molding?”

3. You like to look at other people’s houses.

via nortonings.tumblr.com

When you walk inside someone’s house for the first time, it’s hard not to run your hands over every surface like Gollum caressing his ring. When you go to the bathroom, you admire the sink, shower and fixtures; when you step into the kitchen, you make a mental note to find backsplash tile exactly like that someday. You hope no one notices that you’re sizing up the house and taking notes on your phone.

4. You take note of cool houses you’ve driven by.

Your friends or significant other might think you’re crazy because you’re always making comments about how much you love certain houses and how you’d love to own one like that someday. They might also think that you’re casing the joint because you plan to rob it.

5. You occasional Google real estate in your area… just to look.

via reactiongifs.com

You just want to get an idea of the current market prices. There’s nothing wrong with that!

6. You have a bookmarks folder titled “future house.”

In this folder are links to various decorative items, storage solutions, pictures of houses that you like and other things that you’re too embarrassed to show to other people.

7. You’ve perused cabin porn more than once.

via imgur

When anyone sees it in your Google history, you have to explain that it’s not what it sounds like.

8. You’ve also collected a reliable list of sources related to tiny houses.

Since a real house is so far in your future, maybe in a year or two you can just buy a tiny house! Everything will be folded and stacked inside everything else, and it’ll all be perfect and rustic and wonderful. You and your possessions will surely fit inside an abode that measures 200-800 square feet.

9. When you watch shows like “House Hunters,” you know exactly what to expect.

Image via shineykylie.tumblr.com

There’s always one person who’s more willing to take risks, while their partner insists on a house just like the one they grew up in. Few houses are ever within a couple’s price range. There will always be one person who focuses on irrelevant shit like the paint color or the current furniture. You find yourself talking to the TV and yelling things like, “Just repaint it if you don’t like the color!”

10. You started saving money for a house as soon as you graduated from college.

Even though you knew it probably wouldn’t happen for another 10 years or so, you started saving anyway.

11. You’re an expert on different kinds of floors.

You already know that you want bamboo in most of the house, because bamboo is light, easy to clean and naturally antimicrobial. It’s also a renewable resource! However, sometimes you think that maybe artificial laminate floors are the way to go… or maybe some vintage tile in the kitchen. There’s no need to overthink it; you have options.

12. You envy people their awesome kitchen counters.

via giphy

When you see a really nice granite or marble countertop, you want to steal it, or at least take pictures of it and get one exactly like it.

13. You have a mental list of architectural details you want in your future house.

Perhaps it’s as simple as a fireplace; it could be as complex as vintage tin ceilings and a kitchen dumbwaiter. Either way, you’ve thought long and hard about this list, and may have written it down so you can whip it out at a moment’s notice and tell people exactly what your future house is going to look like.

14. You have long, angsty conversations with yourself about how much utilities will cost when you own a house.

You know you’ll be ready someday, but it’s going to be hard. You’ll just have to make sure you’re making a realistic salary and have realistic expectations of how much different it’s going to be than just paying for utilities in an apartment. You pump yourself up with motivating thoughts about you’ll do a great job of handling all these adult things. You look forward to the challenge.

15. You’re already familiar with how mortgages work.

via giphy

Those future banks think they can take advantage of you? They’d better think again, because you know exactly what kind of mortgage to get. No one’s going to con you into getting an adjustable-rate mortgage; no way. Future you will be more prepared to buy a house than any other house buyer in the history of buying houses.

The post 15 Signs You’re Obsessed With Owning A House appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Shutterstock

Screaming neighbors, barking dogs, leaking faucets, broken appliances, security deposits that are never returned… most people who rent apartments have seen their fair share of landlord-and building-related nightmares. However, lest we forget that there’s always another side to these stories, AskReddit is here to provide a forum for landlords’ worst tenant stories. Prepare your gag reflex, because these murky waters contain a lot of poop and dead animals.

1. “I had a tenant pour concrete down the drains. There was no repair possible. It was literally more cost-effective to demolish, salvage what we could and rebuild. It even got into the septic system and we had to settle with the city for damaging their infrastructure. Biggest nightmare ever. We sued the former tenants, but when you’re suing a scumbag, best case scenario, you might get a 1990 Toyota Tercel.” — Throwaway1242014

2. “Tenants lived upstairs for 3 months, didn’t pay the third month’s rent, called in (as me) to cut off my utilities, reported me to Children’s Division for child abuse… moved out leaving 18 bags of garbage & reported me to the fire department for the garbage hazard.” — nachoqueen

3. “Rented to a tenant that seemed to have his shit together. Well dressed, articulate, owned his own business, and great credit. That façade didn’t last too long. 2 months in, multiple noise complaints and police had to show up for various domestic assaults. We evicted him, and he left quietly, but not before he decided to fap off on all of the walls.” — Caluca5

4. “Two dead horses, four dead guinea pigs, three abandoned dogs and one abandoned cat. Mountains of rubbish, dirty clothes, illicit drug paraphernalia and dog and cat shit littered the house – a new house, built less than a year before the eviction/abandonment. A motocross bike had been ridden in/stored in the house; mud/tyre/oil marks on the walls and roof even. Most of the furnishings had been destroyed [glass kitchen table had been taken to with a sledgehammer].” — thornutella

5. “I got a call from my tenants saying there was a water leak, I arrived to find that the tap on back of the house was pulled off the wall and leaking water everywhere, I asked the tenant what happened and she told me that it was just like that when she went outside. I turned the water off and while fixing the pipe I heard banging and saw the garden shed shaking like it was about to fall down.

I went over and had a look to find a pony ‘hidden’ in the shed, when I asked the tenant about it she told me ‘Well when I had it tied to the house water started coming out.’” — runswitscissors

6. “I own a few properties in Sydney.

Tenants stopped paying rent almost right away (3 months). I had the locks changed on them. Went to the property 2 weeks later to find the places an absolute mess. Poo on most of the walls. Holes in all the walls. A whole fucking toilet missing. Hot water system had a dead cat in it. Bath tub full of cat shit. Kitchen covered in dirty plates from the 3 months. Old KFC in the fridge. The carpet was completely munted. Cigarette butts EVERYWHERE.

$16,000 later my investment property is back on track. I never did manage to recover my stove or toilet from the old tenants but the insurance covered most of it.” — DropBearBait

7. “Lovely lady moved in and then she found a boyfriend. He had a couple birds. Lady died about a year later, boyfriend rented out parts of my teeny house to 11 other people and began breading budgies. He bragged to the neighbours that he had 54 budgies. He was evicted. It took me three dumpsters to clean out his garbage.” — Pandaerin

8. “Had a tenant smear poo from floor to ceiling in every room of the house, must of taken weeks — I mean every wall, no gaps…..

I paid a crime scene clean up company to clean it for me, would [have] been cheaper to burn the house down.” — Tharlo

9. “I worked as a handyman for this property firm in my town and basically every day there were little odd tasks to take care of… But one thing takes the cake and I will never be able to forget… [One tenant’s] toilet was completely stopped up and full of spiders, we figured something was amiss when she was continually taking out cat litter even though her cat died a year ago. She was using a cat box as a bathroom. If she wasn’t doing that, she wore adult diapers and when she soiled one, she’d take it off and toss it into the corner by the radiator.” — czach

10. “I leased an apartment to a nice family in a suburban neighborhood. The house caught fire (apparently from a candle) and firemen put out the fire. Police had to investigate, and they pulled out a tonne of dildos and cameras from the half-burnt down apartment. They would not have cared, except there were several reports from neighbors saying the place may be a brothel. The cops found out it was a porn studio and the man and woman faced 6 months probation.

Apparently the man and woman ‘rented’ children to pose as their kids when they met me.” — cantonboy

11. “One property I rented out at a discounted rate to a family for 3 years and when they moved out after the first year their cousin moved in and never told me, rent checks everything came from the same name, bank etc. Until I got a complaint and had to show up one day and find a different person living in the house. So I called the pervious [sic] tenant and they thought that their cousin could continue paying the discounted rent $800 from $1350 and I told them this wasn’t going to happen and they have to leave… Anyways they left and I came back a few days later to take a walk though the house and get it rented back out and the guy that left removed every piece of trim from the house and left it laying in the middle of the living room, I shit you not there was a massive stack of trim from every floorboard window door etc. in the middle of the living room. It was a 3 day jigsaw puzzle figuring out where to put all the trim back…” — stotts15

12. “So we were renting out this extra house we own in the Houston, TX area. We got these new tenants who seemed nice enough, and pretty normal, so we were happy. They had a two year, no pets, family of 4 lease on the place. Things seemed to be going well, but then we got a call from the neighbors.

‘We seem to be hearing a…uh, a rooster calling from next door.’

So, since we had known the neighbors for a while and we lived pretty far away from the property, we asked them to try to talk to the tennents and report back with the 411 on the ornithological situation. The next day, we get another call from the neighbors.

‘They said the rooster is no longer a problem, because they killed it…’” — Musicality

13. “Not my tenants but a story from a friend. He went into his tenants’ place quite soon after they had moved in to a newly done up flat.

He discovered in the kitchen they had ripped the doors of a couple cabinets, nailed wire to the frame and had their pet rats living in there.” — OrchardsBen

14. “I used to clean rentals for a property management company. The worst things I’ve seen would have to be the older home where the tenants turned the cement basement into a dog run. There was an ankle deep layer of urine and feces in the basement. Before I could even come in to clean, disaster recovery had to come in with hazmats on. The smell was powerful and nauseating.” — carlieq25

15. “Here’s the quick version:

*Young couple in their 20s moves in

*One evening, a shitload of cops pull up to building and rush to their apartment

*Guy gets wheeled away in a gurney, and he’s crying with a wound to his neck

*Find out from cop that there was a shooting and someone was dead

*Building full of tenants freaking out. Guess who needs to talk to them?

*Later find out that guy shot/killed girlfriend, then tried to kill himself but failed and shot himself through the neck

End of story: Guy charged with 1st degree murder, sent to prison. Did I mention that this happened during my first year as manager? FML.” — whysocereal

The post The Renters From Hell: 15 Landlords Share Their Worst Tenant Stories appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via eBay

Timeshares are really overrated when you think about it. These days it’s all about buying some real space, like in the form of an exceptionally beautiful, abandoned Italian village — and it’ll cost you less than $1 million.

The last few inhabitants of Borgata Calsazio, a picturesque mountain village set in the Italian Alps, are selling their hometown for around $335,000 on eBay. You’ll get about 14 stone and timber homes, 50 other outbuildings — and one killer view of the Italy’s mountainous landscape. The only catch: The buyers must maintain the original architecture and restore the village back to its original grandeur following local traditions.

The buildings have distinctive architectural styles which need to be preserved,” Marco Bussone, a representative of National Union of Mountain Communities, an organization that represents Italy’s mountain villages, told La Repubblica newspaper. “We couldn’t allow sloppy restorations that don’t fit in with the local traditions, especially as the village is close to the national park. We will provide a restoration master plan to whoever buys the village.”

Image via ebay

Even for a fixer-upper, Borgata Calsazio sounds like a gem for anyone looking for a fun restoration project in the Italian Alps. The town was left abandoned in the 19th century when most of the mountain village’s inhabitants left to find work abroad. The last few inhabitants are hoping that restoring towns like Borgata Calsazio to a vacation destination will bring back the life to these abandoned villages of yesteryear.

Italy is home to about 40 vacation spots that emerged from ghost towns like Borgata Calsazio, where guests stay in different homes in the village and the entire town is set up like an expansive hotel.

Image via eBay

Just in case you’re interested in snatching up this little gem for yourself, here’s what Borgata Calsazio has to offer, according to its eBay listing:

Borgata Calsazio is a fraction of Sparone, common of the Orco Valley. At the foot of the Gran Paradiso National Park, is located only 50 kilometers from the center of Turin. A strategic location for live, open tourist activity or a restaurant. Fourteen houses combine over 50 compartments. Amidst the Graie Alps, in a unique landscape. The village lends itself to a functional recovery, aimed at restructuring the buildings while respecting the criteria historical-architectural canavesani.”

The online auction ends on Aug. 8.

The post You Can Buy An Entire Village In Italy On eBay For Under $335,000 appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Hilton & Hyland

A Los Angeles mansion that was the home of William Randolph Hearst, a honeymoon spot for the Kennedys and the location for a legendary scene from The Godfather is up for sale in L.A. The price tag is a cool $135 million.

Scrolling through the photos of “The Beverly House,” it’s easy to see why the home is expected to nab its nine-figure asking price. It sits on 3.7 acres of land just off Sunset Boulevard, packs 28 bedrooms, 40 bathrooms, a 50-foot entrance hall and a dining room that can host 400 people. The sprawling estate features landscape design by Paul Thiene.

Architect Milton Kaufman spun his magic wand on this mansion, which has remained famous since silent film star bought the property for newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst in 1946. Hearst spent the last years of his life in the house.

Afterwards, John and Jacqueline Kennedy spent part of their honeymoon at Beverly House, presumably taking advantage of its Art Deco nightclub, theaters and palatial grounds.

The house and grounds will familiar to ne lovers of classic gangster films. In a legendary sequence from The Godfather, a Hollywood producer who refuses to grant Marlon Brando’s wishes takes Robert Duvall on a tour of the estate. They part ways without a deal.

Later on, the producer awakes to the sight of his beloved horse’s head in his bed. The Godfather got his wish.

Access to this dream house, owned by Leonard M. Ross, is available through Hilton & Hyland brokers. It’s no longer listed as a $600,000 rental or on the market for an inflated $165 million, as it was in 2007. Instead, the price has come back to earth. For $135,000,000, it’s all yours.

Image via Hilton & Hyland

Image via Hilton & Hyland

Image via Hilton & Hyland

Image via Hilton & Hyland

Image via Hilton & Hyland

Image via Hilton & Hyland

The post L.A. Hearst Mansion From ‘Godfather’ Selling For $135 million appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Flickr/ Sarah_Ackerman

Some pools have the ability to instantly transport viewers to another time or another place. These 21 pools create entirely different worlds from new perspectives.

This cave-like pool was created by Caviness Landscape Design for Twin Creek Farms. The swim-through grotto includes amenities like a bar, television, sound system and waterfalls.

Image via Flickr/ Caviness Landscape Design

This infinity pool from AMS Landscape Design Studios cleverly incorporates a tree in the middle to add a dreamlike quality.

Image via AMS Landscape Design Studios

This pool at a Singapore resort overlooks the entire city and gives the illusion that guests might just fall over the edge.

Image via Flickr/ kfcatles

Greg Marshall photographed this infinity pool in Marmaris, Turkey. It blends perfectly with its surroundings and the sky.

Image via Greg Marshall

Flickr user cloudzilla took a dip in this pool at the Hotel Villa Mahal in Turkey. He said it’s about a 20-foot drop from the edge of the pool.

Image via Flickr/ cloudzilla

This indoor pool from Deep River Partners has glass art along the bottom, creating a gorgeous runway effect.

Image via Deep-River.com

This pool, designed by Paola Lenti, uses a tan walk-in design and a teal bottom to create the illusion of a beach.

Image via Style Grésivaudan

The Nemo 33, photographed by Eric Burgers is the deepest indoor swimming pool in the world, extending to a depth of 113 feet. The pool is located in Neerstalle, Brussels and is used primarily for diving lessons. It has several simulated caves for instructional purposes.

Image via Flickr/ Eric Burgers

The San Alfonso del Mar resort in Chile is home to the largest outdoor pool in the world. It extends three-fifths of a mile and holds 66 million gallons of water. It’s the deepest pool in the world, with a depth of up to 115 feet in some places.

Image via Flickr/ lanube360

This stunning pool is in the Jade Mountain Resort in St. Lucia. It provides bright and colorful surroundings.

Image via Jade Mountain Resort

This pool in Thailand’s Anantara Golden Triangle Resort blends perfectly with the lush greenery surrounding it.

Image via Flickr/ Robert Stokes

This beautiful pool, photographed by Sarah Ackerman, is located at the One & Only resort in Reethi Rah, Maldives.

Image via Flickr/ Sarah_Ackerman

Photographed by Abe Kleinfeld, the Hotel Riu pool in Cancun is reminiscent of ancient times.

Image via Flickr/ Abe K

This pool at the Amangiri Resort in Canyon Point, Utah was built around geological formations that are 160 million years old. The result is an oasis in the desert.

Image via Amangiri Resort

This dreamlike pool is in the Mardan Palace Hotel in Antalya, Turkey. The hotel is considered Europe’s most expensive luxury resort.

Image via wherecoolthingshappen.com

This curvy masterpiece in the Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort in Abu Dhabi offers stunning panoramic views.

Image via Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort

The water’s clear in this pool in Thailand’s Koh Samui Resort. The red effect is achieved with an underwater mosaic of red, yellow and orange tiles.

Image via forgethome.com

Natural lighting lends a warm glow to the Gellert Baths in Budapest, Hungary.

Image via Wikimedia

This private home in Costa Reyes, Mexico, called Casa Sol De Occidente, is perched atop a cliff with a moat-like pool surrounding it.

Image via kickassthings.com

This glass-bottom pool at the Shanghai Holiday Inn gives swimmers a look down.

Image via wherecoolthingshappen.com

Neptune’s Pools in California look like they came straight out of ancient Europe.

Image via Flickr/ Vincent Miao

The post 21 Of The Most Insane And Amazing Pools From Around The World (Photos) appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Megan Ellison – accomplished producer of “American Hustle” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” and the daughter of Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison – just bought herself a new house.

The futuristic mansion cost $20 million, and Ellison shelled out an additional $10 million for surrounding empty land, according to the real estate blog Real Estalker. The 8-acre property will certainly give her privacy, as she has a personal, gated road leading up to the home.

Besides being a successful producer and heir to a fortune, Ellison probably had some extra spending money because of some other real estate deals earlier in the year. She sold three properties in the Bird Streets neighborhood of the Hollywood Hills for a total of about $47 million.

Her new home was built in 1990 and is located in the Mt. Olympus neighborhood of the Hollywood Hills, giving her one of the best views around. Other features include more than 25 parking spaces, a pool, a grotto, a volleyball court, heated balconies and a heated terrace. The home has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms and two guest apartments.

If it looks familiar, that’s because the architectural beauty has had some Hollywood roles. It appeared in the movie “I Love You, Man” and in a 2013 holiday commercial for Infiniti, among other things.

Take a look at some of the breathtaking photos of the mansion.

The post Megan Ellison Buys Mount Olympus Properties For $30 Million appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Faena House

The mega-rich are expanding their real estate portfolios to include condominiums in a new oceanfront development called Faena Miami Beach, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. Plans for the condos were announced to 150 dinner guests last week at Art Basel Miami Beach, a high-end fair with more than $3 billion worth of art for sale.

For people who have seen everything, this is something you haven’t seen yet,” said Len Blavatnik, the financier behind Faena, at the project’s announcement Wednesday.

Advanced buyers of the exclusive homes include Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein and Apollo Global Management co-founder Leon Black. Here’s a better idea of just how exclusive these homes are: Forbes reports that Blankfein is the 27th most powerful person in the world, while Black is among the 100 richest people in the country with a net worth of $5.2 billion.

Image via Faena House

The Cost Of Luxury

Faena’s planned 18-story tower will include 47 residences priced between $3 million and $50 million. The penthouse has a total living space of 18,253 square feet, according to the Faena website, and is one of seven condos still available.

The entire property, which is scheduled to open in December 2014, will also feature two luxury hotels and an arts center in addition to the residences.

The project seems to be the next logical step in Miami, where expensive homes are flying off the market. The number of homes sold for $1 million or more in the Miami area rose by more than a third in the last year, expert Ron Shuffield told Businessweek.

The locals agree. “Miami real estate is on steroids,” Mera Rubell, a Miami art collector who attended the Art Basel event, said to Businesweek. “The fantasy is about the community. But what are the chances all these billionaires will show up at the same time?”

Blavatnik didn’t talk about the community in his pitch last week. Instead, he focused on the money, saying, “It’s a fraction of the price of art.”

Image via Faena House

Image via Faena House

Image via Faena House

Image via Faena House

The post Ultra-Luxury Miami Condo In The Works, Lloyd Blankfein and Leon Black Among Buyers appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Populous

If you’ve got a big budget for the holidays this year, you might want to consider giving that special someone a personalized stadium for the backyard. The unique gift comes with all sorts of features, including state-of-the-art video screens and enough seating for about 100 spectators, according to the Robb Report.

This big idea comes from a company accustomed to big stadiums. Populous has designed the new Yankee Stadium, London’s Olympic Stadium and dozens of other world-famous sports venues. And now the company has its sight set on your backyard.

Image via Populous

Ryan Sickman, an engineer and associate principal at Populous, told the Robb Report about the completely customizable venue, which starts at $30 million:

• Wraparound video screens set the scene by creating a backdrop depicting almost any professional sports stadium, complete with crowds of cheering fans. The screens can be anywhere from 12 to 20 feet tall.
• A 40- to 50-yard field gives ample room to play. For comparison, a standard football field is 100 yards long.
• FieldTurf with fiber-optic lighting makes the field versatile. Users can choose what game they’re playing and, with the flip of a switch, choose what kind of field they want to play on. The FieldTurf can lay out a baseball diamond, for example, or a football field complete with logos in the end zones.
• A luxury box completes the experience. The box will have two or three rows of seating, enough for about 100 people, and can include a concession stand. The area can also have a broadcast booth for live commentary.

Other optional features include: a retractable roof to protect against the elements; wind, snow and rain machines to mimic any conditions; and locker rooms with showers.

Sickman said Populous has a specific clientele in mind for its luxury product. “One thing we did think about was the client having his buddies over for touch football in the fall,” Sickman said. “He could be surrounded by every big game going on in the country while playing touch football with his buddies. That’s pretty cool.” For a starting price tag of $30 million, it better be pretty cool.

Sickman added, “Is it doable? Yes. It just hasn’t been done before.”

The post Here Is The $30 Million Personal Stadium You’ve Dreamed About appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.