Hear ye, hear ye, the most expensive home in Texas is back on the market — again.

This mega-mansion, known as the Crespi estate, is fit for a king. After all, it was designed in the 1930s for an Italian count.

Despite its bucolic scenery, the sprawling estate sits just minutes from downtown Dallas. Its vaunted halls have hosted dignitaries and icons the likes of Coco Chanel and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. But even with these accolades, the 10-bed home — with 12 full bathrooms and five powder rooms — can’t seem to find a buyer.

The opulent home was last listed in 2023 for $60 million. The price was slashed to $47 million and ultimately taken off market in 2024. Now the seller, an influential Dallas family, is back and bolder than ever.

As if space were a problem for this “Greater than Gatsby” estate, the sellers have thrown in an additional three lots totaling 3.74 acres to the deal. That brings the property’s total swath to nearly 16 acres, sweetening an already-overflowing pot and upping the price of Texas’s most expensive home to $64 million. 

The Real Deal first reported on the listing, which is held by Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Real Estate.

The listing dubs the limestone villa as “Dallas’ most legendary estate.”

The home seems to demand a new owner throw a Gatsby-style bash, with a real ballroom, an Art Deco bar and two separate wine cellars. Or perhaps the formal rose garden, conservatory and dining room with a custom Swarovski crystal-mantled fireplace are the perfect settings for a swoon-worthy “Bridgerton” ball. 

If the next owner of the French-style chateau needs some space from their guests, and the 3,000-square-foot primary suite simply does not suffice, they have nothing to fear. The property includes a 3,300-square-foot guesthouse and a 4,800-square-foot entertainment pavilion to keep everyone busy. 

There’s also a massive swimming pool and spa, tennis and bocce ball courts, a 19-seat theater, ample gardens, greenhouses and a heliport.

The home is currently owned by an influential oil industry family, and was previously owned by the Texas Rangers’ former owner Tom Hicks. 

The estate was designed by Swiss architect Maurice Fatio for the Italian count Pio Crespi. Fatio was known for catering to the the design needs of Palm Beach’s well-heeled, according to the Real Deal, but the Dallas home was his final project. 

The post Here’s how much it costs to buy the most expensive home in Texas — and it just upped its asking price appeared first on World RealEstate.

One of the largest private homes built by the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright is on the market in Tulsa, Oklahoma — and it just got a major price cut. 

Dubbed “Westhope,” the residence is one of just five homes Wright built with unique, geometric blocks stacked in vertical columns. No fewer than 5,200 panes of glass cover almost half of the exterior, and large skylights let in even more Sooner sunshine. It can be yours for $3.5 million — a 56% drop from its initial asking price in 2023, Mansion Global reported.

At 10,400 square feet, Westhope is one of Wright’s largest private family builds. In addition to five bedrooms and 4.5 baths, buyers get a pool and a guesthouse. Sage Sotheby’s International Realty holds the listing. 

It’s one of three Wright homes in the Sooner state, and this particular home was a special labor of love — the architect built it for his cousin, Richard Lloyd Jones. Jones, publisher of the now-defunct Tulsa Tribune, paid over $100,000 for the home in the 1920s, despite his cousin initially budgeting $30,000.

Westhope is the likely location of an oft-cited anecdote associated with Wright’s notorious flat-roof designs, according to Meryle Secrest’s “Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography.” The story goes that on a stormy night, Richard Lloyd Jones called his cousin Wright in a fury. He complained that the roof was leaking on his desk. 

Wright reportedly replied, “Richard, why don’t you move your desk?”

In another instance, Jones’s wife was dashing around the living room during a torrential downpour, using pots and pans to catch the various leaks. 

“Well,” Mrs. Lloyd Jones reportedly said, “This is what we get for leaving a work of art out in the rain.”

Westhope’s current owner is a Tulsa real estate investor who purchased the home for $2.5 million in 2021 from a Tyson Foods heiress. The seller undertook extensive renovations, including waterproofing, redoing the kitchen and replacing window glass.

The geometric textile-block style of the home is based on a unique system innovated by Wright in the early 1920s. Patterned concrete blocks are created by pouring a concrete mixture into molds.

The blocks are reinforced with steel rods and create a repeated pattern throughout the house. 

Westhope is the only example of Wright’s textile block style outside of California.

The post One of Frank Lloyd Wright’s largest private homes can be yours — and it’s a stunner that’s available for less appeared first on World RealEstate.

Leaks abound at Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous home, the Wall Street Journal reported, and repairs are costing 40 times what it cost to construct it.

The gravity-defying Fallingwater is looking forlorn in recent months with a thick barrier of scaffolding. The efforts of its steward, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, to fix dozens of leaks at the Mill Run, Pennsylvania property is adding up to $7 million — a far cry from the $148,000 required to build it in the 1930s. 

The home-turned-museum is a seminal example of Wright’s organic architecture, but its ambitious design and position over a waterfall have left it in a somewhat precarious state as it approaches the 100-year mark.

Now, preservationists are hard at work shoring up the property for generations to come. 

The last time the conservancy took on a restoration of this scale was in the early 2000s, Justin Gunther, Fallingwater’s director, told The Post. This current project is a part of the next 20-year preservation plan for Fallingwater, which received a UNESCO World Heritage site designation in 2019.

It’s one of just two Pennsylvania sites on the list — the other being Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

The conservancy is now at the midway point of its three-year project, Gunther said, which includes pumping liquid grout into the home’s leaky walls, replacing roofing assemblies on the home’s flat roofs, addressing deteriorated reinforced concrete, and conserving the window and doorframe steel — the latter of which requires special care given the humidity from the waterfall.

“Water is always the main natural force that you’re trying to combat with a house,” Gunther said.

The project is due to finish up by the end of winter 2026. All of this time and work, of course, comes at a steep cost.

“Like with any construction project, they always cost more than you anticipate,” Gunther said.

Original estimates for the project in 2019 have more than doubled, thanks in large part to pandemic-era supply shortages and subsequent inflation. 

A state grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is covering a large chunk of the big-dollar restoration, and the remaining funds are being raised through private foundations and individuals, Gunther said.

Another $1 million will be required to complete the fundraising.

The site received 143,000 visitors in 2024, according to the Journal.

“Frank Lloyd Wright said that Fallingwater was designed to the music of the stream,” Gunther said. “He meant it to be this kind of sculptural expression of the stream itself, of rushing water. It’s this sculptural expression of nature’s forms and principles. Because of that direct inspiration from nature, no matter who you are, when you come to see Fallingwater, you find some connection to it.”

The recent attention Fallingwater has received, however, is due to the scaffolding that has encased the 9,300-square-foot home since December. Gunther said the scaffolding should come down by the beginning of April for the regular tour season. That means that early bird visitors have a special opportunity.

“Preservation-in-Action” tours planned for the start of Fallingwater’s tour season next month will take visitors on a deep dive into the complexities of the preservation projects, Gunther said. 

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Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin has expanded his high-end real estate empire with the $45 million purchase of a duplex at 740 Park Ave., Manhattan’s most prestigious co-op building. 

The deal, according to sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal, marks the latest addition to Griffin’s portfolio of ultra-luxury properties. 

The seller was Julia Koch, widow of the late billionaire industrialist David Koch, The Post previously reported. 

The Kochs purchased the five-bedroom unit for approximately $17 million in 2004. 

Following David Koch’s death in 2019, Julia, who has been spending more time in Southampton and Palm Beach, listed the property in early 2022 for more than $60 million before formally reducing the price to $48 million last year. 

Griffin, founder of Citadel, already owns a $238 million apartment at 220 Central Park South, a building widely regarded as the city’s top condominium.

His latest acquisition at 740 Park — built in the 1930s by James T. Lee, grandfather of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis — cements his presence in Manhattan’s most exclusive residential enclaves. 

The building has long been home to high-profile figures, including billionaire businessman Ronald Lauder, and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. 

Griffin’s global real estate holdings include a $122 million London mansion near Buckingham Palace; an $84.45 million Hamptons estate previously owned by Calvin Klein; a record-breaking $107 million compound in Miami’s Coconut Grove; and an extensive Palm Beach portfolio where he has invested more than $450 million, which The Post reported is the most expensive house in America valued at over $1 billion.

The 740 Park sale was brokered by Corcoran’s Leighton Candler, Bradley Comisar and Jennifer Reardon.

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HBO’s “The White Lotus” is back, and this season, the award-winning series has traded the beaches of Hawaii and the historic charm of Sicily for the tropical luxury of Thailand. 

But while the show’s characters unravel in their usual web of privilege and dysfunction, the real star of the season is its stunning backdrop — the five-star Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui. 

Perched on the island’s northwestern coast, the hotel is a 40-acre sanctuary set on a former coconut plantation, preserving nearly 900 trees that sway above its hillside villas. 

Known for its traditional Thai architecture and signature monkey statues scattered throughout the property, the resort has been transformed into the latest fictional White Lotus hotel — though its real-life luxury is anything but scripted.  

Following in the footsteps of the previous seasons, which were filmed at Four Seasons properties in Hawaii and Italy, the Koh Samui location delivers cinematic scenery, from infinity pools overlooking the Gulf of Siam to its famed water hammocks that float above the shoreline. 

The resort’s 71 villas — of which 11 are sprawling private residences — serve as the setting for much of the show’s high-stakes drama. 

Among the guests checking in this season is the Ratliff family, played by Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sam Nivola and Sarah Catherine Hook. 

Like their fictional counterparts, much of the cast stayed at the hotel during filming, a dynamic Isaacs described as both idyllic and intense. 

“It’s a kind of crucible, a five-star gilded cage,” he recently told The Guardian. 

“There’s no question that sometimes it is absolutely fabulous, and sometimes it’s ‘Lord of the Flies.’” 

While Four Seasons Koh Samui serves as the main filming location, the show also features other luxury properties across Thailand.

The picturesque Koh Thai Kitchen, located within the Four Seasons, was used for breakfast and lunch scenes, while evening dinners were filmed at Rosewood Phuket’s Ta Khai restaurant. 

The hotel bar, meanwhile, wasn’t filmed at the Four Seasons at all — it was actually shot at the Singing Bird Lounge at the Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort, an open-air venue built among the treetops near Chaweng Beach. 

Another standout location is Anantara Mai Khao Phuket, where scenes featuring Natasha Rothwell’s returning character, Belinda, were filmed.

The spa, known for its bamboo massages and chakra-balancing treatments, plays a key role in the season’s themes of Eastern spirituality and self-discovery.  

With HBO’s confirmation last year that Season 3 would be set in Thailand, tourism officials quickly capitalized on the buzz, working closely with the production to highlight some of the country’s most exclusive resorts. 

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) collaborated with HBO to showcase locations across Koh Samui, Phuket and Bangkok, hoping to replicate the travel boom in Sicily after Season 2. 

This idyllic setting has not only captivated viewers but also sparked a surge in real-world tourism interest.

Since the season premiere on Feb. 16, the resort has experienced a notable uptick in inquiries and bookings.

A spokesperson for Four Seasons Koh Samui noted a significant increase “in terms of availability checks, searches and bookings.”

This phenomenon, dubbed “‘The White Lotus ‘effect,” mirrors trends from previous seasons, where featured locations saw substantial boosts in popularity.

The series’ creator, Mike White, initially considered Japan for this season’s setting but ultimately chose Thailand, drawn by its enchanting locales and favorable production conditions. 

However, experiencing this slice of paradise comes at a premium. 

Stays at the Four Seasons Koh Samui start at approximately $1,363 per night for a one-bedroom villa in May, with four-bedroom residence villas reaching up to $7,866 per night. 

Excursions at the resort include an Angthong National Marine Park Boat ride, different types of cruises around Koh Samui, a Koh Phangan boat ride, snorkeling in Koh Tan, scuba diving, visiting an elephant sanctuary and a Muay Thai introduction lesson.

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Uptown Madison Avenue, lower Fifth Avenue and — surprisingly — a fashionable stretch of Bleecker Street are Manhattan’s hottest retail blocks, according to a revealing new survey of the second half of 2024 by the Real Estate Board of New York.

The report shows renewed leasing energy fueled by fashion stores new to the city, such as Boggi Milano at 527 Madison, which accounted for 20% of major recent deals.

But weakness persists on Midtown Third Avenue and in Times Square and Herald Square.

The city’s retail scene is harder to track than the office market.

Brokerage data isn’t entirely accurate, and often cites vacancy rates lower than the evidence of our eyes. “Rates” can mean little when an availability can refer to 1,000 square feet or 30,000.

But REBNY’s latest survey covering the second half of 2024 dispenses with vacancy rates and instead focuses on meaningful developments in major corridors. It gives us the most revealing snapshot we have.

The report by REBNY research head Keith DeCoster found that “multiple tailwinds” propelled a second-half rally in larger retail deals.

Some were for 80,000 square feet, starting with Ikea on Fifth Avenue, and ending with Burlington on the Sixth Avenue Ladies Mile.

The drivers were a strong jobs market, healthy tourism and “back-to-office momentum,” REBNY found.

The report cautioned that the second-half rally didn’t necessarily imply a sudden boom as many large deals were in negotiations for several quarters.

Despite renewed demand, “asking rent in every corridor except Bleecker Street is at least 10% below its pre-pandemic peak,” according to REBNY.

Among the findings:

• Madison Avenue and Soho remain most in demand. The few availabilities drew multiple offers from investors such as Blackstone, which bought four Soho locations for $200 million.
• Nearly all Madison Avenue storefronts on Madison between 60th and 76th streets are leased, including to Giorgio Armani and Van Cleef & Arpels.
• Seven blocks of Bleecker Street in the West Village, from Seventh Avenue to Hudson Street are nearly fully leased
• Tishman Speyer announced that Rockefeller Center’s retail space is fully leased. A new Eataly Cafe will open this year.
• The opening of SL Green’s One Madison, IBM’s new home, boosted the Flatiron District’s eastern portion. All of the tower’s storefronts are leased, including to Daniel Boulud’s La Tete D’or steakhouse.

• Times Square and Herald Square on the other hand “have struggled to maintain leasing momentum.” Most of the new deals were for fast food restaurants and small, tourist-oriented shops.
• Brooks Brothers’ 10,000 square-foot lease at landmarked 195 Broadway is one of FiDi’s largest apparel commitments in years but it remains to be seen if others will follow.

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A scorched plot of land in LA’s fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades neighborhood has sold for $1.18 million— nearly $200,000 over asking —despite being reduced to ashes by a devastating wildfire just weeks ago. 

The sale will likely be the first of many, with at least a dozen charred properties currently on the market — some with price tags soaring up to nearly $4 million.

The unloaded lot, once home to a four-bedroom house destroyed in January’s Palisades Fire, was originally listed for $999,000.

But as interest flooded in, the price climbed, with a buyer snapping it up in just 34 days, according to Realtor.com. 

Realtor Richard Schulman, who represented the seller, confirmed to Realtor.com that the deal was sealed by a “local investor.” 

The original homeowner wasted no time listing the property after her home burned to the ground. 

“For her, it’s an easy decision, and this made the most sense for her,” Schulman told Realtor.com, adding, “She was absolutely clear she was not going to rebuild. She’s staying nearby.” 

Of the other burned-out plots, seven are listed above $2 million, with the highest currently asking $3.95 million.

One seller is pitching their 0.4 acre lot, listed at $3.25 million, as an opportunity to “be part of the rebuild.”

Meanwhile, only one listing — priced at $749,000 — has dipped below the million-dollar mark. 

A similar exodus is unfolding in Altadena, another fire-ravaged area, where residents are dumping their properties rather than enduring the years-long headache of rebuilding. 

Local real estate agent Brock Harris has seen it firsthand. 

“At least one-third to half of the owners in Altadena are unwilling or unable to rebuild a house,” he revealed to the outlet.

Many, he said, are opting to cash out and move on, leaving the construction to developers who can get new homes up much faster. 

“We’ve spoken to people with very small children,” Harris explained. “We spoke to people who are senior citizens. These are not people who are able to rebuild a home, or able to rent in the three to five years it takes to build a new home, so they’re mostly happy to leave it to someone else and to take the money and move on.” 

But the mass sell-off is sparking debate over what these communities will look like in the future. 

Celebrity real estate agent Josh Altman predicted up to 70% of Pacific Palisades residents before the fires will never return. His argument: The financial and emotional toll — coupled with the challenge of securing insurance in fire-prone areas — will be too much for most. 

Real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran is far more bullish, however, saying that “100% [of Palisades residents] are coming back.” 

The numbers paint a grim picture. The Palisades and Eaton fires, on opposite sides of Los Angeles, torched over 37,000 acres, killing 29 people and obliterating more than 16,240 homes and businesses. 

A UCLA Anderson Forecast estimates total losses between $95 billion and $164 billion, with insured damages possibly hitting a staggering $75 billion.

But the report’s authors warn that insurance won’t cover everything, and many homeowners may be left on the hook for costs far beyond their coverage. 

To help homeowners facing financial ruin, Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing a $125 million mortgage relief package. 

“As survivors heal from the trauma of recent disasters, the threat of foreclosure should be the last thing on their minds,” Newsom said, announcing that $100 million will go directly to homeowners at risk of losing their properties, while another $25 million will support FEMA disaster assistance programs. 

The post Pacific Palisades plots ravaged by LA fires hit the market — for up to $3.95M appeared first on World RealEstate.

An off-grid upstate New York sanctuary built over two decades by the installation artist Matt Bua was put on the market this month, Gothamist and Artnet reported.

For just $269,000, buyers can obtain nearly 27 acres of woodlands dressed with more than 30 DIY structures made of upcycled scrap materials. Located in a hollow near the town of Catskill, the sculpture park is an amalgamation of creations made by Bua and friends. 

The repurposed city consists of bizarre, fairy-tale-like structures, including a tower lined with LP shingles, a bear made out of weaved barbed wire, a tudor-style church and a bunker made out of dirt-filled bags. 

Bua told The Post in 2023 that he found the plot of land in a Pennysaver in 2006 while he was living in Brooklyn. He bought the lot for just $33,000. He tacked on an adjacent parcel later on. Bua dubbed the project “b-home Studio.”

Now, it all stands to be in new hands.

Both parcels were listed for sale this month by real estate agents Ioanis “John” Iconomou and Angela Lanuto at Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty. 

“Not only are you getting two parcels of land, but you’re also getting what this artist did over an accumulation of over 20 years,” Lanuto said. “20 years of creating this magical living structure.”

Lanuto called it “a little village under the trees,” that includes replicas of a church and a library, all using recycled materials. The property also offers breathtaking views of Vedder Mountain.

Lanuto said she’s already received interest from potential buyers — local curators, downstate buyers and west coast artists have all reached out about the property. 

“They’ve been following Matt’s work, and they are interested in being a part of what he’s done and taking over the stewardship of it,” Lanuto said. 

As of now, however, the land is not permitted for full-time habitation.

“If somebody wanted to live in those buildings, they would then have to go to the town of Catskill and get the proper permits and do that,” Lanuto said.

His time on the land inspired Bua to research the pre-colonial histories of the Northeast’s famed stone walls, which culminated in his 2015 book, “Talking Walls: Casting out the Post-Contact Stone-Wall Building Myth.”

“I guess I can’t be attached to really what they’re going to do to it, right?” Bua said, speaking to The Post about the sale. “Because that’s always the process. Somebody takes it over and then edits and selects and improves. So I’m excited just about the transference of energy.”

Although Bua did spend some time living off-grid on the property, he now lives full-time with his family in the nearby hamlet of Palenville on a 2-acre farm. Bua told The Post that he’s deep into researching Rip Van Winkle and Washington Irving now, and he recently begun a “mobile time traveling Rip Van Winkle museum.”

“I think for him, it’s just time,” Lanuto said. “I think the stars aligned, and the energy was right, and he meditated on it and was like, ‘You know what, I feel it’s ready to go to that next level with somebody else.’”

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A Louisiana woman is fighting to reclaim the title to a property that’s been in her family for centuries.

The victim, DaNita Batiste, is battling to reestablish a clear title on the property, months after fraudsters impersonated her using a phony ID and sold the land for cash to unsuspecting investors.

It’s a form of real estate fraud that is becoming increasingly common, and investigators believe this case in Louisiana could be linked to an international crime ring.

Batiste, a health care administrator in her 50s who lives in Texas, inherited the residential lot in Lake Charles, LA, from her mother in 2020 shortly before she died. 

“That land’s been in our family for generation after generation, 200 years and maybe further back,” Batiste, who is of French Creole descent, tells Realtor.com®.

The house on the property was destroyed in Hurricane Laura, and she planned to rebuild a home there and find rental tenants as a future source of side income.

Until then, Batiste had little involvement with the lot, aside from hiring someone to cut the grass twice a month and paying the property taxes each year. But despite receiving offers, she vowed never to sell, viewing the property as an inheritance to be passed down to her own children someday.

So, when she went online to pay taxes on the lot in December, she was shocked to learn that the property had been sold for $45,000 cash the prior month and had a new corporate owner, Louisiana-based Live Oak Insurance Co.

Stunned, Batiste called Live Oak CEO Andrew David Hankins, who had signed the deed for the property transfer, and learned that he had no idea that the person who sold him the lot was not the real Batiste.  

“I’m the real DaNita Batiste,” she recalls telling Hankins. “And he goes, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘I own that property. I did not sell it to you. I don’t know who did, but I didn’t.’”

Batiste and Hankins reported the matter to the police. An official with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed the case was under investigation but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.

Fortunately, due to Batiste quickly flagging the fraud, the $45,000 that Live Oak paid for the parcel was quickly frozen and the charges reversed, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Yet the title for the property has yet to be returned to Batsite’s name, despite her repeated appeals for assistance to the Lake Charles law firm that filed a deed recording the fraudulent sale. The firm, Stutes & Lavergne, did not respond to an email seeking comment from Realtor.com. 

Hankins also did not respond to a phone message seeking an interview, which was left with a receptionist at the Lake Charles funeral home where he is also a funeral director and CEO.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of any of the parties in the fraudulent sale, aside from the as-yet unidentified criminals who impersonated Batiste.

Still, Batiste is frustrated that her forged signature, which was accompanied by a stolen Texas notary stamp and two bogus witness signatures, passed the vetting process that is supposed to weed out fraud in real estate transactions.

Making the case particularly outrageous, the fraudsters didn’t even sign the deed using her correct name. Instead, they signed it “Danita Leday,” the maiden name she has not used for decades.

Batiste hopes that sharing her story will alert others to the identity theft scam and raise awareness for both property owners and real estate professionals.

“What if I was in the process of building a house on that land?” she says. “I would be all held up, because I no longer appear to own it.”

Investigators suspect Louisiana case is tied to international scammer ring

A person familiar with the investigation told Realtor.com that the fraudulent sale of Batiste’s land fits a pattern of scams occurring nationwide, and might have ties to an international crime ring.

The proceeds from the phony sale in Lake Charles were traced to a bank account tied to an address in the Bronx, NY.

That account had been opened with a passport issued by the African nation of Sierra Leone, although investigators believe the passport was forged under a false identity.

The bank account in question has been frozen, and investigators are attempting to determine whether it was used in other similar real estate scams that have occurred across the country.

“It’s going nationwide,” the source tells Realtor.com. “I think they gain access to the online clerk of courts, and they’re looking for individuals who own property but don’t live at the property, or who are not in the same city.”

As an out-of-state owner of a vacant property with no outstanding mortgage, Batiste unfortunately fit the profile favored by the scam ring.

How homeowners can protect against similar scams

Marx David Sterbcow, a real estate fraud attorney and managing partner of New Orleans law firm Sterbcow Law Group, tells Realtor.com that he has seen similar fraud cases proliferate in recent years.

“It’s an industry problem, and there needs to be something done to help manage that,” he says. “When we started shifting to remote closings and digital signatures, that absolutely put this on a rocket course for problems, for people across the United States.”

Sterbcow says the No. 1 thing property owners can do to protect themselves from fraudulent sales is to buy a homeowner’s policy of title insurance, which covers legal fees to defend the title.

Property owners at high risk of being targeted, including the elderly and owners who live in a different state, might also consider a commercial “title lock” product, which can help alert the property owner if someone tries to make unauthorized changes to the property’s title.

Many counties also offer free title monitoring, and homeowners can sign up for automatic alerts from the county clerk if there is any update to the records on their property.

Sterbcow notes that, in many cases, title fraud or fraudulent deeds can go undetected by an absentee homeowner for years, making the problem even more difficult to correct.

“She’s very, very fortunate that she found this so quickly,” he says of Batiste’s case. “I’ve seen a lot of people over the years that have gotten absolutely, positively destroyed by some of these scams, including some that are very sophisticated.”

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Lori Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli have re-listed their Los Angeles mansion for $16.5 million, a million less than the home’s asking price when it first hit the market last year.

The 60-year-old actress and the 61-year-old fashion designer bought the contemporary farmhouse-style house for $9.5 million in August 2020, the same month when both received prison sentences for their roles in the infamous Varsity Blues college admissions scandal.

The 11,808-square-foot property, which sits on 1.57 acres, is tucked away in the ritzy Ashley Hills neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley’s exclusive gated Hidden Hills community.

Hidden Hills is home to a number of celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Lil Wayne and Kevin Durant. Past residents include Madonna, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Antony and Miley Cyrus, among others.

The listing is held by Tomer Fridman of Christie’s International Real Estate and Marc Shevin of Douglas Elliman.

The house was originally built in 2018, but it underwent renovations during Loughlin and Giannulli’s time living there. The two-story home boasts six bedrooms and nine bathrooms. 

The residence is entered through a set of black-painted double French doors that open to a spacious foyer. The neutral-toned interior of the house features an open-concept design with high ceilings and maple wood floors.

The living room offers a striking gray marble fireplace that extends to the ceiling, which includes a number of skylights.

Another highlight is the chef’s kitchen, which includes custom white oak cabinets, marble countertops and high-end appliances, per the listing.

The primary suite boasts a fireplace, dual bathrooms and views of the nearby Santa Monica Mountains. Other amenities include a movie theater, a home gym and a climate-controlled wine cellar. Sliding doors throughout the home’s first level open to manicured grounds with olive trees, a swimming pool, spa, fire pit, bocce ball court, barbecue and several seating areas.

Loughlin and Giannulli first listed the house in April 2024 but took it off the market last October. Fridman told Mansion Global, “The sellers were uncertain that they wanted to make the move. They are now committed to their next chapter.”

In 2019, the Federal Bureau of Investigations charged Loughlin and Giannulli along with 51 other individuals with paying scam mastermind William Rick Singer to have their children admitted to prestigious colleges through inflated entrance test scores, bribes and other fraudulent claims.

Loughlin and Giannulli initially pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from $500,000 payments to scam-mastermind Singer with the goal of getting their daughters, Isabella and Olivia Jade, recruited onto University of Southern California’s crew team though the two had never participated in the sport.

In May 2020, the couple agreed to plead guilty, like a fellow celebrity in the scandal, Felicity Huffman. The “Desperate Housewives” actress served 11 days of a planned two-week sentence for similar crimes.

“The Full House” alum and the Mossimo founder were both sentenced on Aug. 21, 2020. Loughlin served two months in prison and paid a $150,000 fine, while Giannulli was sentenced to five months in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Both were placed on supervisory release for two years. Loughlin was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and Giannulli was sentenced to complete 250 hours of community service.

Loughlin is currently starring as a police officer in the Amazon Prime show “On Call,” which marks her first major acting role since the scandal.

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