Well, dearest ones, I’m suffering this week from being away from my lovely high-speed internet connection. (It’s amazing how spoiled we get, taking things for granted, like not needing dialup.) But, we’re working on bringing you some tasty news on Britney Spears. That will be up tomorrow, and pictures on Saturday (when I can manage to swipe my brother’s DSL for a bit).

So in the meantime, join us over at the Luxury Property forums, and join the discussions about all things luxury. Don’t forget to check out the celebrity section!

PS) We’re hoping that Big Time Listings is able to recover their database and be back to posting soon. Sorry to hear about the problems, Scott, and we are anxious to see you back up and running!

Ann Brenoff has posted on the LA Times blog that the Donald Trump-Ed McMahon deal may not go through, as The Donald now has competition to buy the place.

The listing agent reports that an anonymous second buyer has shown up. Interesting. We thought the listing agent went to New York to ask Trump to please help out McMahon. And now there’s a mysterious buyer.

Are they hoping for a bidding war, perhaps? The Wall Street Journal was reporting that McMahon owes various creditors, not just the mortgage company, several million dollars. So while a sale may help him avoid foreclosure, it won’t help him pay off the other bills he has.

So we wonder, is this situation something cooked up by the listing agent to get a higher price out of the house? Or is this second buyer really legit? We’ll keep watching for updates.

Tomorrow morning we’ll have a beautiful Canadian home to show you, instead of all of this McMahon news. Promise.

Well what do you know? It looks like Donald Trump has stepped up to rescue Ed McMahon from foreclosure. And none too soon, it appears.

We saw in the LA Times today that Trump has agreed to buy the McMahon home, and he’ll allow McMahon and his wife to continue to live there. As we mentioned just a couple of days ago, McMahon had slashed his home’s asking price in hopes of avoiding imminent foreclosure.

And it appears he just may have dodged that bullet.

Trump said he didn’t really know McMahon, but grew up watching him on TV. He plans to buy the home and then lease it back to McMahon. Um, that’s great, Donald. Really nice of you. But if McMahon hasn’t been able to work for the last 18 months due to a neck injury, and is over $644,000 in arrears on his mortgage, how in the world is he going to lease his beloved home from you?

Just saying.

The actual details, including purchase price, are still being worked out. According to the Times, McMahon’s listing agent actually flew to New York to personally appeal to Trump. We guess it worked.

We’re actually quite relieved that this situation looks to be resolved in a favorable manner. I grew up watching McMahon on the Tonight Show, and later I even watched him on Star Search (shut up). And who wants to see an 85-year-old man and his wife booted into the streets?

McMahon’s 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom house has been on the market for almost two years. They kept dropping the price gradually, hoping to attract a buyer.

Ed McMahon is still desperately trying to sell his Beverly Hills home. In fact, he just recently dropped his asking price by $1,900,000. That’s a big reduction by anyone’s standards.

As we previously mentioned, McMahon is trying to avoid foreclosure by Countrywide. In June, it was reported that McMahon was $644,000 in arrears. And since it appears he still hasn’t been able to work, that number can only be growing.

The current asking price for the home is $4,600,000 according to the listing. The home, which has been on the market for two years, started out at $7,700,000. He gradually reduced the price to $5,700,000. Inexplicably, the price went back up earlier this year before the most recent decrease, according to Dr. Housing Bubble.

We wonder how much longer McMahon can avoid foreclosure. With real estate values dropping everywhere, it’s entirely possible that with two mortgages he is upside down on his property value.

Dylan McDermott has put his Brentwood home on the market for $11 million. What is it with some of the hottest actors getting divorces and selling their homes? There have been several, including Kiefer Sutherland. We remember McDermott all the way back in Steel Magnolias (which starred Julia Roberts, who was once engaged to Kiefer), and have enjoyed gazing on his dreamy likeness any chance we get, especially during the 7-year run of “The Practice“.

The Spanish-style house (listed as Hacienda, but reminding us more of the old Spanish missions than the Spanish homes) has 5 bedrooms and 3 baths and sits on about 30,000-square-feet (or just under 3/4 of an acre) of beautiful park-like grounds.

Mr. Big Time got the scoop on this deal, and he reports that McDermott bought the home through a trust for just over $3.9 million in 1999 — from Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, no less. The listing boasts a courtyard and fountain, a pool and spa area overlooking the hills, and a 2nd-story ‘muse’ room.

The living room has vaulted, 2-story ceilings with a carved balcony overlooking. We just love the exposed beams against the textured walls — even if the walls are white. It works here with the dark wood beams and floors. The room would be too dark otherwise. There are lots of doors and windows down the hallway that appear to open up into the courtyard.

There’s lots of wood and tile and area rugs. No carpet in sight. Our tendency toward allergies would be quite happy not to have any carpet. Rugs can be taken out and cleaned, thankyouverymuch.

The formal living room is quite nice, although we’re not too big on the two gold-toned chairs in there. The fireplace almost makes up for them. And then there are the bedrooms. The setups aren’t too bad if you ignore the decor and concentrate on the basic room design. There’s something about the nursery that just bugs us a little, although we haven’t put our finger on it yet. And the little girl’s room is well, quite pink. But that’s nothing a bit of paint can’t cure and the shelving all the way around the perimeter is great for stuffed animals, books, or knick-knacks (but not so great for earthquakes).

The kitchen is actually larger than we expected. The pale green cabinets really aren’t that bad. We’d like a slightly longer island in the middle, but can’t tell if that would cramp the space based on the pictures we saw. Not sure we like the apron sink, but that’s just us.

Overall, we really, really like this house. Yes, there may be a few decorating hiccups, but we absolutely adore the Spanish/ hacienda/ mission look. Especially when done this well.

Cher no longer wants to be Malibu Barbie. She’s putting her (approximately) 14,000-square-foot mansion (Mr. Big Time lists it as just over 13,000 sq. ft., as does Real Estalker) up for sale. To the tune of $45,000,000. That’s just crazy talk! But, it’s true, and listed with Hilton & Hyland.

The Wall Street Journal wrote about the listing today. And this evening, we found the listing on the MLS. Unfortunately, there’s only one picture right now. We’re hoping for more at a later time (we’ll see).

You don’t often find 1.7 acre estates in Malibu. That alone probably makes this property worth quite a bit. But $45 million? She must be very hopeful during the current real estate market.

The monstrous home has 6 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, a theatre, gym, and several verandas — according to listing information. Apparently even the tennis court has quite a view. The property also has an infinity pool and a guest house.

We really wish there was a more detailed description of the property available so we could tell you more. We’ll keep researching and let you know if we come up with a bit more about this estate.

Update: For more info about the home, including some great pictures, see the Architectural Digest write-up on Cher’s home. Hat tip to reader Mike for the link. Thanks, Mike!

While we were reviewing Bob Costas’ recent sale, we also saw the Observer report that Natalie Portman is selling her West Village apartment for $6.65 million. (Mr. Big Time mentions it, too.)

The floor plan of Portman’s 2 (or 3) bedroom, 3 bath abode shows a balcony off of the great room, a dining room that can double as another bedroom, and two walk-in closets in the master bedroom. Looking at the pictures you’ll see a ton of windows, giving spectacular city views. The entire place looks bright and airy. We just love the dark wood floors. The kitchen could be a little bigger, but it opens up into the 28′ x 22′ great room, giving the appearance of much more space than a mere 9′ x 12′ (approx.).

The building features 24-hour concierge, a fitness center, professional screening room, and a 50′ infinity-edge lap pool, according to listing information. The all-glass residence was designed by Richard Meier.

Portman is probably best known for playing Queen Amidala in the “new” Star Wars episodes (yes, they will always be the new Star Wars to us). But her best role is still as Mathilda in The Professional. Amazing performance. She did quite well in V is for Vendetta also.