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.

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.

When Bob Costas bought his condo at 15 Central Park West, speculation abounded about whether or not he’d sell his 61st-floor Time Warner Center condo. Well, we can wonder no more, as the NY Observer reports that Costas and his wife have indeed sold the 1,819-square-foot Time Warner condo for $8.5 million.

They bought the unit in 2005 for a mere $4.95 million (or just over $5 million, depending on the source). Now that’s a nice return on their investment, wouldn’t you say, darlings?

This sale makes way for the Costas family to move on over to Central Park West, where he purchased a unit for approximately $11 million. And they’ll have a lot more space in their 3,444-square-foot abode.

Image: p_a_h (cc)

Acclaimed actors Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard are selling their former home in Stillwater, Minnesota. The 1892 Victorian home sits on 2.5 acres, and is listed at $1,950,000.

Lange and Shepard bought the home in 1994 for $415,000, according to Minnesota’s Star Tribune. It used to be a bed and breakfast, and the couple has made major renovations to the home. It has four bedrooms, three full baths, one 3/4 and one 1/2 bath according to listing information.

It seems that people from the area are a little up-in-arms over Lange’s thoughts on little Stillwater. She was quoted as saying that the town has too many gift shops and condominiums, that it used to have a great deal of character but had been yuppified. Comments on the Star Tribune article show some local frustration over her comments.

Surprisingly, some commenters actually agreed that Stillwater has lost some of its charm. We don’t think that will help them sell the home in that neighborhood, though.

Once you take a look at the house, it certainly does have some charm of its own. It’s over 2 stories and you can certainly tell the rooms that have been added on at one point or another. Just look for the banks of windows on the side. That said, those rooms with all of the windows? Lots of light and outstanding views. We wonder if they’re hard to heat in those nasty Minnesota winters?

It looks like the house has mostly hardwood floors throughout. Not a huge fan of the decorations, especially the beige sunroom with beige furniture. Having lived in apartments for way too many years, we’re just a little bit sick of white and beige.

The pool and pool house look quite nice - good for summer days. The property has a ton of trees and a pond, which makes for some nice views. And privacy.

We mostly like the kitchen. It has a fairly light floor and what looks to be white-ish cabinets. It’s a little bit too country-style for our taste, but we do like the butcher-block island and ample storage. Oh, and the stainless steel appliances and sinks, too.

Lange and Shepard now live in Manhattan, but still have property in Minnesota, near where Lange was born.