A Beverly Hills mansion that nobody wants, a push to end property taxes in Georgia, and Indiana goes Bears hunting. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of Jan. 26-30.
Miss: A Bigger Flop Than “Gigli”: The former Hollywood power couple Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck weren’t lucky in love and they still aren’t lucky in real estate. They acquired a 38,000-square-foot Beverly Hills estate in May 2023 for $60.8 million and initially tried to sell the property in an off-market deal when they separated in April 2024. But they found no takers. They listed the property in July 2024 for $68 million but cut the price 10 months later to $59.5 million before removing the listing last July. The property was relisted for $52 million in September but still could not find any buyers. The listing was officially removed on Jan. 26. How long do you think it will be before the property is back on the market with yet another discounted listing price?
Hit or Miss: A Peach of a Tax Revolt. This week, Republicans in Georgia’s House of Representatives introduced a proposal that would eliminate homestead property taxes by 2032. House Speaker Jon Burns, who is leading this initiative, claimed eliminating those taxes are key to “making life more affordable for our neighbors across this entire state of Georgia, starting where it matters most — at home.” However, the Association County Commissioners of Georgia estimated counties and localities would need to make up more than $2 billion in revenue from lost tax revenue and school districts would need to bring in more than $3 billion. Backers of this proposal said counties and localities will be able to fiddle with their sales taxes to make up for the revenue disruption. This could be a Hit or a Miss – do you think Burns has the right idea, or is he burning a hole in Georgia’s economy?
Hit or Miss: Indiana Wants the Bears. The campaign to bring the Chicago Bears to Northwest Indiana picked up more momentum in the Hoosier State’s legislature. This week, Indiana’s Senate passed a bill that creates the Northwest Indiana Stadium Authority. The new agency will be responsibility of acquiring land and financing the construction of a domed stadium, potentially for the Bears as they seek to move out of their longtime home at Soldier Field. The bill authorizes the new stadium authority to negotiate terms of a 35-year lease with a professional sports team and issue 40-year bonds that will be used to finance the construction of a new stadium. Whether this is a Hit or a Miss can be debated, but we think that Jim Tinaglia, mayor of Arlington Heights (where the Bears’ plans for a stadium are stalled in negotiations with Illinois lawmakers) said it best: “I don’t think I’d want to be the Governor of Illinois when and if the Bears were to decide to leave the state altogether.”
Miss: A “D” in History. Reality television fans are aware of Ryan Serhant’s skills as a broker, but in a Fortune interview he showed himself to be lacking as a historian of his profession. Serhant claimed the phrase “American Dream” in relation to homeownership was “a slogan created by banks to create interest income on home loans.” He then added, “It’s like student debt. Everyone needs to go to college. It was a device to create interest payments on student debt.” Actually, the phrase “American Dream” was popularized by James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book “Epic of America” as an aspiration for a beleaguered nation eager to move beyond the anxiety of the Great Depression and achieve the safety and security of their own home. Hey, when you consider how well Serhant has done in helping people achieve their American Dream, we can let this historical boo-boo slide.
Hit: Just Don’t Leave the Seat Up. There seems to be a data report for every imaginable corner of the real estate world, as confirmed this week by the folks at ResearchAndMarkets.com with their “Smart Toilet Market Report 2026.” Believe it or not, the global smart toilet market is poised for noteworthy expansion, with projections indicating growth from $9.75 billion in 2025 to $10.76 billion in 2026, at a compound annual growth rate of 10.4%. And how smart are these smart toilets? According to the report: “Leading factors include the proliferation of IoT-enabled toilets, eco-friendly innovations, and advancements in AI-driven hygiene monitoring.” Wellness monitoring is also part of this sector, with technologies that offer real-time electrolyte detection. Obviously, these ain’t your grandfather’s toilets!
Miss: The Wrong Wright Stuff. Trying to sell a home that you don’t own is not an uncommon crime, but there is a certain degree of stupid that goes into fraudulently selling a famous residence. Case in point: the fraudster who was caught fraudulently selling Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home on Zillow. And not just any home, but the Walser House in Chicago that has been the center of attention due to its falling into foreclosure after years of being in an advanced state of dilapidation. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, which maintains the legacy of the iconic architect, called out a fake Zillow listing that claimed the Walser House was “for sale by owner” with an asking price of $350,000. “The house is owned by Fannie Mae, which is not currently offering it for sale,” said the Conservancy in a social media post. The character behind this easily discovered scam has yet to be publicly identified, but we’re interested in learning the name so we can ensure his candidacy for the dumbest real estate fraudster of the year.
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
Photo courtesy of Debbie Maiellaro-Stine / Facebook
