It looks like Bernie Madoff’s penthouse apartment in Manhattan’s Upper East Side has gone into contract for an undisclosed price, according to Curbed (via the Wall Street Journal). While the apartment at 133 E 64th St, New York, NY, 10065 still shows a $8.9 million price tag, it was originally listed at $9.9 million last fall.

Of Madoff’s three real estate holdings that were seized by U.S. Marshalls for resale with proceeds going to victims of Madoff’s spectacular Ponzi scheme,  Madoff’s Montauk beach house sold first for $9.4 million. Now that the Manhattan penthouse appears to be locked up by an unknown buyer, the only Madoff property left is the Palm Beach home for $7,250,000, which appears to have been reduced twice now — from $8.5 million to $7.9 million and now to $7.25 million.

> See Upper East Side homes for sale

> See Upper East Side home values

Four years ago today, Zillow.com was born as a beta site. When we launched, we had 75 employees who spent many previous months building a living, breathing database that launched 40 million Zestimate® home values.

It was a revolutionary moment that kind of turned real estate on its head. A value on your home online for all to see?  While we fully state that a Zestimate is just a starting point, it was a big move to make real estate data available about all homes — yours and your neighbors’ — open and online for everyone to see. People were eager to get their hands on it and we were happy to provide it.

But, that was just the beginning.  Zillow now offers a wide variety of real estate products:

• Search millions of homes for sale, homes for rent and Make Me Move® homes
• Post a home for sale or post a home for rent
• Shop anonymously online for a customized mortgage quote using Zillow’s revolutionary borrower-focused Zillow Mortgage Marketplace
• Ask questions and share answers on any real estate topic through Zillow Advice
• Find real estate info and data on-the-go through the #1 real estate app for the iPhone — Zillow iPhone App
• Browse home improvement ideas with Dueling Digs
• Find a local agent, lender or real estate professional using the Zillow Directory
• Search local data for hundreds of cities and thousands of neighborhoods

And no birthday post is complete without some cool stats that don’t make our usual lineup of Zillow stats.

Zillow by the Numbers:

96,013,458 - Number of U.S. homes with data on Zillow today

70,176,310 — Number of individual homes viewed at least once on Zillow since launch (that’s 75% of all homes in the country — wow!)

21,117,128 — Number of homes on Zillow viewed through the Zillow iPhone App (from April 28, 2009 through Feb. 6, 2010).

17,860,700 — Homes on Zillow with edited home facts, by owners or agents

11,527,882 — Custom loan quotes since Zillow Mortgage Marketplace launched

3,969,424 – Total homes for sale today (including Make Me Move homes)

1,333,758 – Agents with a profile on Zillow

923,935 — Number of Zillow iPhone App downloads.

681,572 — Consumer loan requests since Zillow Mortgage Marketplace launched (April, 2008)

30 — Zillow babies born to current employees, spouses or former employees (…and 11 more are coming!)

4.034 –- Number of terabytes it takes to process Zillow’s 70+ million Zestimates and Zillow Home Value Indices, which are updated every single night!

1 — Number of times CEO Rich Barton talked to someone in space from work.

A Big Thanks to YOU

Lastly, we couldn’t have gotten to where we are without you — homeowners, home buyers, home sellers, property managers, renters, real estate agents, brokers, lenders, borrowers, appraisers, stagers, and many other real estate professionals who use Zillow. Without you, we wouldn’t have the 8+ million unique users we attract a month. So, a big thanks to you for using Zillow for your real estate needs. THANK YOU!

JERSEY SHORE HOUSE FOR RENT! For all you Guido and Guidette wannabes who want to gym/tan/laundry in the actual space where the “Jersey Shore” cast of characters hung out, you can because the Jersey Shore house is for rent! The rental prices are for single nights only and they have a definite spike for seasonality. For example, the house is renting for $3,500/per night until May 1, then it jumps to $6,500 per night from May 1-July 15. See more photos of Jersey Shore house. (Yes, Zillow offers rentals!)

Original post:

In case you’re caught up in the tan-sanity of MTV’s latest reality series “Jersey Shore,” you’re probably wondering what’s “The Situation” on the Jersey Shore house where Snooki, Pauly, Vinny and the rest of the crew spend their days and late, late nights. The brown-shingled party house is located at 1209 Ocean Terrace, Seaside Heights, NJ 08751 and it’s just behind a row of shops on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, NJ - including the T-shirt shop where they all work (click on the photo above and drag to the left to see the boardwalk).

The show airs Thursday nights on MTV and has commanded its share of headlines due to a cast with strong personalities who like to ”gym/tan/laundry,” get into fights and call themselves “Guidos” and “Guidettes.” Ironically, while the house is located on the Jersey shore and the show is about the happenings at the Jersey shore, only one cast member — Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola of Hazlet, NJ — is actually from the Garden State.

Many Italian-American organizations and MTV advertisers have taken exception to their behavior and self-described monikers and call the group offensive and exploitative of a stereotype.

“I don’t see any redeeming value in the show,” DiMino told the NY Times. “They are an embarrassment to themselves and to their families.” — Andre DiMino, president of the largest Italian-American service organization in the U.S.

Philadelphia blog Phillyist says this is not the real Jersey shore – or at least the part of the Jersey shore that Philadelphians would dare venture into.

Meanwhile, the show is rocketing up the ratings scale for MTV, last Thursday capturing the No. 1 slot on cable for the 12-34-year-old demographic. (Twelve-year-olds are watching this?)

Want to see your share of tans, muscles and plenty of hormone-fueled drama?  Tune into Jersey Shore on Thursday at 10 p.m. on MTV.  We won’t tell…

(Photo courtesy NY Daily News)

> See Seaside Heights, NJ real estate

> See Seaside Heights, NJ home values

It’s that time of year again - Super Bowl XLIV is this Sunday - and while Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts are favored over Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, we thought we’d take a look at how the two cities stack up on the real estate front.

The two teams will be squaring off at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, FL. If you are in Miami for the big game, or just love real estate hunting, check out homes for sale in Miami.

Now onto the real estate showdown:

Looks like Indianapolis has the upper hand with a higher median income and more modest housing prices.  The oddsmakers agree, installing the Colts as a 5-point favorite.

Who will you be rooting for this Sunday?

> See Indianapolis homes for sale
> See New Orleans homes for sale

Pennsylvania, the Keystone state, usually has among the lowest mortgage rates in the county, week in and week out.  As we looked at Pennsylvania as the subject of our weekly roundup of mortgage rates, we were impressed by its relative affordability — Pennsylvania has a Zillow Home Value Index of $152,300 compared to the U.S. Zillow Home Value Index of $190,000. Let’s take a look at some of the homes in the 6th-most populated state in the U.S.

(Note: These monthly mortgage payment figures are based on a 30-year fixed loan, using the current Pennsylvania mortgage rate, with a 20% down payment. Estimated taxes and insurance are not included. Also, this post was written late yesterday, so rates may have changed).

Monthly mortgage of $500-$1,000/month:

Imagine a monthly mortgage payment that resembles a low monthly rent — and this one is in Pittsburgh, PA and it even has a garden! This house, located at 2064 Hampstead Dr, Pittsburgh, PA 15235, could be the perfect fit.

> See more Pittsburgh, PA real estate
> See more Pittsburgh, PA home values

If you are into stone houses, this little place in Butler, PA is a great price and it’s on one acre of land.

> See more Butler, PA real estate
> See more Butler, PA home values

Monthly mortgage of $1,000-$2,000/month:

If you like water, this place is for you. This Dover, PA home has a pool, hot tub and pond.

> See more Dover, PA real estate
> See more Dover, PA home values

Great for chilly winters, this 4-bedroom home in Cranberry Twp, PA has both a fireplace and jacuzzi bath tub.

> See more Cranberry Twp, PA real estate
> See more Cranberry Twp, PA home values

Monthly mortgage of $2,000-$3,000/month:

This stately home has vaulted ceilings, large windows and a deck.

> See more Chester Springs real estate
> See Chester Springs home values

This 4-bedroom 2.5-bath home in Merion Station, PA has had extensive updates and remodels.

> See more Merion, PA real estate
> See more Merion, PA home values

American Idol’s Season 3 winner, Fantasia Barrino, is hitting the talk-show circuit to promote her new album and set the record straight on her much-publicized financial drama. The 25-year-old singer owed  $65,000 that she borrowed in 2006 to pay back taxes she owed the IRS and as a result, was at risk of losing her home.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Fantasia spilled all.

“The house problem wasn’t a foreclosure, and it wasn’t that I didn’t have the money. I’m not the richest, but I’ve always been a hard worker … and I thank God I’m still able to make ends meet. It could have been a lot better for me though if I would have had better management and better accountants…They ended up not paying my taxes and I had to clean up all that stuff. I had to hustle and bustle and make sure that was taken care of.”

Fantasia also told Oprah Winfrey that the situation was “very embarrassing” and confirmed that it was an auction on her home, not a foreclosure, that was threatening ownership of Fantasia’s Charlotte, NC home.

An attorney for the Broward Energy Partners lending company said in a statement that the auction was called off because an agreement has been reached between both parties. If the agreement between the two parties had not been reached, the singer’s home would have been sold at auction on Monday, Jan. 12.

Zillow’s Zestimate for the home is $1.16 million and it is located in the Rain Tree neighborhood of Charlotte where the Zillow Home Value Index is $263,300, down 8.8% from the previous year. In Rain Tree, 0.09% of all homes were foreclosed upon in November 2009.

Barrino is looking to reclaim her superstar status with a new VH1 reality series “Fantasia For Real“.

See other celebrity foreclosures.

In December, we reported that actor/comedian Sinbad was in trouble with the IRS, owing $2.1 million to the state of California, as well as another $8.5 million in delinquent federal taxes and the U.S. Attorney General’s office wanted his house sold to pay the debt, according to The Detroit News.

Well, it looks like it’s happened: Sinbad’s home at 5950 Spring Valley Rd, Hidden Hills, CA 91302 is now for sale for $3 million. See more photos of Sinbad’s home.

> See more homes for sale in Hidden Hills

> See home values in Hidden Hills

Before you pick up that paint brush and slather on yet another variation of sage green in your home, did you hear that Pantone has chosen the color of 2010?

If you want to be hip and happening, go with “Turquoise — 15-5519 TCX.” That’s the color to the left.

Pantone suggests that Turquoise 15-5519 could be “…Perfect for a powder room or bedroom, Turquoise is an evocative, spa-like hue that adds an undertone of warmth and excitement to any cool space. In the kitchen, Turquoise adds a unique flare to tabletop and appliances.”

We had fun applying Pantone’s Hot Fall Colors in 2008 to real homes we found on Dueling Digs. Need some home improvement ideas?

• See kitchen remodeling ideas
• See bathroom remodeling ideas
• See bedroom remodeling ideas

Remember the Ice House Detroit Project that we posted about last October? Well, it looks like the time is now. Artists have spent the past few weeks spraying down an abandoned Detroit house in freezing weather and encasing it in ice.

Their point is to bring more attention to the housing crisis and if anyone knows real estate pain, it’s Detroit. According to the Zillow Home Value Index, Detroit homes have lost 30% of their value year-over-year.

The artists plan to reveal the Ice House’s exact location on Sunday. [Video of Ice House spray-down]

From Seattle, in the For Sale by Owner (FSBO) section of Zillow Advice, fallingtide asks what the following phrase means in a  residential real estate sales contract:

“At Settlement, Seller agrees to pay for a standard-coverage owner’s policy of title insurance insuring Buyer in the amount of the Purchase Price”?“

What does it mean, “…insuring Buyer in the amount of the Purchase Price?”