Real Housewife Giudice's mansion is in pre-foreclosure; zero bids on getaway at auction
By Sid Lipsey
The bad news: You just missed a chance to own a piece of Real Housewife (and convicted fraudster) Teresa Giudice's real estate portfolio.
The good news: If you want it, you might get another crack at it — and chances are, you won't have much competition. Plus, if that weekend house is too modest for you, her opulent main home — a custom mansion in Towaco, New Jersey — has entered pre-foreclosure and could hit the auction block before long. (Click here or on a photo for a slideshow of both.)
Joe and Teresa Giudice's Jersey Shore beach house in Manahawkin went to foreclosure auction this week. Despite (or because of?) the home's link to the infamous couple from "The Real Housewives of New Jersey," and despite the fact that the bidding started at a mere $100, no one bid on it, the New York Post reports. Sometimes you just can't give a house away. (In truth, the bank probably wouldn't have accepted much less than the Giudices owed — $348,000 — so the mortgage holder bought back the house at $100.)
The Giudices purchased the beach house in 2005, four years before they became famous as the loud-mouthed, table-flipping couple on the Bravo TV reality show "The Real Housewives of New Jersey." They paid $347,000 for the five-bedroom, two-bath, 1,350-square-foot home, which was built in 1970. It includes 50 feet of waterfront, a concrete patio, central A/C and gas heat. The Giudices had it renovated — including reportedly opening up the galley kitchen — before and after 2012's Superstorm Sandy.
But it appears the home was underwater in another sense as well. The Giudices owed $348,000 on the home, on which they'd reportedly taken out multiple mortgages over the years. They've put it on the market twice — most recently last year, just before their sentencing, for $315,000.
Ironically, making false statements on loan applications was just one of the many charges to which they pleaded guilty in federal court last year. Teresa is serving her 15-month prison sentence now, after which Joe is expected to begin serving his 41-month sentence.
This house has been one of the Giudices' many lingering headaches. Their primary residence, which they discounted by a million bucks after originally seeking $3,999,000, is now in pre-foreclosure. If it too winds up on the auction block, will it go for $100?
Also on Yahoo Homes:
• Drunken boast leads man to DIY this James Bond-like Skysphere (21 photos)
• 'Silence of the Lambs' house where killer groomed victims is for sale (25 photos)
• Liberal gadfly Michael Moore lists $5.2M mansion in Michigan (65 photos)
Before heading to prison, she hosted a cooking show from the mansion's kitchen:
And here's a house tour that Teresa Giudice recorded for Bravo TV:
