Celebrity Homes

Things are looking up for Marion Jones -- who was infamously stripped of her Olympic gold medals -- because she just traded in her humble Texas home ... for a much nicer version.

In case you didn't already know ... in 2007 Marion -- who was considered a LEGEND in Track & Field -- copped to using steroids throughout her career and as a result was stripped of her medals, lucrative endorsement deals, and thrown in jail on charges of perjury.

But all that's behind her ... Marion and her husband just sold their modest 2,173-square-foot home ... and traded up to a much nicer 3,156-square-foot pad with 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths ... all for a cool $212k.

With her new crib -- which is just a few miles from the old one -- comes a wooded deck ... 3 living rooms ... a huge master bedroom and a giant back yard where she can run around .

Ya know ... 'cause she's a runner.

Take note, Michael Phelps -- "Frasier" star David Hyde Pierce knows how to play the real estate market ... because the actor just dumped his massive L.A. mansion for nearly DOUBLE what he paid.

Sources tell TMZ, Pierce listed the gated 8,184 sq. ft. Los Feliz home back in April for $7.5 million -- and it sold July 31st for $7,050,000. We're told it was the highest-priced sale in the neighborhood in recent memory.

But that's not the craziest part -- Pierce purchased the 7-bedroom 8.5-bathroom home back in 2003 ... for a mere $3,625,000 ... meaning he nearly doubled his investment in 9 years.

A grease-filled barbeque torpedoed a big party at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch this AM.

A large group was there for the shindig, when the staff lit the BBQ to get the coals hot. We're told a grease build-up on the system ignited the hood system and caused some panic.

Three engines from the Santa Barbara County Fire Dept. arrived but the blaze had already been put out.

The BBQ was cancelled.

El Pollo Loco anyone?

Terry Semel -- the former CEO of Yahoo! -- really, really, really wanted to sell off his giant Malibu estate ... so much so, he was willing to knock $13 MILLION off the asking price, TMZ has learned.

Back in May, Semel wanted a cool $50 mil for his 10,000 square-foot, beach front ... but TMZ has learned the house just went into escrow after Terry accepted an offer for a mere $37,000,000.

It's unclear how much Semel originally paid for the glass palace ... but he's probably not shedding too many tears over the $13 Million price slash -- since he made close to $500 MILLION during his stint at Yahoo!

So what do you get for $37 Million these days -- 9 bedrooms, 13.5 baths ... 151 feet of beach frontage ... a 3-story rotunda ... giant outdoor pool ... jacuzzi ... gazebo ... guest house ... gym and a screening room.

Alex Rodriguez is putting his time on the NY Yankees disabled list to good use ... by jumping in the real estate game and unloading his GIANT Miami mansion for a whopping $38,000,000. Cha-ching!

A-Rod bought the super modern crib back in 2010 -- while it was still under construction -- for a reported $24 mil. But now he's looking to sell off the 20,000-square-foot pad and make a cool profit at the same time.

The 9-bedroom, 11-bath beachfront estate is freaking AMAZING if you've got the cash. It offers 275 ft. of water frontage, a home theater, a heated pool, gym, rooftop deck, an elevator AND a 3,000 square-foot sports room complete with a batting cage.

8/6 -- Hawkins spoke to reporters about her financial history in London yesterday ... saying, "It's my story, it's part of me. I'm not even embarrassed about it."

She added, "It shows that even though I didn't like to have to do it, I'm glad there was something there for me to be able to protect my home."

Just a few months before Gabby Douglas won her gold medal -- and opened the door to countless opportunities that will undoubtedly score her millions of dollars -- her mother filed for bankruptcy ... TMZ has learned

According to documents filed earlier this year in Virginia, Natalie Hawkins filed for Chapter 13 ... which is far less severe than Chapter 7. The docs state Hawkins has assets totalling $163,706.10 and debt totaling $79,754.14.

Her creditors include:
Capital One -- $1,534
Student loan -- $4,350.23
Sprint -- $158.78
T-Mobile -- $413
Orthodontist in Iowa (where Gabby trained when she was 14) -- $408

With the Chapter 13 filing, Hawkins has agreed to a monthly payment plan. She began making payments of $408/month back in February ... to a trustee who will divvy it up among her creditors.

However, with Gabby’s new found fame and the potential to make a bloody fortune, it's likely her mother will never have to worry about bankruptcy or money problems ever again.

Deion Sanders desperately wants to liquidate his 5,000 sq. ft. condo in Dallas -- putting the luxury property up for sale smack in the middle of his bitter divorce proceedings ... for way less than the market value.

Deion listed the condo -- located in the swanky celeb-filled Azure building -- back in March ... soon after his divorce from estranged wife Pilar went nuclear, when Pilar claimed Deion's aunt had attacked her in her own house.

Deion listed the home for $4.8 million -- but according to a realtor for Azure, the property is valued at roughly $6.5 million. In fact, Deion's neighboring unit is currently listed for exactly that amount.

And not only is he lowballing his own property, we're told Deion's doing some last minute renovations to speed up the sale -- such as re-plastering the pool.

Good thing too ... because this week, a judge ordered Deion to pay $10,000-a-month in child support and cough up another $275,000 for Pilar's attorneys' fees.

Kevin Federline is using the oldest excuse in the book ... claiming it was FLYING GOLF BALLS that destroyed the Tarzana, CA mansion he rented and NOT HIM.

TMZ broke the story ... Federleezy is being sued by his former landlord -- a guy named Joseph Malek -- for more than $110k in damages to a mansion he rented back in 2008 ... Malek claimed Federline trashed the place to all hell and then screwed him out of rent money.

According to legal docs, Federline claims the allegations are BS, saying "damages to the home were actually due to normal wear and tear, and other damages were caused by GOLF BALLS hitting the property."

Not only that, KFed claims he struck an oral deal with Malek back in 2009 in which he coughed up $60,000 to cover any missing back-rent and agreed to let his former landlord keep his entire security deposit.

In the docs, Kevin says that the 2009 deal "acts as full satisfaction and discharge of these disputes."

KFed is seeking recovery of his attorney fees, statutory damages and twice the amount of his security deposit.

A judge has yet to rule.

T-Boz has finally sold the Georgia mansion she nearly lost to foreclosure a few years back, but she sold it for nearly half what she paid for it ... TMZ has learned.

As TMZ first reported, the TLC singer almost lost her home in 2008 when she failed to make the mortgage payments on time ... but was able to keep it from going on the auction block. She eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2011, with the mortgage on her home being her main debt.

Now the house is no longer a problem ... she sold it for $680,000, a far cry from the $1,122,700 price she purchased it for back in 2001.

Jason Kidd has officially severed his final ties with Dallas after the Mavericks traded him to the Knicks -- TMZ has learned, the NBA legend has sold his luxury condo in the Big D.

Kidd listed the 2,607 sq. ft. pad for $1,595,000 back in October, and it remained on the market until June 21st -- when it finally sold for $1,387,500.

Kidd signed with the Knicks last month.

According to official records, Kidd bought the condo in 2009 for $1,420,000 -- meaning he lost a little on his investment ... but nothing like Michael Phelps on his recent sale.

It's a pretty badass condo -- featuring a 4-car garage, 2 fireplaces, a pool on the building's rooftop, and a guarded entrance.

But Kidd's not just dumping his Dallas property, he's also getting rid of his giant house in Arizona -- listing his 6-bedroom, 9-bath, 13,523 sq. ft. Paradise Valley home for $5,995,000.

Michael Phelps didn't just take a beating in the 200m butterfly recently ... he also got his ASS kicked by the real estate market -- letting go of his swank Baltimore condo for $400,000 less than what he bought it for.

Phelps purchased the 4,080 sq. ft. home in Fells Point back in 2007 for $1.69 million -- but then the housing market crashed ... and so did the value of his home.

The 19-medal-winning swimmer listed the 3-bedroom pad earlier this year for $1.42 million -- but even that was asking too much ... because when he finally sold the place last week ... he could only get $1.25 mill.

For the mathematically challenged, that's a loss in value of $440,000 -- but it's just a drop in the bucket ... the guy's agent once predicted Phelps would earn roughly $100 million during his lifetime from endorsements.

Golf superstar David Duval has made more than $18 million on the PGA Tour ... which is why it's pretty shocking that his Colorado mansion is in the middle of some major foreclosure drama.

According to documents obtained by TMZ, David and his wife Suzanne took out a loan for $5.9 million back in 2005 to buy a $12.35 million home in Cherry Hills Village, CO ... a suburb of Denver near Payton Manning's new home.

But the bank claims Duval has failed to make his payments ... and now it's going after the golfer's home to get it's money.

According to documents, the home will be put up for public auction on November 7 ... unless Duval can come up with the money.

Robert Pattinson isn't wasting any time -- a UHaul was spotted outside the Los Feliz home he shares (shared?) with Kristen Stewart ... following reports he's moved out of the love nest he lives (lived?) in with his (ex?) girlfriend.

Kristen's baffling public apology after her alleged affair with married director Rupert Sanders set this chain of events in motion.

You know you're rich when ... you spend $500,000 to upgrade 160 "X Factor" contestants to a "nicer" hotel simply because you felt like it -- like Simon Cowell just did.

It all went down in Miami ... where the 160 wannabes who made it past the audition rounds are competing for 32 coveted spots.

Sources tell us ... Cowell -- who created the show -- decided he wanted to reward the contestants for making it this far ... and didn't want them slumming in a "regular" hotel.

So he upgraded ALL of the contestants to the exclusive Mondrian Miami South Beach Hotel ... and promised to cover everyone's meals during the audition process.

Joe Jackson has been living at the famous Jackson compound in Encino recently ... but no one knows how he got in ... and it appears he's a garden variety squatter.

As we previously reported, Joe was seen entering the home today ... and yesterday, it appeared the home got a visit from some medical personnel ... presumably to perform some tests on Joe.

The house is owned by the Michael Jackson Estate. Katherine Jackson has no legal claim to the property.

Sources tell TMZ ... the Estate is paying $30,000 per month for the Calabasas home where Katherine and Michael's kids have been living.

The only way Joe could be living in the Encino house legally is if he got permission from the Estate ... and sources connected with the Jackson family tell TMZ ... no such permission was ever given.

Sources tell us ... it ain't the Ritz because the house is currently undergoing extensive renovation.

The San Diego house in which NFL legend Junior Seau killed himself has been put up for sale.

The 2,200 sq. ft. beachfront property was listed yesterday for $2.3 million. It has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms.

The realtor tells TMZ, he plans to sell the house before the end of summer -- and WILL be informing prospective buyers about the famous suicide that took place inside the home on May 3rd.