...according to this article posted on the MSN Real Estate webpage.  Originally asking $8.599 million, the price was recently dropped to $7,999,999.  The mansion is located in a guard-gated community in the ritzy Newport Coast area of Orange County.  It is situated on a half acre lot, built in 1997 and has 8,500 square feet of living area.  Some of the amenities include an 850 square foot gym, in-house hair salon, extra deep custom pool, but most interesting of all...a personal shark tank. 

While Kobe's 8,500 square foot house is huge by all means, it is dwarfed in comparison to his former teammate Shaquille O'Neal's 70,000 square foot mansion in Florida.  I recall seeing the house when it was first featured on MTV Cribs some years ago and it was just GARGANTUAN.  I understand Shaq has many kids, but 70,000 square feet?  Isn't that a little over the top? 

Living in Newport Coast, Kobe has somewhat of a commute to his office at Staples Center Los Angeles, but that's not a problem.  He makes the 49 mile trip in minimal time, and a scenic one to boot with this ride, a custom chopper helicopter.  Of course when you are an NBA legend, 5-time world champion and future hall-of-famer, the sky is the limit (no pun intended).    

I was surfing around and stumbled across this Freddie Mac chart.  It dates back to 1971 and documents the average monthly interest rate for a 30-year conventional mortgage.  It reminded me of a conversation I had with my late father back in the day.

It was about 1984-1985 and I was just starting out in the appraisal field.  I was sitting at the dining room table writing a report when my father walked in.  He looked over my shoulder to see what I was doing.  Then he sat down and we started talking just about real estate in general.  I'll never forget when he said, "When your mother and I bought this house, our interest rate was 5%."  WHOA!!!  5%?!?!  I flipped.  I couldn't believe it.  At the time, mortgage rates were in the 13-14% range.  I recall telling my dad that when he bought the house (mid-1960's), it was back in the "old days" and 5% rates were maybe the norm then, but not anymore.  I assured him they would NEVER get that low again.   

Well, I was wrong.  Rates today are right around 4.5% for a 30-year fixed and they even got as low as 3.35% in late 2012.  My father bless his soul, passed away in 1997.  So he wasn't around to see me eat my own words. 

Yeah, I know.  Never say never.