The Froh Heim Mansion takes its name from the German words for "happy home"and whoever wins the home's auction on September 26 might be very happy indeed. The home in Far Hills, New Jersey is on 11 acres and was originally built for a mining industrialist by venerable New York City architects Peabody, Wilson and Brown. The Mediterranean style home has 16 rooms with seven bedrooms. It was built on a grand scale, a 47-foot banquet dining room includes a limestone fireplace and four crystal chandeliers. The home has been updated with modern features including central air conditioning. The grounds include a pool, wine cellar, barn and two caretaker apartments. The auction is being held with no minimum reserve bid but this home was previously offered for sale for $8.9 million.

A piece of prime Boston real estate is up for auction next week. The Boston Yacht Haven is located on Boston's waterfront and offers around 4.75 acres of land and tideland. The site which has boatslips and a 15,000 square foot boathouse was scheduled for a foreclosure auction back in April but the sale was canceled when the owner MGM Commercial Wharf LLC, declared bankruptcy.

Paul E. Saperstein, the Holbrook auctioneer who will auction off the property on August 14 told the Boston Herald that there was a lot of interest in the property and that it could go for anywhere from $6 to $9 million or even more. The bankruptcy trustee says the primary lender, Northern Bank & Trust, is owed about $11 million. Yovette Mumford, the principal of MGM, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court to forgery charges last year and spent three months in jail. Her company bought the property for $10.7 million in 2005 and has been running it as a marina/bed and breakfast complex but was unable to meet the mortgage payments. A deposit of $250,000 by certified or bank check will be required at the time of the sale with a 30-day close.

UPDATE: It sold for $8 million which is less than what creditors were owed.

The Lake of the Ozarks area is a popular place for second homes but some of the most luxurious homes in the region will be going up for auction soon. On July 18, Cates Auction and Realty is holding an auction of vacation homes that have original prices ranging from $1.2 – 3.7 million. As a story in the Kansas City Star reports that some of these homes were on on the market for a while.

In fact around 100 houses valued at $1 million or more in the Lake of the Ozarks area are for sale which is a very high number given the current economy. Some were spec houses created for buyers that never arrived, other homes were built for those planning retirement who have now opted to stay in the work force and some are owned by people who just no longer want to carry the burden of more than one mortgage.

The minimum prices for the properties haven't been listed but you can check out the offerings on the Cates Auction and Realty website. The most lavish home is the four-story waterfront property shown above which has an elevator, pool and five bedroom suites.

Last November I mentioned that Michael Vick's Atlanta home was for sale. No buyers were found and now the home will be up for sale on Tuesday, March 10 with a minimum bid of $3.2 million in order to satisfy some of Vick's outstanding debts. Vick, who played football for the Atlanta Falcons, is still in jail serving out his sentence for his role in a dogfighting scandal.

He was last asking $4.1 million for the home in the Sugarloaf Country Club in Duluth, Georgia. The eight-bedroom home has lake views and a grand look with two-story foyer with a curved double staircase and dome, a two-story study, a home theater, wet bar and a gymnasium. The only sign of VIckness is that big number seven set into the den floor. Vick bought for the home for $3.78 million in 2005..

The AP took a tour of the home checking out the elevator, and the bottom floor which included Vick's simulated golf game, weight room, and mini theater. He also converted a bathroom into his own personal barber shop. It's a dramatic testament to a story of the American dream gone wrong. Vick moved in to the house around the time that he landed what was then the richest contract in NFL history. Now he has seen many of his possessions sold off and when he is done serving his sentence he will face a whole new reality.

A video tour is after the jump.

UPDATE: The house was not sold. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution only two bidders showed up and neither had a qualifying bid.

Another historic home is up for auction. Pembroke Hall in Edenton, North Carolina was built in 1850 and is one the National Register of Historic Places. The home has 17 rooms, eight Italian marble fireplaces and a wine cellar. It is located on a two acre plot overlooking Pembroke Creek and Edenton Bay. The Greek Revival home has Corinthian and Doric columns with two-story porticos, murals and a hand painted antique wallcovering from China. The property has a current tax value of $2,002,030 was previously priced at $2.9 million but has been priced as low as $1.4 million. Recently, according to an article in The Virginian-Pilot, another historic 1850 house across the street from Pembroke Hall sold for $1.6 million. The opening bid in the online auction is $100,000 and the auction ends on January 9.

If you've ever wanted to buy in to the idyllic resort area of Lake Tahoe here's a chance to pick up a home at auction. This five-bedroom home on the East Shore is 3,866 square feet and is situated on 85 feet of shoreline. The newly constructed turn-key home has a high minimum bid: $3.999 million. It goes up for auction on December 6 and advanced registration is required.

Another luxury home is up for auction. This one on Navarre Beach in Florida. The five-bedroom home has views of the views of the Gulf to the south and the Intracoastal Waterway to the north. There are three levels with an elevator. The home includes a gourmet kitchen, an office, deck, and a master suite that includes walk-in closets and a master bath with a Kohler Air Jet Tub and a walk-in tile shower with rain-head showerheads.

Dr. Steve and Ann Hering are auctioning off the five-bedroom home on the gulf, as well as 30 home sites in Navarre Beach on December 6 with Albert Burney Auction Company managing the sale. Steve Hering, a retired college professor says that he and his wife have bought and sold a lot of real estate over the years but are now looking to slow down and they've moved to nearby Gulf Breeze. The home will sell to the highest bidder at or above a minimum bid of $2.5 million, which is said to be less than half of a recent appraisal.

Another multi-million house is headed to auction, this time in Highland Park, Illinois on Chicago's North Shore. The home is a model home overlooking a ravine on 1.35 acres. The five-bedroom home is located a short walk from Lake Michigan and is over 11,000 square feet. The rooms have 10' ceilings and feature Wisconsin stone and Brazilian Mahogany details. Other features include a home entertainment area with its own kitchen and a wine cellar. There is also a four-car garage with cedar doors and the plumbing and infrastructure for an indoor pool is in place. How much of a deal can you get on this one? The press release says that it was originally priced at nearly $4 million and the minimum bid is $2.45 million. The auction will be on December 9, the next day the same auction broker, Inland Real Estate Auctions will auction off a variety of properties that include a 2,600-square-foot, eighth-floor penthouse condominium in Lincolnwood, Ill. and a newly-built three-bedroom single-family home in west suburban Plano.

Today I bring you a bumper crop of estates, five Colorado homes which will all be auctioned off via sealed bid on October 15 at the Colorado Luxury Real Estate Auction. This property auction will present over $16,000,000 in inventory with minimum bids below their appraised values. The sellers are luxury property owners who are looking a faster sale in this slow market. The homes range from a lavish mansion to several ranches with substantial acreage and a Victorian home.

Somerset Manor in Niwot, Colorado has a minimum bid of $5.395 million and was listed for as much as $7.395 million. It is on 2.5 acres in the Somerset Estates area that includes water features, a formal yard with an interior fence and a private nature area beyond with walking trails, low maintenance vegetation, a shared pond and even a putting green and a tee box. Inside there are more than 13,000 square feet of finished space on three levels that include a two-story foyer, a chef's gourmet kitchen, a main-level gym and therapy pool, an executive study and a two-story great room that walks out to the covered deck overlooking the grounds.

Turn Around Ranch in Silverthorne, Colorado has a minimum bid of $2.599 million. The home has nearly 4,500 square feet of space and gorgeous mountain views. The property includes a barn.

Saddleback Ranch has a minimum bid of $1,999,999. The 18-acre Colorado-style gated estate is on a rolling parcel amidst sandstone bluffs & gorgeous vistas. The main home has four bedrooms, gourmet kitchen, yoga studio, art studio and a 1000-bottle wine cellar with reclaimed ancient Chinese door and custom mosaic tile floor. A guest cottage has a bedroom, private kitchen & bath and the detached executive studio features a large office, library and bathroom. The spa area includes 16'x47' heated pool, six-person sauna, large pool deck and patio area.

The Mountain King Ranch in Boulder, Colorado was once listed at $2.995 million and has a minimum bid of $1.95 million. The home is surrounded by 115 acres. The main house is a 5,600+-square-foot private mountain retreat with many balconies, patios and huge picture windows. Each of the four bedrooms has either a private balcony or French doors leading to a flagstone patio and there is an outdoor redwood spa.

A Victorian home in Longmont, Colorado was listed at $739,000 but now has a minimum bid of $520,000. It is a three story home of 6,500 square feet with a new gourmet kitchen and an interior with original woodwork and columns. A private staircase leads to the newly opened attic-currently owner's art studio.

If the current real estate trend keeps going, I just might have to start doing a real estate auction of the day. For now though let me just direct you to today's auction of the Palazzo Condominiums in Panama City Beach, Florida. The seven-month-old condos are located on Front Beach Road facing the Gulf of Mexico. There are 129 units in the building and 67 units will be up for sale today with 27 that will be sold absolute.

The building has a fitness center, tropical pool, conference room and covered gulf side parking. The units include crown molding, and granite kitchen countertops, new appliances, garden tub and separate showers in all units and ceiling fans in living areas and master bedroom suites. To bid on a one-bedroom unit a check for $15,000 is required, two bedrooms require a $25,000 check and three bedrooms, a $35,000 initial investment. Those not in the area can also bid online this morning.

[via WJHG]

This Arizona auciton isn't as lavish as the one of million dollar homes I covered a few weeks back but it's another real estate discount. Trammell Crow Residential has announced the auction of the Quarter Condominium Residences at Westgate City Center in Glendale, Arizona. Up for purchase are 35 two and three-bedroom townhouses. The Quarter at Westgate City Center has two resort-style swimming pools and heated spas, shaded ramadas with natural gas grills and a fitness center. A clubhouse for residents includes a kitchen, custom-designed indoor/outdoor fireplace, WiFi access, and a four-panel flat-screen TV wall.

The townhouses are part of the $1.5 billion Westgate City Center which will have 6.5 million square feet of commercial, retail, hotel and residential space including access to NFL and NHL games at two arenas, an AMC Westgate 20 Theatre, and restaurants like Bar Louie and Fox Sports Grill. The auction will take place on Sat., June 7 at 1:00 p.m. at the JW Marriott at Desert Ridge, located at 5350 East Marriott Dr., Phoenix, Arizona. Minimum bids for the townhouses available at auction will start at $195,000, which is approximately 35 percent below the highest previous asking price Two-bedroom townhomes had previous asking prices of up to $485,321, and three-bedroom townhomes had previous asking prices of up to $552,520.

More real estate auction news, this time from Boston where two condo buildings will be auctioned off in the next two months: the Broadluxe, a loft project in the Financial District near the waterfront, and The Modern, at the fringes of the South End will be holding separate auctions.

This isn't the first time we've seen a condo auction in Boston, we reported on one back in 2006, but since then the market has shifted lower and the condo boom has turned into a condo bust for some of the projects.

The Modern is home to 25 units on the fringe of the popular South End, a trendy neighborhood that borders some less desirable areas. Fifteen of the units in the building have been sold but the remaining ten will be auctioned off on May 18. The minimum prices the developers will accept for many of the units are in the mid- to high $300,000 range.

The Broadluxe was seized in a foreclosure last summer by TD Banknorth. The developer of the Broadluxe ran out of money and the Boston Globe says that the project is now the subject of several lawsuits between and among contractors and other principals. Now the project located on Broad Street is nearly completed and all of the building's 44 units will be auctioned in early June.

It's not all bad news in Boston, some buildings such as The Clarendon, at the corner of Clarendon and Stuart streets, are selling well. In these tough times the buildings that are located in unassailable neighborhoods continue to move but projects in less hot areas have been suffering.

I've found more than a few luxury home auctions in Florida, but now the luxury home auction business model is hitting Arizona in a big way. On April 30, Eric Nelson Auctioneering, in association with the Larsen Company, will auction off 14 properties from LaBlonde Homes and Sundance Housing in the Scottsdale area. Homes worth as much as $3.495 million will be auctioned off. The auction also includes several one-acre homesites with an estimated value of $300,000 available at a starting bid of just $75,000. The opening bids for the million-dollar-plus homes are all just about half the estimated value of the home. Open houses are held every Saturday and Sunday from 12-4 p.m. and the homes will also be open auction day from 12-4 p.m. The gallery below features the top seven most expensive homes in the auction. Happy bidding.

I've mentioned before that the real estate auction market in Florida is heating up as more and more people need to get rid of houses in a hurry. Now some of the biggest newest mansions are hitting the black at reduced prices. Case in point, this 12,000-square-foot home in Jupiter, Florida. This five-bedroom overlooks the Loxahatchee river and has a 125-foot dock with 160 feet of water frontage. The property also includes a three two-car garages, a two-bedroom guesthouse and there is a large pool overlooking the river and a gazebo with an outdoor kitchen and barbecue. Inside it's classic Florida gigantic with a double-height foyer with a massive chandelier and marble staircase with wrought-iron railings. The home has a large gourmet kitchen, octagonal breakfast room, master suite with a private balcony. The home was listed at $6,995,000 but a court order has forced an auction at $4.5 million or lower on April 19.

Today's estate belongs to antivirus software developer John McAfee. McAfee is selling his 280-acre Colorado estate at auction on May 10. The land includes his 10,000-square-foot mansion perched on a hillside. The home has a flagstone entry with split staircase, five master suites, a living room, great room and den, media room, library and fitness center. The master suite has a private entry, kitchen, fireplace and access to a glass balcony which leads to a wooden gazebo. The compound has three guest homes, two guest apartments and nine guest cabins for a total of 19 bedrooms. The property includes four trout lakes, observation decks, picnic areas, a horse paddock and more. According to an article in Businessweek, McAfee is looking to get around $20 million. This is the fourth home he has sold through National Auction in three years. After the jump, beauty and simplicity combine to create the perfect bath tub.