Tired of being followed by pushy paparazzi, snapping away at your most personal and intimate moments. The 24-story tower Carlyle Residences on Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood, CA, is touting itself as the first building specifically designed to guard its residences from noisy photographers, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Okay, people like you and me aren't dodging prying lenses when we're laying out in our bathing suits in the backyard, but for many Hollywood celebs, it's part of their everyday life, whether they like it or not. Despite investing millions on security systems and landscaping at their homes to keep out the paparazzi, when there's a will (or a million-dollar price tag on your back), these wily photogs find a way, by hook or by crook, to snap that most embarrassing shot.

Promotional materials for the Carlyle Residences, which is set to open next year, promise round-the-clock patrols by 'Israeli-trained VIP' security guards, private elevators that open directly into apartments, and high hedges that shield the swimming pool and yoga lawn from shutterbugs. Even the shape of the tower, a crescent, is advertised as an antipaparazzi device. According to the developer, Elad Properties, the property minimizes views into the Carlyle from neighboring buildings.

The posh 78-unit luxury tower will also include a library, a Sports Club LA, furnishings provided by Fendi Casa, a private dining room and white-glove concierge service.

So how much is privacy going for these days? You're looking at a variety of units ranging from $2.9 million to $20 million on the penthouse floor.

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@HomeFinder.com.

I've seen a lot of crazy marketing gimmicks this year when it comes to desperate home sellers trying to unload their properties. One man in Wisconsin offered the title to his $500,000 life insurance plan, while a California developer offered a free home with the purchase of one his luxury abodes. But I will have to say Deven Trabosh's ad on Craigslist and eBay tops them all.

According to the Associated Press, the 42-year-old licensed real estate agent from West Palm Beach, FL, recently listed her home for $340,000 on a sell-it-yourself Web site, but upped the price, adding a $500,000 shipping fee to include her companionship on eBay. The ad on eBay was taken down because it violated the company's policy prohibiting the sale of human beings, body parts or relationships. The Craigslist ad is still up.

Trabosh told AP that her ad 'isn't just a sales gimmick…. I'm struggling, and I don't want to lose my house, and I want to find somebody.'

I'm sure Trabosh, who could pass for a Pamela Anderson look-a-like, won't have problems garnering responses to her creative home listing. But with the way the housing markets going, especially in South Florida, this could be a tough seller's arena for this damsel in distress.

Here's Trabosh's Craigslist ad:

Marry a Princess Lost in America Create the Magic with this Fairy Tale Princess

Traveling Lady in immediate need of her Prince Charming, someone who wants to share & create magical moments, imaginations & fantasies for LIFE!!!

If you want to live the never ending dream and experience the real love, life and the romance you have always felt was a fairytale then this is the vibrant outstanding woman of your dreams!

To sweep this European Loving Lady off her feet send in your application right now.

A hot property
The 2,000 square-foot home is located in a gated 24-hour manned community in West Palm Beach. Amenities include a newly updated clubhouse that offers swimming pools, hot tub, four tennis courts, two racket ball courts and a sand volleyball court, children's playground and a fitness center. The Dakota model home boasts vaulted ceilings, Berber carpet and upgraded tile floors. The first floor master suite has a double entry door and a master bath with double sinks, a soaking tub and an over sized shower stall. The second floor media room overlooks the great room and leads to the three full-size bedrooms. An extended outdoor terrace overlooks the garden.

As I was walking this weekend along the coastline in Newport Beach, CA, I couldn't help but be in awe of the stunning luxury homes dotting the boardwalk. The median home price in this posh coastal community is about $1,675,000. And the properties with postcard ocean views can reach up in the double-digit marker. For someone like me, those figures might as well be imaginary. But for a growing number of millionaires, it's just another day in the neighborhood.

Lifestyles of the rich
According to a recent eMarketer.com article, nearly 10 million households in the United States have a net worth of at least $1 million, excluding their primary residences. The figures were derived from a study from TNS's 'Affluent Market Research Program.' The research company said the number of millionaire households increased by 5.9 percent from June 2006 to June 2007. It was the sixth such increase in as many years.

The average age in millionaire households was 66, with an average net worth of $4.6 million, according to the study. The single most important financial goal of surveyed millionaires —56 percent of them — was to 'assure a comfortable standard of living during retirement.' More than one-third of the 10 millionaires surveyed said they 'took a wait-and-see approach' toward investing and about a quarter of them looked for investment bargains.

A family friend of mind who's made his fortune in developing residential and commercial properties says despite the down housing market, some of the best investments right now can still be found in real estate. In a separate report published in the Personal Real Estate Investor magazine, found that in 2006, property purchased purely for investment represented 22 percent of all purchases or about 1.64 million homes and over $300 billion in sales volume.

In life there are those who know how to make money, those who know how to spend money and those who get to do both. Which one do you want to be? I think the latter sounds like a good pick.

View homes in Newport Beach, CA

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@HomeFinder.com.

Nearly 1,000 houses are listed for sale in Las Vegas for $1 million or more, and about 36 percent of them are sitting vacant, The Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday. And according to industry observers, unless they've been constructed in the last year or two, they're going to be hard to sell.

Las Vegas is made up of a class of 'new money,' and residents moving there aren't looking for a historic Victorian home. These high rollers like their McMansions big, and they want them customized to match their lavish lifestyle. Like Louis Vuitton's Multicolore Heart purse, a home built four years ago may just be too 'out of style' for this type of buyer.

Michael Lemoine, an architect who specializes in custom houses for the wealthy, told the Times that he has clients who build houses as often as some people buy cars. In 2000, 176 Las Vegas homes sold for more than $1 million, and by last year that number jumped to 1,219, according to real estate search firm DataQuick Information Systems.
So what does this mean for a market already glutted with unsold homes from every price point? Builders and homeowners need to just sit tight. Home values aren't going up anytime soon and excess inventory will only slow down the market's recovery. With job growth remaining flat in the city and foreclosures continuing to balloon, Las Vegas recently landed on Forbes magazine's top 10 riskiest housing markets. A poor housing climate coupled by a weakening economy is not a gamble I'd take in Sin City.