Desert Delights
Will the Octomom move in with Bristol Palin? "Celebrity" real estate heats up
Bristol Palin and son Tripp in the June issue of Harper’s Bazaar Magazine.Bristol Palin, now 20, might relocate to a recently purchased Arizona home.
Octomom Nadya Suleman and her brood may be out on the street. The owner of thehouse she bought last year is threatening to foreclose.Photo by Miguel Aguilar
Did Suleman blow a lot of cash on plastic surgery following the birth of heroctuplets? Her beach bod certainly suggests so.
Former Dancing with the Stars contestant and abstinence-only spokesperson Bristol Palin purchased a five-bedroom house in Arizona while Nadya Suleman ("Octomom") faces a potential eviction.
Palin’s new place is in Maricopa, an outlying valley suburb in Pinal County. Why is the Alaska-native buying up property in Arizona, of all places? The desert is a far cry from the frozen tundra she calls home.
TMZ speculates that the 20-year-old will relocate to study journalism at Arizona State University. However, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU is in downtown Phoenix, about a 45-minute drive from Maricopa. If speculation is true, then Palin will have to make quite the daily commute. Unlike the University of Houston's students who often commute to class, most of ASU's student body lives on or near campus.
It’s unusual for a college freshman to skip out on the dorm experience (not to mention buy her own house), but Bristol will need some of the extra room for 2-year-old son Tripp, of whom she has custody.
But political blogger Wonkette suggests another theory: Perhaps the single mom is establishing residency in order to someday run for office (shudder!). Maricopa will soon belong to a newly created congressional district as a result of population increase. Still, she’d be planning a bit far in advance, especially for someone who doesn’t exactly, uh, plan major life-changing events.
The new crib is about what’d you expect from a family-values Republican. Former owner Cynthia Smith says, "It's a nice family home with a big backyard and patio. It's in a great neighborhood … I think [she] will really like it there."
Bristol purchased the property for a reported $172,000 in cash. (DWTS pays a pretty penny, apparently.) The acquisition mirrors the country’s housing crisis. In 2006 the newly constructed home sold for $329,560 only to foreclose in January for $137,200, less than half its original value. ABC's Nightline has called Maricopa the "poster child of the housing crisis.” Luckily for the Palins, the crisis created opportunity.
Another unwed celebrity mother was not quite so lucky with the market.
The man who sold his Southern California home to "Octomom" Nadya Suleman said that he’s taking steps to evict Suleman and her litter of 14 because she’s long overdue in paying the $450,000 balance.
Before you villainize the home seller Amer Haddadin, recognize that this isn’t the first problem he’s encountered with payments. Last April Haddadin granted Doud, Suleman’s father and the owner of the house at the time, a six-month extension on the remaining balance. He said that as a Jordanian he took pity on a fellow Arab's situation.
Haddadin now suspects, "I think they have money, but they are hiding the money.”
While it’s possible that the mother of more than a dozen is concealing her funds and risking homelessness (after all, logic and careful planning clearly aren't Suleman’s strengths) it’s more likely that she simply doesn’t have the cash. Suleman never banked a TV show, a la Kate Gosselin. And, judging from her bikini pics, she blew a considerable amount of money on post-pregnancy cosmetic surgery.
Where will Octomom go if Haddadin throws her out and takes back his house?
CultureMap family psychologists came up with a winning solution: Suleman should move in with Bristol! Clearly money isn’t a problem for the 20-year-old politician’s daughter (remember she paid for the house in cash).
And there’s no way she and her tiny toddler need all five bedrooms. As an added bonus, the two mother's interactions would provide endless fodder for reality TV.
