Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s house-hunting saga has been fascinating to watch. It’s come off a bit like a Goldilocks story, “This one is too big. This one is too big, too!” Now, however, it seems they may have found the home that is “just right” – but the timing is coming with some major added pressure.
The House Hunting Saga
Affleck and Lopez have been house hunting in Los Angeles for months now. At one point it looked as if they were prepared to buy a $50 million(ish) home with 17 bathrooms, but that fell through. Then a second, cheaper property came along –this one was a paltry $34.5 million – and they put in an offer on the 7-bedroom and 13 bathroom home. I guess Jenny from the Block didn’t love that block, either, because escrow fell through on that property as well.
Meanwhile, about a week ago, Bennifer found a third home that was seemingly “just right.” This home did not have 17 bathrooms nor was it being listed for a paltry $34.5 million. In fact, this third home is going for $64 million and has 8 bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. So it’s seemingly a nice combination of features from the other two homes and is hopefully the dream home for the couple, because now the family is seemingly under a bit of a time crunch.
The two live in California in the Los Angeles area and the county is looking to bring more in taxes on some of those huge homes in Pacific Palisades and other county areas. On April 1, a new law is going into effect. TMZ, who noted the change in tax law, did not give specific numbers if the Pacific Palisades home doesn’t close before the end of the month, but the outlet did note “the financial consequences are enormous.”
Generally, it takes between 30-45 days to close on a house, and we only learned Ben and JLo were in escrow on their new home less than two weeks ago. However, if the buyer and seller agree to a specific closing timing or the two have been in escrow a bit longer than the news cycle has known about it, they could potentiall hit this pre-April 1st date and save some money in the process.
Also worth noting though, is the fact the couple has been in escrow previously and backed out. So, it’s not clear this home is 100% going to be the right fit, though one would hope so.
It's A Busy Time For Lopez And Affleck
It’s a busy time for the couple. Ben Affleck is busy promoting his new movie Air with Matt Damon. We've learned quite a bit about Air ahead of its release, but now the movie has premiered at SXSW and the actor and producer has been on the press circuit recently. Lopez just celebrated the launch of her new shoe collection this weekend, so she's been busy as well. Plus, it's worth noting her husband missed the launch of the shoe collection for the aforementioned Air promotion. So, it's easy to see how there have been some complications in regards to finding their perfect home.
Meanwhile, JLo’s current property has been on the market for a while, and it does seem like Bennifer is serious about finding the right space for their blended families after their marriage. Only now, there certainly seems to be more of a time crunch.