A large luxury home built in Georgia by the reality TV show "Extreme Makeover" is about to be offered up at a foreclosure auction, according to an Associated Press story. How do you lose a free home for which you're even given money to maintain? Use it as collateral for another loan.

Here are some additional details from the AP:

More than 1,800 people showed up to help ABC's "Extreme Makeover" team demolish a family's decrepit home and replace it with a sparkling, four-bedroom mini-mansion in 2005.

Three years later, the reality TV show's most ambitious project at the time has become the latest victim of the foreclosure crisis.

After the Harper family used the two-story home as collateral for a $450,000 loan, it's set to go to auction on the steps of the Clayton County Courthouse Aug. 5. The couple did not return phone calls Monday, but told WSB-TV they received the loan for a construction business that failed.

The house was built in January 2005, after Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA and ABC's "Extreme Makeover" demolished their old home and its faulty septic system. Within six days, construction crews and hoards of volunteers had completed work on the largest home that the television program had yet built.

The finished product was a four-bedroom house with decorative rock walls and a three-car garage that towered over ranch and split-level homes in their Clayton County neighborhood. The home's door opened into a lobby that featured four fireplaces, a solarium, a music room and a plush new office.

Materials and labor were donated for the home, which would have cost about $450,000 to build. Beazer Homes' employees and company partners also raised $250,000 in contributions for the family, including scholarships for the couple's three children and a home maintenance fund.

ABC said in a statement that it advises each family to consult a financial planner after they get their new home.

According to The Associated Press, the widow of producer Aaron Spelling paid $47 million for a two-story condo in the Century City area of Los Angeles. My favorite feature: A bedroom bigger than most houses. How big? 4,000 square feet, which amounts to almost one-quarter of the entire condo.

The story says that the price paid by Candy Spelling for the 16,500-square-foot property works out to $2,848 a square foot, a record price for a Los Angeles condo unit, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

The condo, which is still under construction, isn't the first record-breaking residence for Spelling. Her current abode, a 123-room mansion that she and her husband dubbed "The Manor," is the largest home in Los Angeles County at 56,500 square feet, according to The Associated Press.

There's more: Spelling's new digs will have a living room with two working fireplaces, a dining room for 25 guests, the 4,000-square-foot master bedroom suite and a conservatory with a rose garden, as well as a swimming pool and deck, according to the AP.

Goldberg said Spelling was moving to downscale her living space after her husband's death in 2006.

I’m working on a story about the $1 million condo club in downtown Tacoma. It is so far a rarefied collection, with only a handful of units for sale. Here’s what they all have in common: Big views, lots of square footage, their location in an emerging market. And the promise of urban living.

Is downtown Tacoma the kind of place where buyers will drop $1 million for a condominium? So far, a developer for 505 Broadway says deposits have been put down on two of the building’s five $1 million-plus units, with sales expected to close in the summer when construction wraps up.

If you had $1 million to spend on a home, is this where you’d put it? Here’s a sampling of what you’ll find: Elevator entrances, massive balconies, two-story windows, private wine rooms and multiple master bedrooms.

Pierce County listings are up and prices have slipped since May, but from the looks of the e-mail I got today from retiree Denis Rosnick, it can still be tough to find the right house: "I know there’s supposed to be a dip in the real estate market, but it hasn’t helped us in our quest to find/build our dream home. All we want is a small (2,500SF), upscale house on a quiet, private lot with some kind of view, and have had no luck after months of searching. Maybe our requirements are too demanding for the current market, but I didn’t expect it to be this difficult."

Denis and Venette Rosnick, who now live in North Tacoma, also want an acre or so of land, nine-foot ceilings and stainless-steel appliances. But they're willing to pay up to $600,000 -- well above the median home price from Gig Harbor to Puyallup.

Are others having a tough time locating their South Sound dream home? Are such buyers too picky or is it just a function of patience?