Of course, foreclosures are more likely to hit  low and middle-income homeowners. But the rich and famous are not immune, as shown by this U.S. News & World Report report story. (Ed McMahon can breathe easy, though. Donald Trump has agreed to buy Ed’s home, which is in foreclosure, and lease it back to the Carson sidekick, according to a Los Angeles Times story.

Though seemingly immune to ordinary tasks, celebrities have not escaped the misery of real estate deals gone bad, proving all socioeconomic strata are subject to the slumping housing market. As thousands of Americans grapple with the subprime loan mess, the higher-than-usual foreclosure rate that goes with it, and a stagnant housing market, celebrities also are feeling the pain of bad real estate decisions. Ed McMahon, after his long career as Johnny Carson’s sidekick on The Tonight Show, owes more than $644,000 in mortgage payments on his estate in Beverly Hills, Calif., which he owns with his wife. Facing foreclosure, he is trying to sell the property for $4.6 million, down from its earlier $7.6 million price. McMahon explained the predicament to CNN’s Larry King in simple terms: “If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens.”

Even sadder is the situation of the families whose houses were re-done by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. A couple of homes re-done as a part of the show are now for sale; their owners can’t afford to pay the extra taxes assessed because of the improvements and added square footage.

Yes, who knew we would have a celebrity foreclosure so soon? And it is soon. Apparently boxer Evander Holyfield’s $10 million, 54,000-square-foot estate near Atlanta. If you’re wondering, WaMu holds the note. It appears the foreclosure is the least of Holyfield’s legal problems nine children! Read on:

His $10 million estate in suburban Atlanta is under foreclosure, the mother of one of his children is suing for unpaid child support, and a Utah consulting company has gone to court claiming the boxer failed to pay back more than a half million dollars for landscaping.

A legal notice that ran Wednesday in a small local newspaper said Holyfield’s estate will be auctioned off “at public outcry to the highest bidder for cash” at the Fayette County courthouse on July 1. The 54,000-square-foot home — located on Evander Holyfield Highway — has 109 rooms, including 17 bathrooms, three kitchens and a bowling alley.

For those who think foreclosure only affecting subprimers, read on about 85-year-old Ed McMahon of mail sweepstakes American Family Publishers and “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” fame:

McMahon defaulted on $4.8 million in mortgage loans with a unit of Countrywide Financial Corp., which filed a notice of default in March, according to ForeclosureRadar, a company that sells default data pulled from public records.

“He’s not alone. There are plenty of people affected by the weak economy, bad housing market or bad health,” McMahon’s spokesman, Howard Bragman, said late Tuesday.

Bragman said McMahon fell and broke his neck about 18 months ago and has been unable to work since.

“The ideal situation would be that he would be healthy and able to earn a living to pay for his house,” Bragman said.

According to the article, McMahon owed $644,000 on the house when the notice of default was filed. The home is now on the market for $6.25 million.

I’m sure you saw this on Inside Edition, the Los Angeles Times or even WSJ. We are all a big too into schadenfreude, are we not? Oh, yeah, we are. I feel better cashing in my plastic bottles to buy groceries if I know that Jose Canseco is living in a modest house and owes $2.5 million to Washington Mutual. Read on and on:

“I do have a judgment on my home and it to me is very strange because it didn’t make financial sense for me to keep paying a mortgage on a home that was basically owned by someone else,” he said in an interview that aired Thursday.

“I live in a much smaller home. I’ve got way less than I had before,” Canseco told INSIDE EDITION’s Jim Moret. 

Jim Moret asked Canseco, “Are people thinking, ‘Hey if this can happen to Jose Canseco, it can happen to me’ ?”

“It’s happening to anyone and everyone,” was Canseco’s answer.

Maybe his new book, Vindicated, will help him pay the rent.