Lessons From the Spelling Sale: How the Rich Are Different

News broke this week that Candy Spelling, the widow of TV mega-producer Aaron Spelling, found a buyer for her most-expensive-listing-in-America mega-mansion, which had been on the market at $150 million since the Ice Age. The buyer: 22-year-old Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone, "one of the most spoilt girls in Britain" according to the London tabs, whose daddy, Bernie, is footing the bill for the home (need we say more?)

The deal is working its way through lawyers now -- we common folk have escrow -- and is expected to close in early July. But as any real estate purchaser knows, nothing is a done deal until it's a done deal.

You might ask, how does a transaction of this magnitude differ from an ordinary home sale? Well, having high-priced lawyers hammer out the details versus sitting on pins and needles while the bank approves our loan application is one way. Here are some others.