Houses of Eminem are going to be sold on internet auctions

DETROIT (Detroit News) - Two houses once occupied by rap superstar Eminem have created a bidding frenzy on the internet website Ebay - although one of the houses drew what appears to have been a false winning bid of $99.9 million.

The colonial house once owned by the rap artist and now movie star began with an early round of bidding that came in at $600,000 when it went up on the auction site last month. But following a mind-boggling $99.9 million offer, the Detroit News reports that bidder has backed out, and the next-highest bidder, of $20 million, is also expected to balk.

The house's current owner, Darren Martens, told the newspaper he's now not taking any bids over $2 million seriously for the 5,000-square-foot Detroit house which has a swimming pool and a Jacuzzi.

Eminem lived in the house between 1998 and 2000, and sold it when mailboxes were stolen and M&M candy wrappers were constantly scattered on the front lawn.

Martens said he put the rapper's former home up for auction "more or less for a joke" after he saw publicity about Eminem's boyhood home in Warren being auctioned on the website. As of press time, the bidding has topped $11 million for the auction, which is set to end December 14.

A third Eminem house, on Detroit's Dresden Street just south of the "8 Mile" area chronicled in the rapper's hit film, is currently listed on the site with a starting bid offered of half a million dollars. That auction also ends on December 11. The house is allegedly the same one pictured on the cover of Eminem's album The Marshall Mathers LP.

In an amusing note, a house listed as "Own a Character Mansion Eminem Didn't Live In," is up for $399,000. Another seller is offering various Internet domain names, including eminemsformerhouse.com and eminemsformerhome.com, in a package deal for $10,000.