Mr Chavez says he may sell the presidential palace and move into an apartment for his term, while converting his coastal retreat into a school.

ECONOMIST: Venezuela

Since acknowledging in a brief statement on Monday that he had acted "in a way that violates my obligations to my family, " the first-term Democrat and his family had remained secluded in their apartment on Manhattan's 5th Avenue.

NPR: Gov. Spitzer Resigns amid Call-Girl Scandal

Thinking that we were still leaving for a year, at most, we packed up our apartment and moved nearly everything we owned into a long-term storage facility in New Jersey, where the rates were significantly cheaper than in Brooklyn.

FORBES: I Left The Country To Escape The Recession

With a house 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia in Pottstown, Pennsylvania and a studio apartment and workspace in Manhattan, Defusco was free to take on short-term assignments, and incorporated as Retail Gal Consulting.

FORBES: Careers

The couple still have a house in Boston, and an apartment in Hong Kong, but Shanghai is where they see themselves for the long term.

WSJ: Luxury Real Estate: Embracing Old Shanghai in a French Concession Lilong

The Rice Mill Lofts, a riverfront apartment complex that Cummings plans to turn into a hub for creative-types looking for long-term vacation stays in New Orleans, was built in 2011 using reclaimed wood from the Mississippi River and is decorated with graffiti leftover from when the building sat vacant after Katrina.

BBC: New Orleans rebuilds as a ��boutique city��