Luxury Real Estate

By Brian Langhorst

As in luxury real estate, sometimes selling and parting with something close to your family is tough. This example easily extends over to the situation of the Seattle Supersonics, a National Basketball Association team, being sold and now moving to Oklahoma City, as you can read in this Seattle Times article.

Unfortunately a deal has been struck and the Seattle Supersonics are no longer going to be playing in Seattle. The former Sonics ownership group sold the team a few years ago to another group based out of Oklahoma City. The new ownership group has decided to move the team to Oklahoma City to play as a new team.

It is frustrating to see something that has been a large part of the Seattle culture and community just packed up and shipped to the Midwest. The final decision came yesterday as the City of Seattle agreed to settle out of court with the new ownership group on the move to Oklahoma City. The city did receive a substantial payout, but money does not replace what is being lost.

R.I.P. Sonics Basketball


Editor’s Note:
Brian Langhorst is LuxuryRealEstate.com’s Membership Manager. He meets members’ unique needs through the dynamic services LuxuryRealEstate.com provides. This whole situation is quite silly, in my opinion. It could have been easily avoided if everyone involved had simply been honest about their intentions from the start. The photo above is from www.flickr.com/photos/yannickcarer/426046468 and it is the copyright of Yannick Carer

By Jean-Yves Piton

History, the country of the Cathars, châteaux, sun, Mediterranean, Pyrenees, good food, vines, Canal du Midi and enjoyment of life? All of this is in the Aude. Straddling the Black Mountains, the Pyrenees, the plains of the Lauragais and the Mediterranean Sea, the Aude – a section of the Languedoc Roussillon region – has more than 310,000 inhabitants spread over 6,200 square kilometers. With its exceptional climate, varied countryside and fascinating history, the country of the Cathars invites you to learn more about it.

Carcassonne
Carcassonne is the only town in Europe fortified by a double enclosure that is still inhabited. The oldest parts of it date back to the 6th century BC. This magnificent fortress has been classed as an UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997 and is without doubt the most beautiful jewel in the south of France. 2,500 years of history to be discovered...

Today, the best way to visit Carcassonne is to wander up and down its little streets and, even better, to do so with a guide. There are, however, certain sights which shouldn’t be missed: the Basilica of Saint Nazaire, begun in 925 AD and completed in the first half of the 12th century; the château, built in the 12th century by the Trencavel family, Viscounts of Carcassonne; the Porte Narbonnaise, the gateway recognizable by its two huge towers in the shape of a spur; and finally the Lices (Lists), the area between the two enclosures which used to slope up the hill but was leveled in the 13th century.

The Canal du Midi
14 years to build, 15,000 workmen, 350 works of art (bridges, locks...), 240 kilometers long, this is the work of Pierre Paul Riquet, who began in 1663 in the reign of Louis XIV. The Canal Royal du Languedoc, today called the Canal du Midi, was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. It was built to link the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and is an exceptional architectural achievement to be enjoyed on boat cruises, cycling along the tow-path or simply strolling in the shade of the 300-year-old plane trees.

Medieval sites
There are a multitude of medieval sites to visit in the Aude. From Cathar castles to abbeys, from fortified villages to underground caves, not to mention churches and museums – all bear witness to the area’s rich and varied history.

The Mediterranean
As soon as the sun arrives, the Mediterranean awaits you just 60 kilometers away. You can spend the weekend or even longer on some of the most beautiful beaches in the “Golfe du Lion” either via the motorway or the very pretty road through the Corbieres.

The Pyrenees
The ski resorts of the Pyrenees are just over an hour away. These resorts are just as beautiful in the summer as they are in the winter. In addition to skiing, they offer snowshoe walking, sleigh rides, horse riding, fishing, climbing and rafting.

The Aude
The Aude is also an important wine-making area, producing a wide variety of very different appellations.

First, the oldest sparkling wine in the world (dating back to 1531) is Blanquette de Limoux, using Mauzac, Chardonnay and Chenin grape varieties. It is aged in bottles and is drunk as an aperitif or at the end of a meal.

The vineyards of Limoux also produce a fabulous Chardonnay. A large festival called “Toques et Clochers” takes place each year around mid-April. Some of the greatest chefs and vintners in the world come to this to buy oak barrels of the Chardonnay at auction. The profits from this go towards restoring local church towers (clochers).

The Corbières, with its narrow valleys cutting through the hilly landscape, is home to many well-known wine producers. Its reputation dates back to the time of the Roman occupation and its wines are full-bodied and spicy. They improve with age.

The Minervois is one of the oldest Mediterranean wine areas. Its name comes from the ancient city of Minerve, a Roman stronghold built in honor of the Goddess of Wisdom. Its wines range from the exceptional Muscat de Saint Jean de Minervois, to be drunk with “foie gras” or as an aperitif, to steely whites to accompany seafood and reds and roses to go with barbecues and main courses, and even “cassoulet” for the more spicy wines.

Fitou is a very dense area on the edge of the Mediterranean that produces full-bodied wines with flavors characteristic of the most famous “grands crus.” Wines to be kept and to accompany richer dishes.

Cabardès, on the chalky slopes of the south face of the Black Mountains, combines Cabernet, Merlot, Cot, Syrah and Grenache grape varieties. These wines are known for their aromatic complexity and balance.

And finally the Malepere, a wild area of stony terraces and gentle hillsides, produces wines that are strong, supple and generous with flavors of vanilla and red fruits. Merlot, Cabernet, Grenache and Syrah are combined to make wines to accompany red meats, cheeses and casseroles.


Editor’s Note:
Jean-Yves Piton is the Global Services Membership Manager for LuxuryRealEstate.com. He assists Bente Madtsen, the Director of Global Services, in expanding the LuxuryRealEstate.com brand into even more countries around the world. Wow, this is a long blog entry. There are lots of great details in here about southern France. R. Chayla Immobilier is a member of LuxuryRealEstate.com located in Carcassonne, France.

By Robert Lockard

I’d like to talk about a topic that is not necessarily a pressing matter for people buying luxury real estate, but which I still find very important: Debt. It is very sad to me to see so many people struggling with the enormous burden of debt.

I recently read a wonderful editorial in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer entitled “The great seduction,” in which author David Brooks points out the astonishing truth about debt. Brooks notes that for the past 30 years Americans have forgotten our noble heritage of frugality and living within our means. We have even forgotten the lessons of the Great Depression that we should not overextend ourselves on credit.

I have heard people argue that easy credit is a good thing because it leads to additional economic growth and a wealth of new capital to expand business operations and ventures. I politely disagree. Yes, debt gives us more money in the short term to grow, but it is a false growth based upon a false sense of stability.

Debt has a way of perpetuating itself. Years ago, homebuyers paid off their home loans as quickly as possible because they understood the disadvantages of being indebted and paying interest. However, now we are encouraged to stay in debt and use our unpaid-for assets as leverage to go into even more debt.

I am not desirous to abolish all debt because it serves a useful purpose in moderation. But I would like to see debt portrayed as less of a convenience and more of an obligation and hardship that should not be undertaken lightly.

Many people who declare bankruptcy do so after facing unexpected medical issues, job loss or other life-changing events. I think that people are smart and that they can make it through these tough times if they are prepared. But many of us are not saving money and we are drowning in ever-growing debt.

I want to see this change. No matter if you are rich, poor or somewhere in between, simply living within your means will help you avoid the unhappiness and stress of living in debt.

The above picture is from www.anxietyculture.com/debt.htm.


Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with LuxuryRealEstate.com. I am Robert. I create all of Luxury Real Estate’s newsletters, write the editorials in LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine and much more. Feel free to share your thoughts on what can be done about this sad issue. I definitely think that people are smart and I hope that we will figure out a solution to this problem.

By Robert Lockard

“Do you ever stop smiling?” One of my neighbors asked me that question on Monday, June 2, 2008 while I was walking back home from my mailbox after I got home from my job at Luxury Real Estate. I was pleasantly startled by the question because it was asked by the young woman before me in a slightly exasperated way, as though it had been building inside of her for some time. She said that she has seen me on numerous occasions walking nearby and I always have a smile on my face. She found herself worrying that I was either hiding something or crazy.

I assured her that neither is the case and that I most assuredly do stop smiling from time to time. Looking back, I wish that next I would have pointed out that I find much to smile about in life and I try to just prepare for hard times and then not let bad things or hurtful words cause me to be unhappy, bitter or unforgiving. But what actually came out of my mouth was, “I guess I’m just a happy-go-lucky kind of guy.” That’s not strictly true because I do strive to plan and live wisely instead of just throwing caution to the wind, but I am most certainly happy.

Despite my less-than-profound answer, the young woman said that she was glad that I was happy because when she sees me smiling she often feels a desire to smile, as well. I like sharing happiness with other people, even if it’s completely by accident, so I was filled with joy to hear that and I smiled even more. I thanked her for stopping me and telling me all of this. Then I introduced myself so I wouldn’t be a stranger and she introduced herself. I love making new friends.

I bring this up because I read an interesting article in CNN on the same day as this experience, entitled “Want to be rich? Don’t get too happy.” I was fascinated by this article because, according to its findings, people who claim to be perfectly happy and content are not usually as successful as people who are somewhat less happy. I personally find it a bit questionable to try to quantify happiness since everyone’s definition is probably slightly different and there’s no clear way to delineate between the different numbers on a 1-10 scale. Also, I’m sure that a person’s answer would change on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis.

For the purposes at hand, though, I’ll just push these objections aside for the moment and talk about something interesting I find from the results. People who rated their happiness as 10 out of 10 on the scale were less likely to be as successful as moderately happy people. Also, perfectly happy people were less likely to save money or plan ahead for hard times, while less-happy people exercised a bit more protectiveness and foresightedness. I think that if the survey takers were to check up in the next few months or years on the people who claimed to be perfectly happy, they would find that their happiness wouldn’t always last.

Life has a way of pulling the rug out from under us when we get too comfortable. I apologize if I sound too pessimistic. I just want people to be wise and not be too unhappy all the time or too happy if their happiness is based upon a false hope. I recommend living wisely so that we can be very happy but never perfectly content to stay the way we are. I want to always grow and so I do not intend to be perfectly happy in my current state. However, if I worry too much about my imperfections or desire to grow too quickly, I will probably waste time and energy being miserable or sorry for myself. I prefer being happy for a long period of time by making small improvements each day. Out of small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

Do I ever stop smiling? Of course I do. But the trick is that I start smiling again and again.


Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with LuxuryRealEstate.com. I am Robert. I create all of Luxury Real Estate’s newsletters, write the editorials in LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine and much more. Feel free to let me know what you think of this story and how you feel about your success and happiness.

By Allyson Metters

Like many of my friends, the most important thing in a home for me is the kitchen – not that I am a great cook, but there is something about that room that appeals to me. Every time I see a property listing, I always take a look through the photos for the kitchen shots.

According to an article entitled “What Luxury Looks Like in the New Kitchen and Bath” in Custom Builder magazine, multiplicity is a trend in luxury kitchens – multiple islands, sinks, appliances – even multiple kitchens.

The article also covers luxury trends for master baths – including showers equipped with steam, sound therapy, and aroma therapy.


Editor’s Note:
As she mentioned, Allyson Metters is the Relocation Manager for LuxuryRealEstate.com. She helps people who are moving to find a perfect broker to meet their needs in their new area. Allyson makes an interesting point about amenities and what people are looking for in a luxury home. Keep an eye on changing tastes.

By Robert Lockard

After taking more than 400 fabulous photos at the 6th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat in April, Ilya Moshenskiy, the Principal Photographer of Ilya Estate Photography, is showing off his versatile talents in another field. On the left is a recent photo he took at Salty’s Seafood Restaurant in Seattle. The dessert is called the Ooey Gooey Ice Cream Sandwich.

It’s quite amazing that, in addition to his talents as a real-estate photographer, Ilya is also able to take world-class photos of gourmet food. To take advantage of Ilya’s expert services, contact him at ilya@ilyaestate.com.


Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with LuxuryRealEstate.com. I am Robert. I create all of LuxuryRealEstate.com’s newsletters, write the editorials in LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine and much more. You can see all of Ilya’s photos of the 6th Annual Spring Retreat here.

By Scott Rudolph

…Are meant to provoke, stimulate, to encourage investigation and generally challenge our conventional thinking. The “buzz” cultivated with a healthy provocative statement generates dialog and creative thinking. So I appreciate a good provocative statement. Each year, EDGE.org's John Brockman asks a new provocative question and the world’s intellectuals contribute. Ben Stein, our recent guest speaker, often writes provocative statements and he significantly contributed to a provocative new film entitled “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.”

Maybe Cyril Moulle-Berteaux, a writer for The Wall Street Journal, enjoys them too, judging by his recent opinion piece titled “The Housing Crisis is Over.”  All this being said, I think there should be some fundamental ground rules. I suggest that before we make a provocative statement we analyze:

• The consequences of the statement
• What the benefits would be
• What special circumstances would make it a sensible solution
• The principles needed to support it and make it work
• How it would work moment-to-moment
• What would happen if a sequence of events was changed

By Jean-Yves Piton

Today’s real estate marketplace is most definitely more technology-driven worldwide. This fact became even more evident during the Technology Roundtable held at the 6th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat in San Diego. Top brokers in the luxury real estate industry are now seeking for more tools to become more productive and effective vis-à-vis their top competitors.

Here is an example: You never stepped into the agency today. You have already received many text messages from prospective buyers you need to follow up with this morning. Your property buyers located your ads on LuxuryRealEstate.com. They were able to view both photos and virtual tours of the properties they saw and liked. They also connected with you a few times via LiveChat on your PDA.

You have already called your clients back and all of your appointments are scheduled on your PDA phone. You are bringing along with you both your laptop and a data card to ensure you are able to share all the needed electronic documents, in case you need them. You have completed numerous successful property visits today. You are calling your 1-800 line to check any voicemails left at the office by any possible home buyers. Luckily, your Bluetooth headset allows you to do so while driving your car to another property.

You beat traffic since you are guided by your GPS. Before your client arrives, you have plenty of time to check the latest industry news on the LuxuryRealEstate.com Webzine, read blog entries on the LuxuryRealEstate.com Blog and educate consumers about market news on your blog. Time to see if you have received any signed contracts via your efax in your email inbox. While at it, you might as well update your customer database regarding today’s activities and before you forget.

Does this sound familiar?

Clearly, in order to gain a competitive edge and increase sales, it is critical to embrace new technologies in the new real-estate era.


Editor’s Note:
Jean-Yves Piton is the Global Services Membership Manager for LuxuryRealEstate.com. He assists Bente Madtsen, the Director of Global Services, in expanding the LuxuryRealEstate.com brand into even more countries around the world. Indeed, technology is bringing us new capabilities and expectations. We need to react quicker, think faster and be ready to meet clients’ changing needs. This is a time of incredible challenges and opportunities. The picture above is from www.dougbelshaw.com/tag/meetings.

By Meghan Barry

Saturday, May 3, 2008 was the 22nd Annual Windermere Cup Regatta in Seattle, also called Opening Day, which is a celebration of the official opening of boating season in Seattle (Although the most-hearty have already been on the water for months!).

This prestigious event attracts the boating and rowing community, including local yacht clubs, rowing clubs, prep schools and universities, as well as many local spectators. International competitors are invited each year – this year the Polish National Team, University of Melbourne, and the U.S. Naval Academy were on the list of those invited to compete.

Windermere Real Estate sponsored the event. Like many real-estate firms, Windermere supports this event as a vehicle to get involved with the community and to market their company to a particular niche – those involved with boating and rowing in the Seattle area and beyond, which is often a fairly affluent group.

Two members of the Luxury Real Estate staff, Meghan Barry (Lake Washington Rowing Club) and Jill Chan (Pocock Rowing Center) participated in the event. See footage of their race here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FgvKv-a-Mg.


Editor’s Note:
Meghan Barry is the Executive Vice President of LuxuryRealEstate.com. She works closely with CEO/Publisher John Brian Losh to organize a variety of Luxury Real Estate programs, events and services. Spring time is great, isn’t it? While the weather was a bit rainy on Saturday, it’s still nice be able to get out and enjoy the water and wind. It was also quite smart of Windermere Real Estate to sponsor this event in order to be involved in the community and gain some excellent attention with such a high-profile event.

By Robert Lockard

On Saturday, April 25, 2008, my younger brother and I decided to make a rare visit to our local movie theater to watch a film we both felt a great desire to see. That movie was “Expelled,” a documentary starring and co-written by the great actor and economist Ben Stein. In addition to starring in this movie, Mr. Stein actually had some incredible insights that he shared on the current luxury real estate market at the 6th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat in San Diego two weeks ago. He is an incredibly brilliant man in a variety of fields.

I really enjoyed this movie. It brings up so many interesting points that I’ve often considered. It basically encourages us to keep an open mind and not close our hearts to true concepts, even if they present new challenges. I highly recommend this film to everyone who would like a balanced perspective on life.

One key idea I took away from this film has to do with something said at the Spring Retreat, which Staci Colville quoted in her April 24, 2008 blog entry. Patricia Hoferkamp, President and CEO of Burgdorff, Realtors ERA, led a breakout session entitled “A Culture of Service." During this session, she said, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

How interesting. Selfishness is not as effective as we might think when it comes to being successful. Caring for those who are weaker than us is quite preferable to our consciences than taking advantage of them.

I find it ironic that we live in a society bombarded with the idea of “survival of the fittest” being the rule, and yet we go to great lengths to help our weak and lift up the downtrodden.

For example, yesterday morning I was on the bus going to work and at one stop, a woman in a wheelchair was waiting at the front of a long line of people waiting to get on the bus. I don’t think that she was the first to arrive, but no one cried foul when she went straight to the front of the line.

The bus driver lowered a lift so that the woman could roll onto it and then be lifted into the bus. The process took more than a minute. Then the bus driver, who was elderly, slowly rolled up five seats so that they would not be available for regular bus riders to use in order to make room for a single wheelchair. The bus driver took a few minutes to properly strap the woman in. She had trouble with the seatbelt and I was sitting nearby so I was able to get it loose for her and help a little.

While all of this was taking place, the people outside the bus patiently waited in the cold morning air, waiting to enter the warm bus and get to their destinations.

None of this was selfish. The scene was filled with inconvenience for dozens of people to offer this bit of kindness and convenience to one person. Despite the seeming injustice of this all, there is actually nothing unjust about it. There is something profoundly right about it.


Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with LuxuryRealEstate.com. I am Robert. I create all of LuxuryRealEstate.com’s newsletters, write the editorials in LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine and much more. Yesterday was my birthday and I started writing this blog then. I love kindness. I hope that we will all have soft hearts and be able to accept truth. Be sure to check out Ben Stein’s movie “Expelled”!