Luxury Real Estate

Courtesy of Diane Storey of Harry Norman, REALTOR^®

ATLANTA, GEORGIA — The Cobb Preservation Foundation is still looking for an individual to buy the historic Cheney-Newcomer House located on Powder Springs Road. “If you’re a preservation-minded person you will not find a better place because it is all original…the floors, the walls, the doors, everything” said Harry Norman, REALTOR^® and listing agent, Johnny Sinclair.

Built in 1856, the house served as the headquarters of Union Major General John M. Schofield, who commanded Ohio forces during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain June 22-30, 1864. While General Sherman suffered a tactical defeat at Kennesaw, Schofield achieved success in the battle, attacking the Confederates left flank. Even today, you can still see the remains of the old road bed that Union soldiers marched on located just in front of the house.

The home’s exterior is in pristine, fully restored condition, while the interior has remained untouched. “It’s time to update with a new kitchen, new bathroom, HVAC system, we recognize that” said Sinclair. “To us, the best owner is one who’s going to live in it and love it.”

For more information on the home e-mail Johnny Sinclair at johnny.sinclair@harrynorman.com, or call him at 770-605-4755.

About Harry Norman, REALTORS^®

Founded in 1930, Harry Norman, REALTORS ^® is one of Atlanta’s first and most successful residential real estate firm with 12 sales offices, various franchise and satellite offices and more than 1,000 real estate professionals. Harry Norman, REALTORS ^® is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. Harry Norman, REALTORS ^® is the exclusive Atlanta affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate and achieves additional international exposure through membership in such exclusive real estate networks as Luxury Portfolio International, Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®. More information is available at www.harrynorman.com.

Courtesy of Frederick Peters, President of Warburg Realty

As everyone who lives here knows, anyone who wishes to buy in a co-op building in New York must follow an admissions process akin to that for a private club. Reference letters and detailed financial disclosure are required. What people don't know is that sometimes, when a Board is not enthusiastic about an applicant, they express this lack of enthusiasm through delay. Two months, three months go by without either a rejection or a request for an interview. Maybe additional documentation is requested at some point. But it can be a period during which both buyer and seller are held captive. In a rising market like this one, it is a terrible disadvantage to the buyer, for whom similar apartments may soar out of reach while he is waiting for a Board decision. In a declining market like the one we were in four years ago, it is the seller who loses out. If the buyer is not approved, the apartment has diminished in value during the process and the longer the time, the greater the loss.

Early last week I testified before the City Council about this issue. My colleagues Pam Liebman from Corcoran and Michael Bisordi from Tungsten Properties joined me in addressing issues pertaining to Intro 188, the recently re-introduced bill which would both create timing deadlines for co-op Board deliberations regarding prospective buyers and compel Board members to attest that they practiced no illegal discrimination in the process. Our testimony went entirely to the first issue: timing. We all three think some timing parameters are a good idea.

Creating intelligent time parameters for co-op Boards (and condo Boards, which are at least as guilty if using delay to signal displeasure) hurts no one. Instead, it creates clarity for all parties. Buyers, sellers, and Boards would all know exactly what the parameters are. The requirements would be clear, and the amount of time the Board would have to deliberate after receiving a complete package would also be clear. Intro 188 suggests 45 days, which sounds like plenty of time to me. And I was a co-op Board president for many years, so I know that time frame is not onerous. And the time period would be longer in the summer.

The illegal discrimination part of the bill seems more problematic to me. First, New York City has the broadest fair housing laws in the country, with a long list of protected categories. I am certain the majority of co-op Board members do not even know what the protected categories are, or that co-ops are subject to the same fair housing rules as every other type of residence. Second, why discriminate against co-op Boards? Surely if the Council is concerned about adherence to fair housing guidelines, landlords are the place to start, since the vast majority of New Yorkers live in rental housing, and there are no such requirements for landlords.

While I understand that ignorance of the law is no defense, I think education is more likely to be effective for co-op Board members than legislation. Mandating that every Board member must receive, at least annually, a list of fair housing protected categories and anti-discrimination information seems like a far more effective solution to me.

I do not believe the proposed anti-discrimination requirements would actually lead to greater transparency. But it would certainly make people a lot more reluctant to serve on co-op Boards!

You can read more on www.warburgrealty.com/blog.

Courtesy of Brad Johnson of Gulf Coast International Properties

NAPLES, FL - Gulf Coast International Properties had their 'Spring Soiree' at 2281 Snook in Royal Harbor this past Saturday to celebrate the end of season. With more than 100 people in attendance, clients and friends were able to enjoy music, hors d'oeuvres and more at this breathtaking brand new Florida Cottage style home by Foresite Homes. This 4 bed, 6 bath gem boasts high end finishes throughout and incredible waterfront views over Naples Bay. For more information on this home or Naples luxury real estate, please contact Tim Savage, Principal, at 239-821-7576 or tim@gcipnaples.com for more information.

ABOUT GULF COAST INTERNATIONAL PROPERTIES

GCIP is the #1 selling luxury real estate boutique in Southwest Florida. With more than $250m in closed sales last year with merely 15 agents, we continue to deliver client exceptional results across Naples' luxury markets. We offer an unrivaled combination of service, integrity and luxury experience that delivers to our clients the very best experience to our buyers and sellers. To learn more about our firm, please feel free to contact us at 239-434-2558 or visit us online at www.gcipnaples.com anytime. Live Exceptionally.

Courtesy of Frederick Peters, President of Warburg Realty

In my first quarter market report a few weeks ago, I noted the almost unprecedented lack of inventory in the Manhattan and Brooklyn real estate markets, and the havoc that shortage has been wreaking in the lives of buyers in particular. In the April 22 issue of New York Magazine, Jhoanna Robledo’s “Intelligencer” article reports on the same phenomenon. (To read my report and Jhoanna’s article, see links below.) She notes, accurately, that high six and low seven figure two bedroom apartments from Fort Greene to Bed-Stuy to the Upper West Side all attract vast crowds and command multiple offers, often above the asking price. What Jhoanna does not write about, however, is those areas of the market which are NOT so hot. Increasingly we agents see a market segmented by price and location, but not in the way most buyers and sellers might anticipate.

Michael Vargas, the head of Vanderbilt Appraisal Company, recently circulated a most interesting chart about Manhattan inventory absorption rates for the first quarter of 2013.

The absorption rate is determined by taking the average number of units closing per month (today in Manhattan it is about 900) and dividing that into the total number of units on the market (today that is about 4600.) That means you have just a little more than five months’ worth of inventory currently available. In most markets six to eight months is considered equilibrium, so there is no question but that, as Jhoanna points out and any real estate agent in New York or Brooklyn can tell you, demand exceeds supply.

The chart becomes interesting, however, when you look at the different price points. As you can see, demand exceeds supply all the way from 0 to $3 million dollars. This gibes precisely with what we are seeing in the marketplace. In particular, the 2 bedroom apartment market all over Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn is on fire. Fifty buyers are lined up at the entrance to a building waiting for an Open House to begin. Offers pour in after only a couple of days on the market. And the same holds true for the less expensive three bedroom units. We have had several of these on the market in the past few weeks: pretty, modestly sized at 2000 square feet or less, available for under $3,500,000, which also generated a frenzy of activity.

But then something interesting happens. At $3 to $6 million, demand and supply are pretty much in equilibrium. What we see in the marketplace gives some color to this statistic: The top prewar apartments in this price point remain very much in demand, assuming the pricing is not too crazy. But if you head too far east, or too far north on the Upper East Side, suddenly there is inventory hanging around which seems reasonably priced but just does not move. This category of buyer, it seems, does not have too much location flexibility at these prices.

At $6 to $10 million, there is a fourteen month supply. One interesting fact: the higher you get in price, the clearer the divide becomes between the co-op and condo markets. Condo buyers, those from overseas in particular, do not seem to balk at the enormous numbers they are paying for the newest, snappiest condominiums. So that inventory continues to move quite briskly. At the same time, similarly priced co-ops often languish on the market; sellers often base their price expectations on condo sales but the co-op buyer, usually a local and almost always an American individual, tends to be more careful with her money. Thus many of the very highly priced units, especially those needing renovation, sit for months. So it is that the top price category in the Vargas report, $10 million and up, shows inventory supply of just under 20 months. It’s not that there are not buyers out there for these units. They just don’t want to pay what the sellers want.

I recently had lunch with a colleague who is a top agent at another firm. He tends to represent only the snappiest properties, and he was lamenting to me the fact that no one is coming to see or bid on them. To me it did not seem so surprising. They are big, they are by his admission a little overpriced, and they need some updating. I joked with him that if he could carve each of them up into a few two bedrooms units priced at $1,595,000 he could probably get 12 bids on each in the space of 72 hours. Empty nesters, young families, pied-a-terre purchasers, single professionals – they all seem to want two bedroom units. And there are just not enough to go around.

Link to My First Quarter Market Report
Link to Jhoanna’s New York Magazine Article
Link to Warburg Realty Blog Here

Courtesy of Summit Sotheby's International Realty

I read a really fun article in Forbes called “The Era of the $100 Million House” by Morgan Brennan. The article discusses the rise of $100 million homes for sale around the United States. Here are some qualities shared by these mega estates:

• Location- The home must be in an expensive zip code. Beverly Hills, Hillsborough, New York City, Miami, and Dallas all have listings in excess of $100 million.
• Size- The homes are typically larger than 10,000 square feet.
• Amenities- If you can conceive it, you can achieve it, given a large budget. These homes have amenities such as ballrooms, 50-seat home theaters, private nightclubs, spas, and tennis courts.
• Pedigree- Previous ownership by a famous person or if the home was the site of a famous event, is helpful.

We have a few such homes listed for sale right now in Park City. The Huntsman Estate, the Ski Magazine Dream home and the home of a very famous producer are all located in Deer Valley and available for under $50 million. Wow, what a deal!

Courtesy of Amy Plotkin of Surterre Properties

If you love to peruse gorgeous gardens for inspiration and appreciation, or simply want to support a great cause, stop by “Paws in the Garden” – the 5^th Annual Garden Tour hosted by The Ark of San Juan.

This Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., The Ark of San Juan – a non-profit organization dedicated to saving local lost and abandoned companion animals – invites you to tour four homes in South County, one of which is currently listed with Surterre’s own, Nedra Jenkins.

Located at 26201 Paseo Armonia in San Juan Capistrano, the beautifully appointed and completely turn-key, Jewel by the Sea offers the quintessential California living experience. With meticulously manicured lawns, garden and fruit trees — landscaped by award-winning expert Robert Graves — this luxurious residence proves as richly gorgeous as it is inviting.

To inquire about 26201 Paseo Armonia, please contact Nedra Jenkins at 949-533-8141 or njenkins@surterreproperties.com. You can also visit www.NedraJenkins.com.

To get tickets to “Paws in the Garden”, or for additional information about The Ark of San Juan, visit www.arkofsanjuan.org.

Courtesy of Harry Norman, REALTORS ^®

ATLANTA, GEORGIA—Former Atlanta Brave star centerfielder Andruw Jones has put his Sugarloaf Country Club home on the market with Harry Norman, REALTORS^® for $4.99 million.

The 2002 home includes nine bedrooms - including three master suites - 12 full baths, and three half baths. Additionally, the home features an indoor basketball court, double waterfall, putting green, elevator, and of course, a batting cage. The five-time National League All-Star listed his house in January.

The listing is held by Michelle Collins with Harry Norman, REALTORS^®, North Fulton office.

About Harry Norman, REALTORS^®

Founded in 1930, Harry Norman, REALTORS ^® is one of Atlanta’s first and most successful residential real estate firm with 12 sales offices, various franchise and satellite offices and more than 1,000 real estate professionals. Harry Norman, REALTORS ^® is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. Harry Norman, REALTORS ^® is the exclusive Atlanta affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate and achieves additional international exposure through membership in such exclusive real estate networks as Luxury Portfolio International, Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®. More information is available at www.harrynorman.com.

Courtesy of Amy Plotkin of Surterre Properties

Buy In Bulk

When buying items that you use daily or in large quantities, consider buying in bulk; you will save money and packaging. Consider splitting bulk purchases with neighbors or friends to get that savings but not the full quantity of the purchase.

Find Recycled Items

Look for products that contain or are packaged with post-consumer recycled materials whenever possible.

Use CFL Light Bulbs

When your incandescent light bulbs stop working, replace them with the new, energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) CFLs use two-thirds less energy than traditional incandescent light bulbs and last 10 times longer.

Get Reusable Bags

When going to the store, consider bagging your own groceries in cloth, reusable bags. Many stores sell reusable bags and charge to provide plastic grocery bags. If you decide to use plastic bags, remember to recycle them. Thousands of locations are available across the country.

Regulate the Temperature

In the summer, raise your thermostat two degrees. In the winter, lower your thermostat two degrees. You probably won’t notice the difference, at least until your utility bill arrives.

So Fresh, So Clean Air

Open doors and windows to let the fresh air in; indoor air quality is often times worse than the air outside. Open doors and windows daily to circulate fresh air in and germs and smells out.

Upgrade Insulation

Adding insulation to prevent leaky ducts, walls, windows, and doors can improve your home’s energy draw by 20 to 30 percent. If totally redoing your insulation isn’t in your budget, try thermal shades, which block the sun in the summer and retain heat in the winter, or even something as low tech as a draft guard on your outside doors.

Compost Your Cup O’ Joe

Save your old coffee grinds and reuse them to fertilize indoor and outdoor plants.

Get a Home Energy Audit

Invest in an energy audit of your home. For minimal cost, you can get tips on where you could become more efficient.

Turn Off Water While Brushing Your Teeth

Turn off the tap while you brush those pearly whites. You’ll save up to eight gallons of water a day or 2,880 gallons a year. If everyone in the U.S. did this, we’d save 875 billion gallons of water a year.

Invest in Light Sensors

Installing light sensors in all your rooms means that when people leave, the lights go out, and you save energy and cash.

Shop Local

Buying locally produced meat, produce, and dairy products helps the environment in many ways, and also helps the local economy. Consider shopping at farmer’s markets or looking for foods labeled “locally grown” in specialty stores.

Replace Old Shower Heads

Your old shower head probably delivers a lot more water than you really need. Reduce that to two-and-one-half gallons a minute or less with today’s standard shower head – it can make a difference in your water bill.

Sign Up for Green Electricity

More than half of all electricity consumers in the U.S. now have the option of purchasing green power from their utility. Find out how you can buy it by visiting the Department of Energy’s state-by-state list of providers. You can also check with your own utility to see what’s available.

Plant Native

Already adapted to local conditions, native plants are easy to grow and maintain, generally requiring less fertilizer and water, as well as less effort to rein in pests.

Lease Solar Panels

Companies are now offering solar leasing programs that allow you to avoid thousands of dollars in installation costs, in exchange for sharing the cost-savings on your electric bill.

To learn more about Surterre Properties and their environmental efforts, visit www.SurterreProperties.com.

Courtesy of Frederick Peters, President of Warburg Realty

Without fail, I have the same conversation with every new Warburg agent after they have spent about a year in the business. They say to me, “I had no idea it would be so hard.” Well, I knew it would be hard! When I interview prospective hires, I try to warn them. Success in residential real estate requires a multi-faceted approach. A number of skill sets must be developed simultaneously. Nonetheless, newbies tend to project their own romantic notions onto the business: they will be earning six figures in no time; they will show fabulous properties and collect big checks. And all the while, they will be making their own schedule.

The reality they discover is substantially different. Despite our extensive internal training, there is still a very steep learning curve. New agents must get to know the inventory, which is extensive, diverse, and filled with subtle yet significant distinguishing characteristics. They must learn (and they can only learn by experience) the processes involved in shepherding a sale from its inception to its closing. Their first deal falls through. Their second deal falls through. Maybe they are fortunate enough to assist a senior broker, thus accelerating their experience and receiving some mentoring. And all the while they are trying to figure out how to generate a steady stream of their own clients and customers.

For all agents (and for everyone in sales everywhere) success at creating a pipeline of future business determines the arc of your career. Your skills, important as they are, are only meaningful if you have someone on whom to deploy them. Successfully developing your sphere of influence, and making that sphere work for you, are the critical elements to building a sales career. Like charm, if you have it, nothing else matters. And if you don’t have it, nothing else matters!

In every interview, I say to the eager person across the desk from me, “Everyone you know knows someone else in real estate. So why are they going to hire you?” Mostly I am met with a blank stare. But this is the crux of the matter. Who do you know, and how can they help you generate leads?

Here’s what I have learned about creating business: you have to ask for it. You have to overcome your feeling that it is crass, or embarrassing, or too aggressive. You have to cultivate people everywhere you go. You have to know the business well enough so that you can talk about it knowledgeably whenever it comes up (and in New York, it ALWAYS comes up.) You have to have cards with you at all times. You need a broad enough economic perspective so you can help prospective clients put their contemplated transaction into a larger financial and global context.

You have to accept that, more often than not, the people closest to you will break your heart. Your brother, or your stepmother, will buy through someone other than you. Your best friend will hire you, then complain about everything you do. I figured out early on that people in my second circle of influence, the friends of friends, the referrals I knew slightly, were going to be the ones whose recommendations built my business. And I stay in touch with everyone, because only when I am top of mind and putting myself regularly before them are they likely to remember me when the moment to make a purchase or sale arrives. Best of all, over the years many of them have become friends.

Real estate in New York State has a very low bar for entry. But there is a high bar for success, and many people don’t make it. It takes years of cultivation, of dedication, often of frustration. You do make your own schedule: often 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.

When it works, it’s the best job on earth. It’s no surprise to me that Forbes recently noted, based on interviewing thousands of Americans, that real estate agents are the happiest of any workers. As an agent, your fate is in your own hands. After 5 or 6 years, you have the skills in your fingertips – at a certain point, pricing and Board package prep and financial review becomes like muscle memory. But no matter what, you always have to be out in the world, meeting people, making connections. Till the day you retire you are always feeding the pipeline.

You can read more on www.warburgrealty.com/blog.

Courtesy of John Daugherty Realtors

This is from a recent article by Cheryl P. Rose, Homes correspondent from the Houston Chronicle

"An eclectic neighborhood with a strong preservationist penchant, Boulevard Oaks is a group of 21 subdivisions near Rice University. Many of the homes are on the Historic Register and designed by some of Houston's finest architects.

"Boulevard Oaks residents are people who really appreciate older homes and established neighborhoods," said Kathy Wetmore, who has lived in the area for 25 years and is a real estate agent with John Daugherty, Realtors. "Not everyone appreciates old homes, but we live here for a reason. We are about restoration, rather than teardown.""

Click Here for link to Houston Chronicle article