Luxury Real Estate

Courtesy of Frederick Peters, President of Warburg Realty

My daughter returned home from a year long stint working in orphanages in Thailand and Vietnam on September 10, 2001. My wife was in Berkeley helping my brother get his kids organized for school while my sister in law was in the hospital. On the morning of the 11th I went to work, and agents began coming into my office urging me to turn on the radio as something unimaginable was going on. I did, and then we moved to the video screen in our conference room, tuned to CNBC. It seemed we had entered an alternate reality. My daughter called, totally disoriented, and said, “You have to come home.” I complied. I will never forget walking out of the office and onto Madison Avenue. There was not a single car in sight as I gazed downtown, but on the horizon smoke was billowing up toward the sky. New York, America, and the world were changed forever.

In the subsequent weeks, as all real estate activity ground to a halt and buyers, one after another, began to default on their contracts, I and all my colleagues had to contemplate our business going forward. What did it mean? What values underpinned it? The answer which emerged for me, and for Warburg, was surprisingly simple: we love New York.

Seeing our city wounded, and so many loved ones, including the son of one of our agents, lost, reinforced that love like nothing else. We were filled with admiration for the bravery of our police and firefighters. We mourned with all those who lost family and friends. We admired the way our arts organizations rose to the occasion with concerts and theater pieces celebrating and memorializing our city, its gifts and its losses. And we were filled with admiration for the indomitable quality of our neighbors, whose commitment to the city remained as strong or stronger than ever, who were not filled with despair, who rebuilt and rededicated themselves to a better world, with New York still at its vital center.

Over and over during those tragic and difficult first weeks I said to our agents “Forget about selling property for the time being. Our job in this crisis is to be the Chamber of Commerce for New York. Sell your love of the city – its glamour, its neighborliness, its cultural richness, its beauty (which seemed particularly poignant in the presence of the absence of the towers). “

Today, even in this time of economic uncertainty, that message remains compelling. The city is more beautiful and brilliant, more filled with food and fun, with art and architecture, with music and mystery, than it has ever been. And for me the message with which I walked away from that terrible day still resonates: in its diversity and cultural differences, in its striving, in its recovery, our city represents the best hope for a more tolerant, more peaceful world going forward. We live together here in raucous harmony. Why? Because we love New York.

CNBC.com used LuxuryRealEstate.com as a resource for a recent story featuring a slideshow of ‘Famous Family Estates for Sale’. Members featured included: Lion & Davis of South Burlington, Vermont, Hammond Residential Real Estate in Boston, Massachusetts, Pamela Cromey Real Estate in Tuxedo Park, New York, Mason Morse Real Estate in Aspen, Colorado, and Joyce Rey of Coldwell Banker Previews International in Beverly Hills, California. All but one of the companies mentioned are members of our network.

(Pictured: Governor Chittenden Homestead)

Courtesy of: LuxuryRealEstate.com

Katrina S. Campins, Founder of The Campins Company, is among the most visible and successful real estate professionals in the country. Headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida, with offices in Chicago and Maryland as well as a proprietary network of brokers called The Campins Clique Nationwide, Katrina’s sales production ranks her among the top ½ percent of realtors’ nationwide. She has been featured in numerous publications including recognition as Realtor Magazine’s ‘Top 30 Under 30’ in 2004, Forbes, USA Today, NY Post, NY Times, Sports Illustrated, Ocean Drive, ESPN, Player Magazine, Variety Magazine, the covers of People Magazine, US Weekly, In Touch an d many more. Katrina continues to leverage her media exposure to further her real estate career and build The Campins brand, thus providing exposure to her properties and clients. Katrina has and continues to appear on NBC, VH1, E!, HGTV, SITV, Topps TV, Fox News, CNN, CNBC, ESPN, MTV, BBC and starred in Bravo’s docu-drama, Miami Social.

Licensed at the age of eighteen, Katrina garnered her first six-figure commission check while still a college student. Katrina launched the Campins Company in 2004 and has constructed an ‘A’ list roster of clientele consisting of celebrities, athletes and entrepreneurs. She formed the Sports & Entertainment division within her company in 2005 in order to better service her celebrity clients with their real estate needs throughout the entire United States. Since 2005, Katrina has personally represented over 160 athletes and/or entertainers in this capacity. The Campins Company’s Project Marketing & Management Division has also sold over $100 million in four exclusive listings (three office condominium projects and one condo-hotel project) since its inception. In total her sales production exceeds $520 million since the launch of her company. Katrina’s business development prowess, negotiation skills, market knowle dge and no-nonsense, results-driven approach make her the powerhouse she has become at a young age.

Katrina graduated from the University of Miami with general honors and a 4.0 grade point average, while majoring in International Finance & Marketing. Her career in real estate began when she ‘flipped’ her first investment property at age seventeen. Katrina believes strongly in giving back to her community and is involved in several charitable organizations. Katrina, a first-generation Cuban-American is fluent in English and Spanish.

To learn more about Katrina Campins, visit her website. For more information on the 8th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat and other upcoming events, visit www.luxuryrealestate.com/conference.

Courtesy of: Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty

Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty won “The Best Real Estate Agency – Caribbean” at the International Residential Property Awards 2009 held in association with CNBC in San Diego Nov 12th. These awards are the property industry’s most prestigious awards programme dedicated to finding the best real estate professionals across the globe.

Having gained this high recommendation Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty is now entitled to display the Americas Property Awards’ logo with pride. This symbol of excellence will be recognized and appreciated by the public who are becoming increasingly well informed and discerning about the properties they seek to buy.

Entries were judged by a panel of 52 independent professionals whose collective knowledge of the property industry is second to none and unsurpassed by any other property awards. This year’s judges include Ben Wood, industry head property markets of Google UK; Peter Bolton King, group chief executive of the National Federation of Property Professionals; Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of the National House Building Council; Christopher Hall, president elect of FIABCI; Wilhelm Harnish, Master Builders of Australia (MBA); Thijs Stoffer, International Consortium of Real Estate Agents Association (ICREA); Helen Shield, editor-in-chief of International Homes magazine and Gillian Farr, head of design of Laura Ashley Home.

All in all, there were 36 different categories and only the top scoring winners from over 100 countries were nominated to represent the finest property companies from across globe.

Virginia Damianos, Vice-President of Damianos Sotheby’s International Realty said of winning the award, “In this increasingly competitive property market we are proud to be the recipient of this prestigious award. It reaffirms our company’s dedication to being nothing short of the best. It’s a very exciting honour after 65 years of hard work!”

By Melanie Magras of Sibarth Real Estate

At last there's some good news for the property market! The results of the CNBC Americas Property Awards 2008 in association with The New York Times have just been revealed during a glittering gala dinner which was held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on November 7. Christian Wattiau, managing partner of Sibarth Real Estate and Cécile Tiberghien, realtor, represented our team.

Sibarth Real Estate is delighted to announce that we have won the award « Best Real Estate Agency Caribbean 2008 » in the category of the Americas property awards » as well as a price as " Best Americas Real Estate Agency 2008 » at the international final.

Christian Wattiau said of the award, "Winning these awards is a symbol of great recognition of our teamwork. Our goal as realtors is to keep our clients' best interest at heart and to build a long term relationship based on confidence and trust.

These awards are a reflection of our leadership and success in St Barth over the past 30 years. This certainly pays tribute to our "passion for Excellence"!

I would like to express my gratitude to all of our clients who put their trust in us and who remain faithfull to us year after year."

By Iain Stewart

As recently reported by Nadine Hawa in her CNBC article “International Brands Eye Dubai Real Estate,” all eyes are on Dubai at this moment. In her article, Hawa notes that world-famous real-estate developer Donald Trump is particularly interested in “The Palm Jumeirah.” While many other international luxury brands are also seeking to build new luxury developments in Dubai, current new constructions, such as Verde Residences and Offices, are going totally green and present the most innovative eco-friendly technologies and amenities.

The Power of Green
Spanish for the color green, Verde symbolizes the very essence of life and all things living in perfect harmony with the elements. An expression that conjures up a sense of wellness and optimism for the future of our planet, Verde reinforces the eternal belief that making peace with nature is prerequisite to making peace in the world and finding peace within VERDE.

Verde – The Project
The next big thing in contemporary lifestyle, Verde elevates environmental consciousness to a whole new level. Towering over the clear blue skies of the world’s first purpose-built maritime centre that is Dubai Maritime City, Verde Residences and Offices are designed to achieve Gold Standard rating (LEED). It combines the best of luxury and green engineering to offer you a new investment opportunity in the most exciting freehold waterfront community in the heart of Dubai.

Like the prow of a ship, the elegantly curved glass tower that is Verde Residences points directly towards the harbor, enhancing its relationship to the ocean and marina, and its prominence within Dubai Maritime City. Masterfully designed to open up panoramic views to the ocean, Verde’s orientation and shape allows it to shield itself from the strongest solar gain yet harness the wind, and features an integrated wind turbine at its top, where wind speeds are the greatest.



Verde Residences
The 40-story residence tower includes luxurious 2- & 3-bedroom residential units and 4-bedroom deluxe harbor-side townhomes. With a swimming pool, kids’ pool, gymnasium and world-class retail and leisure facilities, Verde Residences offer a plethora of amenities that bring day and night alive.

Verde Offices
At the heart of Dubai Maritime City, the world’s first purpose-built maritime centre, Verde Offices set a new international standard for a high-performance building. Shaped to harness the power of natural forces, Verde Offices utilize advanced technologies and climate appropriate building systems to offer tenant profitability through increased productivity. With podium offices and the unique sky garden, Verde Offices offer various exercise and leisure spaces that are embellished with trees, plants and generous water features; an oasis that promises a respite within the confines of the high-end business experience.

The Location
Dubai Maritime City, the world’s first purpose-built maritime centre, is a 227-hectare, fully-equipped, iconic and multi-dimensional maritime centre providing a world-class infrastructure and environment for the global maritime industry and related sectors. Dubai Maritime City is driven by the needs of both local and international marine and maritime communities for a dedicated hub.

Located at the heart of Dubai, next to Port Rashid, Dubai Maritime City capitalizes on the strengths of Dubai as a regional and international hub for trade and commerce, redefining the global maritime industry. It will provide a strategic location for the maritime industry sectors across the full spectrum of maritime business, maritime management, maritime services, maritime retail and recreation, maritime education and research, ship and yacht repair and maintenance.

Green Technology
Buildings can have a profound effect on the environment, and the way we live our everyday lives. And Green Building brings to life the philosophy that architecture must strike a balance with its environment. It is the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings use resources – energy, water and materials, while reducing the building’s impact on the environment through better site planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance. Verde, like a classic Green Building, takes advantage of renewable resources, through solar hot water, photovoltaic cells, a grey water system, and an efficient glass facade with integral shading devices, to name a few of the techniques to achieve not only ecological but aesthetic harmony between a structure and its surrounding environment, natural and constructed. The triumph of Green Building practices and sustainable systems in Verde can reduce electricity usage and carbon emissions to such an extent that it is as good as planting over 300,000 trees or taking 340 cars off the road.


Editor’s Note:
Iain Stewart is the Luxury Specialist at Whole World of Property. He is a highly respected figure in the international property industry, specializing mostly in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London, Berlin, Caribbean, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and India. He can be contacted at +44 (0)207 788 7994 or +44 07910 891 917. This is great – a blog entry on Dubai just after we heard from an expert on another city rising in international importance, Marrakech, Morocco. It’s great to see so many Luxury Real Estate members enjoying success in their global markets

By Janice Ridge

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in a CNBC interview said that although the U.S. economy has been struggling, we are coming closer to the end of the current credit crisis. He believes progressive signs of credit and market stabilization are evident and the markets are considerably calmer than they were in March.

In defense of the housing industry, speculators and investors bear little responsibility for record high oil prices. In the CNBC interview he stated, “This is not about blame, this is about supply and demand. All the research we have done shows that speculators and investors have had very little impact on this.” Traders and longer-term investors tend to take positions on both sides of oil market transactions, long and short, thus being essentially price receivers rather than price setters.

Do you agree with Mr. Paulson’s assessment of the situation? If the current run-up in oil prices is not the fault of investors then who is to blame or is it even worthwhile to find someone to blame?


Editor’s Note:
As the Director of Membership at LuxuryRealEstate.com, and herself a licensed REALTOR®, Janice Ridge is devoted to coordinating the efforts of all of the LuxuryRealEstate.com Membership and Account Managers, so that each of our members is given superior service. This is definitely a hot topic at the moment because all of our lives are directly affected by credit and fuel problems, which both affect the real-estate market. There might not be an easy answer to the questions raised in this blog entry, but hopefully we can generate some useful discussion and get a variety of perspectives.