Luxury Real Estate

By Brian Langhorst

Each year some of the best tennis players in the region and country come to the Seattle Tennis Club on the shores of Lake Washington for the 118th Washington State Open.

John Brian Losh and the Ewing & Clark – Our Distinctive Home Shop team have been one of the headline sponsors for this notable event for over 10 years. Jane Powers, Betsy Losh and John Brian Losh all very much enjoy being a part of the Seattle and Madison Park communities. Together, they sponsor several key events throughout the year.

Editor’s Note:
Brian Langhorst is LuxuryRealEstate.com’s Membership Manager. He meets members’ unique needs through the dynamic services LuxuryRealEstate.com provides. There are so many positive events like this going on and I’m pleased to hear about all of them. Philanthropy should be an important part of every business that hopes to succeed. People recognize true kindness when they see it and I think it builds trust just as much trust and goodwill as successful track records and financial performance. Be sure to show how much you care!

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 Meghan Barry

As a Seattleite and lover of the bean, it is hard to ignore the recent changes at the Starbucks Coffee Company. In January, with their stock price in a freefall, Starbucks fired the current CEO and put Howard Schultz back at the helm. Starbucks is poised to take on another challenge. In a shot across the bow, McDonald’s will start offering lattes (Note the blatant nautical references… I read Moby Dick). McDonald’s is even offering free small lattes during breakfast hours in the Seattle market this month.

Although this has nothing to do with “luxury real estate,” it has everything to do with a concept everyone in the real-estate world is familiar with – cost vs. value and what boutique services are really worth.

Starbucks is the boutique brokerage firm, McDonald’s is the commission-cutting broker. Starbucks charges $3-$4 for an espresso drink, McDonald’s charges $2-$3. Is the Starbucks experience really worth more? Are the green-apron-clad (and usually well-educated and overqualified) neighborhood baristas better than the minimum-wage-earning, polyester-donning McDonald’s staffers?

For more, visit www.unsnobbycoffee.com, and consider the fact that, no matter what, you usually get what you pay for.


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. Now here are some very interesting insights into the luxury real estate market or any market, really. Are consumers mainly interested in the best deal or do they care more about quality? Very interesting questions. What’s your answer to this conundrum?