Luxury Real Estate

 Courtesy of Kim Briscoe at Coldwell Banker Mason Morse

Aspen, Colorado. Coldwell Banker Mason Morse is pleased to announce that Brian Hazen, Previews International Specialist, has been selected as the exclusive marketing agent for the 67-acre Jigsaw Ranch in Aspen, Colorado... asking price is $47,500,000. The Jigsaw Ranch is owned by George I. and Mark Rosenthal whose holdings include Raleigh Studios, L.A.’s Sunset Marquis Hotel and Mailibu-based wine label Rosenthal Estates.

The Jigsaw Ranch is comprised of two separate parcels in the Castle Creek Valley, a stunning mountain contemporary residence on a 44-acre view estate listed at $33,500,000 and an idyllic creekfront residence on 23 acres listed at $19,950,000. This unique estate has not changed hands in 37 years. The Jigsaw Ranch is irreplaceable and represents a rare opportunity in today’s market.

Upper Jigsaw Ranch, or the main residence, is perched on a hillside among the aspen and pine, and was designed by world-renowned Charles Cunniffe Architects. This majestic retreat captures the pristine beauty of the Castle Creek Valley, nestled on 44 acres surrounded by manicured grounds and soothing waterfalls, with views toward Castle Creek. The expansive residence includes six bedroom suites, 6 baths, 4 powder rooms, a sophisticated wet bar and wine room, home theater, office, exercise room and other features too numerous to list. This includes a separate and private one bedroom, one bath gatehouse.

With dramatic irreplaceable creekfront location, the original River House truly embraces the outdoors and creekfront views. Accessed by a walking bridge over Castle Creek, this unique home was completely remodeled and renovated in the late 1990’s and features four bedrooms and 4.5 baths. Nearby, the Guest House includes 2 bedrooms plus loft, and 2 baths. A rustic and charming 1 bedroom, 1 bath Log Cabin is located on a private driveway. Soaring evergreens, landscaped grounds, peaceful pond with soothing waterfall and ‘island’ further highlight this rare and private creekfront estate.

“The setting so close to Aspen is absolutely breathtaking,” said Hazen. “Each property represents a unique find…one that cannot be replicated today’s Aspen marketplace. Access to the creekfront residence is over Castle Creek from a rustic walking bridge and highlights towering evergreens with beautiful landscaped grounds. While the stately and elegantly designed main house enjoys dramatic views over the entire Castle Creek valley, and Aspen Highlands ski runs. It’s an incredibly rare property”.

To learn more, contact Brian Hazen, Previews International Property Specialist with Coldwell Banker Mason Morse at 970.379.1270, email him at bhazen@rof.net or visit masonmorse.com.

The Coldwell Banker Previews International^® program has been a world leader in the marketing of luxury homes since 1933. The exclusive group of certified Coldwell Banker Previews Property Specialists make up more than eight percent of the Coldwell Banker sales professionals worldwide and participated in more than 13,500 transaction sides of homes priced $1 million or more in 2011. On average, Previews handles $70.1 million in luxury homes sales every day.

Coldwell Banker Mason Morse is an established leader in real estate in the Roaring Fork Valley. Established in 1961 with over 60 sales professionals, Coldwell Banker Mason Morse has been bringing buyers and sellers together for over fifty years. Coldwell Banker Mason Morse is a member of Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate and is the exclusive Regent in Aspen and Snowmass to LuxuryRealEstate.com. Coldwell Banker Mason Morse has four offices from Aspen to Glenwood Springs.

Spring has sprung and so has the Spring issue of the LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine.

To view the digital version, click here.

Bonus: click here to see our pristine 2 page spread in the Unique Homes Magazine.

Courtesy of: Dac Carver of Beacham & Company

ATLANTA - In the first quarter of 2010, Beacham & Company, REALTORS® was once again the top selling office in Buckhead and “In-town Atlanta” based on dollar volume of residential real estate sold.

The results for the first quarter come on the heels of Beacham & Company finishing 2009 as the top selling office in the three MLS areas (21, 23 and 132) that make up Buckhead and In-town Atlanta. 

In addition to being the top selling Buckhead real estate firm for the last 15 months, Beacham & Company is also the fastest growing among firms with at least $60 million in sales for the 12-month period ending March 31. Beacham & Company grew its market share by 43 percent from April 2009 to March 2010. The next closest competitor grew by just 13.7 percent.

According to Dac Carver, managing broker of Beacham & Company, the firm’s sales have been driven by a significant increase in the number of buyers who are working with Beacham & Company.

“Since the first of the year, we have seen a huge jump in the number of buyers entering the real estate market,” Carver said. “After many buyers postponed home purchases in 2009, the improving economy and attractive home prices have combined to entice buyers back into the market and send sales in Buckhead up 46 percent in the first quarter.”

Beacham & Company has benefited more than any other company from the increase in buyer activity, as the company’s share of transactions in which the firm represented a buyer increased 92 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Carver said many of the firm’s buyers have a relocation package or are foreign buyers who do business in Atlanta and have been lured by great real estate deals.

“Many large corporations told us in 2009 that they were postponing moves until 2010,” Carver said. “2010 is here and those companies are following through with their plans. We are fortunate to be working with many of them.”

Beacham & Company, Realtors® is a full service residential real estate firm located in Buckhead that specializes in the most affluent areas of Atlanta real estate. For more information about Beacham & Company, go to www.beacham.com or follow us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Atlanta-GA/Beacham-Company-REALTORSR/56262810063.

Courtesy of Ebby Halliday, REALTORS

DALLAS, TX (April 22, 2010) – As Part of its 65th anniversary year, the Ebby Halliday Companies recently launched a new luxury home magazine named Grand Vie: Luxury in Living to showcase high-end properties throughout the area to luxury buyers and sellers. Ebby Halliday is the luxury market leader, selling more million-dollar homes than any other company in North Texas.

“Grand Vie embodies luxury living as each issue presents some of the area's most incredible homes,” says Mary Frances Burleson, president and chief executive officer of the Ebby Halliday Companies. “Our inaugural spring edition is being distributed to approximately 30,000 of the finest homes in the area. And, with the explosion in online media, a state-of-the-art digital flip version is available at grandviemag.com, which anyone in the world can access.”

Highlighted in Grand Vie are more than 125 of the most exceptional properties currently on the market from Highland Park and Preston Hollow to Lakewood, Frisco and Southlake. Featured brands include Ebby Halliday, Realtors, Ellen Terry, Realtors and Dave Perry-Miller and Associates. Homes in Grand Vie are priced $750,000 and higher.

“The elegant design, gorgeous photography and consistent presentation of luxury properties will make an impact with buyers and sellers,” says Randall Graham, vice president and director of marketing. “The sales professionals representing these properties are luxury market leaders and share a passion for real estate. It's their experience, service, ethics and character, along with the finest resources, that create their undeniable competitive advantage.”

A Grand Vie preview party was held at Cole Haan in Highland Park Village in March. Attendees were given a sneak peak of the new magazine and enjoyed wine and exclusive discounts at Cole Haan.

For more information on Grand Vie Magazine: Luxury in Living, please visit grandviemag.com.

ABOUT EBBY HALLIDAY

Dallas-based Ebby Halliday, Realtors (ebby.com) is the largest independently owned residential real estate company in Texas and ranked 10th in the nation. The 65-year-old company, with approximately 1,600 sales associates and staff in 30 area offices, participated in nearly 13,000 property transactions in 2009, exceeding a sales volume of nearly $3.5 billion. Ebby Halliday is one of the oldest and most respected full-service residential real estate firms in the country, offering brokerage, leasing, mortgage and insurance services. In addition to Ebby Halliday, the company acquired Ellen Terry Realtors (ellenterry.com) in 1995, added Home Team Mortgage Company (yhtm.com) in 1996, Home Team Insurance (hometeamins.com) in 2003 and Dave Perry-Miller & Associates (daveperrymiller.com) in 2007. For more information on the company, please visit ebbyfamily.com.

Courtesy of: Amparo Fontenet of Fortune International Realty

Fortune International Realty. South Florida, April 9, 2010. Fortune International Realty is proud to announce the opening of their new state of the art Real Estate offices in Sunny Isles Beach and Weston. This expansion is an indication of the strength and future success of the real estate market in these areas.

“While Fortune International is currently the dominant and premiere real estate firm in markets such as Key Biscayne and Brickell, we believe that Sunny Isles deserves the same level of service and attention of those markets.” said Sales Director David Restainer.  The Sunny Isles Beach office features lush conference rooms, offices with ocean views, and a location directly across Collins Avenue to serve the residences at Jade Ocean and Jade Beach, which were envisioned and developed by Fortune International. 

The Weston branch has acquired a new ground floor retail space in a great location between Weston and Davie. The new office equips Fortune associates with state of the art facilities and the latest technology in order to provide the best real estate service to its clients.

Both new offices include a diverse group of real estate professionals that have displayed excellence throughout their careers with Fortune. The company is also in the process of recruiting additional industry experts to consolidate a team that continuously serves customers with the utmost professionalism and integrity.

By Candace Jackson of the Wall Street Journal

Art collector John Traina's landmarked San Francisco property—a converted 1893 firehouse once owned by former California Gov. Jerry Brown—has sold for $3.36 million, about 30% less than its original $4.85 million asking price in September 2007.

Mr. Traina is a retired maritime entrepreneur formerly married to novelist Danielle Steel, with whom he raised seven children. He bought the roughly 4,000-square-foot firehouse in a 2006 private sale. The Pacific Heights estate has three bedrooms, four baths and a guest house. The fire poles remain in the living room, and the original garage door opens into the great room, where fire trucks once parked.

Mr. Traina sold because he was spending most of him time at a Napa Valley ranch he owns, says Greg Lynn of Sotheby's International Realty, who shared the listing with Sotheby's Louis Silcox. Steven Mavromihalis of Pacific Union Real Estate, a Christie's Great Estates affiliate, represented the buyer, a local family.

Please click here to view the original article.

By Meghan Barry

We recently hosted a Webinar for the members of our network; this opportunity was led by our partners Ron & Alexandra Seigel of Napa Consultants, International. Here is a video summarizing what was discussed in the Webinar:

Buzz-Worthy Luxury Real Estate Website Design from The Language of Luxury on Vimeo.

Ron & Alexandra Seigel are the managing partners of Napa Consultants, International and the Community Founders of Language of Luxury, the fastest growing luxury real estate professional networking community on Linkedln. The Seigels help luxury real estate professionals out-think (not out-spend) their competition and become the "breakaway" brand in their marketplace. With a 20 year background as broker/owners of a commercial real estate firm in Beverly Hills, CA, their expertise is providing strategic insight, creative instinct, and artistic flair to those professionals who are interested in gaining or sustaining market leadership. Their services include: Personal & Company Branding, Web Design, & Social Media Marketing.

Courtesy of: Bob Melvin of Gasparilla Properties, Inc.

As the real estate market rebounds, Barron's selects the best places to buy second homes

Please click here for the full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704869304575109461496208030.html

By Valerie Kellogg of Newsday.com

"The Real Housewives of New York City" gave a shout-out last night to The Corcoran Group's Susan Breitenbach.

It took place when Jill Zarin and her husband, Bobby, were giving their daughter, Ally, a driving lesson in the Hamptons. "This is a great piece of land," Zarin says looking out the window. "Susan Breitenbach. I should call Susan."

Zarin sold her Sag Harbor home, shown here, in 2007, but worked out a deal to stay at the house for part of the summer for two years. Last summer, when last night's episode was taped, she stayed at Countess LuAnn de Lesseps' Bridgehampton house. "Can you imagine if we lived down the street from LuAnn?" Zarin asks as they drive around.

Asked about the scene, Breitenbach says Zarin gave her a heads up about it several days ago. Breitenbach says she sold Zarin's house to her in 2003 and later was the co-exclusive listing agent on the property when Zarin put it on the market.

So is Zarin working with Breitenbach to find a new place? "She's always looking," was all Breitenbach would say.

Newsday Photo, 2009 / Thomas A. Ferrara

Originally posted: http://www.newsday.com/classifieds/real-estate/real-li-1.812034/real-housewife-jill-zarin-plugs-hamptons-corcoran-agent-1.1807883

Courtesy of: Michel Cruz of RIMONTGÓ

When the first signs of the international financial crisis emerged in the second half of 2007 the Spanish property market had already been in a steady decline for a while. Not surprising, if you consider that almost a decade of feverish growth had led to a textbook case of an overheated market in which builders, buyers, sellers, investors and banks alike became accustomed to the kind of volumes that had never been seen before – and which would prove to be wholly unsustainable.

What followed the financial crisis and accompanying worldwide recession was, predictably, a sharp drop in property sales and prices in Spain as elsewhere. With a particularly overheated market and an oversupply of properties Spain, however, suffered more than most. The golden boy of the past ten years felt the chill winds of recession most acutely, and 2009 was an icy year indeed.

Sales figures

The return of value for money in a market where smart buyers can do very well.

The die was cast, and the year saw a further 27 per cent drop in real estate transactions in comparison with 2008, bringing the total decline in relation to 2007 – when 715,000 properties were sold – to 48 per cent. As we entered 2010, however, the decline seemed to have halted, bringing monthly sales levels to around 30,000, a figure generally regarded as the hollowing out of the market. From here on out, there should be a gradual increase over the next two years, driven above all by the return of value for money in a market where smart buyers can do very well.

Property prices

The overall impact on real estate has been a drop in prices ranging from a few per cent in some cases to over 50 per cent in more extreme examples. Those so-called distressed sales have received a lot of attention, though they represent just one of a rather diverse range of factors that combine to cloud the overall issue of property values in Spain.

As an overall average, prices have dropped by around 25 per cent from their highpoint in 2006/2007, yet look at individual markets – and sometimes even adjacent properties – and their asking prices may vary considerably. The reason is that while one person may not have the absolute need to sell and will therefore hold on to a higher asking price, another may have to sell very urgently and potentially at a loss.

On the whole, properties in less attractive locations, featuring poor construction and perhaps badly maintained urbanisations, suffer the greatest drop in demand, while quality homes in prime locations have maintained their market. It means that there is still a significant market if the product is right – and if the price is sensible. The demand for such real estate, by the way, is growing steadily, as investors and end-users regain their confidence in the Spanish property market and realise that now is the time to buy at future gains.

January 2010 saw average overall property prices in Spain rise for the first time in 24 months, albeit at a very modest 0.6 per cent. Within this trend, the Valencia region was among the better performers in the country, registering an increase of 2.2 per cent on the month before. It heralds the beginnings of a gradual recovery in a region whose property market is blessed with optimal diversity that includes important primary, secondary and commercial sectors.

“While it is clear that we have reached the low-end of the cycle and that life has returned to the market, it is also evident that this will be a slow and gradual recovery,” says Inmobiliaria Rimontgò CEO José Ribes Bas. “In the general market there are large stocks of unsold property to be absorbed first, and this will take some time. In the higher end of the market in which we specialise demand has been far more consistent, although it remains a buyer’s market and this means that buyers seek out quality real estate that is competitively priced.”

“We have entered a period in which buyers with liquid means and access to financing are in a very strong position to benefit from attractive prices – acquiring more home for their money and a very good mid to long term investment. For people like that the coming two years will be the best time to buy