Luxury Real Estate

By Meghan Barry

If you have ever visited the LuxuryRealEstate.com Headquarters in Seattle, near the historic Pike Place Market, you may have been to the rooftop deck on top of our building. A popular spot for staff gatherings and summertime lunches, this deck boasts expansive views of Puget Sound and Downtown Seattle. What a perfect place to view Fourth of July fireworks!

In-city living often has its limitation with access to the outdoors. However, on LuxuryRealEstate.com there seems to be ample opportunities to purchase a home with the convenience of a metropolitan location, yet with a ground-floor garden, multilevel terraces, or rooftop decks.

This is an appealing option on New York City, listed by Stribling & Associates, Ltd., in the heart of Chelsea’s gallery district. Looks like the perfect place for a hip Fourth of July barbecue.

www.luxuryrealestate.com/749432


Or this one in Boston, listed by Hammond Residential GMAC Real Estate. You can almost hear the fireworks… and the drum beating of Minutemen.

www.luxuryrealestate.com/869190


A 2005 Recipient of The Carolopolis Award for New Construction, this home has maintained that quintessential Charleston style, with a modern updates. What a stunning view! It’s listed by Disher, Hamrick & Myers.

www.luxuryrealestate.com/610485


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. Each of the brokers who represent the properties in this blog entry is a member of the Board of Regents, the governing body of LuxuryRealEstate.com. There are plenty of ways to enjoy the Fourth of July, and hopefully you’ll have a great holiday.

By Meghan Barry

Currently listed on LuxuryRealEstate.com is the 40-acre estate in Greenwich, Conn. of a certain recently deceased New York City hotel operator and real estate investor known for her flamboyant personality and reputation for tyrannical behavior. It is being represented by David Ogilvy & Associates, Inc.

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. This property is currently listed for an amazing price of $125,000,000. Simply incredible.

By Kimberly Fulwyler

My favorite kind of home is one that has a little bit of history behind it. There is nothing like walking into your home and thinking about the life it had before you. In my opinion a historical home has a story to tell that is multi-faceted and intriguing in a way that new homes with blank slates can’t quite compete with.

If you are currently looking for such a home, my wonderful members Piping Rock Associates have a “new” listing for sale in Old Westbury, New York that fits the bill. This 12,000-square-foot historical home, once owned by steel magnate Henry Phipps, was built in 1930 and was designed by the Manhattan architectural firm of Delano & Aldrich. See below for the picture and description of this one-of-a-kind home.

MAGNIFICENT DELANO & ALDRICH brick manor on 20 acres of zoned Old Westbury. This architectural gem boasts 16-foot ceilings, elaborate moldings, parquet floors and carved mantles. There is also a charming paneled library with French doors that lead to a screened pavilion porch.

The grand master bedroom includes a fireplace overlooking the pool and pool house. Upstairs includes 6 bedrooms with 4 fireplaces and 4 baths plus servants quarters. There is also a 4-car garage with an apartment, and caretaker’s house. Last but not least, the beautiful landscaping includes a woodland garden with a waterfall.


Editor’s Note:
Kimberly Fulwyler is an Account Manager with LuxuryRealEstate.com, so she provides customer service and marketing materials to a variety of LuxuryRealEstate.com members. You can always find excellent properties like this one on LuxuryRealEstate.com in the Luxury Property Search section. By the way, many of our regular bloggers are away this week attending the 6^th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat in San Diego. I’m sure they’ll have great stories to share when they return.

By Brian Langhorst

LuxuryRealEstate.com is very proud to associate with many of the top brokerage houses in New York City. There are several markets that are doing very well this year with strong activity throughout the luxury price ranges.

New York City has just announced that for the first three months of 2008 the average listing price in Manhattan is up 33.5 percent from the same period last year. This information was published in The New York Times and is courtesy of Prudential Douglas Elliman, our member, and the appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc.

I think this information points to some very positive aspects of our industry and feel that the news is not helping the diligent efforts of our REALTORS® to accurately inform the public about the true status of the market.

Please let us know how things are going in your market!


Editor’s Note:
Brian Langhorst is LuxuryRealEstate.com’s Membership Manager. He meets members’ unique needs through the dynamic services LuxuryRealEstate.com provides. I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting New York City, but I keep hearing wonderful things about it. It is astonishing how the strong New York’s market is right now, and it is certainly welcome news.

By Courtney Jackson

Unique Homes is now in the process of compiling the 2008 edition of Ultimate Homes, an annual magazine dedicated to the listing and ranking of the top 1,000 properties currently on the market for purchase. Since 2005, Ultimate Homes has served as the standard for ranking the best in luxury real estate by price.

"We believe a vehicle that ranks and lists the most expensive estates here in America was information that was fractured and incomplete. For the first time, the consumer now has a comprehensive source to compare and contrast by price the most sought after properties currently on the market for purchase," said Nick Antonicello, Director of Sales for both Unique Homes and Ultimate Homes.

As in the past, the publication will not only list the top 1,000 listings by price, but also the top ten listings by price, by state. "This is a twist to the rankings that ensures geographic balance to the information provided. For the most part, the list is dominated by California, Florida and New York. By also offering the top ten properties by state, the consumer gets added insight on smaller markets like Utah, Montana or Idaho," said Antonicello.

Last year the states of New York, California and Florida represented nearly $12.5 billion of the $19.1 billion or 65% of all the homes in the list of 1000 properties. The Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate network (LuxuryRealEstate.com) represented 112 different properties in this exclusive list or nearly 12% of all properties!

Like in past editions, editorial will focus upon the top ten listings as well as the top ten agents with the most listings. In addition there will be breakdowns by companies, networks and organizations who represent the best of the luxury segment here in the United States. The list will feature current listings between $11 million and $165 million. If an agent currently represents an estate property in this price point, they are qualified to advertise the property on a half-page, full-page or two-page basis.

"Ultimate Homes is the ultimate publication for marketing the most expensive properties currently on the market. It will be sent complimentary in a hardbound edition to the agents and sellers whose properties are advertised beyond the list and the magazine will be sold off newsstands in some 80 countries. It is a once-a-year opportunity to truly allow the agent to promote a significant property in a special venue designed to reach high net worth consumers currently in the market," said Antonicello.

For details please contact LuxuryRealEstate.com Print Director Courtney Jackson, Courtney@LuxuryRealEstate.com or 800-488-4066.

By Robert Lockard

Check out this excellent article from Forbes.com, entitled “Priciest home sales of 2007.” After conducting extensive research, Forbes.com discovered that the top five most expensive U.S. home sales this past year were in Manhattan. In fact, two real-estate sales records were broken in New York City: the priciest apartment with the $60 million purchase of almost an entire floor of the renowned Plaza Hotel, and the highest price per square foot ($6,287) at another property in Central Park West. It’s safe to say that the luxury real estate market is alive and well in New York and other places.

It seems difficult to explain luxury real estate’s strength at the moment. However, in his Forbes.com article, author Matt Woolsey makes an astute point about high-end real estate markets: “Prices in the top sector are not affected by general market trends because, quite simply, they exist outside the general market.” In fact, luxury homes are so different from regular homes that they can only be compared to priceless pieces of art. They are seldom sold and are mainly considered second homes, assuring only sporadic use. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on this. Are luxury homes so distinct from other homes as to mark them as outside the regular real estate market? Perhaps this should have been an entirely different blog entry, but I hope you don’t mind.


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.

By Robert Lockard

Open houses are excellent opportunities to bring potential buyers into a home and let them gain insights that are difficult to convey through written descriptions or even virtual tours. However, there is a potential risk for luxury real estate agents and others to be aware of, according to a recent article in The Chronicle Herald – stealing. Apparently, two women managed to steal $73,000 worth of jewelry and other valuables during several open houses in New York and New Jersey. Thankfully, they were caught and hopefully the belongings were returned to their rightful owners.

I think that most people are honest and kind, so I am sorry to report that we must be less than trusting in some situations. Several brokers give advice in the article to safeguard valuables, such as locking up jewelry, hiding prescriptions, and putting other important items in hard-to-reach or unusual areas of the house. Marking certain rooms as off-limits can be a good idea, as well. It’s good to be careful, even if you really want to make a sale. Carol Burnett, the vice president of Alain Pinel Realtors advised an agent showing a house to bring an assistant if it is simply too difficult to keep track of everybody at an open house.

This is a rather simplistic idea, and I apologize if it’s a little too simple for your taste. I just think this is an important topic to address, even if we all know the phrase, "It’s better to be safe than sorry."


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.