Luxury Real Estate

By: James Temple

(07-20) 13:01 PDT MARIN -- Boutique real estate firm Morgan Lane Marin Inc. is swallowing its larger competitor, Pacific Union GMAC Real Estate, in an acquisition that promises to create a local brokerage powerhouse, but could also entail serious challenges in this sluggish housing climate.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will bring together 17 Bay Area offices and more than 430 real estate professionals, with combined sales volume projected to reach $2.2 billion this year. As recently as 2000, Pacific Union alone was boasting sales of $3.2 billion, a difference that highlights the recent fallout in the brokerage industry and strongly hints that Morgan Lane picked up its rival at a discount.

Mark McLaughlin, chief executive officer of the Marin real estate company, said he pursued the deal because it offered a chance to inject the entrepreneurial attitude of his high-end-focused firm into a dominant local brokerage. Pacific Union is among the top five regional real estate companies and also focuses on the luxury end.

"The fundamentals are the same; they just have a much larger geographic footprint," he said.

But the deal presents real risks for the leaders of Morgan Lane, who will suddenly oversee a far larger and more generalized operation at a point when most brokerages are struggling, said Charles Moore, CEO of San Francisco firm McGuire Real Estate.

"The companies that don't have the staying power and wherewithal will pop and they're not all small boutiques," he said.

Indeed, the real estate brokerage industry has already significantly consolidated through acquisitions and closures in recent years, as soft housing sales and plummeting prices shrink the industry's commissions. The California Association of Realtors has seen membership fall from 199,168 in 2006 to 163,610 today, the Los Angeles trade group said.

Pacific Union itself has been something of a hot potato in the brokerage world. The residential arm of GMAC Financial Services agreed to acquire the company in 2000. But by last September, the Detroit financing company was bleeding money and announced plans to fire up to 5,000 employees in the division and sell off its home-services unit, including Pacific Union, to Brookfield Asset Management Inc.

The publicly traded Toronto company's real estate holdings have struggled mightily as well, forcing it to begin shopping around for buyers for certain divisions in recent months, real estate sources say.

Morgan Lane is buying Pacific Union from Brookfield, but as part of the deal, both firms will operate as Brookfield franchises, which provides additional marketing power and places them in a national referral network, McLaughlin said. The two companies will continue to operate under their existing names.

McLaughlin said he is confident the timing of the deal is right, because the number of new escrows has been climbing around the region since late March.

"We're optimistic that the worst is behind us, although we're prepared for a lumpy recovery," he said.

Avram Goldman, CEO of Pacific Union, will take on the role of strategic adviser after the sale. He said the combination will allow the brokerage to reconnect to entrepreneurial roots that were severed during the stewardship of two successive corporate owners.

E-mail James Temple at jtemple@sfchronicle.com.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/21/BUMN18S4QI.DTL#ixzz0LuyArPB2

By Jim Walberg of Caribbean Islands Realty

So how does a surfer kid from Southern California end up falling in love with the Caribbean? Have you ever seen the surfing opportunities in Barbados and Tortola? If your answer is YES, then you know the other answer, too.

I arrived in Redondo Beach in 1948, and lived on the beach for the first 21 years of my life. I thought it was normal to live a block from the pier and enjoy all the Pacific Ocean offered - everyday! I thought all things connected to the Pacific Ocean were normal - sailing, surfing, diving, beach volleyball, pier fishing, boat deliveries to Mexico, and a hundred more activities. In hindsight I was one the luckiest kids I know because of growing up with amazing experiences connected to the Pacific Ocean - every day. I had no idea that my love for the ocean would lead me to the Caribbean Islands and then create an international real estate company.

A life changing discovery happened for me in the mid-1970s while on my first sailing adventure in the Caribbean. Up to that point I had only sailed in the Pacific and Mexico. My Caribbean sailing trips began in the BVI, and then broaden out over the years to sailing the entire chain of the Caribbean Islands.

I had no idea that the Caribbean had any surfing opportunities. So, during my Caribbean sailing adventures I discovered the “Soup Bowl” in Barbados, and Lambert Bay in the BVI. Not only are there some GREAT surf spots in the Caribbean, the beaches are breathtaking while you are sitting watching the left and right breaks. Did you know there is a surf shop, Totem, on St. Barts? St. Barts is my favorite jewel of the Caribbean for pure decadence. And, I could not believe there was a surf shop on the island. I still have a Totem decal on the back window of my Lexus SUV. The staff at Totem opened up a whole new world to explore - Caribbean surfing.

The best surfing in the Caribbean is in Barbados. Melanie Pitcher runs one of the best surfing schools in the Caribbean - Surf Barbados. And, boy can she surf. There is even a surf camp in the BVI on Tortola. I just discovered that one last year! So, you are probably thinking that I have the Caribbean scene wired after all of my discoveries the past 35 years of diligent detective work. You are mistaken. There is a life time of discoveries in this magical part of the world. That is why I keep coming back, and the reason why we are having so much fun serving our international real estate customer’s appetite for owning their piece of Paradise.

So, contact me about some of your favorite surf spots in the world, or for even information about your next home purchase in Paradise. Your Caribbean Islands lifestyle detective remains on duty!