Luxury Real Estate

By Jim Walberg
From his blog: East Bay Real Estate Community Supports “Stand Down”!

2008 “Stand Down” serves 600 homeless veterans at the Alameda County Fairgrounds August 7th - 10th!

Another example as to how your real-estate community and its service providers continue to give back to the needs of the Bay Area was demonstrated on Friday, Aug. 8 at 5:30 a.m. at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. Members of the REALTORS® Marketing Association served breakfast to a “village” of war veterans.

Every two years the Diablo Valley Vietnam Veterans Association arranges for an entire “tent city” to be set up in the East Bay so homeless veterans can be served. “Stand Down” is a term used during war to describe the practice of removing combat troops from the field and take care of their basic needs in a safe place. That is exactly what has been created for 600 homeless veterans this week. The RMA contracts Ruggie’s Restaurant in San Ramon to supply ALL the food they serve.

REALTOR® Mike Weber, a member of the Diablo Valley Vietnam Veterans, is the person who continues to invite the real-estate community to be a participant in supporting this important project. They always say YES! Some of the services available for these lost, but not forgotten, veterans are:

- Medical facilities to serve their health needs – including dental, plus a follow-up care program.

- A “field court” with county judges to fast-track clearing up legal issues that may be preventing these veterans from securing employment.

- Job-placement services that also assists them in having DMV re-issued driver’s licenses.

- Assisting with identifying residential opportunities.

- A complete barber shop, new clothing, shoes and other basic clothing needs.

Members of the Diablo Valley Vietnam Veterans were inspired to create the first East Bay Stand Down in 1999 in order to provide a respite from the “streets.” In the midst of all the services provided, their commitment is to treat each of these veterans with respect and dignity. Most of us are unaware, and maybe don’t want to know, that there are about 154,000 homeless veterans on the streets of our cities on any given night. Just in our Bay Area there are over 7,000 homeless veterans! An even sadder statistic is that a BIG number of these veterans have little or no contact with Veteran Administration for either medial or financial aid. Stand Down directly addresses the issue that cannot be ignored any longer - aiding and assisting veterans in need to improve their lives, no matter how difficult it may be to do so.

The first Stand Down was held in San Diego in 1988. It has now been integrated into over 200 cities around the country with over 200,000 veterans and their families being served. A key objective is to break the cycle of the homeless epidemic within the veteran community. These are the men and women who have served our country, and we need to make sure they are not forgotten.

A quote that is appropriate for their mission is, “A community is often judged by how well it takes care of its own.” Serving the needs of those who have served to protect and create Freedom in the world is a worth activity for all of us to consider. Please contact Stand Down or Jim Walberg if you want to personally get involved, or to make financial contributions. Also, contact me any time to find out about other service opportunities for Bay Area community projects. Until next time… your East Bay real estate detective remains on duty.


Editor’s Note:
Jim Walberg is the co-Broker/Owner of The Bay Area Team, the most-successful team at Keller Williams Realty-Danville. He is also a member of the global LuxuryRealEstate.com network. Jim is an exceptional blogger, as you can see by visiting his blogs, East Bay Real Estate and Caribbean Islands Realty, and reading his great blog entries like the one above. He is the master of fractionals and other luxury homes in the Bay Area and the Caribbean, and he always has a lot of great opportunities to share. Philanthropy is awesome. We should all follow the Golden Rule as we go about our many activities in this life. Great people aren’t those who leave behind the most wealth when they die, but those who bless others’ lives and seek to lift their brothers and sisters on their shoulders. Luxury properties are what we sell, but people are who we serve.

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 Brian Langhorst

On September 26th and 27th at the Stonestreet Alexander Mountain Estate the owners of Chalk Hill and Jackson Family Wines present a wonderful philanthropic event designed to raise money for children. This great event offers notable wines, priceless trips, dinners and much more. To learn more about this event, please visit: www.sonomaparadiso.com/index.html.

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. I find truly remarkable the inherent sense of generosity and justice in many Americans who enjoy such abundant wealth. John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Bill Gates and many other incredibly rich Americans have given back to their fellow citizens in wonderful ways.

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 Robert Lockard

On Saturday, April 25, 2008, my younger brother and I decided to make a rare visit to our local movie theater to watch a film we both felt a great desire to see. That movie was “Expelled,” a documentary starring and co-written by the great actor and economist Ben Stein. In addition to starring in this movie, Mr. Stein actually had some incredible insights that he shared on the current luxury real estate market at the 6th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat in San Diego two weeks ago. He is an incredibly brilliant man in a variety of fields.

I really enjoyed this movie. It brings up so many interesting points that I’ve often considered. It basically encourages us to keep an open mind and not close our hearts to true concepts, even if they present new challenges. I highly recommend this film to everyone who would like a balanced perspective on life.

One key idea I took away from this film has to do with something said at the Spring Retreat, which Staci Colville quoted in her April 24, 2008 blog entry. Patricia Hoferkamp, President and CEO of Burgdorff, Realtors ERA, led a breakout session entitled “A Culture of Service." During this session, she said, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

How interesting. Selfishness is not as effective as we might think when it comes to being successful. Caring for those who are weaker than us is quite preferable to our consciences than taking advantage of them.

I find it ironic that we live in a society bombarded with the idea of “survival of the fittest” being the rule, and yet we go to great lengths to help our weak and lift up the downtrodden.

For example, yesterday morning I was on the bus going to work and at one stop, a woman in a wheelchair was waiting at the front of a long line of people waiting to get on the bus. I don’t think that she was the first to arrive, but no one cried foul when she went straight to the front of the line.

The bus driver lowered a lift so that the woman could roll onto it and then be lifted into the bus. The process took more than a minute. Then the bus driver, who was elderly, slowly rolled up five seats so that they would not be available for regular bus riders to use in order to make room for a single wheelchair. The bus driver took a few minutes to properly strap the woman in. She had trouble with the seatbelt and I was sitting nearby so I was able to get it loose for her and help a little.

While all of this was taking place, the people outside the bus patiently waited in the cold morning air, waiting to enter the warm bus and get to their destinations.

None of this was selfish. The scene was filled with inconvenience for dozens of people to offer this bit of kindness and convenience to one person. Despite the seeming injustice of this all, there is actually nothing unjust about it. There is something profoundly right about it.


Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with LuxuryRealEstate.com. I am Robert. I create all of LuxuryRealEstate.com’s newsletters, write the editorials in LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine and much more. Yesterday was my birthday and I started writing this blog then. I love kindness. I hope that we will all have soft hearts and be able to accept truth. Be sure to check out Ben Stein’s movie “Expelled”! The photo above is copyright of Ilya's Photography.

By Staci Colville

I wanted to write today first about the buzz of our Spring Retreat in San Diego and, second, about a breakout session that was a true Oprah AH HA moment for me.

First, the conference. WOW… what a great success! As a LuxuryRealEstate.com Account Manager and a first-time conference attendee, I was most excited to get to meet our wonderful members face to face, hear about your markets, brainstorm and see what I can do to help. My expectations were surpassed and I must say I am still having post-conference blues. What a wonderful way to start my day to see all your smiling and energetic faces, willing to share and learn and laugh. It was truly one of the top 5 events of my life.

What impressed me the most was the positive energy that flowed throughout the conference. The constant theme was “the glass is half full.” Yes, we might be in a difficult market, but there was no gloom or doom. It was all about “What can we do to better ourselves in a tough time?” Love it!

I truly felt like we were a worldwide network, holding hands globally and saying we are all in this together and we are all here to help. The strategies and ideas I gained as an Account Manager were invaluable.

All I can say to my dear members who were unable to attend is: You missed it and we missed you!

My AH HA moment came in a fabulous breakout session, led by the President and CEO of Burgdorff, Realtors ERA, Patricia Hoferkamp. She was also joined by Wayne Markovich, Burgdorff’s Senior Vice President and Director of Marketing, and my new, dear friend, Karen Foley, Burgdorff's Marketing Manager.

Patricia’s breakout session was entitled “A Culture of Service: Creating a Real Estate Experience” and it was VERY well-received at the conference. The one statement she made that really stuck out in my mind and that I have now posted on my desk is, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” These words have inspired me to be a better Account Manager, mother and friend. It was truly one of the highlights of the conference for me and, in my humble opinion, her presentation is book-worthy. Simply fabulous, Patricia… Nice shot!

I bet many of you that didn’t attend the conference are wondering about my reference to this mantra, Nice Shot. Our lustrous leader and founder John Brian Losh spoke of his golf game with friends and how he was perhaps not the next Tiger Woods. He pointed out that even though he may not be the best golfer, it sure made him feel good to hear the words “Nice shot!” after he preformed well. We all deserve to hear those words and perhaps should say them much more often. To all of our members who attended and contributed to the best and most energetic conference we have had, the pleasure was mine in meeting you all and… NICE SHOT!


Editor’s Note:
Staci Colville is an Account Manager with LuxuryRealEstate.com. She helps members take advantage of the various services of LuxuryRealEstate.com. I enjoy hearing positive messages because if all we hear are negative ones then we can easily forget all of the good that is happening around us. I’m so pleased that Patricia Hoferkamp’s presentation was well-received and effective. Let us all show how much we care and who we truly are when challenges come.

By Scott Rudolph

I speak with so many that I find myself often speaking with people in various stages of illness. Short- and long-term sickness is an unfortunate occurrence but it allows us to reassess and prioritize what matters most! Truth is, sick or not, we are writing our life story in each moment, with each decision. Is your story an adventure? Is the relationship with your spouse a love story?

Writing our story reminds me of some of the behind-the-scenes dialogue during our Fall Conference in Washington D.C. a month after the tragic events of 9/11. I flew into Ronald Reagan International Airport with jet escort, settled into a well-appointed bunker of a boardroom and appreciated conversation related to reprioritizing… purposefully booking travel, hotels, buying real estate for family, etc. We rallied to support personal and economic health, strength, vitality.

So, what would you do differently if this were your last year? Each time I ask the question I hear:  spend more time traveling, build experiences, start a company, more philanthropy, etc. If your answer is, “exactly what I’m doing now” then kudos to you! If not, let’s get to it… now… today… in this moment.

Book your trips; buy a dozen homes; fill these new homes with the homeless; adopt a dozen children; start a company to right wrongs; write a song; speak out against injustice; call people and reconcile hurt feelings; fill a food bank for a year… I could go on. Make it significant. Keep it low-key. Here’s to your personal and economic health!! Email me your ideas and success stories.


Editor’s Note:
Scott Rudolph is the Director of Business Development for LuxuryRealEstate.com. He works with a variety of luxury-focused companies to expand the LuxuryRealEstate.com influence. Carpe diem! What a wonderful blog entry. I hope that we will all take Scott’s words to heart as we go about our daily lives. What would we do differently if we really believed that our time on earth is limited and fragile? I definitely second Scott’s sentiments, and I hope to be a better person in all of my seemingly small decisions and relationships.

By Lois Lane

Hi Brian,

Our firm, Lane & Smythe Real Estate Brokers specializes in historic property in downtown Charleston.  I have served on the board of The Preservation Society for the past four years and have recently been named President.  The Society is the first group formed for the purpose of saving "dwellings" in the United States.  If you are interested in this you can visit the website, www.preservationsociety.org.

Charleston is the first city in the United States to adopt a historic zoning ordinance. The city is currently in the process of adopting a new "Preservation Plan". As President, I am particularly interested in the "green" aspect of renewing, reusing, and restoring.

Thank you,

Lois Lane
Lane & Smythe
Charleston, S.C.
843.270.2797


Editor’s Note:
Lois Lane is the Broker/Owner of Lane & Smythe Real Estate Brokers in Charleston, S.C. This letter is in response to Brian Langhorst’s March 21, 2008 blog entry entitled “What are you doing to stand out?” We welcome your comments on our blog entries.

By Brian Langhorst

LuxuryRealEstate.com is a wonderful resource of the best agents, best developments, and the best brands of residential real estate. Many of you are very active in local or national organizations, philanthropic groups and more. I would like to hear from you on what you are doing in your community. We have a lot of assets available to you to publicize all that you do.

Please contact us so we can let the world know about you and your industry-leading business!


Editor’s Note:
Brian Langhorst is an Account Manager with LuxuryRealEstate.com. He meets members’ unique needs through the dynamic services LuxuryRealEstate.com provides. You can contact Brian at blanghorst@luxuryrealestate.com. As the editor of the LuxuryRealEstate.com newsletter, called the Week in Review, I also welcome your stories. I’m happy to include them in the Members’ Press Releases section of our website. Let us know about your good news.

 By Meghan Barry

Congratulations to Betsy & Brian Losh, of Ewing & Clark Inc. in Seattle, WA. Yesterday, March 11th, at the Kerry Oliver Guild Luncheon Brian and Betsy were honored by the Seattle Children’s Home for their years of service and support.

Since 1884, Seattle Children’s Home (SCH) has been taking care of the special needs of children and their families. At SCH, a full spectrum of care is offered. Services range from residential treatment with 24-hour nursing and psychiatric services to less-intensive counseling visits. Many LuxuryRealEstate.com members give back to their communities throughout the year. It is always wonderful to see recognition for these tireless efforts.


Editor’s Note:
Meghan Barry is the Executive Vice President of LuxuryRealEstate.com. She works closely with CEO John Brian Losh to organize a variety of Luxury Real Estate programs, events and services. This is a wonderful honor for Mr. and Mrs. Losh to receive. Giving your time and talents to a worthy cause in an excellent way to forget about yourself and remember what is really important in life. Obtaining positive publicity, while a definite plus, should not be the only goal of doing good, and Mr. and Mrs. Losh have shown that they are mainly focused on other people in this endeavor because of their low-key kindness.