Luxury Real Estate

Courtesy of Kirsty Bryson of Luxury Homes by VAPF

The VAPF Group, the mother company of the Spanish luxury real estate developer Luxury Homes by VAPF, will be present at the upcoming Russian real estate exhibition, Domexpo, to be held at the Gostiny Dvor exhibition centre in Moscow, from Thursday the 6^th of October to Sunday the 9^th of October.

Luxury Homes by VAPF will have a stand on the red carpet at the property show, the centre aisle, alongside other real estate developers and estate agents from all over the world, competing to attract the interest of the Russian investors, one of few markets of property buyers that is still going strong in today’s world.

This will be the 25^th edition of the Domexpo exhibition, the most important and popular international and Russian national real estate exhibition, held twice a year in the Russian capital. The exhibition is accompanied with a rich business program, which includes seminars, conferences and round tables. Experts in the field of real estate in Russia, CIS countries, Western and Eastern Europe, the USA, will discuss the topical problems of the modern real estate market, exchange experiences in implementing projects and identify priorities for further action.

The exhibition is organized by under the auspices of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, with the support of Moscow Government, Russian Guild of Realtors and Moscow association of realtors.

We welcome you all to visit us at stand number E9 where our Marketing Director and Russian Sales Executive will certainly be glad to meet you and introduce you to the beautiful Cumbre del Sol residential estate on the Costa Blanca in Spain.

Courtesy of Kirsty Bryson of Luxury Homes by VAPF

In 2011, Russia and Spain plan to boost their bilateral relations in the political, economic, cultural, humanitarian and educational ambits: it will be the Year of Russia in Spain and of Spain in Russia, also known as the Dual Year. Inaugurated on the 25^th of February in St. Petersburg by King Juan Carlos of Spain and the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, this initiative was initially agreed on during the meeting between the mentioned Russian President and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero back in September 2009.

The events program will mainly feature activities of a cultural nature, with the Novosibirsk ballet company touring in Spain and the Spanish National Dance Company visiting Russia; the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg featuring an exhibition of paintings from the famous Madrid's El Prado museum and the the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts exhibiting works by famous Spanish painters Joan Miró and by one of the most controversial artists of the twentieth century, Salvador Dalí.

Spain will be the guest of honour at both the Moscow International Book Fair and the Moscow International Tourism Fair. Russia, in turn, will organize an exhibition in Spain about new technologies. The Russian and Spanish university deans will meet to discuss the development prospects of scientific cooperation between Russia and Spain. The traditional St. Petersburg Economic Forum will be held in June and again Spain will be present as guest of honour. A representative delegation headed by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is expected to attend this event.

All in all, a total of 350 cultural, sporting, scientific and economic events will be held in 2011 under the Year of Spain in Russia and Russia in Spain. According to the organizing committee co-chairman of the Russian side, the Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, the planned events will contribute to bring together the Russian and Spanish people and will stimulate the development of bilateral relations in on political, economic and other levels.

Cold Russia has historically always warmed to the Spanish way of life and is attracted to all things Spanish: its music, the Spanish guitar, wine, good food, temperament, passion, footwear, furniture, bulls, women, artists, flamenco, El Prado, Madrid, Granada, etc.. There is very much a large demand for Spanish products in Russia. Spain expects the arrival of some 600 thousand Russian tourists this year, and increase of 100 thousand on the total number that visited the country last year.

By Kirsty Bryson from Luxury Homes by VAPF

The 6th edition of the Moscow Millionaire Fair 2010 took place last weekend (22nd to 24th of October) at the Manezh central exhibition hall in the capital of Russia and did not cease to impress the world over with the blatant display of riches that are predominant amongst the Russian elite society.

The Millionaire Fair started on Friday evening with an opening gala that lasted until two in morning with live jazz music from Dave Benton & Orchestra, followed by a house and dance music session by DJ Mark Ronson. The gala attendees were also treated to fashion parades with lingerie by Estel Adony and a fur collection by Wonderfur. The highlights of the evening were the two grand premiers: the brand new Benarrow super car with 500 horsepower and the jewellery company Novero with its pure silver and gold jewels with a built-in USB-port and cutting-edge integrated hands-free set.

Saturday was designated as "Ladies Saturday" and the theme was women and children, with a show by Yakimanka kids’ gallery, a beautiful presentation by the luxury wedding agency VIP 4 You and the specially prepared show by Galla Dance that welcomed children and their parents to take part. A selection of leading Russian fashion designers presented their collections to the female public throughout the whole day.

The third and last day of the exhibition was "Adults only Sunday." The evening began with the top models from Playboy taking part in a photo session atop luxurious motorcars and the night ended with performances by jazz artist Aslan Akhmadov.

In addition to the shows and performances that took place throughout the three days, the fair visitors had the unique opportunity to purchase the best goods and services that the luxury industry has to offer to date: the best real estate, Spa services, exclusive cosmetics and even the services of VIP agencies. As every year, the Fair always presents a special, quirky or unusual object: On this occasion, the German company Fissler produced an extravagant gold saucepan adorned with diamonds which had the particularity that it can’t be used for cooking, only serving!

by Michael Marquette of Marquette Turner Luxury Homes

Russians are investing heavily in overseas property, and even though the Russian stock market continues to suffer (and there will approximately 50% less billionaires in Russia this time next year), there are ongoing reasons for wealthy Russians to search for prestigious properties to buy as a long-term investment.

The experience of Marquette Turner Luxury Homes suggests that regardless of their fortunes, Russians don’t necessarily want masses of land and they are not particularly interested in properties with old-world charm or character. Furthermore, few of them are looking at properties below $US1 million, although there is often no maximum amount.

Specific requirements often include good access to an international airport, security, modern and abundant facilities, inviting year-round weather. Furthermore, entertainment areas with a “wow” factors, as well as original, unique and handcrafted features are also desirable.

Those with families will happily look outside or major cities, but they don’t particularly like older style features, flight path noise or a large amount of land.

They are also shrewd and know a bargain when they see one and are quite straight forward.

Quite simply, only the very best addresses will do, they will not tolerate flaws or poor finishes, and they will only deal with the very best agents based on favorable recommendations.

By Robert Lockard

As promised in my last luxury real estate blog entry, here is my discussion of some meaty topics I’ve wanted to talk about for a little while. The past few weeks have been pretty thrilling, wouldn’t you say? Wall Street dropped an incredible 504 points on Monday and 449 points on Wednesday. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, organizations designed to create stability, have failed. Other financial institutions, once seemingly healthy and sound, are facing bankruptcy and other troubles. Think that’s bad enough? Russia’s stock market is doing considerably worse.

Okay, that’s the bad news. Now let’s take a step back and switch gears a little. I am an optimist. I believe that good wins in the end. I think that right now many bad companies and practices are facing the fact that they have built upon a sandy foundation and they are in danger of falling. All of the companies that are failing are doing so because of their own greed and recklessness. Home loans were turned into investment packages and many other bad ideas were allowed to come about because of greed.

If these companies had built upon solid foundations and principles that were put into place to safeguard the country after the Great Depression, we would probably be all right. It comes back to greed and pride. There is safety in old wisdom.

I cannot say a hundredth part of what I desire to say right now because this might not be the most appropriate forum to share the most treasured things in my heart. However, I can say that we need not fear what people can do or what problems may arise if we can see how temporary they are. We should be patient, long-suffering, forgiving and kind, especially when times are tough. Anyone who knows me knows that I definitely try to practice what I preach, so I hope you won’t think that I’m giving this advice lightly.

Let these organizations tremble because of their fear of falling. We will not fall if we are firmly planted on truth and honesty.


Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with Luxury Real Estate. I am Robert. I create all of Luxury Real Estate's newsletters, write the editorials in LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine and much more. Stribling & Associates is a member of the Board of Regents, an exclusive group of brokers that leads the Luxury Real Estate network. The photo of the Grand Canyon is from www.flickr.com/photos/raindog/2838872767 and it is the copyright of raindog.