Luxury Real Estate

By Robert Lockard

I have some fun news to share about John Brian Losh, Publisher/CEO of LuxuryRealEstate.com and Broker/CEO of Ewing & Clark, Inc., Seattle's oldest real-estate brokerage.

Mr. Losh will appear on Lakefront Radio, an Atlanta radio show on Friday, June 20, 2008. He will discuss the luxury real estate market and high-tech trends with hosts Mary Thompson, Chuck Thompson and Lee Kantor.

The radio show is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Pacific Time. You can listen to the show live by visiting the Lakefront Radio website. That will be great. I’m sure Mr. Losh will have some great insights to share.

In addition to this radio show, Mr. Losh also appeared in the April/May issue of Unique Homes magazine. He was the focus of Ken Weingartner’s “Unique Personalities” section. Nick Antonicello, Director of Sales at Unique Homes, gave Mr. Losh a copy of that magazine issue at the 13th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat this past April.


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. This is very exciting stuff. I can’t wait to listen to this radio show tomorrow.

By Brian Langhorst

Lately, the keyword in advertising is international! Everyone wants international exposure as foreign currencies are very strong compared to the U.S. dollar. This strength presents great options for investors to come to the United States and purchase real estate. I agree that this is a great target audience, given the current situation.

I also wanted to throw out some facts from Forbes.com, which recently compiled a list of the top billionaires in the world. These facts drew my attention to the importance of continuing to market domestically as well as globally. Of the 1,125 billionaires in the world, 444 or 39.4 percent are citizens of the United States. This is by far the highest number of individuals in one country anywhere in the world. In your marketing campaigns be sure to reach out to both audiences.

There are several print magazines that do a very good job reaching both international and domestic buyers. LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine, Unique Homes and Country Life all work very well. We are happy to help you design ads and market to these key groups. Please contact me with questions or to advertise: blanghorst@LuxuryRealEstate.com.

What are you doing to reach both domestic and international markets?


Editor’s Note:
Brian Langhorst is LuxuryRealEstate.com’s Membership Manager. He meets members’ unique needs through the dynamic services LuxuryRealEstate.com provides. In addition to these excellent publications, we also run group ads in The Wall Street Journal, and we have one coming up on June 27, 2008 that you can sign up for. Contact our Print Director, Courtney Jackson, for details.

By Robert Lockard

Every year, Ultimate Homes magazine lists the top 1,000 most-expensive homes in the United States, and in the recent issue the competition between the different luxury-broker networks isn’t even close. LuxuryRealEstate.com has more than twice the number of luxury properties on the list as the closest network. Check it out:

ULTIMATE NETWORKS / ORGANIZATIONS
HERE’S HOW POPULAR FRANCHISE/AFFILIATE COMPANIES AND MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS STACKED UP THIS YEAR:

Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate (LuxuryRealEstate.com) . . . . 420
Sotheby’s International Realty . . . . . . . . . . 205
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (Luxury Portfolio) . . . 173
Christie’s Great Estates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Coldwell Banker (Previews International) . . . . . . . . . . 113
Prudential Real Estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate, Brown Harris Stevens, Premier Estate Properties, Inc., Slifer Smith & Frampton, Alain Pinel Realtors and Frank Hardy, Inc. Realtors represent properties on this list of high-end properties. I guess www.luxuryrealestate.com is the most-viewed luxury real estate website in the world for a good reason. How wonderful!


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. This is very exciting news because it shows that LuxuryRealEstate.com is definitely the top luxury real estate network. By the way, you can read a news release on this story here.

By Janice Ridge

We at LuxuryRealEstate.com have been hearing lately that some of our members are focusing more on Web marketing these days, and have reduced their budget for print. Well, let me ask you to rethink this trend. Here’s a story that just may change your mind.

LuxuryRealEstate.com member Prominent Properties - Sotheby’s International Realty, in Tenafly, N.J., recently reported that a front-cover ad of the August/September 2007 issue of Unique Homes magazine not only brought their agent, Jennifer Patterson, the buyer, but she sold the listing at the full sale price of $11.8 million in cash! That equaled 28 times the initial investment made on the ad! Incredibly, the same all-cash buyer also purchased an estate in Greenwich, Conn. for $22 million!

Many agents mistakenly believe that their business should be either print-based or Web-based. However, a multimedia approach is necessary in the specialized luxury real estate market. With most luxury buyers over the age of 40, these are people who grew up reading a good Sunday paper, including the real-estate classified ads and magazine inserts. These are also the buyers and sellers who are connected to the Internet and are online regularly. They are going back and forth from print to Web and then back again.

In addition to posting their listings on www.luxuryrealestate.com, members regularly take advantage of Luxury Real Estate’s group advertising rates with the Wall Street Journal. This means that an ad in the Journal reaches a core audience of business and professional people who are likely candidates to purchase luxury properties in addition to their regular subscribers.  With Luxury Real Estate’s newly offered product, the Wall Street Journal International edition, our members’ listings are sure to reach the widest audience possible in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.

So those of you who question the value of print – think again! Your successful marketing campaign should include a combination of online listings and group advertising in our many print opportunities. Call us today for further information on how you can participate!


Editor’s Note:
As the Director of Membership at LuxuryRealEstate.com, and herself a licensed REALTOR®, Janice Ridge is devoted to coordinating the efforts of all of the LuxuryRealEstate.com Membership and Account Managers, so that each of our members is given superior service. I’d like to mention that all of our group Wall Street Journal ads are also placed online in a great example of print and Web marketing working together. Long live print, indeed.

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.