Luxury Real Estate

By Robert Lockard

Monica Duff, the Vice President of Operations for John Daugherty, Realtors appeared on the June 18, 2008 episode of Great Day Houston.

Click here to watch the nine-minute video. She discussed great ways to sell homes, the current real-estate market and many other topics concerning real estate in Texas. John Daugherty, Realtors is a member of the Luxury Real Estate Board of Regents.

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 the way, John Daugherty, Realtors recently recorded their best June in the company’s 41-year history. All members of Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate are welcome to share their good news on the Luxury Real Estate Blog and in the Week in Review.

By Robert Lockard

Great news from Florida! The state's real-estate market is well on its way to recovery, according to Jim Cramer in an excellent video from TheStreet.com. Click the link to check it out.
 

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. Rob Thomson, the Co-Owner of Waterfront Properties & Club Communities and a member of the Board of Regents, pointed out this excellent story to me. Thanks for sharing the good news, Rob! The picture above is from www.flickr.com/photos/kowax09/127385974 and is the copyright of Olivier Bareau.

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 Scott Rudolph

Sometimes it is just a simple message that sparks a wildfire.

Watch the video. Share the video. Catch the message. Make it happen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOrKLs0QJkA

For sellers, I want to say: birds find new nests and so shall you. Your trusted real estate professional is key to helping you find another home which you’re bound to grow to love as much as what your leaving.


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. The video in this blog entry was made by RealEstateZebra. After watching this humorous video, I feel like holding up a piece of paper that simply says, “Amen.” Changing market conditions demand flexibility and sometimes drastic measures like reducing the price on your home. For better or worse, it’s a buyer’s market right now.

By John Brian Losh

John Brian Losh sums up the 2008 Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat at the Grand Del Mar in San Diego.

By Jean-Yves Piton

Are you presently intensifying your global promotional and advertising campaigns regarding your most-prestigious properties to ensure your presence amongst the upper-class segment?

Despite a weakening global economy, wealthy investors and property buyers are not affected by slowdowns and market volatility. As communicated in the recent IBNLive.com/CNN video “Despite weak economy, super rich continue to splurge,” the wealthy clientele “doesn’t usually look at the price tag, despite what's happening to the global economy” while making purchasing decisions.

While planning your upcoming sales and marketing strategies/initiatives, keep in mind that promoting and showcasing your luxury properties in the best light possible will provide you with a much higher level of success to reach out to this niche market. Equally important, your wealthy international client might be aware of Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate (LuxuryRealEstate.com) and looking to indulge himself/herself with a one-of-a-kind property.


Editor’s Note:
Jean-Yves Piton is the Global Services Membership Manager for LuxuryRealEstate.com. He assists Bente Madtsen, the Director of Global Services, in expanding the LuxuryRealEstate.com brand into even more countries around the world. One good idea for marketing your luxury properties is to have great photos that showcase their impressive features. Ilya’s Photography, the official photographer of the 6^th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat, is an excellent resource for you, and I highly recommend him.

By Joey Pauley

Photos are great. Virtual tours are excellent. But video takes the cake.

More and more people have been adding videos to their website. I think this is an excellent direction for our industry. Many of our members, including Pat Choi have had welcome videos on their website. John Brian Losh even has his own section of videos on YouTube. As Michael mentioned in a previous post, Luxury Real Estate TV is now a video podcast. Download it here.

If you would like to create a video for you site, commercials, or for that special home, contact me or our partner, Realty Video. Let’s keep this trend going strong. If you need help in distributing the videos, give us a call. We are here to help.


Editor’s Note:
As a Technical Account Manager with LuxuryRealEstate.com, Joey Pauley helps members with their Web and technology needs. Video is definitely a great tool for brokers and agents to use in their Web sites. I highly recommend following Joey’s advice.

By Scott Rudolph

For those of you multi-tasking overachievers, the advent of video distributed online is just what the Doctor ordered. Rest assured while glorified slideshows, or virtual tours, have become the viewing norm, the typical attention span is only 15 seconds!!!

Specializing in video production, distribution and presentation, our partner Realty Video USA has captured the art of real-estate video unlike any other company. Have you ever arrived to the theater a bit too early and watched a movie preview? Trailers are meant to stir emotion and captivate attention – building excitement and anticipation to the point that you come back in a couple weeks and pay to watch the movie when it is released at the same theater. Now let’s imagine a movie trailer for RAMBO as a slideshow or virtual tour. Hmm…doesn’t quite capture the essence, does it?

Video touches the human psyche on an emotional level that simply cannot be reached with photos and text. As a matter of fact, video is statistically proven to be 80 percent more captivating to the viewer than print, photos or text. The logical conclusion is simple – real-estate agents who are serious about marketing need video. Realty Video USA will not only produce the video, but will market it to more than 55 real estate and video-based websites, as well as provide you the option of emailing the video to every real-estate agent within the state of your choice!

Although many companies try to mimic Realty Video USA’s success, none have come close to establishing the corporate partnerships and client loyalty that this company has formed in as little as two years. Stephen Schweickart and his father Jim, founded the company just after the YouTube phenomenon and haven’t looked back since. For examples of Realty Video USA’s work, please click on the following link: video.realtyvideousa.com.


Editor’s Note:
Scott Rudolph is the Director of Business Development for LuxuryRealEstate.com, which means that he works with companies in a variety of luxury industries to expand the LuxuryRealEstate.com influence. This is a very interesting topic because I often hear that movies based on books are not as good as the books. However, movies and videos are able to convey more information faster than still images or words. Of course, I’m the kind of person who likes to both read and watch information.

John Brian Losh speaking at Luxury Real Estate's 12th Annual European Ski Trip.