Rooms and More Rooms in Luxury Homes

Rooms for outdoor entertaining
December 17, 2007

by Roberta Murphy What kinds of rooms might go into a luxury home? The possibilities are as varied as lifestyles. I recall a luxurious mansion in Houston’s lovely River Oaks that had, in addition to every other conceivable room, a luggage room. It was a sensible space that accommodated the traveling owner’s large collection of leather suitcases, trunks and garment bags. When a trip was planned, the butler would retrieve…

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Dreaming of Costa Rica Luxury Real Estate….

by Roberta Murphy More and more people from around the world are choosing to spend at least part of their lives in coastal Costa Rica–and more than a few decide there just might be no better place to spend the rest of their lives. Why? 1. A warm climate, beaches, mountains, jungles–and breathtaking biodiversity. The people and government of Costa Rica are committed to preserving Costa Rica’s clean air, beautiful…

December 13, 2007
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Luxury Builder Says 2007 Worst in 40 Years

Luxury Builder of homes
December 10, 2007

by Roberta Murphy If real estate investors are looking for blood in the streets, they had better be wearing galoshes. Even the books of venerable luxury builder Toll Brothers, America’s largest luxury builder of tract homes, are in the red. For the first time in 21 years, the company is suffering its first quarterly loss (Oct. 31) in the amount of $81.8 million. Much of this loss can be attributed to…

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Mortgage Rate Freeze: Who Wins and Who Loses

Rate Freeze
December 8, 2007

by Roberta Murphy This months hot real estate question: Which homeowners will benefit from President Bush’s recent interest rate freeze for subprime loans? And who will be left out in the cold? It’s a question on the mind of both mortgage and real estate professionals alike. Drumroll. The winners, who may receive a five-year extension (and possibly even longer) on their low introductory mortgage rates, are those: Whose mortgage loans…

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Luxury Home Sales to Climb with Bonuses

by Scott Murphy Many top executives at large investment banking firms will be depositing some jumbo bonuses by the end of this month. Despite an overall bonus decrease of 10% due to months of multibillion-dollar bank write-downs and a spreading credit crisis, many will be pocketing some still-sizeable sums. Depending on which firm they work for and the position held, bonuses can range anywhere from up to $2 million to…

December 7, 2007
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Real Estate Fraud: Cash Back and Consequences

Fraud
December 4, 2007

by Roberta Murphy Opportunities for real estate fraud couldn’t have been more ripe than in 2005 and 2006, when real estate prices started to quietly soften–especially in fertile markets like San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami. Home prices in these areas had rocketed to unsustainable levels, and some of the micro markets within these areas had already started to stall as early as 2005. By 2006, market time and…

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