Jumbo Loans are Back with a Bang to Fuel the Luxury Real Estate Market by Selena Cowell Is the luxury real estate market on the mend? Home sales and prices are gradually rising in those places where the wealthy would like to plant their mailboxes–such as Chicago’s North Shore, the San Francisco Bay area, the haute Hamptons and the Rancho Santa Fe and La Jolla areas near San Diego. According…
by Roberta Murphy–At $600,000 per month, the Beverly Mansion in Beverly Hills, is most likely contender for most expensive luxury rental in the nation. And it’s got an interesting history as well. It was in the Beverly Mansion that the infamous horse-head-in-bed scene was filmed for The Godfather. John F. Kennedy and his bride honeymooned in the Beverly Mansion. Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston filmed scenes for The Bodyguard here. Marion…
Between Rancho Santa Fe and the beaches in Encinitas sits an irreplaceable plot of land that surely belongs to another century. The wide and expansive rear lawn backs up to pasture, wetlands and forest beyond. Family of deer come grazing and cows come to visit when the lawnmower is at work. Late afternoons, it is not unusual to see colorful hot air balloons gliding across the sky–and the stars at…
Making Your Home Look Luxurious Without Breaking the Bank When purchasing a home it comes down to price, function and luxury. Most people look for and want as many luxuries as they can get for the right price. In new home purchases, these are often called “upgrades,” and they can run into thousands of dollars. For those who can’t afford a total remodel or who prefer not to spend a…
by Roberta Murphy We’ve written about luxury closets in the past, but these days some are spending up to $500,000 for a luxe master closet that might include a champagne refrigerator, sound system, glass-enclosed display cabinets, wet bar or even a breakfast area. Gone are the simpler days of a luxurious dressing room. The master closet area has become a destination room. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday on four…
by Roberta Murphy When showing homes to buyers in San Diego, one of the first doors that is opened following the front door is…the pantry door. Sometimes the “pantry” is nothing more than a large cabinet that may (or may not) have revolving and pull-out shelves. Hopefully, and regardless of size, the boxes of cereal, canned goods and other kitchen staples are stacked in an orderly fashion. But the ultimate…
by Roberta Murphy We have noted a decided uptick in our own luxury real estate market in San Diego. Home shoppers from Europe, Canada, Mexico, Asia and the United States seem to have collectively decided that now is the best time to invest in coastal San Diego–in communities ranging from Coronado and downtown San Diego to La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana Beach and Rancho Santa Fe. Apparently, this is a…
by Roberta Murphy Ah… the luxury of being able to comfortably live in one of the most expensive cities in the world (so why not divide one’s time between them–just for bragging rights?:-) CNBC just released their 10 most expensive cities in the world to live where they included 200 factors such as costs for a 2-bedroom luxury apartment, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, entertainment and so on. It might come…
by Roberta Murphy Years ago, when we put our first home on the market, I insisted that the Realtor put NO SIGN in our yard. I did not want neighbors to know that we were selling or cause any disruption in our neighborhood. Our agent tried to explain the importance of a sign, but I was the incalcitrant client–and we ended up selling the home with NO SIGN. This of…
by Roberta Murphy The luxury real estate market in Paris is beginning to bulge with inventory, as wealthy business tycoons prepare to leave France and its looming tax rate of 75 percent of annual income above 1 million euros. According to France 24 , around 400-500 residences worth more than one million euros ($1.3 million) have recently hit the Paris market–and other French cities are being affected as well. But…
