Luxury Info

For Those Speechless Moments….

Hallmark Display
February 21, 2007
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by Roberta Murphy Hallmark, you’ve done it again. All right. You must have known that I suffer from occasional bouts of bumbling wordlessness when: Someone confesses to being diagnosed with cancer. When infertile friends share they are considering adoption after years of infertility. A family friend shares his Alzheimers diagnosis. Our neighbors announce their divorce. My brother-in-law loses his job. Life surprises. It appears Hallmark Cards is going to allow…

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Are Buyers Liars?

by Roberta Murphy I attended a San Diego real estate luncheon today and was handed a booklet with identical questions posed to agents along with their printed answers. The questions were solid and most of the answers made sense. But I nearly choked on a piece of broccoli when I read this statement from a well-known agent in our area: œBuyers are still and always will be liars. Dont talk…

February 20, 2007
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Luxury Home Digest a Carnival Winner!

We didnt win dinner out, but a dozen roses were awarded for our recent real estate Home Pricing Dangers article. The Real Estate Carnival was hosted by the Pittsburgh Homes Daily and offers up some juicy real estate reading. A deep thanks from us all to PHD editor Robert Melton, who spent hours during a raging snow storm going through the competing real estate articles. If such things were possible,…

February 19, 2007
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Redfin: Reservation Agents of Real Estate?

by Roberta Murphy I have had enough of this nonsense comparing the traditional realestate industry to the travel industry and its ultimate demise.The comparison is both absurd and ill-conceived. A travel agent sits behind a desk, makes travel arrangements and collects a commission that is likely split in several directions. Itwas a task easily assumed by consumers with a computer. They could sit behind a desk, make travel arrangements online…

February 15, 2007
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Wealthy Homes Rarely Invaded–at Least in the U.S.

by Roberta Murphy Thompson Home invasions of the wealthy are rare, says Mark Bauer, staff writer for the San Diego Union Tribune. His article in this morning’s San Diego Union Tribune reminds us of: 1. The highly-publicized 1974 Patty Hearst kidnapping by the Simbionese Army She was granddaughter of publishing mogul William Randolph Hearst. 2. The $2.7 million ransom paid in 1973 for the release of an oil billionaire’s grandson and namesake,  John Paul Getty II–-which…

February 11, 2007
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How Move.com Could Murder HouseValues.com….

The following article, written by Roberta Murphy, originally appeared on The Real Estate Tomato, and has been republished here for our readers enjoyment. If Move.com Wants to Murder HouseValues.com Here’s How I Think It Should Happen. Plotted by: Roberta Murphy I don’t think Move.com has a homicidal eye on HouseValues, but perhaps it should. If Move.com wants to meet its impressive goals, it must. HouseValues with its drip system is/was…

February 9, 2007
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Redfin Security Issues

I just overheard a news report that Redfin is coming to San Diego, and I am tapping my pen in wonder. I imagined one of our San Diego real estate listings and I imagined receiving a call from a stranger asking to see the property. In the natural course of conversation, I would ask if the caller was working with an agent. If the caller responded that they were working…

February 8, 2007
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Prestige Index: San Francisco

The San Francisco real estate market is almost one unto itself. But that is another article for another day. What we are reporting on is First Republic Banks Prestige Index, which covers the huge California real estate market. And this final article in the series focuses on the results for upscale home in the San Francisco metropolitan real estate market. The perpetually hot (huh?)San Franciso Bay area rose a slight…

February 7, 2007
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Bluebloods of Blogging

Comes close to describing some of the attendeesand I sure like the sound of it! Yesterday a large group of real estate bloggers met at the Internet Relevance presentation in Long Beach, CA to hear Dustin Luther (left), founder of Rain City Guide, speak about the intricacies and benefits of real estate blogging. And speak he did, at about the speed of a machine gun going full blast! There are…

February 7, 2007
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Prestige Index: Los Angeles

by Roberta Murphy With a drumroll, lets reveal and discuss the results of First Republic Banks Prestige Index for Los Angeles, California. Our earlier article about San Diegos Prestige Index offered some interesting data. Hopefully our report on the Los Angeles luxury home market wont disappoint! As might be expected, the pace of luxury home appreciation in Los Angeles has cooled somewhat, but is far from being in the tank….

February 5, 2007
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