The move from a luxury home can be a daunting one–especially when grand pianos, snooker tables and valuable art need to be both carefully packed, insured and moved into new abodes. One of our readers, Kirstie Birkewitz, is not only a writer, but co-owner of a careful moving company in San Diego–and has some excellent tips for luxury home relocation Specialists are needed to make the event a success! Moving…
by Roberta Murphy Most of us grew up believing that education and earning power were irrevocably shackled to each other, and where one went, the other inevitably followed. These days, we’re not so sure. Especially with the number of billionaire dropouts. Below, a partial list of billionaires who dropped out of school and went on to become outrageous successes in the technology, entertainment and fashion fields. 1. Sir Richard Branson dropped out…
by Roberta Murphy We are seeing luxury scaled down on many fronts, and luxury hotels and timeshare resorts are taking it on the chin as well. For the first five months of this year, according the the Wall Street Journal, U.S. hotel occupancy has declined 53 percent. This is the lowest drop in occupancy since 1987, when Smith Travel Research began tracking these numbers. While both luxury and budget hotels…
by Roberta Murphy (It is with sadness that we learned of Michael Jackson’s death due to a heart attack this afternoon, apparently at his Holmby Hills mansion. In the days ahead, many will be wondering about the fate of Neverland. Our prayers and kind wishes are extended to the Jackson family.) Over two years ago, we were speculating about the fate of Michael Jackson’s Neverland and wondered if it would…
by Roberta Murphy In 2006, we reported that Candace Spelling, 63, and widow of the later Aaron Spelling, was shopping for a $150 million buyer for her Holmby Hills home: ….Candy Spelling, widow of the late Aaron Spelling, has quietly put their legendary 56,000 square foot, 123-room Holmby Hills mansion on the market for $150 million. Sources say the Westside Estate Agency (WEA) has the pocket listing and that the…
by Roberta Murphy We now have the chance to read through the recent Stimulus/Spending Bill that was passed largely unread by our Congress. The earmarks and pork anger many, but there is good news on the real estate front: Owners of second homes and other real estate investments will now be able to refinance their mortgage loans if they are guaranteed or held by either FannieMae or FreddieMac–and if the…
by Eve Sieminski I’ve been visiting the Temecula Valley for wine tastings over the years–usually as a substitute for the richer (and more distant) wine experiences to be found along California’s Central Coast and the Napa/Sonoma wine countries. A couple of weeks ago, we had a visitor from Europe who wanted a California wine experience. Not having the time for a long drive North, we headed out to Temecula, just…
by Roberta Murphy One Can Modify Luxury Home Loans, too? Not all clients took my conservative mortgage advice over the years, and some ended up with home loans that have turned downright nasty. In one case, a client and dear friend was persuaded to take out a Negative Amortizing Adjustable Rate Mortgage (Neg Am) along with a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) a few weeks after the purchase of…
by Roberta Murphy Dear friends returned with big smiles and fat packages after a trip to Las Vegas prior to Christmas. Ulf and Andrea walked into the Saks Fifth Avenue store on Las Vegas Boulevard–and encountered rack after rack of clothing discounted up to 80 percent off. These were sales never seen in the weeks before Christmas, and they happily bagged up their luxury bargains and returned to Southern California….
by Eve Sieminski I can’t begin to tell you how many years I have had a prejudice against Chilean wines. Each time I tried one, I was unimpressed–or worse, ended up with a raging headache. Living in California, we are positively spoiled when it comes to wine. We have a never ending selection of fine wines, so it never occurred to me to search out fine wines from Chile. At…
