$53 Million Plaza Suite: An Attic-Like Space?

Plaza Hotel and Apatments
September 9, 2008

by Roberta Murphy A pair of $53.5 million New York Plaza penthouses were sold to Russian hedge-fund manager Andrei Vavilov–which would have made it the second-highest residential sale in New York City history. Andrei Vavilov, though, is one very upset buyer. He and his wife, Russian actress Maryana Tsaregradskaya, are outraged with low 9 foot ceilings, an unexpected and massive column in the living room, and an exterior drainage grate…

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The Luxury of the Zolo Torrontes

Zolo Torrontes
September 7, 2008

by Eve Sieminski As summer hurls to a close, I had to review one of the best white wines I have ever sipped. I stumbled upon the Zolo Torrontes one day at our local Costco. What caught my eye was the markdown. The week prior this wine was $8.99 a bottle–and now was only $4.97! Even at that price I was skeptical, because I am not a fan of South…

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Real Estate Market Bottom and a Radical Resolution

This is a continuation of last week’s discussion with real estate and luxury home legend Bob Dyson, who has a radical proposal that is being quickly embraced by Realtors, lenders and local Real Estate Boards. Why resort to radical resolutions? Because, says Dyson “This is a real estate depression–a serious, serious issue.” He sees an immediate need to stabilize real estate markets and neighborhood values. He also believes the motgage…

September 1, 2008
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A Most Unorthodox Market: Bob Dyson

by Roberta Murphy Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to sit across from Bob Dyson at his office in Del Mar and listen to this real estate legend discuss today’s real estate market. We were also fortunate to have Chris Dyson videotaping much of the discussion, which we have divided into four segments. At the start of our interview, Bob Dyson said these are the worst conditions he has seen…

September 1, 2008
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Jumbo Loan Defaults in the Luxury Market

Luxury Defaults
August 23, 2008

by Roberta Murphy Luxury Home Defaults Ed McMahon may have wondered what else in new in defaulted real estate with the pending default of his Beverly Hills home.  But yesterday, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service reported that even prime jumbo loans are starting to buckle. Over a period of just one month–from June to July, 2008–jumbo loans originated in 2006 saw mortgage delinquencies rise 13.2 percent, while 2007 delinquencies rose…

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California Luxury Home Foreclosures?

by Roberta Murphy Yes, there are plenty of luxury home foreclosures in California–and you can now search them whenever you wish. When in San Francisco last month for the Inman Connect conference, I was at last able to meet the foreclosure wizards at Foreclosure Radar–and make a decision to go with them. We have long been searching for a comprehensive foreclosure search tool to offer the readers of our San…

August 14, 2008
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The Luxury of Gnarly Head Zinfandel

July 29, 2008

by Eve Sieminski I am convinced California wines are a no-brainer. Recently, another wine blogger recommended we try a fantastic $8 French wine. This was in response to an earlier article where I recommended TBD Zinfandel, available at Trader Joe’s. My thoughts about this recommended French red? Pee pee water! I wouldn’t cook with it, let alone serve it to guests. In fact, the experience only reaffirms my belief in…

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The Luxury of Frugality

by Roberta Murphy Luxury real estate gossip the last few months has fluttered around topics like the sale of Donald Trump’s Palm Beach mansion at $100 million (when it had been listed for $125 million), the pending foreclosure of Ed McMahon’s Beverly Hills home, and the F-word in luxury real estate (foreclosures). These days, recession is the hot topic as brokerage accounts have been bloodied, home equities have declined, and…

July 3, 2008
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Yahoo! to Google: Real Time Stock Quotes

Google has become a noun, a verb and a trusted friend in my life. It of course answers endless questions and sends curious clients my way, but also handles my email, documents, maps, spreadsheets, instant chat, and more. And when I want to check traffic conditions, I can do it with another Google real time mapping application on the Blackberry. Just when I have to count both fingers and toes…

June 3, 2008
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A Call to Luxury Blogs and Bloggers

by Roberta Murphy I love luxury and enjoy reading luxury blogs. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to visit them all to ferret out the latest in luxury news. One solution is to create a luxury blog network that will syndicate content from the best luxury blogs–whether they are focused on bling, luxury travel, luxury real estate, luxury clues, luxury furnishings or just the rich and famous. The Luxury Blog Network…

May 9, 2008
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