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…
When Will the Real Estate Market Return to Normal?
Luxury Real Estate Market: What is Normal? I often turn to Billy Taylor, financial services guru at San Diego’s Villa Sotheby’s, when I want to hear the latest scoop on the mortgage market. Just last week, for example, Billy shared that Chase had moved out of the jumbo mortgage market entirely. That leaves a mere handful of lenders who will even consider doing jumbo loans, which help fuel much…
Jumbo Loan Defaults in the Luxury Market
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…
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…
7 Bargaining Tips for Luxury Home Buyers
by Roberta Murphy Good Bargaining Tips for the Luxury Home Buyer If this is the worst real estate market (for sellers) in recent history, then surely it creates some of the best luxury bargains of a lifetime as well. We are seeing smart money aggressively buying in our San Diego real estate market, and hear reports of the same elsewhere. The properties are being bought as fix-and-flippers or are being…
The Luxury of Thunder
Will Verizon Thunder on i-Phone’s Parade? by Roberta Murphy Last month, I attended Inman Connect in San Francisco, where one of the speakers onstage at the Palace Hotel tried to pull something up on his new 3G Apple i-Phone, but had no service. Frustrated, he lamented AT&T’s poor coverage and compared the i-Phone to a Lambborghini running on a VW engine–and I joined the audience applause. Why Apple tied its…
The Luxury of Gnarly Head Zinfandel
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…
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…
A Pox on Congress this 4th of July
by Roberta Murphy I received an irate call from my father, Bob Michelson, this morning. He, a calm and decorated veteran and pilot of three wars, was fit to be tied. In addition to following the stock market closely, he tracks world events with the eyes of a falcon. “GM’s stock price is at an all-time low and Citibank is sitting at a 10-year low,” growled the Colonel. “Meanwhile the…
Luxury Real Estate Exchanges
by Roberta Murphy This is a market that sometimes brings out the creative forces in real estate. And more and more, real estate exchanges are making lots of sense in the luxury real estate market. Earlier this evening, I had an interesting conversation with a Sotheby’s real estate agent in Northern California. It seems he is interested in exchanging his exquisite 104 acre property just outside Carmel for a luxury…
