by Roberta Murphy Realtors in California were groaning when the new tax laws hit this year. Luxury home sales were sure to crash and burn. You see, the new tax code puts a limit on how much one can deduct in state and local property taxes–as well as income or sales tax–up to a measly total of $10,000. So when new tax laws went into effect, high profile experts were…
Soak the Rich? Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that millionaires are fleeing their luxury homes in New York to establish residency in less-taxing states. As a result, New York is receiving far less revenue than was expected from the wealthy since these wealth taxes were enacted last April. Call it the law of unintended consequences. To be fair, many of these losses come from scaled-back salaries and layoffs on…
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…
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…
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…
Roberta Murphy Investors are moving back into the San Diego real estate market with impatient wallets. And luxury real estate investors are no exception. They are seeking well-priced foreclosures, pre-negotiated short sales and most favored of all: Real estate investments with income streams. So-called bargains in sub-marginal areas may not be the wisest real estate investment move anywhere. Perceived bargains in outlying markets may be nothing of the sort, and…
by Roberta Murphy Any verbiage I add to this photo would probably be superfluous, since this chatty picture already exceeds the expected thousand words. Hats off to someones clever recycling of mobile homes. Not sure if the intent was green construction, but the designer certainly managed to minimize the footprint of this little mobile home park. I also wonder about the relation of people who live here. And what about…
by Scott Murphy Discriminating luxury home buyers in the San Diego area are starting to raise sophisticated eyebrows at some of the better real estate buys in luxury neighborhoods such as Rancho Santa Fe. One of the best buys on the market these days is a magnificent 4-bedroom, 4.5-bath single story estate on two level acres that was recently remodeled. This Rancho Santa Fe Farms home features a lagoon pool,…
Updated note: This was written during the heady, early days of real estate blogging–when we are all going to be connected and syndicated in every direction. It never quite turned out that way. First came the Great Recession and many early players moved on to different ventures. As a seasoned and toughened San Diego Realtor, I continue to list and sell homes and write when the opportunity arises. Many of…
