by Roberta Murphy

We are making reservations now to attend the National Association of Realtors NAR NARDIGRAS, which will logically be held in New Orleans, November 4 through November 8.  We are arriving a couple of days early to attend a two day Cyberprofessional meeting and will spend the balance of our time in unspecified meetings–but will additionally be taking photos and reviewing lodging, restaurants and local “catches.”

Time will understandably be limited.

Can any of our readers suggest an interesting Bed and Breakfast or small Inn in the French Quarter or Garden District in New Orleans? Something picturesque? Maybe even something haunted?

Mostly, Scott and I are seeking something to capture in the viewfinder–and some stories to tell. Reviews are guaranteed!

We welcome your suggestions and will happily publish relevant links.

by Roberta Murphy

The Bernie Madoff, who is headed for several lifetimes in prison–and which leads us to wonder:

Where are the cushiest prisons?

And wouldn’t you know, Forbes.com provides a timely list of the top-rated federal prisons. They looked for such amenities as email, proximity to major airports, weather and internal substance-abuse programs, a sentence-reducing ploy used by non-addicted white collar criminals. Other qualifiers for the luxury prison list include pleasant guards, air-conditioned off-site employment, vocational training and weekend family visits.

Madoff’s first choice (though not at the top of Forbes’ list), was the Federal Correctional Institution at Otisville, N.Y, which serves Kosher food and is closest to his family.

That was not to be the case, though.

Madoff was instead sentenced to Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, which ranks 9th on Forbes’ list.

Top rated? The Alderson, West Virginia Federal Prison Camp where Martha Stewart served her sentence. Others include:

• Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola, Florida

• Federal Prison Camp, Yankton, South Dakota

• Federal Correctional Institution, Sheridan, Oregon

• Federal Correctional Institution, Memphis, Tennessee

• Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, CA (women’s facility)

• Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland, Kentucky

• Federal Correctional Institution, Buttner, North Carolina

• Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville, New York

And for what it’s worth, there are a total of 115 federal prisons in the United States.

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 are ailing with declining revenues, those hotel investors suffering the most (just like homeowners) are the ones who bought their real estate at the top of the market with loads of debt. Defaults on these hotel loans have spiked, and securitized mortgages (where loans are chopped up and sold to different investors as bonds) are also expected to rise from 4.7 percent to over 8 percent by year’s end, according to Morgan Stanley.

Timeshares are faring not much better. The biggest timeshare operator in this country, Wyndham Worldwide Corp has seen timeshare sales plunge 39 percent from a year ago. Another big loser is Marriott International, whose timeshare business reported a $17 million loss in the first quarter of this year.

And then we have luxury hotel operators like Four Seasons, which manages a number of luxury hotels, and is facing pressure from hotel owners to discount room rates in response to economic pressures. Recently, the owners of the Aviara Four Seasons Resort in Carlsbad, CA (north of San Diego) tried to divorce themselves from Four Seasons, who have a 30-year management contract with Broadreach Capital Partners of Palo Alto, CA. The owners are trying to preserve financial viability, while Four Seasons is trying to protect its non-discounting luxury reputation–and its contract.

Four Seasons, incidentally, was the only luxury hotel not to discount room rates after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This was broadly seen as a brilliant move. Four Seasons, with its 82 hotels around the world, maintained both its profitability and its luxurious reputation.

These harsh economic times, though, are weighing heavily on the luxury hotel market. Their fixed costs are higher with staffing, valet service and maintenance–while corporate travel has shrunk and leisure travelers are bargain hunting. This has caused many hotel operators to discount room rates and offer bargain travel packages.

This is a market that surely has not only the venerable Four Seasons on guarded watch, but also the Ritz Carlton, the St. Regis and other five-star destinations throughout the world.

by Roberta Murphy
According to Forbes.com, now may be the best time to make some of those major purchases wise shoppers have been putting off for so long, particularly if one has the luxury of capital.  The Forbes list:

1. Homes. Low prices fueled by foreclosures and short sales, coupled with low interest rates and possible income tax credits, make this an opportune time to shop real estate.

2. Cars. Automobile dealers are dealing as never before: 0 percent financing, big cash rebates and other incentives make for some historic deals. Even used car prices are down 10 percent from a year ago.

3. Vacations. Las Vegas hotel room rates are down an average of 34 percent from a year ago, cruises are offering some amazing bargains, like $1000 per person for summer week-long Alaska cruises (including airfare).  Airlines are also offering some bargain fares.

4. Toys. Prices for playthings are headed down this summer and are expected to stay down for holiday shopping.

5. High Dividend Stocks. With the S&P down 40 percent (more or less)  from a year ago and the prospect of inflationary times ahead, now may be a great time for the courageous investor to pick up some stock bargains that have a history of divident payments.

6. Laptop Computers. Prices for laptops are falling, thanks in part to recent buying activity in those handy little netbooks. Computer deals abound almost everywhere.

7. Diamonds. The recession has dulled even the diamond market, with prices for polished diamonds down an average of 14 percent from their highs last summer.

8. Clothing. Men’s and women’s clothing are filling the clearance racks. Remember how Saks Fifth Avenue started their 80 percent off sales before Christmas last year?  There are lots of bargains, especially with more expensive lines.

9. Televisions. We recently had to replace a large flat panel television, and were blown away with the replacement price at Costco.  As more manufacturers enter the flat panel TV business, prices are drooping precipitously.

10. Furniture. With fewer people buying homes, furniture sales have drastically fallen off. Many furniture retailers are going out of business and clearance sales are driving much of the home furnishings market.

As a San Diego Realtor, I find it interesting that Forbes put real estate in the number one position–and cannot help but recall Baron Rothschild’s famous saying, Buy when there’s blood in the streets.

How much blood is the question….

by Roberta Murphy

Mexico is struggling with a number of serious problems, including failed real estate developments along the Baja coastline–just south of the San Diego border. From the northern tip of Tijuana’s coastline down to Ensenada, Baja beach areas are spotted with the rusting remains of failed high rise condo projects.

And one of the biggest failures is the Trump Ocean Resort Baja just north of Punta Bandera, where unwitting U.S. investors thought they were buying into one of the safest investments possible: A beach condo development offered by none other than Donald Trump and his family.  Up to 600 buyers paid 10 to 30 percent down on condos ranging from $274,000 for a 485-square foot studio to nearly $3 million for a 2685 square foot penthouse.

Today,  infuriated real estate investors have lost millions of dollars–with scant chance of getting anything back.

Some people refinanced homes in 2006 to come up with the $100,000 to $1 million deposits–which were subsequently and legally spent by the developer. Today, all that remains is an aging billboard with a large photo of The Donald, a shuttered sales center and showroom, a parking lot and a number of excavation holes and standing construction equipment.

This year, parents are warning kids not to head to Baja for Spring Break.  Mexico’s drug violence has escalated and kidnappings are all-too-frequent.  These tourist fears coupled with the global economic meltdown make real estate speculation investment in Baja a risky proposition.

In 2009, our family will remain in Southern California for Spring Break.  And until Mexico gets drug violence under control, we join countless others in avoiding a border crossing.

Call it a protest–or just protective parenting instincts.

by Scott Murphy

Iglu-Dorf Hotel

I grew up in the mountains at Big Bear Lake and spent many winters building igloos. Behind all the effort was the dream that I would one day get to sleep overnight in one of these icy creations.

It now appears someone in Switzerland has beaten me to the punch.

Perched 8,500 ft in the Swiss mountains above 5-star resorts sits Davos, Switzerland. Here one will find Iglu-Dorf, a 15-igloo hotel linked by tunnels. Somehow, it looks like a cross between neolithic caves and eco-housing–where we might get to live like an Eskimo for a day or two (my childhood dream-come-true).

With tempatures reaching minus 20 degrees Celsius, warm clothing and high-tech thermal underwear would be in order as would a keen sense of adventure.

by Roberta Murphy

It seems that almost daily we hear about segments of the broad luxury market losing not only their luster, but even their footing. There are reports that luxury retailers are bracing for a crash slowdown, and that even real estate in super-rich Dubai is beginning to show signs of weakness.

In fact, says Tim Blixseth, It’s as if the whole world had a financial heart attack.

Wall Street’s credit crisis has not only invaded Main Street (and vice versa), but is crippling segments of the once-impervious luxury real estate market.

This morning, we hear that Blixseth’s Yellowstone Ski Resort has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This invitation-only ski and residence club for  340 uber-rich ($1.5 million buy in) is located in Montana’s Gallatin Mountains near Bozeman.  The club has 340 members including Bill Gates, former vice president Dan Quayle, Comcast’s Stephen Burke and cycling star Greg LeMond–and all have to be wondering if the resort will even open this season.

If Chapter 11 protection is granted and the club is able to get a $4.5 million loan, Yellowstone Resort will be able to open its powdery slopes this winter.  Looming on the other side of the mountain, though, is around $343 million in debt that is owed to creditors and contractors. Most of that debt, $307 million, is reportedly owed on a loan arranged by Credit Suisse in 2005.

Edra Blixseth took control of the resort last August, after her divorce from Tim Blixseth was finalized and has reportedly  been trying to sell some of the Blixseth’s other luxury properties located around the world. The Yellowstone Club is valued at $778 million, according to court filings–not including unsold memberships, which may be worth as much as $336 million.

Like other property holders and developers around the world, Yellowstone Club members and the Blixseths are hoping that recovery from this financial heart attack will quickly bring credit flowing through the world’s clogged financial arteries.

by Roberta Murphy

Our shrinking global village is an abiding source of amazement, and I often marvel at the diversity of countries represented by the readers (or perusers) of this blog.

Just for fun, I decided to check the countries of origin for the past 30 hours.

Most visitors (or at least the internet service) hail from the United States. But the balance of the world, according to our SiteMeter account, is also well-represented.

Offered in the order of their visits are luxury readers and seekers hailing from Hong Kong, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Bangladesh, American Samoa, Croatia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Spain, Egypt, China, Europe(?), Canada, Argentina, Ireland, India, Italy, Norway, United Arab Emirates, El Salvador, Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Australia, Russian Federation, Hungary, Philippines, Syrian Arab Republic, Polant, Brazil, Georgia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Romania, Macedonia and Portugal.

There were several “unknowns” and one major surprise: No visitors from Mexico during the 30 hour period studied.

We are grateful to all visitors and readers at Luxury Home Digest, but most likely have Google and Yahoo to thank for their website translation capabilities. At the same time, we are humbled by the number of people from other countries who have taken the time to learn the English language.

To all our visitors

• Arabic – Ahlan Wa Sahlan
• Australia – G’day Mate
• China -  huan ying
• Czech Republic – Vitejte
• Denmark – Velkommen
• Dutch (Netherlands) – Welkom
• France – Bienvenue (the first ‘n’ is nasal)
• German – Willkommen
• India – Swaa-gat hai
• Indonesia – Selamat Datang
• Ireland – Failte romhat
• Italy – Benvenuto
• Japan – Yookoso (welcome to our city)
• Malaysia – Selamat Datang
• New Zealand – Kia Ora – Hello (“Key or ra”)
• Norway – Velkommen (“Welkommen”)
• Poland – Dzieñ dobry (daytime)
• Poland – Dobry wieczór (evening time)
• Portugal – Muito Bem Vindo (“MOO EEN toe bain VEENdoe”)
• Romania – Multumesc
• Tagalog (Philippines) – Mabuhay
• United States (South) – How Y’all Doin’?
• Yugoslavia (Serbia) – Dobrodosli

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 Diego real estate blog. I had been to the Foreclosure Radar site, was impressed with its features, but wondered how they could be integrated for our readers searching for foreclosure information.

The problem was solved in San Francisco. We can now offer the most comprehensive pre-foreclosure, auction sale, foreclosure and REO search available–at least for the state of California. Now you can see available foreclosures in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Palo Alto, Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla, Coronado, Bel Air, Newport Beach, Carmel, Atherton, Ross, Belvedere (perhaps)…..

Finally, you can search for uber luxury homes, estates and mansions in foreclosure. Nothing is held back:-)

Enjoy your search!

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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 we persistently advise our clients to stay with blue chip real estate investments especially in volatile economic times.

We just received a whisper from La Costa Resort and Spa in balmy Carlsbad, California that buyers of their Villas will receive up to $125,000 at closing for leasing their properties back to them for two years. And of course, there is always the option of using their condos too.

This is a very limited offer, as only 10 La Costa Resort Villas whole-ownership, luxury condominiums remain. Each is fully furnished (just pack a toothbrush) with designer decor and high-end amenities throughout, and is located on the grounds of the world-class La Costa Resort and Spa.

Low out-of-pocket expenses enable resort ownership for minimal cost.

One-bedroom luxury condos start at $594,825, while two-bedroom units list for up to $1,033,000. With 75% financing, buyers can claim ownership with considerably low out-of-pocket expenses of up to $125,000. Plus, La Costa management will also waive monthly fees for two years to save La Costa Villa buyers even more.

A bonus of complimentary Villas Signature La Costa Sports Membership, valued at $16,500, is also included.

If you are interested in this exceptional value, please call Mike or Roberta Murphy for additional information at 760-402-9101 or 760-402-9102. We are including some luxury spa treatments for our buyers as well.