Today, I saw two different posts on Facebook from and about two different and unrelated people. Both stopped me in my tracks and had me wondering how much I had missed in life as both an observer–and performer.
They are magically and somehow connected, The first is a classic tale, the other a contemporary dance at busy LAX Airport. It doesn’t matter, the free performances are largely ignored by all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S32bgx36G-0
2012 Luxury Home Sales
We have noted a decided uptick in our own luxury real estate market in San Diego. Home shoppers from Europe, Canada, Mexico, Asia and the United States seem to have collectively decided that now is the best time to invest in coastal San Diego–in communities ranging from Coronado and downtown San Diego to La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana Beach and Rancho Santa Fe.
Apparently, this is a growing trend, as can be seen by this infographic that shows recent luxury home trends throughout the United States. Anecdotally, we are hearing the same from luxury real estate brokers in Florida, Colorado, and other states.
As you can see, biggest gains in luxury home sales occurred in the Western states, followed by the Noetheast, the South and trailed by the Midwestern states.
Oluce Luxe Rocks
Leave it to Italian designers to create the ultimate in luxury rocks for sexy lightscaping around the home.
These remarkable lighted rocks by Oluce look as if they might have been swiped from the lawn of a distant planet. In reality, though, they were created by Italian designers Marta Laudani and Marco Romanelli with Massimo Noceto. Made from weather-tested polyethelene, these lighted Oluce stones glow with the aid of a screw-in fluorescent bulb.
Dont expect to find these luxe rocks in your local hardware or lighting store though. They are available by special order and then only in large quantities–whatever that means. Current prices for the rocks generally run in the $500+ range, while the glowing Oluce table lamp runs over $1700 on Amazon.
I hope to see some of these luminous beauties in San Diego’s luxury homes before too long. They would look lovely sitting on a table or other surface providing soft and romantic accent lighting.
For additional information, you may call ylighting at 866.428.9289 (This is an unpaid, unexpected and unsolicited commercial
)
I wonder if these lighted rocks would attract bugs???
Other fun and imaginative luxuries for the luxury home:
D. Porthault Sheets and Linens
As well as other recent luxury reads:
The Snoring Room
The Self Service Spa (Do it at home?)
Long-Lasting Roses
Induction-Cooktop for the Luxury Kitchen
Ultimate Phone for the Luxury Bath
How to Hide the Bedroom TV
Switchable Mirror Glass Windows
SONOS: The Ultimate Sound System
Haute Refrigerators for Cool Kitchens?
The Overflowing Infinity Tub
Wine Storage for Oenophiles
The Illuminated Bathtub
Marie Antoinette
I recently heard New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez explain how she had, after taking office, eliminated one chef, one jet and several other aircraft from the governor’s beck and call. She figured that if the budget had to be trimmed/decimated, the job started at the top.
Susana Martinez is a woman after my own heart.
Like the rest of us, when times get tough we shed the non-necessities and in the process, set a good example for our children and/or constituents–and possibly even our communities. When times are good and continued prosperity seems certain, many of us load up on luxuries and sometimes-thoughtless purchases. And when the economy contracts, those non-necesities and surerfluous purchases are usually the first to go.
The actions of the leader (in this case the Mom) determine the actions of the pack. Do we really need a second golf membership (NO!), that timeshare (meh!), monthly hair appointments (please no)? We look for areas that are non-necessity, and start cutting expenditures from that point.
The first cuts should be the ones that hurt the butcher the most. If I cut monthly hair appointments, then for sure the guys in our household can cut a golf membership, cancel or sell the timeshare and maybe even shed a few excess golf clubs for good measure.
Which leads us now to the White House and me drumming fingers wondering why our President needs 54 Christmas trees to occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue while the First Family and an entire village head to Hawaii for an extended Holiday.
Talk about missed opportunities. What if, instead, the taxpayer funds spent on this luxurious vacation had instead been donated to Hurrican Sandy victims? Or excess Christmas trees donated to the needy>
I always thought Romney might have scored big points had he offered to serve the Presidency for a dollar a year pay for his and his family’s own vacations. It might have also helped voters calculate the advantage of having a rich guy in office.
Such sacrifices might be symbolic, but they help lessen the pain and loss being felt by so many voters.
What if, for example, there were just one tree–and what if the First Family stayed home for the holidays like most of their constituents? What if, instead, President Obama ordered his Czars to find budetary blubber and eliminate it? What if our Leadership understood that the speed of the leader determines the speed of the pack?
What if a country were led by example, instead of by dictate and executive order? What if our Congressional representatives first put themselves and their families on proposed and inferior retirement and health plans before they forced them on their constituents? What if our elected representatives at all levels had the character to take the first cuts and sacrifices?
And what if we, the ones who pay their way, could trust that they put our interests before their own?
While I thought I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die. ~Leonardo Da Vinci
I’ve been haunted, disturbed and perturbed by an article I read a couple of days ago about sick babies being starved and dehydrated to death in Britain–per physicians’s orders and government encouragement. You can read the article there as I don’t have the stomach to share all the painful details here.
We’ll probably have “death panels” in our own government-mandated healthcare system before too long–and I hope it’s a subject explored carefully and with great thought. For sure, withdrawing food and fluid from a baby or other terminally ill patient will induce a “natural” and cost-saving death, but it’s something most of us would never do to our pets.
In fact, if one were to starve and dehydrate a dog to the point that its tongue was glued to the roof of its mouth (as is happening with with human patients), there would be media outrage against the pet owner along with a possible prison term.
In Britain, it seems human starvation and dehydration are considered “palliative” care for their most helplessly disabled and terminally ill patients. Palliative care, as I understand, is supposed to focus on relieving pain and suffering–not causing it. Further complicating this issue is that hospitals are reportedly being compensated by the British government for hastening death in society’s most ill patients–and withholding nutrition and fluid seems to assure death within a couple of weeks.
I hate cruelty–in whatever form it takes.
My Dad, a thoughtful thinker and man, believed the late Jack Kavorkian just might be a saint. While medicine and medical procedures can be successful in extending life, there is little joy in prolonging pain and suffering. Dr. Kavorkian, of course, assisted in the deaths of 130 terminally ill people between 1990 and 1998–and was ultimately sentenced for second degree murder in Michigan.
Death, in many ways, can be a welcome luxury for any creature struggling with painful and terminal illness–but to have government-mandated suffering is unconscionable and cowardly. If a government entity is going to sentence a patient to death, why not go ahead do so in a humane and painless manner?
Better yet, why don’t goverments just butt out and let these life and death decisions be made by patients, parents and physicians?
Luxury Apartment
Ah… the luxury of being able to comfortably live in one of the most expensive cities in the world (so why not divide one’s time between them–just for bragging rights?:-)
CNBC just released their 10 most expensive cities in the world to live where they included 200 factors such as costs for a 2-bedroom luxury apartment, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, entertainment and so on.
It might come as no surprise that three of the top 10 are in Japan, two are in Switzerland and two in Africa.
So, without boring our readers with details, we cut to the chase, offer the cities in descending order and include the expected monthly rent for a luxury 2-bedroom apartment plus cost of a fast meal and a cup of coffee:
Sitting in San Diego, I feel as if we are living in paradise at bargain basement prices.
Another cup of coffee, please?
A Desire for Privacy
Years ago, when we put our first home on the market, I insisted that the Realtor put NO SIGN in our yard.
I did not want neighbors to know that we were selling or cause any disruption in our neighborhood. Our agent tried to explain the importance of a sign, but I was the incalcitrant client–and we ended up selling the home with NO SIGN. This of course, was before the internet and Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia and all the other listing aggregators. And in those days, the wish for privacy was something that was understood by almost all.
At that time, I mostly wanted to protect our privacy–and didn’t want to have to answer questions or be the subject of neighborhood gossip.
Fast forward to 2012 and grocery shoppers have not only to contend with the revelations of rags in the checkout lines, they can also hop onto to the Trulia or Zillow sites and see which of their neighbors have fallen behind on house payments and could be facing foreclosure. Or, equally likely (and rarely assumed by the real estate novice), they may simply be trying to negotiate a loan modification with their lender WHO MAY HAVE ADVISED THEM THEY NEED TO BE DELINQUENT IN THEIR MORTGAGE PAYMENTS before they will be considered for a modification in the terms of their loan. Equally possible, the family may simply have fallen on hard times and are suffering enough embarrassment and pain without Zillow and Trulia posting up their delinquent mortgage status for all to see. Moreover, their home may already be listed as a short sale with their Realtor.
It seems these national aggregator sites who list homes for sale, provide market advice and offer slick mapping services feel this information might bring more eyeballs to their sites. Real estate agents already pay hefty sums to be the advertised “representative” of local zip codes. In further monetizing their sites, will these same agents be enticed to be the “local expert” for pending foreclosures in their purchased zip codes?
It’s not the business model that bothers me; rather, it is the brazen publication and monetization of personal pain. If parents discuss their neighbor’s published and pending foreclosure at the dinner table, is there not a chance that this juicy tidbit becomes an embarrassing morsel of school gossip the next day?
These commercial listing aggregators might try to convince real estate agents that they are offering a real opportunity to agents: They will now know who might be interesting in listing their home, and the more passive agents can $ign on to passively be the face to call when times get tough.
What’s next?
Let’s see, who else might be interested in listing their home when:
1. A loved one dies
2. Divorce proceedings are filed.
3. Someone is arrested (might need to sell to pay attorneys and bail?)
4. Birth announcement (need a home–or a bigger one?)
These are just a few examples of times when privacy might be appreciated and strongly desired. And of course, it is all public knowledge if one searches hard enough–and that is one of the arguments proffered by those who commercialize this information. And from this Realtor’s point of view, it’s pretty convenient information to have–if I’m inclined to pester people in their times of pain–or deep personal pride.
I guess one of the things I liked so long ago when I refused a lawn sign was the sense of control I had over my privacy. These days, a listed home wouldn’t stand a chance of being so obscured from looky loos and prying eyes. The listing would appear not only on hundreds or thousands of Realtor websites, but would also likely appear on Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia, Movoto, Redfin and innumerable other listing aggregators and national sites.
At a minimum, these sites should allow the homeowner the opportunity to opt out of publication–especially when the information published could cause personal pain and harm.
In exchange for this, as a San Diego Realtor, I would be gladly willing to forego any gain I might achieve from this information–and optimistically believe other real estate professionals would feel the same.
There was a time in our society when privacy was an assumed and granted given. These days, it appears to be a luxury afforded a privileged few.
Eiffel Tower
According to France 24 , around 400-500 residences worth more than one million euros ($1.3 million) have recently hit the Paris market–and other French cities are being affected as well.
But it’s not just old or inherited wealth departing France. High tech entrepreneurs are also seeking to escape the French Socialists’ hefty taxes on capital gains that are also slated for implementation. Many of these tech entrepreneurs heavily invested their own money and took puny salaries, hoping to later sell the firm for a handsome profit. Many feel that the incentive to build a business (and an employment base) has been taken away–especially with the marginal tax rate of 62.21 percent on stock sales.
So where are these departing entrepreneurs, business people and employers moving? Topping the list are London, Geneva, New York, Canada, Singapore and Israel. Brussels, Belgium though, appears attract established wealth that have already sold their assets and seek to take advantage of Belgium’s more favorable taxation on trusts–which can pass assets onto children and family.
The exodus of wealth from France has not yet been fully felt yet, and there are foreign buyers shopping luxury properties for sale there. Still, France 24 reports that in the last few months the “price for large Paris apartments had slid by five percent.”
The migration of these business people and entrepreneurs to other locations will surely not help France’s fiscal problems, because there’s always the possibility or probability that Atlas will simply…shrug and move elsewhere.
Egyptian Pyramids
Travelers from all nations once had the luxury of cruising Egypt’s Nile River, exploring the country’s ancient pyramids and steeping themselves in the mystery and intrigue of Ancient Egypt. But that was before the Great Recession and recent political and civil turmoil.
Egypt had been planning on a tourism rebound in 2012, but it appears those plans have gone up in flames as Royal Caribbean International cancels its Egyptian calls and transfers them instead to European ports. Other cruise ships will likely follow suit as a safety precaution.
Rioters in Egypt (and whoever pulls their strings) are setting up landmines of unintended consequences with their hostilities. Last night, Bill O’Reilly urged millions of his Fox viewers to boycott travel to Egypt–and even travel guru Arthur Frommer has issued a strong warning to American travelers via his travel blog:
Until matters change, and steps are taken by Egyptian officials to discourage such violence, it is clearly unsafe for Americans to visit Egypt as tourists. I feel sad to voice that opinion, because I think of all the fine Egyptian people who are dependent on tourism. Safety comes first, and, currently, Egypt is not safe.
Additionally, even local tour guides in Egypt are warning that there is a lack of security for visitors to Egypt’s historical venues. Police are largely absent and there are no guarantees of safety.
Egypt depends not only on foreign aid, but its population is very dependent on tourism to put food on the table. And with an unemployment rate of around 25 percent for its youth, tourism and its jobs could do much for local economies. Regrettably, all will suffer thanks to political instability and anarchy in the streets.
UPDATE: El Al just announced it is seeking to cancel all flights from Tel Aviv to Cairo–a route it has served for three decades. –Roberta Murphy
UPDATE: 12/29/2012 Apparently Egypt’s own citizens are not allowed to take more than $6000. out of the country–as a response to recent run on banks by terrified Egyptians. Many are buying dollars. “The panic came as the country’s new president, Mohammed Morsi, called for ‘unity’ after a referendum approved a controversial constitution which gave him and Islamist allies more powers.”
It’s a move that could cause tourism-in-reverse as more people seek to escape the Muslim Brotherhood and its faltering economy.
Luxury Apartments
Construction of new luxury homes has been at a near-standstill for the last five years, but might we be seeing a resurgence of luxury apartment building in the most unlikely place:
The suburbs?
In the past year, we have watched and quietly commented on the construction of what appeared to be upscale condominiums in La Costa, located in south Carlsbad and just north of San Diego proper. The development overlooks the world famous La Costa Resort and coincidentally, happens to fall within one of the most coveted school districts in all San Diego County.
Regardless, imagine our surprise when we discovered that these Mediterranean-influenced homes would be offered as luxury rentals rather than the townhomes we expected. Ranging from 1350 to over 2000 square feet, Costa Pointe rents will range from $2300 to $3800 per month according to research done at the La Costa real estate source, La Costa Online.
We speculate that the rental offering may be a solution that allows the builder to hold onto the property, create cash flow, and then re-offer as condominium sales when the local real estate market strengthens and appreciates.
Are you seeing similar phenomena in your local markets? Are luxury apartments in the suburbs the upscale town homes of tomorrow? It is a trend we are closely watching.
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