Making Your Home Look Luxurious Without Breaking the Bank When purchasing a home it comes down to price, function and luxury. Most people look for and want as many luxuries as they can get for the right price. In new home purchases, these are often called “upgrades,” and they can run into thousands of dollars. For those who can’t afford a total remodel or who prefer not to spend a…
by Roberta Murphy When showing homes to buyers in San Diego, one of the first doors that is opened following the front door is…the pantry door. Sometimes the “pantry” is nothing more than a large cabinet that may (or may not) have revolving and pull-out shelves. Hopefully, and regardless of size, the boxes of cereal, canned goods and other kitchen staples are stacked in an orderly fashion. But the ultimate…
by Roberta Murphy At San Diego Previews, we deal with a number of people who are relocating to the San Diego area. They may be from from the East Coast, the desert, Bay area, Midwest or Europe, but all have pretty specific ideas about the lifestyle they anticipate in sunny Southern California. Many of these seekers are seasoned and affluent home buyers–ones who can be pretty specific about the features…
by Scott Murphy $57 Million as a sales price for a Hong Kong apartment? That’s a price that would make the most expensive areas around the world such as San Diego, Los Angeles, New York and even London cringe. This five-bedroom, 6158 square foot luxury duplex suite located at one of Hong Kong’s most prestigious addresses was bought by an unidentified Chinese buyer. And if you think that is…
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….
by Roberta Murphy One Can Modify Luxury Home Loans, too? Not all clients took my conservative mortgage advice over the years, and some ended up with home loans that have turned downright nasty. In one case, a client and dear friend was persuaded to take out a Negative Amortizing Adjustable Rate Mortgage (Neg Am) along with a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) a few weeks after the purchase of…
by Roberta Murphy Dear friends returned with big smiles and fat packages after a trip to Las Vegas prior to Christmas. Ulf and Andrea walked into the Saks Fifth Avenue store on Las Vegas Boulevard–and encountered rack after rack of clothing discounted up to 80 percent off. These were sales never seen in the weeks before Christmas, and they happily bagged up their luxury bargains and returned to Southern California….
by Roberta Murphy There’s no doubt that uber-wealthy Russians love luxurious homes–and are willing to pay billions of roubles for well-placed mansions, townhomes and luxurious estates. In Moscow, where luxury buyers are enriched by petrodollars and enthused by strong consumer confidence, a young and wealthy businessman recently paid 2.5 billion roubles ($99 million) for a Moscow town home near the Kremlin. Setting a new Moscow record, this seven-story apartment boasts…
by Roberta Murphy Insuring luxury homes can be a real challenge, especially when trying to calculate replacement value for things like architectural artifacts, beloved creaking stairs or even elephant hide wallpaper. Luxury home insurance wasn’t of that much interest to me–until I read of an appraiser who tried to figure out the replacement value of elephant skin wall coverings in a Seattle manse. That appraiser, James King with the Chubb…
by Roberta Murphy Once upon a time, we whispered about the “F” word creeping into luxury real estate. These days, it is common real estate talk. The Wall Street Journal quotes Realty Trac reporting that the number of $1-plus million homes in some stage of foreclosure has ballooned to 7,968 between January and August this year. This compares to 4,214 during the same months last year. Within these numbers, it…
