Are you part of the fabled one percent? The New York Times offers an interactive chart where you can see how your income stacks up in various regions of the United States.

See the chart here.

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Most of us grew up believing that education and earning power were irrevocably shackled to each other, and where one went, the other inevitably followed. These days, we’re not so sure. Especially with the number of billionaire dropouts.

Below, a partial list of billionaires who dropped out of school and went on to become outrageous successes in the technology, entertainment and fashion fields.

1.  Sir Richard Branson dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and soon founded both Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic Airways–as well as 300 other companies. He also bought a 79-acre Caribbean Island at the age of 24

2.  Kirk Kerkorian is a Las Vegas Legend with big stakes in Bellagio, Excaliber, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, New York-New York, Circus Circus, The Mirage, and more. He dropped out of school in the 8th Grade.

3.  Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, needs little introduction. He and wife Melinda are world-class philanthropists in addition to being the wealthiest couple in the world. Most of us know he was a Harvard dropout who couldn’t resist teaming up with:

4.  Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft who dropped out of Washington State University to join buddy Bill in their MS venture. He ended up with over 100 million shares of Microsoft and today owns 12 pro sports teams, lots of real estate, and big stakes in other tech and media companies including Dreamworks Studios.

5.  Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College after just one semester and went on to found Apple Computer and become the largest shareholder in Disney Studios. A dropout earning $1 per year might have bolstered my parents admonishments, were it not that Mr. Jobs also owns 30 million shares of Apple plus perks.

6.  Larry Ellison, flashy founder of Oracle, dropped out of Illinois’ University of Urbana-Champaign (as well as the University of Chicago) and in 1977 invested $2000 to start Oracle Corporation, which is today the second  largest software company in the world. He also pilots his own jets.

7.   Michael Dell dropped out of the University of Texas at Austin after starting a little computer company he called PC’s Unlimited. Wildly successful, this dropout went on to develop Dell Computers into a name with worldwide recognition.

8.   David Geffen, a beacon in the entertainment industty, was another University of Texas at Austin dropout. He was also a cofounder of DreamWorks–and likely shares genius and coffee with Paul Allen (above).

9.  The Ralph Lauren name has become an icon in the fashion world. The City College of New York dropped out and founded the Polo Ralph Lauren brand. He reportedly got an early start, though, by selling neckties in high school where he declared his intentions to become a millionaire.

10. Sheldon Adelson is a casino legend/kingpin and Wall Street wizard, who is also a City College of New York dropout. He is CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corp which also holds the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center. Adelson also help found the COMDEX computer trade show.

Any other notable billionaire dropouts we failed to mention?  Also, where are the women?

The post 10 Billionaire School Dropouts appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

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.

The post Most Luxurious Prisons appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

I am still chuckling over the wit and common sense of Wanda Sykes as she rants at Jay Leno over a Government bailout plan that has most eyebrows raised:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXznKV7rw7k[/youtube]

The post Bailout for the Wealthy? appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

A pair of $53.5 million New York Plaza penthouses were sold to Russian hedge-fund manager Andrei Vavilov–which would have made it the second-highest residential sale in New York City history.

Andrei Vavilov, though, is one very upset buyer. He and his wife, Russian actress Maryana Tsaregradskaya, are outraged with low 9 foot ceilings, an unexpected and massive column in the living room, and an exterior drainage grate that blocks the view of Central Park from the middle floor.

He had been promised the epitome of luxury, but was instead, he says, was given an “attic-like space.”

Attorneys for the buyer have reportedly filed a $31 million lawsuit against the developer and its selling agent Stribling.

It is unclear to me whether the transaction has actually closed. The story (see link below) does not make that clear. There is a $10.6 million deposit from the buyer at stake, and real estate attorneys handle closings in New York. Unlike most California real estate transactions, I am told it can be very difficult for New York buyers to reclaim their deposits.

Which leads me to wonder: Is the lawsuit and resultant publicity about the buyer’s recovery of a $10.6 million deposit–or actual defects in the real estate delivered?

MY SUITE AT PLAZA IS SOUR DEAL – New York Post

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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 home in Rancho Santa Fe, just outside San Diego. His acreage offers 380 organic citrus trees that supply local restaurants, two greenhouses that produce basil for Whole Foods markets, Zinfandel grape vines that go you-know-where, and a number of fat and field-fed Angus cattle. He also has plans for an exquisite Tuscan villa that might be built for $1.5 million.

He is seeking to move to Southern California, and to Rancho Santa Fe in particular. And knowing that Rancho Santa Fe property owners love privacy, space and quiet, he thought that perhaps an easy and compatible exchange might be accomplished.

The numbers are certainly workable. He owes less than $800,000 on this parcel, in which he has invested nearly $3 million. He is seeking a Rancho Santa Fe home valued at $1.5 to $2.8 million–and may or may not be accomplishing the transaction via a 1031 exchange.

Quite simply, Northern California landowner wishes to relocate to Rancho Santa Fe and figures that some homeowner there would love the opportunity to exchange properties with him.

Makes sense to me.
So, if you have a Rancho Santa Fe home and have dreams of a bucolic life outside Carmel and California’s premier wine country, please let me know and I’ll arrange for a proper introduction. Just give us a call at 877-818-81979 or 760-402-9101.

And if you have an unusual luxury home exchange proposal of any sort, we’d also like to hear from you!

The post Luxury Real Estate Exchanges appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

Forecl—–

It’s a word softly whispered when luxury homeowners in luxe communities like Palm Beach (33480), Beverly Hills (90210), Greenwich (06831) and Rancho Santa Fe (92067) discuss their local real estate markets.

Real estate prices have been declining in many of these markets throughout the country, and some of the heavily mortgage homes are ending up as foreclosure sales. The most prominent foreclosure victim of late is Ed McMahon, whose $5 million Beverly Hills mansion was recently lost to foreclosure.

This morning, CNNMoney reports that three of the richest US zip codes saw nasty declines in home prices for the three-month period ending April 30, when compared with the prior three months. The three biggest losers?

1. Palm Beach, Fla saw a 38 percent decline in median home prices during that period, while

2. Wayzata, Minn (55391) slid 28 percent, and

3. Greenwich, Conn. dropped 15 percent.

Much of the price decline can be attributed to inflated mortgage fallout, but another transition is also contributing to the declines: Downsizing. Many of the large luxury residence owners are baby boomers who are seeking to downsize into a more convenient and connected urban lifestyle–and are doing so in growing numbers.

Not all luxury zip codes and communities are in the tank, though, according to the CNN article. For the 12 month period ending March 31, prices actually rose 18 percent in the upscale Kenilworth (60043) communiity, just outside Chicago. Other ritzy gainers included Medina, WA (home to Bill Gates just outside Seattle) with a 9 percent increase, and a 5 percent climb for Atherton, one of Silicon Valley’s suburban crown jewels.

The post The F-Word in Luxury Real Estate appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

The real estate predators are always there–in good times and in bad.

There are whispered stories in real estate circles of certain escrow and loan officers who, in the heady days of real estate, slipped deeds into the stacks of papers homeowners were signing as they refinanced their homes. The deed, of course, moved the property into the predator’s claws.

As the Discovery Channel shows, predators will always pick off the unsteady, the not-so-swift and the elderly because the catch is easy and the herd moves on. No different with these criminals.

But you know what’s scary?

The employers of these predators, when or if they discovered the crimes, fired the perps summarily–and kept their collective mouths shut. They didn’t want bad press, they didn’t want exposure, they didn’t want to field the possible litigation that sometimes come from predator attorneys.

It was a criminal catch and release program that spared corporations their reputations and the hassle of potential lawsuits.

As as result, it should surprise none of us that these same real estate criminals (and others who have caught onto their scams) are again preying on unsteady homeowners. This time they disguise themselves as the good guys of real estate, who are out to save stressed homeowners from foreclosure. Their lines and lead-ins go something like this:

I can save your home from foreclosure. I can save your credit. Just sign here.

Other wannabe-predators offer embarrassed and delinquent homeowners the chance to stay in their homes as renters, and then offer to buy them back when circumstances improve. Families can remain in their homes, the kids can stay in school, and neighbors will never know the difference.

The only problem is that the prices at which the homes will be eventually offered back to the former owners may be far above market value.

The true real estate predator will offer to make the foreclosure go away with a simple loan. All the distressed homeowner needs to do is sign on the marked lines (at the bottom of the promissory note and deed of trust)–which means that he and/or she have just signed over the deed to the house. These predators are really good at slipping these critical documents into big stacks of paper that need to be signed in any real estate transaction. If we recall, this is the same tactic these creeps used a few years ago and their targets remain the same: The distressed, the unsteady and the elderly–who also own homes with enough equity or opportunity to make it worth the hunt.

My advice to distressed homeowners? Immediately consult with a reputable real estate professional or attorney before signing anything offered by a real estate problem solver–and remember that the predators wouldn’t be after you if there wasn’t any meat on the target.

The post Troubled Homeowners: Beware the Predators appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

Deepest apologies to those of you who were unable to access Luxury Home Digest this past week.

It seems we were the victim of a malevolent hacking attack last Sunday night, whereby all of our content was deleted–on not only Luxury Home Digest, but San Diego Previews as well. Thanks to the tireless work of blogging gurus at the Real Estate Tomato, we have been able to restore most of our material.

And thanks to those who brought this site and our San Diego real estate blogsite down, I am now musing about the consequences for such actions.

Is attacking a website and deleting its content a crime? And if more than one attacker, a conspiracy?

Could such activity constitute a “restraint of trade” as defined by the Federal Trade Commission? Google definitions, as usual, provide some clues:

1. Descriptive of unreasonable acts or contracts which prevent a person from carrying on, or engaging in, their profession.
www.aapa.org/manual/judicial/glossary.html

2. Combinations, contracts, or other oral or written arrangements designed to establish a monopoly position, impede competition, fix prices, or prevent entry by potential rivals. …
www.itcdonline.com/introduction/glossary2_q-z.html

3. Monopolies, combinations, and contracts that impede free competition.
www.crfonline.org/orc/glossary/r.html

4. Any act that tends to prevent free competition in business
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

5. Restraint of trade is a restriction on a person’s freedom to conduct business in a specified or unspecified location for a specified or unspecified length of time. Such restrictions are normally enacted by contracts. …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restraint of trade

Yes, our San Diego real estate business was impeded, and we were prevented from carrying on in our profession in a normal manner. Clients were unable to search for San Diego properties on our sites and we were blocked from our online business for several days. Searchers for luxury home news were certainly forced to go elsewhere when we were offline.

And if restraint of trade is “any act that tends to prevent free competition in business,” or places “a restriction on a person’s freedom to conduct business in a specified or unspecified location for a specified or unspecified length of time,” then restraint of trade is what I will politely and publicly call last Sunday night’s massacre.

Under my breath, though, other expletives words and descriptions are uttered.…

The post Is Hacking a Restraint of Trade–or a Vicious Crime? appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.

Last year, I wrote a short article about the worlds most expensive mansion in Mumbai, India being built by uber-wealthy Mukesh Ambani.

In addition to arguably being the most expensive private home in the world (how about $1 Billion to build?), it will also be the tallest measuring in at 42 stories. Residence Antilla, though, will only have 27 stories, due to Ambanis desire for taller ceilings.

Mukesh Ambani is reported to be the 14th richest man in the world, with estimated personal wealth of around $21 billion. He is also one of the more visible men of wealth in India.

When completed, the high-rise mansion will also be one of the most visible (and discussed) mansions in all of Mumbai, if not India and the rest of the world.

Designed to house Ambanis fortunate family of six and a doting staff of 600, this enormous mansion will also have six floors dedicated to pampered storage and parking for a collection of at least 168 automobiles. Included in this magnificent residence will also be a full-service spa, fully-equipped gym, a home theater that should turn Hollywood moguls green, and multiple floors set aside for visiting dignitaries and guests.

The family will have to make do with the top four stories set aside for their viewing and living pleasure.

Completion date was initially set for Fall, 2008, so well keep an eye on its progress.

In the meantime, I am hoping for an invitation to the Ambani housewarming gala.

The post Most Expensive Mansion in the World: Redux appeared first on Luxury Home Digest.