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facts: Credit lenders suffering from withdrawal - 09/25/08 11:17 AM
I am sorry to keep talking about sad things in my luxury real estate blog entries, but I just read an article in CNN entitled "Ex-bankers on pushing customers to rack up debt" and it once again brought up many familiar concerns to my mind on the topic of consumer debt. I wish that I could talk about happy topics. I would much prefer to discuss luxury properties or any other topic, including how getting adequate sleep can lead to more success, but, alas, I feel it much more pressing to focus on the problems upon us.I am absolutely disgusted by … (0 comments)
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facts: Manmade global warming a costly deception - 09/05/08 12:19 PM
I recently finished writing an interesting article for the winter 2009 issue of LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine. The article is on "green" homes, and it was a challenge to write, mainly because I have a number of concerns about the current global-warming scare. I was able to find a lot of good in "green" homes, especially their energy savings and positive health effects on residents. I shied away from discussing their environmental effects, since I am unconvinced that they will have any real ones, and saying that they will might give people a false sense of security.To be sure, I am all for … (2 comments)
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facts: Higher education is becoming worthless - 08/22/08 12:26 PM
A while ago I stepped back from writing about luxury real estate to discuss a terribly destructive force that threatens to destroy families and make people miserable: debt. I would like to discuss something that I find to be just as dangerous as addiction to debt - the illogically high cost of earning a college degree.I read a potentially explosive story on CNN yesterday about a bubble in the cost of higher education that makes the real-estate bubble or the tech crash in 2000 look tame in comparison.I'd like to start by talking about my experience in college. When I attended … (10 comments)
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facts: Luxury Real Estate Blog on the rise on Google - 07/31/08 12:23 PM
Thanks in large part to all of the wonderful contributors within the global Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate network, the Luxury Real Estate Blog is making a tremendous ascent in its ranking on major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN.www.LuxuryRealEstate.com is the most-viewed luxury real estate Web site in the world and it comes up first on most searches for luxury properties, luxury homes and luxury real estate. But the Luxury Real Estate Blog is fairly new and we're building it up to the heights of our main Web site. We owe much of our success to Jim Walberg, … (8 comments)
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facts: Bloggers beware! Copyright battle might be coming - 07/02/08 01:58 AM
Here's a helpful warning to bloggers: "Be prepared." It's the Boy Scout motto and it's also good advice for people in all walks of life. It appears that many bloggers, myself included, are a little unprepared for the possibility of close scrutiny of blogging. What if we were told that we had used too much of someone else's news article in our blog entry or that we got our facts wrong and are guilty of negligence or even defamation? It's a scary thought, but that's the risk we take in offering our work in a public environment.Have you noticed that, as bloggers, … (52 comments)
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facts: John Brian Losh interview on Lakefront Radio a big success - 06/25/08 04:03 PM
As a follow-up to my last blog entry, I'd like to report on the interview LuxuryRealEstate.com Publisher/CEO John Brian Losh enjoyed on Lakefront Radio on Friday, June 20, 2008. It went very well, and I have to give a lot of credit to hosts Mary Thompson, Chuck Thompson and Lee Kantor for asking great questions and being a lot of fun on air. They sound like they really enjoy their work.You can listen to the full 38-minute radio show online.Mr. Losh discussed the recent sale of Donald Trump's $100 million estate and some other great news items. He also went into … (1 comments)
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facts: Drowning in debt - 06/11/08 10:42 AM
I'd like to talk about a topic that is not necessarily a pressing matter for people buying luxury real estate, but which I still find very important: Debt. It is very sad to me to see so many people struggling with the enormous burden of debt.I recently read a wonderful editorial in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer entitled "The great seduction," in which author David Brooks points out the astonishing truth about debt. Brooks notes that for the past 30 years Americans have forgotten our noble heritage of frugality and living within our means. We have even forgotten the lessons of the Great … (5 comments)
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facts: Good news and a good question about the media - 06/06/08 04:38 PM
I just have a quick thought to share today. I wish I had more time to write more about this topic, but I'll just do the best I can in a short space. I read a wonderfully informative Inman News article today entitled "Media create foreclosure hysteria." As you can tell by the headline, this article is trying to explain what various media sources are currently saying and not saying to make our current real-estate troubles seem even worse than they actually are.Perhaps there is not a concerted effort to cause a panic by inflating numbers. Maybe the reporters who are … (3 comments)
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facts: Life lessons from Ben Stein’s new movie “Expelled” - 04/30/08 01:00 PM
On Saturday, April 25, 2008, my younger brother and I decided to make a rare visit to our local movie theater to watch a film we both felt a great desire to see. That movie was "Expelled," a documentary starring and co-written by the great actor and economist Ben Stein. In addition to starring in this movie, Mr. Stein actually had some incredible insights that he shared on the current luxury real estate market at the 6th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat in San Diego two weeks ago. He is an incredibly brilliant man in a variety of fields.I really … (5 comments)
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facts: Confusation: Is now a good time to buy a home? - 04/15/08 04:12 PM
I would like to share a confusation with you. What's a confusation? It's a mixture of confusion and conversation. I'm all for preserving the English language and avoiding the addition of new and pointless slang terms. But, at the same time, I enjoy having a little bit of fun with ideas and rules because of my playful nature. I would like to share some of my thoughts in an open, possibly random, way. So, without further ado, let's begin our confusation.According to a CNN article entitled "Majority not buying homes, poll shows," an Associated Press-AOL Money & Finance poll found that … (2 comments)
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facts: LuxuryRealEstate.com tops Ultimate Homes list, by far - 03/21/08 05:49 PM
Every year, Ultimate Homes magazine lists the top 1,000 most-expensive homes in the United States, and in the recent issue the competition between the different luxury-broker networks isn't even close. LuxuryRealEstate.com has more than twice the number of luxury properties on the list as the closest network. Check it out:HERE'S HOW POPULAR FRANCHISE/AFFILIATE COMPANIES AND MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATIONS STACKED UP THIS YEAR:Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate (LuxuryRealEstate.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420Sotheby's International Realty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . … (1 comments)
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facts: Choosing not to fear - 02/20/08 03:38 PM
I am not a particularly pessimistic person. I believe that good eventually triumphs. I put my trust in "old-fashioned" values, such as honesty, saving for a rainy day, avoiding harmful substances and risks, and being kind to all people. Some or all of these things might be out of style right now, but I think that they will always be important. I'm not even sure if this introduction is relevant to what I want to talk about, but I just started writing what is on my mind and this is what came out. I hope you don't mind.I recently read a … (7 comments)
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facts: Sumptuous morsel of positive real-estate news - 01/25/08 05:21 PM
I've been talking a lot about the media lately, but my thoughts just keep dwelling on this topic. When I see headlines talking about how many people believe we might be in a recession, I start to wonder if that is simply reflecting the fact that everyone hears and reads predictions of future downturns and problems in the news. However, sometimes we can find small morsels of hope buried under all of the sour gloom.For example, I recently spotted a short but wonderful article, entitled "'07 home prices not so bad after all," in The Seattle Times. It's just a few … (7 comments)
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facts: Finding hope in the real-estate market - 01/16/08 06:54 PM
Similar to yesterday's post, I would like to focus on some issues that I hope will show that current real-estate worries shouldn't frighten buyers, sellers and agents too much. It seems like everything is going wrong right now because that is what we have been hearing over and over in the media. However, according to the RISMedia article entitled "Give Your Clients the Real Facts," the National Association of REALTORS® is beginning a bold campaign to stem the tide of bad publicity with ads and a new Web site: www.housingmarketfacts.com. Basically, they stress the fact that real estate, and especially luxury … (8 comments)
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Robert Lockard
Seattle,
WA
More about me…
Luxury Real Estate
Address: 2110 Western Ave., Seattle, WA, 98121
Office Phone: (800) 488-4066 x 856
Email Me
My personal thoughts on luxury real estate, technology, news media and a variety of other related topics and trends. I also maintain the Luxury Real Estate Blog on LuxuryRealEstate.com.
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