luxuryrealestatecom: New Cuba Gooding Jr. movie films at Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan estate - 10/09/08 10:00 AM
I have some very fun news to share. A new TNT movie starring Oscar® winner Cuba Gooding Jr. is currently filming in the Detroit area, and part of the filming is being done at a waterfront luxury home on Windmill Point Drive in Grosse Pointe Park. This property is being represented by Higbie Maxon Agney, Inc. Realtors, a member of Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate and the Board of Regents.Check out this wonderful story in the Grosse Pointe News that I received earlier this week. Sorry I don't have a link to the story online. Apparently, that newspaper doesn't post some … (4 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Credit lenders suffering from withdrawal - 09/25/08 04:17 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)

luxuryrealestatecom: Luxury Real Estate Networking Trip offers exclusive tour of Plaza Hotel - 09/16/08 05:48 AM
This is a plug for the the upcoming 13th Annual Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference. I thought I'd just say that at the start. I hope to talk about some more meaty things soon, since there is so much trouble going on because of foolish greed, but today I'll focus on this positive opportunity to network with fellow luxury brokers.Rosita Sarnoff, the Executive Vice President of Stribling & Associates, Ltd., recently shared some great activities her company is planning for Luxury Real Estate members who are attending the Post-Conference Networking Trip to New York City from Oct. 14-16, 2008. This Networking … (2 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Luxury vacations are a steal right now - 09/11/08 10:37 AM
I don't have a whole lot of time today, but I just wanted to share an interesting CNN article entitled "The staycation effect: 5 reasons to travel now." Because people have been very wise with their money this summer and have not gone on as many vacations, right now is a great time to take a vacation. Many hotels and luxury resorts are offering special discounts to entice people to get out of their homes and into a luxury community.As soon as I saw this story I thought of Andrew Harper. They're the experts on luxury hotels and travel, and they've … (1 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Manmade global warming a costly deception - 09/05/08 05:19 AM
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)

luxuryrealestatecom: Higher education is becoming worthless - 08/22/08 05:26 AM
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)

luxuryrealestatecom: Ed McMahon and Donald Trump: Is this justice? - 08/19/08 09:15 AM
Nick Antonicello, Director of Sales for Unique Homes, pointed out an interesting story to me last week in the Los Angeles Times Blog. You might have already heard about it, but I just want to put in my two cents about the whole affair.Peter Viles, Senior Producer for Real Estate at LATimes.com, wrote in his blog entry that Donald Trump, possibly the best-known real-estate developer in the world, is seeking to buy Ed McMahon's mansion to save him from foreclosure.In an even more bizarre turn of events, Mr. Trump now might be having some competition for buying Mr. McMahon's luxury home. … (6 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Live like the king: Elvis Presley estate now for sale - 08/13/08 09:34 AM
There are so many fun one-liners I could use to sum up this story, it's hard to pick just one. I'll go ahead and try this one: Elvis has left the building, and now that building can be yours! Yeah, that'll work.
Elvis Presley's "Graceland West" estate in Palm Springs, Calif. is now for sale. Talk about a house with some history, this two-acre estate, nestled in the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains, is where Elvis (the king of Rock and Roll) lived for almost eight years, recorded eight songs in the living room in 1973 and spent his last birthday. … (0 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Bloggers love helping other bloggers succeed - 08/08/08 04:26 AM
Jim Walberg, the co-Owner/Broker of The Bay Area Team in San Francisco, told me something really cool a few days ago. He said, "Bloggers are the most open and sharing community I have found on the Internet. They want every blogger to win!" I have definitely found that to be true.As a blogger, I often find myself learning a great deal about what is effective and what is not from other bloggers with more experience than me. I have received a lot of positive feedback and support in my blogging from Eric Kodner, a luxury homes Broker with Wayzata Lakes Realty … (5 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Ilya’s Photography captures stunning images of Seafair 2008 - 08/05/08 03:49 AM
"Photography is not about cameras, gadgets and gismos. Photography is about photographers. A camera didn't make a great picture any more than a typewriter wrote a great novel."So says Ilya Moshenskiy, the Principal Photographer of Ilya's Photography in Washington state. I love that quote because, as a writer, I can definitely relate to his point about great works being written by people and not by keyboards or computers.Ilya is an amazing photographer in a variety of fields, including luxury homes, weddings, events and cuisine. He has been the Official Photographer of the past nine Luxury Real Estate conferences and he always … (0 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Luxury Real Estate Blog on the rise on Google - 07/31/08 05:23 AM
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)

luxuryrealestatecom: Turning an average news release into a great one - 07/23/08 05:13 AM
I hope this doesn't sound too prideful, but I really like what I write. And I do a lot of writing as the Public Relations & Media Specialist for LuxuryRealEstate.com.While my blogs on ActiveRain and the LuxuryRealEstate.com Blog are sometimes quickly written and they don't have the benefit of as much outside editing as I usually receive for my other work, I think they give you a taste of my writing skill and style.My mind is constantly working before, during and after the writing process. I think about what is interesting about the story I am currently writing about. I ponder … (5 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Expert Blogger Jim Walberg lifts Luxury Real Estate Blog - 07/21/08 08:18 AM
For the past several months I've had the pleasure of posting content to the LuxuryRealEstate.com Blog from Jim Walberg, an experienced blogger and the co-Broker/Owner of The Bay Area Team, the most-successful team at Keller Williams Realty-Danville, Calif. Jim's Caribbean Islands Realty Blog is very well-established and fun to read so I'm always glad to include his work on our blog, with his permission, of course.Jim took the time to point out something awesome to me in an email on June 11, 2008. I have read about blogs helping with search-engine optimization, but Jim's message really drove this idea home to … (1 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Cora Bett Thomas Realty’s own “Forrest Gump” swims incredible distance - 07/09/08 04:37 AM
I recently read a wonderful story I would like to share. It's about a 70-year-old Cora Bett Thomas Realty sales associate named Nash McIntosh, who swam for five hours from Tybee Island, Ga. to Hilton Head Island, S.C. I'm about one-third of his age and I can't imagine swimming that kind of distance. In May, I ran for a little over two hours in my first half-marathon and that left me sore and unable to walk for several days. So five hours of physical exertion seems nearly impossible to me.I found this story on the Cora Bett Thomas Realty Blog, and … (0 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Bloggers beware! Copyright battle might be coming - 07/01/08 06:58 PM
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, … (51 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: New LuxuryRealEstate.com member listed among top RE/MAX brokers - 06/27/08 09:45 AM
I have some good news and some even better news. The good news is that RE/MAX Cayman Islands just joined LuxuryRealEstate.com, expanding our global network even further into the Caribbean. The even better news is that Kass Canada Coleman, the Broker/Owner of Beachcastles and an agent with RE/MAX Cayman Islands is No. 6 on the list of top international RE/MAX brokers, based on residential commissions paid from January through April 2008.It's always nice to hear good news like this. Apparently the Cayman Islands are enjoying a very healthy real-estate market right now. Check out Kass' website www.beachcastles.com for some in-depth information … (1 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: John Brian Losh interview on Lakefront Radio a big success - 06/25/08 09:03 AM
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)

luxuryrealestatecom: LuxuryRealEstate.com CEO John Brian Losh in the news - 06/19/08 11:04 AM
I have some fun news to share about John Brian Losh, Publisher/CEO of LuxuryRealEstate.com and Broker/CEO of Ewing & Clark, Inc., Seattle's oldest real-estate brokerage.Mr. Losh will appear on Lakefront Radio, an Atlanta radio show on Friday, June 20, 2008. He will discuss the luxury real estate market and high-tech trends with hosts Mary Thompson, Chuck Thompson and Lee Kantor.The radio show is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Pacific Time. You can listen to the show live by visiting the Lakefront Radio website. That will be great. I'm sure Mr. Losh will have some great insights to share.In addition to … (1 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Estate of the art: Combine art and luxury real estate - 06/13/08 08:54 AM
Check out this great article I recently read in the Arizona Daily Star, entitled "Home, art inside are both for sale." I think the sellers in this article are onto something pretty smart by joining forces with a local art museum to sell their property.Author Christie Smythe points out that showing art in a home can be beneficial for both the artists and the home sellers. Beautiful paintings, sculptures and other pieces of art can add something special to a home that makes it more memorable to potential buyers. Plus, the artists receive exposure to new viewers and their works of … (2 comments)

luxuryrealestatecom: Drowning in debt - 06/11/08 03:42 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)

 

Robert Lockard

Seattle, WA

More about me…

Luxury Real Estate

Address: 2110 Western Ave., Seattle, WA, 98121

Office: 800(488) 406-6856

Fax: (206) 695-4837

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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