media: 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)
media: 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)
media: 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)
media: 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)
media: 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)
media: 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)
media: 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)
media: 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)
media: Good news and a good question about the media
- 06/06/08 09:38 AM
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)
media: Do you EVER stop smiling?
- 06/04/08 03:49 AM
"Do you ever stop smiling?" One of my neighbors asked me that question on Monday, June 2, 2008 while I was walking back home from my mailbox after I got home from my job at LuxuryRealEstate.com. I was pleasantly startled by the question because it was asked by the young woman before me in a slightly exasperated way, as though it had been building inside of her for some time. She said that she has seen me on numerous occasions walking nearby and I always have a smile on my face. She found herself worrying that I was either hiding something … (2 comments)
media: My thoughts on the NAR/DOJ settlement
- 05/30/08 06:44 AM
I planned on writing this blog entry earlier this week on the proposed settlement between the National Association of REALTORS® and the Department of Justice that would allow multiple listing service members to make private MLS information available to non-members. However, immediately after the story broke, plenty of real-estate bloggers came up with all sorts of reactions, positive, negative and neutral. Now I'm having trouble coming up with something to add to their expert opinions. I hope you'll bear with me.I'll start by quoting Malcom Forbes (1919-1990), the father of Steve Forbes, current publisher of Forbes Magazine, "It's so much easier … (4 comments)
media: Choosing not to fear
- 02/20/08 07:38 AM
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)
media: Sumptuous morsel of positive real-estate news
- 01/25/08 09:21 AM
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)
media: Finding hope in the real-estate market
- 01/16/08 10:54 AM
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)
media: Why you shouldn’t fear drops in home prices
- 01/15/08 08:03 AM
"The drop in house prices is a good thing." So says a recent editorial, entitled "Relief for home buyers," in The Seattle Times. Exactly. Thank you, Seattle Times editors, for succinctly stating a fact that cuts to the heart of this matter. If prices are always rising, then that is certainly not a good thing for buyers, who have to pay more for the same home. Trends that are good for sellers will not be so good for buyers, and vice versa. Prices have been reaching all-time highs in the past few years, so the price dip that is occurring in … (5 comments)
media: Media’s objective or biased look at the real-estate market – part 2
- 01/09/08 05:21 AM
RISMedia's article entitled "Where the Truth about Today's Market Really Lies" continues to interest me. It begs the question: Are media sources being fair in their coverage of the current U.S. real-estate market or are they being overly negative? To answer this question, I suggest that there is a stigma against covering positive stories in the news. I hope that this will not offend members of the press, but I really do think that negativity is far too rampant in the news.Feature stories, or "soft news," as they're often called in the industry, are often where you find positive stories on … (0 comments)
media: Media’s objective or biased look at the real-estate market – part 1
- 01/04/08 05:50 AM
Quick, guess which of these two stories you're more likely to read in the news: A family that dutifully makes its mortgage payments each month or a family that misses several payments and is unable to keep its home. Let's face it, conflict is inherently dramatic and interesting. It grabs our attention and inspires exciting emotions in us that we sometimes don't experience in regular life. With this in mind, I'd like to talk a bit about an article in RISMedia, entitled "Where the Truth about Today's Market Really Lies." This article discusses the media's current habit of reporting negative real-estate … (4 comments)
media: The best thing that can happen in real estate
- 12/06/07 06:35 AM
Here's a joke I find both funny and sobering: At a bad man's funeral, no one could be found who had anything good to say about him. Finally, an elderly woman, who had known the man since they were children, was asked to share something good about him. So she stood up and said, "He's dead. Good!"It seems calloused, I know, but let's face it - sometimes the best thing that can happen is for a bad thing to happen. Wrong decisions should result in bad consequences. Borrowing too much money for a home can result in foreclosure or other unfortunate … (10 comments)
media: Let's combat negative media with positive real-estate news galore!
- 11/16/07 08:51 AM
Thank you, Bernice Ross, for your profound and eye-opening article entitled "Real Estate hurt by media spin" in Inman News. Sometimes one person can give the rest of us permission to speak up, inspiring us to combat half-truths with positive, accurate information. Ms. Ross focused her remarks on the fact that media outlets are not giving readers and viewers the whole view of the real-estate industry - they are simply shining their spotlight on a few bad markets.I was amazed to learn that the "Mortgage crisis" is only really affecting seven states. The other 43 states have actually recorded fewer foreclosures … (11 comments)
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.
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)
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