Even when the real estate sector is at its lowest, there are some segments in the market that remain the same. One of these segments is the luxury real estate sector, which is targeted at very wealthy buyers. Quite predictably, agents who work on the very wealthy segment of the population are spared from financial uncertainties.

As it is, while other real estate agents are scrambling to find buyers for foreclosed properties, agents of luxury real estate are targeting and finding wealthy clients to buy luxurious properties.

By Definition: Luxury Real Estate

Different countries have different definitions of what is a luxury home. In general, however, the “luxury” in luxury homes is qualified according to these considerations:

•    The size of the house and its property,

•    If the property faces the ocean, as in the case of waterfront properties,

•    Proximity to luxury amenities like golf courses, and

•    The market value of the property

Different countries have different lower limits on what is considered a luxurious property. In the United States, the lower limit is pegged at $1 million. Luxury real estate properties are found all over the world. In the United States, you can find a concentration of them in these locations: New York City, Westchester County, The Hamptons, Palm Beach, Litchfield County, Greenwich, Northern California, Southern California, Jackson Hole, Santa Fe, and Sun Valley. 

There is no standard look to luxury real estate properties. Their designs are often inspired from a plethora of influences. Of course, how they actually look depends largely on the creativity of the designer.

Luxury Real Estate Companies

Unlike ordinary real estate companies, luxury real estate companies have greater concerns. They often have to advertise and market nationally and even internationally to attract buyers. With mid-priced properties, local advertising is often enough to attract potential buyers. 

Apart from marketing, luxury real estate companies also have broader legal concerns. From dealing with lawyers and trusts to addressing buyer anonymity issues, they have to be adept at handling these to survive in the business. In other words, luxury real estate requires ultra-personalized and exceptional customer service. 

Buying Your Luxury Property

In buying luxury homes, you need to find and work with a real estate company that specializes in luxury real estate. In choosing a company, make sure it has a global marketing reach. What should your real estate company do for you? 

•    Sit down and talk with you about your home requirements as well as your preferences on price, location and style. 

•    Search for and show you the luxury homes that best fit your requirement and taste. 

•    Help you to critically evaluate the viewed properties and, at your request, prepare a comparison chart on the properties. 

•    Handle all the details and negotiations related to buying the property. 

•    Prepare a purchase agreement between you and the property owner. 

•    Follow through until you are the legal owner of the property. 

That being said, you can now go out and buy.

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www.susanberrydesign.com, susanberry@classicalhomedesign.com Orlando, Florida Home of Luxury Home Designer, Susan Berry, ASID. Palazzo del Lago, the 2006 Street of Dreams in Bella Collina, represents the very finest in architectural design, interior innovation and handcrafted artistry. The interior detailing, materials selections and exterior details and specifications are the work of Susan Berry, of Classical Home Design. Walls with the look of aged plaster, copper-clad windows, medieval-style groin vaults and intricate wrought-iron accents further evoke the home’s old-world feel. Those time-honored touches give way to a more polished, sophisticated look in the formal areas of the home, where imported marble and onyx, magnificent gold and crystal chandeliers, and exquisitely embellished floors and walls create a refined air. The dramatic rotunda above the stair tower is hand-painted to resemble the stained-glass dome of a Venetian conservatory spotted by builder Rick Vogel during his European travels. Homage is paid to the demands—and pleasures—of modern life as well. To answer the present-day emphasis on alfresco living space, ingenious design provides the best of both worlds in the rear of the home adjacent to the pool. Here, massive pocketed sliding doors telescope open to create an indoor-outdoor space as the interior space blends seamlessly with the lanai and pool. Outdoors, extensive gold travertine decking leads toward elegant balustrades that frame the space that <b>…</b>

Frequently question about luxury home design

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Angela Dolson –
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Angela Dolson is an expert author who takes up article marketing for travel, real estate and tourism websites. To know more about regional properties and real estate, visit the website and avail great offers.

Real Estate business has seen tremendous growth and so has been the need of Real Estate agent. Today more and more people are getting interested to become home owner and as the demand for real estate need increases the role of Real Estate Agent becomes more important. In the past one agent use to provide services to both seller and buyer but as the real estate market changed people started to realize that specialized service is more logical and beneficial. In Real Estate industry now buyer/seller are looking for specialized agents who can provide specialized related expertise, information and services required to complete the process. When a real estate agent represents both buyer and seller it really restricts agents to provide impartial service to either party.

Let’s look at the both (Seller/Buyer) scenario separately. A real estate agents who is a listing agent of seller has a fiduciary, ethically and moral duty to represent seller only.

By getting Exclusive Right to Sell Listing, the real estate agent is promising seller that he will live no stone unturned to market the home and find the best buyer at maximum possible market value for the home.

As a Buyer’s real estate agent he need to find the right home for buyer along with should all information of the community. When a buyer is exploring to buy a real estate property in new community, he is very much interested to find out several information related to that particular community such as population, crime, climate, schools, traffic, living standards etc. Buyer’s real estate agent should be well informed with all these information so that he can provide that information to buyer. It will be easier for buyer to make the decision based on these information. Once the buyer is ready to buy real estate property in the community then other part of the real estate agent’s duty starts. As buyer’s agent it is his responsibility to find a real estate property, as per buyers requirement. It is also buyer’s real estate agents duty to negotiate the best market price with seller.

So if seller and buyer are represented by their own specialized agent then both agents can play a partial and specialized role for their client..

So it is quite clear that one real estate agent representing both seller and buyer can not justify providing specialized service to both party. Both buyer and seller are in different need of services. That’s why specialized real estate service has become more in demand where buyer/seller can get impartiality specialized service during the process.

Never before has the role of specialists in the world of real estate been more important. With buyers and sellers requiring more services, the industry has seen an explosion of agents who specialize in either the representation of sellers or buyers. These specialist agents can provide a wealth of services and maintain a complete impartiality during the sales process as there is only one client to concern them.

Historically the sales transaction and the concerns of the buyer were the purview of a single realtor. However, as the industry has progressed so have the needs of each party and so the specialist arose. Buyers have some very particular needs, and specifically the need to feel that their best interests are seen to. Listing agents are representatives of the home’s owner and in that role they have a primary responsibility to that owner. How could they properly look after the needs of an interested buyer as well?

So what is it that a buyer’s agent does? Primarily the buyer’s agent will begin with the location of suitable properties for their clients. This is usually based upon a list of requirements and desires that the client has communicated to the agent. They will then arrange viewings and recap their findings with their clients and assist in deciding upon a good candidate for an offer. This will be based on the wealth of community information that a buyer’s agent commands. As specialists, they are experts on their given area which is critical in the education of clients on the areas that they are considering. Once a property is decided upon, the buyer’s agent changes significantly, evolving into an overseer-negotiator role. They will typically coordinate the inspections and conduct the negotiations with the listing agent. This includes the execution of the buyers subjects and the closing of the actual contract.

There is an art to representing a buyer. It is a role that has become ever more crucial in an industry where customer service is the single most important thing that an agent can offer. If you are in the market for a home then the buyer’s agent is the friend that you need to make sure that you are given the service that you deserve.

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Local real estate agents can help find the best home loans. Learn how to get a home loan withexpert tips from a licensed real estate agent in this free video. Expert: Richard Blake Bio: Richard Blake is a licensed real estate agent that has closed more than 20 times the number of transactions per year than that of the average realtor for the last three years. Filmmaker: Christopher Rokosz

Help answer the question about buying real estate

How can I calculate the savings (tax break) from buying real estate?
I am told that the interest payments plus the real estate taxes are itemized on Schedule A and deducted from my income.

Are there any calculation tables or programs out there which can figure out my tax bracket and savings?

I would like to figure out how much mortgage and taxes I can afford and I would think that the amount of tax savings should be a major factor. people tell me how the tax breaks are great, but I would want to calculate exactly what my savings would be just I I would calculate my monthly mortgage payment and property taxes. It seems to me people don’t seem to really calculate this before taking the plunge.

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Corona Condos
Corona Homes
Corona Real Estate

Most real estate purchases are bought with loans so getting a good faith estimate and pre-approval letter from your lender helps the process start off on the right foot. The good faith estimate, or GFE for short, is required by law to be provided by lenders when you are seeking a loan. It lists out the estimated closing costs, monthly payments, and interest rates for the loan program you are looking at getting. The pre-approval letter is provided by lenders once they have run your credit and get your income / debt information. By getting the GFE and pre-approval letter, you can be confident that the loan will get processed with no surprises. There are also additional benefits to getting pre-approval and GFE before you even begin the property search. For one, by discussing your debt to income ratio with your lender and obtaining the GFE, you can determine your maximum price. It helps to know the maximum sales price when shopping around so that you do not waste time and energy looking a over-priced properties, and also vice verse, you do not waste time and energy looking at under-priced properties. You can find an area in your price range that fits your needs and narrow down your search. You also will determine your monthly payments with the GFE. The monthly payments should include the property taxes, insurance, principle, and interest plus any private mortgage insurance (PMI). If the monthly payments are higher than you wanted, then you can adjust your sales price to be lower. Another reason to get your pre-approval and GFE before starting your home search is that you may find out some issues with your credit or financial situation that you could clean up before moving forward with a purchase. For example, the first time I bought a house, I found out that I had a $50 charge on my credit report from 3 years ago, which brought my credit score down. And with a lower credit score, I would have gotten a worse interest rate on the loan. I say ‘would have’ because I was able to pay off this collection and clear up the ding on my credit before going into the loan underwriting process. Finally, by getting a pre-approval letter, you have proof for a seller that a lender has confidence in being able to fund the purchase on your behalf. This helps with presenting offers and negotiating. Many sellers will not even accept an offer unless it is accompanied by a lender’s letter. Furthermore, if you do not have a letter, the seller may counter higher given that he feels he is taking on more risk that you may not be qualified for the loan amount. Also, if you happen to get into a multiple offer situation, your offer will be much stronger with a pre-approval letter.

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Buying a foreclosed property is a very good deal. Discover how to buy foreclosed property withexpert tips from a licensed real estate agent in this free video. Expert: Richard Blake Bio: Richard Blake is a licensed real estate agent that has closed more than 20 times the number of transactions per year than that of the average realtor for the last three years. Filmmaker: Christopher Rokosz

Help answer the question about buying real estate

How do relocation real estate buying programs work?
So we’re interested in buying this house. However, there’s an agreement by the seller with a relocation real estate company, to buy the house from them if they can’t sell it after a period of time. We found out we made an offer that is lower than the relocation company. So are we working with the seller or the relocation company? And is this not worth it? Seems the relocation company did not incorporate the expected decline in home prices. It needs a lot of upgrades and needs some repairs too — the reason our offer was also agressive. Any thoughts? Advice? thanks!

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Ki works in the Austin Texas Real Estate market. His website provides a free search of the Austin MLS along with a search for Downtown Austin Condos

Owing a home is a big part of the American dream. But not everyone is fortunate enough to become a homeowner due to delimiting factors such as insufficient income, bankruptcy, bad or no credit, loss of employment, etc. For people with such troubles, owning a home is a distant dream and some of these people resign themselves to a lifetime of renting. But such people are not without options. Rent-to-own, which is also known as a lease-purchase option, can be an excellent alternative available to some people who are currently unable to buy a home.

A rent-to-own or lease-purchase option is an agreement between a prospective home buyer and a home seller. The agreement is basically a rental contract with a right to purchase the property after a period of time (usually 1 year). When a home seller offers a lease-purchase option, what they are really offering is the option to rent the house at some monthly rate, and to lock in the sales price of the home now, even though the prospective buyer would not actually purchase the house until a later time (if at all).

Here is a hypothetical example. Let’s say the monthly rent for a home is $1700. Under a lease-purchase option, a prospective buyer would rent the home for the $1700 a month, but would also pay an additional premium (e.g., $200-$300) every month for the option to buy the home after a period of time (usually 1 year). So in this example, the total monthly rent is actually $2000, but $200-$300 of the money will be applied toward buying the house at a later time. In other words, the home seller would apply the $200-$300 extra paid every month toward the prospective buyer’s down payment at the end of the year.

The good news for prospective home buyers is that it allows them to lock in the purchase price of the home now, even though they are not purchasing the home until a later time. The bad news is that if a buyer decides not to purchase the home at the end of lease term, the seller often keeps the premium amount paid over the year, although this is usually a point of negotiation.

Prospective home buyers should know that many of the terms described above are negotiable such as how much the monthly rent will be, how much extra has to be paid every month for the option fee (if any), the length of the lease term, etc. The other issue to consider is if it makes sense to lock in a home purchase price now in markets where real estate prices are still declining.

When compared to renting, a lease-purchase can be an attractive alternative because it gives prospective buyers an opportunity to own a home before they normally would be able to. There are some advantages to a lease-purchase option such as:

1) Low or No Initial Down Payment. Many lease-purchase options do not require an initial down payment.

2) Equity Advantage. At the end of the lease term, the value of a home may have appreciated over time, which benefits the purchaser.

3) Living Experience. Prospective home buyers have the opportunity to try out a home and neighborhood before purchasing the property.

4) Leverage Advantage. With just a small investment, a prospective buyer can control a property; yet still have the option of not buying the home if market conditions don’t warrant it.

Rent-to-own or lease-purchase option can be an effective strategy to home ownership. However, there are both positive and negative aspects to this type of approach (as described above). A good real estate agent can help you navigate the complex world of rent-to-own and lease-purchase option properties.

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how to set goals for buying Real Estate?
I’m looking to start buying real estate. I’m looking for a good web site or any advice to start goal setting.

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San Diego Homes
Tierrasanta Homes
Tierrasanta Real Estate

Despite a recent slowdown, the U.S. real estate market continues to be a popular investment destination for foreign investors. Attracted by a desirable return on investment, many foreign nations continue to invest heavily in the U.S. residential and commercial real estate markets. In fact, in 2005, foreign investment in U.S. real estate reached 1.83 trillion.

To evaluate the impact of foreign investment on the U.S. real estate market, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) produced a 2006 report entitled ‘Foreign Investment in U.S. Real Estate: Current Trends and Historical Perspective.’ The report provides insights into the trends in foreign real estate investment, its impact on the U.S. economy, and the major countries that participate in U.S. real estate investment. Below are some highlights from the NAR report.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the top seven countries that had significant holdings in U.S. real estate as of 2005 were:

Germany – 13 %
Latin America – 13 %
Australia – 11 %
Japan -10 %
United Kingdom – 10 %
Canada – 6 %
Netherlands – 6 %

The U.S. economy is wide open to foreign investors. Both investors and Americans significantly benefit from all this foreign investment. The NAR study estimates that without foreign investments in the securities market, the long-term lending rates would be four percentage points higher than the current rate, which would adversely impact the U.S. real estate market.

Foreign direct investment into the U.S. not only creates more jobs but also contributes to the demand for U.S. real estate. In fact, foreign investment may be responsible for creating two million U.S. jobs by the end of 2006, which further bolsters the demand for U.S. real estate.

Permanent and temporary immigration of foreign-born workers into the U.S. further bolsters the demand for real estate. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, 1.2 million net immigrants are expected to arrive in the United States annually. This immigration pattern is expected to offset the decrease in housing demand by post baby-boomer generations.

In summary, the impact of foreign investment and immigration into the U.S. will continue to play a major role in the U.S. real estate market.

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How does one start a Real Estate investment fund?
I want to start an investment fund to invest in Real Estate.

What are the steps involved?

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Rancho Bernardo Homes
Rancho Bernardo Real Estate

Getting Property Comparisons

The best way to determine the home appraisal value of a property is by using property comparisons (comps). Look at the properties in the same area of the short sale property.

You can get these comps with a little effort. There are a few ways to find market value comparisons for your area:

• Subscription programs (one is Haines, a subscription service on disc)
• Multiple Listing Service (MLS) if you have access
• Network with a realtor who can pull comps for you
• Free comps services on the Internet

It’s not recommended that you use the free market comparison services found on the Internet. These free services are worth about as much as you pay for them. If you have to spend some money getting comps, that’s a good thing. It means that someone is actually doing research behind the website or program.

Finding Home Appraisal Value: An Example

A busy real estate investor may outsource their home appraisal needs to another company or a certified FHA appraiser.

When a deal comes in the real estate investor will email the FHA appraiser, the address and owner’s name. In about 24 to 48 hours the appraiser will send back a limited desktop appraisal with three comparison prices on other similar sold properties and the market value that the appraiser has determined for the property that the company is interested in. The appraisal may also include some additional information and a map.

This appraisal gives an idea of the market value of the property in comparison with other distressed properties in the area. When looking for comps, don’t look for sales of well maintained properties, instead look for comparisons of other properties in foreclosure, REO properties, or corporate-owned properties.

Be Prepared to Pay for it!

Companies spend money getting their comps because they want good, accurate market value comparisons. When you are figuring the budget for your short sale business, remember to allocate some funds to pay a company or a certified FHA appraiser for that home appraisal. It’s well worth it to pay for a home appraisal so that you have accurate comps from third person parties or neutral parties outside of your short sale deal. You present their appraisals as objective evidence to convince the bank to accept your short sale offer.

Factoring in Cost Estimates for Repairs

The physical condition of the property is just as important as comps in a home appraisal. See if there are any repairs to be made on the short sale property. Make notes of what’s wrong, take photos, and get construction estimates for the cost of repairs.

When you do your cost estimates remember that the bank will be making the repairs, not you. Get cost estimates from a general contractor the bank would typically hire.

The best way to get cost estimates for your home appraisal is to hire a certified home inspector. You can look one up in the yellow pages. There’s also an organization called the National Association of Home Inspectors (NAHI). NAHI has high standards and finding a home inspector affiliated with this organization is a good way of making sure you get a thorough inspection.

A typical home inspection can take two and a half to three hours. The inspector gets up on the roof, checks the crawlspace and goes over the home with a fine-toothed comb. On completion of the home inspection the inspector hands over a report that can be 20 pages with detailed information about the property defects. Home inspectors may also takes photos and provide detailed cost estimates.

Paying a home inspector to get cost estimates is a great way to calculate the home appraisal value for your property. You’ll know exactly what’s wrong with that house because you’ve gone to a neutral third party expert.

Getting the Cost Estimates: An Example

Dan Shields is a typical home inspector. He’s a member of NAHI and does all of the home appraisal evaluations and repair estimates for many investors.

Dan states that a home inspector will start an inspection from the outside of the property to get a look at the big picture. He’ll check the roofing, gutters, siding, and windows to make sure they’re properly installed and flashed. He will also check out porches, columns, etc.

From there the home inspector enters the home for the interior survey, to document built-in amenities, appliances, and flooring. He will next go to the mechanical room and check the heating/cooling package and plumbing. Finally, the home inspector will check the attic and find the insulation factor for the short sale property, literally working from the ground up on the home inspection.

A Broker’s Price Opinion Value

When you complete your home appraisal and submit the short sale package to the bank you will be assigned to a specific loss mitigator who will want to determine their own estimate of property value.

The loss mitigator orders the bank’s appraiser to go look at the property and get a broker’s price opinion (BPO) or market value. Sometimes it’s done by a realtor, sometimes an appraiser. It’s your job to be the contact person that the appraiser goes through to get into that property. It’s very important that you meet the appraiser at the property to convince him your home appraisal value is about the same as the BPO value.

When you meet with the bank’s property appraiser let him know the property is in foreclosure and that you’ve been working with the seller to try to do a short sale with the bank. Get that point across immediately.

You don’t want the meeting with the bank’s appraiser to be a confrontation. This is first impression time, so just be yourself and let your personality shine. Shake hands with the property appraiser. Get to know him for the five minutes before you start shoving your material on him.

The whole BPO process will probably take less than 15 minutes. You have 15 minutes to let your personality shine so make it your best effort.

During the BPO

When you go out to these appraisals, take three things; a copy of the Real Estate Purchase Contract with your offer amount, your market value comparisons and a copy of your home inspector’s report

Try to present the material in a conversational tone. Ask if he’d like a copy of the offer you have made on the property and so on. If it’s an appraiser, he will always want a copy. Realtors are a different story—you can never tell what they’re going to take. Just ask and see what he’ll take from you. An appraiser will always take the property inspection report because it’s a good, neutral indication of property damage.

Let the appraiser know that your Purchase Contract has been at least preliminarily accepted by the bank and that’s why he is appraising the market value. You’d be surprised how often the bank’s appraiser doesn’t even realize the property is in foreclosure.

You also want to share comps with the home appraiser. Most of the time, appraisers have pulled comp
s before they go out to the property, so you may be able to share comps to get an idea of the BPO. Make sure the appraiser knows about specific problems with the property such as; mold, termites, or foundational problems that are not readily apparent. This is something the appraiser won’t spot during his 15 minutes with the property.

Once you get these three documents into the hands of the bank’s home appraiser chances are higher that the bank’s BPO comes in close to your home appraisal value. When you get a good home appraisal value and cost estimates on that short sale property. You’ll have armed yourself with the best tools in convincing the bank to accept your low short sale offer.

Pick up more information about real estate shortsaling at Real Estate Investor.com. This is the place to go for the latest real estate news and advice. You’ll find a network of other real estate investors ready to help you out, along with free articles, blogs, contracts and documents for your use.