Unique Homes Blog

By Sarah Binder

‘Equity’ Ownership

While the real estate and travel industries continue to struggle, one company is offering consumers a share in both industries and has been growing at a rate of 50 percent each year since 2006. Equity Estates presents accredited investors with the opportunity to travel to and share in ownership of the company’s 10 private vacation residences, which have an average
value of $3 million. With an extensive concierge program, meticulous residence upkeep, a closely monitored occupancy schedule and long-term appreciation, a membership in Equity Estates offers investors more value than a timeshare, says co-founder Philip Mekelburg.

“With timeshares, people might have to wait 3 years to go when they want to,” says Mekelburg. And while most fractionals and destination clubs avoid full financial transparency, “Equity Estates is giving people a set of documents that show their ownership, where the money goes, how it is used, and all members get annual financials that are audited.”

New York City, Turks & Caicos, Hilton Head Island and Cabo comprise the most popular destinations, while the company intends to offer residences in Hawaii; Florence, Italy; Napa, Calif.; and Scottsdale, Ariz., within the next six months. Full (30 nights of usage per year) and half (15 nights) memberships are available. The 80 current members will share any profits when the residences are sold in 2021, though “as fund managers we can assess the marketplace; if 2021 looks like it does today, we would postpone up to 5 years,” says Mekelburg.

Editor’s Pick

Diamonds are forever. When you purchase a DNA2Diamond, your loved ones, including cherished pets, can be with you forever too. DNA2Diamonds, a new, environmentally friendly company, creates one-of-a-kind, laboratory grown, GIA-certified diamonds in 70 days or less using the personal DNA carbon from a lock of hair or cremated ashes.

Chemically, physically and optically identical to earth-mined diamonds, DNA2Diamonds currently are available in radiant, princess or brilliant cuts in red, yellow-green or cognac. Customers are involved in the process from beginning to end — from receiving a DNA Signature Hair Collection Kit with step-by-step instructions to tracking each step of their order using their personal identification number. Updates are e-mailed to customers at the completion of each step in the diamond growth process.

“We want to appeal to a market segment that is looking for a way to create a commemorative keepsake that will be with them for eternity,” says Tom Bischoff, president and co-founder. The company’s first customer is a woman who lost a very special pet, a championship show dog who helped her get into the business and into breeding, says Bischoff. “She established so many new relationships she attributed to this pet and she felt very, very attached. She chose two smaller diamonds to put into earring settings.”

DNA2Diamond’s prices range from $1,980 for a mini set of two cognac diamonds at a weight of 0.03 carats each, to $18,575 for a red diamond at a weight from 1.90 to 2.09 carats.

Details: Bronzed

You might have seen the Clorox commercial in which a little boy imagines he is braving the high seas in his bathroom, with the billowing shower curtain acting as a majestic sail. With a custom-designed and created bronze bowl, sink or faucet from Cecil Humphreys Bronze, you can bring any sort of imaginative whimsy to your wet bar, powder room, kitchen or lavatory, from a favorite biblical tableau to a tribute to a beloved college mascot.

For the powder room of their Queen Anne home in Germantown, Tenn., avid turkey hunters Jake and Harriet McFadden collaborated with Cecil Humphreys on a copper sink top with bronze fixtures, including a forest of bronze trees, 2 bronze wild turkeys that act as sink handles and a bronze log for a faucet.

“I wanted to capitalize on Cecil’s avant-garde style, and so we thought about the woods around the house and what might walk out of them and I said, ‘Ya know, Cece, the Swamp Witch side of me would like to see a big old gobbler walk out of those woods, not just a jake with a little short beard. After all, I’m married to Jake. So what do ya say we put some turkeys in the loo?’,” says Harriet. The end result of the three-month project is a playful powder room that continuously surprises and delights guests, says Harriet.

Cecil Humphreys long-lasting pieces, which pay equal attention to function and form, typically range from $2,600 to $18,000. Cast at Lugar Bronze Foundry in Arlington, Tenn., any hand-finished piece may be polished, matte or textured to create a variety of elegant or rustic finishes.

Agents Get iPhone App

With an iPhone application for everything from organizing your holiday shopping to obtaining useful tourism information while in an unknown place, it’s only fitting that the real estate industry should provide an application that offers buyers, sellers and agents important market data while they’re on the go.

Claiming to be the first Realtor association in the country to offer an iPhone application, the California Association of Realtors has developed “My C.A.R,” a free, downloadable application providing users with market data for 21 regions in California, current loan information and other association resources. Users can search for license renewal and continuing education courses and receive news alerts. Inman News stories will appear as a menu item as well.

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