Some club benefits include season tickets to all major New York sports teams (with luxury suites at certain venues), use of Willow Club’s private yacht club, tickets to Broadway shows, insider access to New York Fashion Week, use of limited-edition luxury cars, complimentary entry into the city’s most recognizable attractions and museums, and shopping with personal stylists.

The membership at Willow Club is based on points, which can be redeemed to use club benefits and amenities. Members have access to lifestyle hotels throughout the city, including The Mansfield and The Shoreham, near Fifth Avenue, and The Franklin on the Upper East Side. Members who travel have the opportunity to stay in a choice of 2,500 properties worldwide via Willow Club’s international travel exchange program.

“Every benefit was selected to provide members with the ability to enjoy some of the most sought-after city experiences, with the flexibility to enjoy the world,” said John Yoon, Willow Club President.

For more information, visit www.willowclub.com or call 877-330-9650.

— Kaitlin MacRae

Five reasons to be optimistic about the economy. The current situation — weak growth, high unemployment — is not uncommon after a severe downturn. The Washington Post and @Neil_Irwin offer five reasons to find a silver lining in savings, credit, manufacturing, housing and trade.  http://wapo.st/avGLO9

Other silver linings? The Dow logged the worst August in 9 years but @SteveForbesCEO reminds the Twittershere of the buying opportunity. Five reasons to buy a house this year comes from @KCMCrew. The best reason — prices are down. http://bit.ly/aKxCFc Remodeling spending is expected to accelerate moving into 2011, according to Harvard’s Joint Center on Housing Studies, http://bit.ly/35JvKk

Recent loan mods may be working. Loans modified in 2009 are 40 to 50 percent less likely to be seriously delinquent six months after modification than loans modified at the same time in 2008. Still a recent report from state attorneys general and bank supervisors across the country shows more than 60 percent of homeowners with seriously delinquent loans are still not involved with any form of loss mitigation. Thanks to DSNews.com for report.  http://bit.ly/cov1Jh

Buy a condo for less than a luxury car? Such a reality was unthinkable a couple of years ago. Miami condos not far from the water sell as low as $50,000. Thanks to @NHCandCenter, the National Housing Conference, for the link to this report from NBC.  http://on.today.com/acQK9g

Owning a home is still worthwhile. Responding to recent articles challenging the wisdom of home ownership, Karl Case makes the case for owning a home in a New York Times opinion, “A dream house after all.”  http://nyti.ms/bDTuUt

I had the opportunity to spend some time on a super yacht this year, so a Tweet from about a new explorer yacht “Big Fish” from New Zealand’s McMullen and Wing caught my attention. Outfitted with exceptional amenities, including granite decks and a four-story-high video wall, this vessel is exceptionally luxurious. With a transatlantic range of 10,000 miles, Big Fish is capable of three full months of independent cruising. In July, Big Fish embarked on a year-long trek from Tahiti to the Arctic Circle, including other remote spots such as the Upper Amazon Basin and Antarctica. (Photo from charterworld.com)

List Mania – Coolest small towns in America (that you might want to visit) comes from Yahoo! and Budget Travel. These towns are really small and include Medicine Park, Okla.  With a population of 385, dubbing this town “small” is a bit of an overstatement, but it does sound charming.

Million dollar foreclosures are on the upswing. Check out the latest from Beverly Hills with this report from the LA Times real estate columnist Lauren Beale.  http://bit.ly/co8Shp

Common sense from the common man? This though comes via @RasmussenPoll: “75 percent say Congress should cut its own pay until budget is balanced.”

Ever been to a Tweet-up? Just in case you’ve got one on your agenda, @socialmedia2day offers the following on how to organize a successful one. My advice sounds like a no-brainer, but having unsuccessfully attempted to attend a hastily organized Tweet-up, I would suggest not to have it in a crowded venue unless there is some way to identify your group.

O’Brien’s Upper West Side apartment, which was originally listed for $29.5 million, recently sold for $25 million. This price ranks O’Brien’s apartment as one of the highest selling prices sold in New York City this year.

O’Brien’s now former home was a spacious, two-level duplex on the 17th and 18th floors of The Majestic, the 29-story Art Deco building located at 115 Central Park West. The combined apartments consist of three terraces, two libraries, seven bedrooms and eight and one-half bathrooms, which is considerably spacious for a New York City apartment. The building itself includes a roof deck, private gardens, a playroom, a gym and notable Central Park views.

The apartment was listed with John Burger of Brown Harris Stevens who reportedly sold it to the head of Discovery Communications, David Zaslav.

-Emily Schuit

Located in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles, the two- to four-bedroom residences reach up to 4,642 square feet of living space. Each home features a private elevator, multiple bathrooms and terraces. The penthouse apartments range in size from 5,306 to 9,293 square feet.

Manicured gardens surround the property, which features a 75-foot pool with furnished cabanas. The Century is also home to an exclusive entertainment suite with a private screening room and the Assouline Culture Lounge—a library. Residents receive amenities such as concierge service and indoor valet parking.

Architect Robert A.M. Stern describes The Century as having “glamour and allure.”

“I tried to capture the flavor of Los Angeles’ best tall buildings from the late 1920s and 1930s with their modern classic style and light colors, which work so well on the skyline in L.A.’s sunlight,” he said.

—Kaitlin MacRae

LDG garnered two prestigious 2010 Grand Awards: one for best custom home from 5,000 to 7,500 square feet and the other for best on-the-boards custom home. Six 2010 Merit Awards were also bestowed upon the Los Angeles-based firm, two for best custom home of more than 7,500 square feet., one for best on-the-boards custom home, and three for international on-the-boards projects, in France, Malaysia and Singapore.

The Gold Nugget Awards recognize excellence and innovation in design and building throughout the Western United States and Pacific Rim. Awarded annually during the PCBC, Gold Nugget recipients become known as the “Best in the West.” More than 600 people, including residential builders, developers, architects, investors, product manufacturers and advisers in the industry, attended the awards ceremony sponsored by Builder magazine and the California Building Industry Association.

And a 7,400-square-foot beachfront villa in Malibu, California (architecture done by Landry Design Group‚ won the Grand Award for best custom home. The main house has a suite that accommodates two children’s rooms, a great room, kitchen and recreation room. A lush and intimate courtyard separates the main house from the guest suites, gym and recreation room. All rooms enjoy ocean or garden views and are flooded with natural light and ventilation. The Spanish-style exterior and courtyard create a feeling of romance with rich stonework, handcrafted plaster, reclaimed tile and custom-forged wrought iron.

According to Richard Landry, president of Landry Design Group, each house is a reflection of his clients and not an outgrowth of a formulaic aesthetic.

“Every design stems from a combination of the client’s memories, individual aspirations and a lifetime of unique experiences. By carefully listening to our clients, understanding their unspoken words and listening to our own intuition, we design homes that connect with our clients in a personal way.”

For more information, visit landrydesigngroup.com or call 310-444-1404.

-Emily Schuit

Designed by Selldorf Architects, the two-story penthouse allows views of the Hudson River, Chelsea Cove Park and of course, Manhattan’s iconic skyline. The home is comprised of three bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as a private elevator, dining area and kitchen, powder room and a great room. Two loggia-style terraces with east- and north-facing views are also featured.

Kidman and Urban will also have access to an adjoining sky garage, which may be used as extra storage. The sky garage is, essentially, an elevator for cars. According to the technology blog Gizmodo, the garage automatically identifies the owner of the car and to which apartment the car belongs to. Cool, right? Not so fast. The sky garage works as a car lift — if you live on the top floor, the lift will transport you (in your car) to your own personal garage.

— Kaitlin MacRae

Photo courtesy of Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate

Included in the Nov/Dec 2010 Global edition is our special report on the World of Luxury Real Estate. This article will look at high-end locales across the globe, including the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Europe and more.

BONUS Distribution: This issue will be sent to an exclusive list of homeowners of properties priced at $5 million or more.

All advertised properties will get a full year of exposure on UniqueHomes.com and our 30+ partner Web sites.

Deadline to reserve space in our Global Issue: Sept. 9, 2010

Editorial Highlights:

• Year-Long Series: The Road to Recovery
…the latest news from luxury locales

• Golf Properties

• Golf Property Specialists and Luxury Specialists
of California and Canada

___________________________________________________________________________________________

For more information, or to reserve space, contact your sales representative:

California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, Wyoming & Utah
Director of Sales
Nick Antonicello
800.732.4092
310.883.7245
nantoni@mindspring.com

West Coast, Hawaii, Colorado, Texas, Southern States, Florida Panhandle,
British Columbia and Mexico
Associate Sales Director
Bruce Griset
888.928.9020 / 919.928.9020
Fax 888.928.9030 / 919.928.9030
bruce@griset.net

Florida, NYC, Long Island, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Louisiana, Eastern Canada, Caribbean & International
Associate Sales Director
Christina Lodar
201.319.9835
561.495.1392
800.443.7373
clodar@mindspring.com

Mid-Atlantic, New England (excluding Connecticut), Midwest, Arkansas,
Kentucky and Tennessee
Advertising Sales Manager
Joan Anderson
866.242.1013
joananderson@earthlink.net

Australia/New Zealand
Michael VanDerMolen

Michael, Maya & Co. Pty. Ltd.
Cell: 61.420.746.816
realestatemarketing@unwired.com.au

A well-known resort community sells out a limited number of new homesites to bring their total closed sales to more than $159 million through August of this year (a 64 percent increase from the same period in 2009). A home sells for a record $7.5 million price in South Carolina, beating the old record by more than $4 million. A new survey of high-end consumers shows an increase in plans to buy or build a home in the coming year.

These were just a few of the tidbits that came across my desk this week. Interesting that all my high-end news was 180-degrees different from the negative reports Mark Moffa chastised in last week’s Critique. Could people be digging a little deeper to look at the trends that exist on varying levels of real estate? I am hoping that’s the case.

Unity Marketing’s survey of high-end consumers is the one that first caught my attention. According to quotes from Pam Danzinger, president of Unity Marketing, of the more than 130 luxury consumers surveyed, 11 percent planned to build a new home in the next year, up from only 3 percent planning to do so in 2008. No one is popping the champagne cork at this news, but it is further evidence of the quiet, measured increases that are occurring in the luxury end. Unity’s report further notes that confidence and spending are both up this year among the wealthy they surveyed.

As for the resort community with the impressive sales record for 2010 so far (up through August 31), that would be Kiawah Island, S.C. Unique Homes has featured this community multiple times through the years, and known of its uniqueness, including the fact that it is a 10,000-acre barrier island near Charleston, with renowned golf courses and a long commitment to preserving its environment. But, it still came as a surprise to me that it had those kinds of sales numbers. Maybe I have gotten into the habit of hearing so much negative info that I am taken aback when I get the opposite. According to the release, with the recent sales of 11 new home sites in the golf community of Cassique (priced at an average of more than $500,000), Kiawah Island Real Estate has closed approximately $159 million in real estate so far this year. Again, a 64-percent increase from the same period last year. Not bad. Not so bad at all. Maybe I do hear a little popping going on in South Carolina…

…Which is also home to the record-setting sale I mentioned above. The $7.5 million sale in Mount Pleasant, S.C., spoke to me mostly because the blog I found it on noted back in March that they questioned whether this home could sell for the $10 million it was originally listed for—a record for the area. They were right…it didn’t sell for $10 million, but the fact that it sold for $7.5 million, and broke the record of the previous highest-price sale (which was said to be $3.25 million back in 2007) is another positive bit of news in the luxury realm. Here’s hoping I keep seeing this type of info coming across my desk in the weeks and months to come. All current indicators seem to be pointing to this kind of slow but steady climb as we head into 2011.

]]> http://content.uniquehomes.com/2010/09/the-good-news-you-havent-heard/feed/ 1 http://content.uniquehomes.com/2010/09/zeder-team-sells-more-condos-in-coral-gables-club/ http://content.uniquehomes.com/2010/09/zeder-team-sells-more-condos-in-coral-gables-club/#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:50:12 +0000 JessicaD http://content.uniquehomes.com/?p=7592 Coral Gables, Fl: The Zeder Team at Esslinger-Wooten Maxwell is pleased to announce that between January 1 and August 15, 2010, Judy Zeder, founder of The Zeder Team at EWM, has sold more units than any other realtor at the prestigious Coral Gables condominium, The Gables Club. With just 9 sales in the two building condo complex during that time, the Zeder Team was responsible for sales in 5 of those units (more than half), representing 7 clients.

“The Gables Club is Coral Gables’ finest condominium complex. Many of our clients are seeking the luxury amenities and services that the Gables Club offers, including 24-hour concierge, security, tennis courts, fitness center, and a restaurant on-site. Matching the right property to the right client is magical. It’s what I love doing”, says Judy Zeder.

About the Zeder Team
The Zeder Team at EWM is one of South Florida’s most successful luxury real estate practices. With five realtors, including a full-time licensed broker, on staff, and in-house marketing services, the team provides the best possible sales, marketing and investment services to its clients. Each team member delivers a specific skill set that enhances overall client service and performance. Judy Zeder, founder and principal is one of the most successful realtors in the country, is consistently one of the top ten residential realtors in Florida, and is in the top one-half of one percent of realtors nationally. For more information, visit http://www.allmiamirealestate.com

The main house was built in 1934 but since then has been torn down and rebuilt. The new house features six bedrooms, seven full and four half bathrooms, fireplaces throughout, an exercise room, a library and an art studio. A barn, carriage house, staff quarters and gardens can be found elsewhere on the grounds, as well as horse facilities, including an indoor arena, pastures and stables. Overall, the estate boasts 36,000 square feet.

Rancharrah is being listed by Distinctive Homes Sotheby’s International Realty.

— Kaitlin MacRae

Photo courtesy of Distinctive Homes Sotheby’s International Realty.