Luxury Real Estate

At an annual awards dinner, the Greater Boston Assoc. of Realtors' (GBAR) honored several Boston-area Realtors for their service in the industry.

John Ranco, a broker for Hammond Residential Real Estate in Boston's Back Bay was named the GBAR 2010 Realtor of the Year.

Ranco has been a member of GBAR for the past decade, according to a statement. The award honors members for their volunteerism and industry work over the past 18 months in three specific areas: participation and service to the Realtor organization on the local, state and national levels; community involvement, including volunteerism in community service projects and membership and support of civic and charitable organizations; and outstanding business and real estate industry accomplishments.

"Over the past decade, John has distinguished himself as one of the most knowledgeable, fair and hard-working members of our association and has led by example in connecting Realtors with the communities they serve," said John Dulczewski, GBAR executive director.

Ranco is the immediate past president of GBAR. Currently, he is the chairman of the nominating committee and sits on the board of directors for GBAR, the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB), and the Massachusetts Assoc. of Realtors, according to a statement.

New York City’s luxury real estate leader Jacky Teplitzky of Prudential Douglas Elliman was recently featured on Univision.com discussing the residences of the rich and famous. The Univision website receives over 460,000 visits per day, US and globally (source: Quantcast.com).

To view the full story click here.

Courtesy of John Butzko of Michael Saunders & Company

Beyond the crystalline waters, world-class beaches and swaying palm trees lies a rarely discovered world involving historical significance, cultural importance and natural exploration. It is among these unique charms that one truly discovers what our area is all about, and why those of us who live here are fortunate to call this slice of paradise home.

Walk above the trees at the Myakka Canopy. Photo courtesy of 511enews.com.

Here are the top 10 fun facts and places off the beaten path here in the Sarasota area:

1. Burns Court – Nestled away in downtown Sarasota, in the middle of historic Burns Square, is a small raspberry-colored theater that many people consider a landmark of the surrounding area. After opening its doors in 1993, Burns Court Cinemas has continually proven to be the best place around to find first-run, hand-picked foreign language, independent, and art films. Fun fact: Money Magazine has called Sarasota the best small city in the U.S., and has named Burns Court one of the best places to live in Sarasota. Click HERE to see what’s playing today.

2. Myakka Canopy – One of only about a dozen worldwide where you can walk along the treetops, the Myakka Canopy Walkway puts you 25 feet above the ground and extends 85 feet through the tree tops above the Myakka floor. Fun fact: Completed in June of 2000, it is the only one in the world in a subtropical forest. Click HERE for more information.

3. Paul Rudolph Houses - Take a rare look into one of Florida’s most influential architects and view the early residential works of Paul Rudolph, which were widely published at the time of conception and played a significant role in the culture of mid-twentieth century American design. Fun fact: Rudolph’s Sarasota time is now part of the period labeled Sarasota Modern in his career. Learn where to find them HERE.

Courtesty of Whistlerheather of seatoskynation.com

Now we completely expected the market in Whistler to cool during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic period of February and March. We also expected that January would be slow due to infrastructure that still needed to be realized; and of course April to start cleaning up after the party… May and June are known as the shoulder months so a slight slow down was also expected during this period. That would bring us right through to the third quarter 2010.

However looking at the number of sales year to date we can clearly surmise that January – May & June have been consistant in terms of sales. By the end of June it appeared Whistler was well on its way to a great summer in real estate. Then July finished and our balloon had a slow leak… No pun in tended. Trying to figure out why was not hard…

For full article click here

Courtesy of Meghan Barry of Luxuryrealestate.com

LuxuryRealEstate.com member J.P. King will be auctioning Vendovi Island, located among the San Juan Islands. Members of the LuxuryRealEstate.com staff will attend the auction event in Seattle on September 30^th.

Vendovi Island is a private 216 +/- acre island in the San Juan archipelago which lies across Samish Bay from mainland Skagit County and seven miles north of Anacortes, Washington. Boasting 13,000+/- feet of shoreline with six beaches, the island is one of the premier private islands in the area and has numerous dramatic vistas as well as gorgeous natural scenery. Long used as a seasonal residence, the island includes a caretaker/owner’s home as well as various outbuildings and structures. 

Courtesy of: Wilshire International Realty

By: Worth Avenue Association 

The property owners, the Town of Palm Beach and the merchant’s association (Worth Avenue Association, Inc.) have collectively partnered to breathe new life into the hardscape and landscape of the world-renowned shopping destination, Worth Avenue.

The rich history of the Avenue began in 1918 when Addison Mizner brought his unique sense of architecture to the island, building the elegant Everglades Club at the west end of the street, which set the pace for the prestige that this strip of real estate would one day command.

For full article click here

Trinity Properties Hawaii Is Pleased To Announce Top Producing Agent, Annie Kwock, Recently Listed Among Hawaii Business's Prestigious Top 100 Realtors in Hawaii! MAHALO to my incomparable team whose dedication to excellence shines through in every transaction! MAHALO to our wonderful clients for 22 fabulous years sharing our love of Hawaii Real Estate with you! Your trust in our service inspires us to strive to exceed your expectations every day! We look forward to many more rewarding years of service to YOU!

According to British journalist, Stuart White, there are numerous reasons to visit Valencia (we could have told him that long ago) but he eventually managed to restrict himself to a Top 10.

Describing Valencia as “Spain’s third largest, most exciting and wonderfully diverse city”, White starts out by singing the praises o paella, a local dish that most now realise originated in the city, the world famous Ciudad de las Artes y Ciencias and the imagination of Santiago Calatrava and the Turia Gardens. This 10km stretch of former riverbed, created when the Rio Turia was diverted out of the city, sports a network of wonderful nature paths, popular with walkers, joggers, dog owners and skateboarders. 

WINTER PARK, FL---When Winter Park Realtor® Scott Hillman finished compiling statistics for the 2010 Mid-Year Hillman Report, the results showed existing home sales were up, inventory was shrinking, and prices were beginning to stabilize in some areas over a comparable period last year.

“Despite a very challenging economy that drove Greater Orlando’s real estate market to rock bottom in March 2009, we’re starting to see a silver lining as a great many distressed properties have been moved off the books, inventory is slowly being reduced, and prices are beginning to stabilize in some areas, especially in older established neighborhoods,” said Hillman, president of Fannie Hillman + Associates, the 29-year-old independent real estate firm that compiled The Hillman Report based on information in the Orlando Regional Realtor MLS database.

“The existing home market certainly isn’t as bad as some doomsayers would have us believe, but it will only continue to improve provided the industry continues to adjust by flushing out and reducing the inventory of distressed properties,” he said.

According to The Hillman Report, single-family home and condominium sales in Greater Orlando in price ranges from under $200,000 to over $1 million were up 45 percent for the first six months over a comparable period last year.

Of particular note was the sale of 105 homes over $1 million which was up a robust 84 percent. They fetched an average price of $1,641,102 while the sale of 192 homes in the $500,000 - $750,000 price range was up a lofty 50 percent, bringing an average price of $596,952.

Overall, single-family home sales in Greater Orlando were up a very respectable 33.4 percent while condominium sales, which have fallen off considerably in recent years, were up an eye-popping 77.8 percent.

The spike in condominium sales was due primarily to an 11 percent decrease in the average sale price of condos priced under $200,000, resulting in an 80 percent uptick in sales in that price range,” said Hillman.

Courtesy of Chiara L. Gajar of Lawrence Realty

Ron and Chiara Gajar of Lawrence Realty in Squaw Valley, California attended the Saks Fifth Avenue Oscar de la Renta Fashion Show and Luncheon to benefit the League to Save Lake Tahoe. The 41st Annual Oscar de la Renta Fashion Show was at the private Fritz Estate, a gorgeous lakefront property on the shores of Lake Tahoe in early August. This event is the annual fund raiser for the League to Save Lake Tahoe, a nonprofit organization whose mission and motto is to Keep Tahoe Blue. This year the event raised approximately $500,000, the second highest amount in the history of the event…amazing given the current economic times. For more details, here is the article from the local Sierra Sun newspaper in which Chiara and Ron were named as fashionistas and friends in attendance.