Luxury Real Estate

Courtesy of Five Star Beach Properties

One of the vacation destinations in Florida which is becoming increasingly popular is Destin. This is one of the fastest growing vacation destinations as it has something exciting and special for every age group. You will never regret choosing this perfect beach vacation destination for your family vacations. Even if you are a lone traveler, you will find plenty of things to do in Destin, Florida.

If you want to make the most of your Destin beach vacation, you need to ensure that you find the best accommodation possible. When you have the best place to stay in Destin during your vacation, you will be able to increase the pleasure and enjoyment several times over as every moment that you spend in Destin will be memorable. One of the accommodation options that is becoming increasingly popular in Destin are Destin beach rentals. As opposed to the regular hotel rooms, you will be able to enjoy very spacious accommodations by renting a large home. You will be able to have all the fun you would like to have by staying in a luxury Destin vacation rental. These luxurious Destin vacation rentals will help you relax completely during your vacation along with your family. Today there are many good Destin vacation rentals that come loaded with five star rated amenities.

The white sandy beaches of Destin will entice you to stay longer than you had planned and the luxurious vacation rentals will tempt you further to extend your stay. Enjoy your vacation with your family renting Destin vacation rentals. You and your family will be able to have a highly memorable Destin vacation. You can enjoy your private pools and rooms with breath taking views by renting luxurious Destin beach rentals. The next time you are planning for your family vacation look for the best luxury vacation Destin beach rentals and give your family and yourself a great treat as you simply deserve it.

Courtesy of Michel Cruz of Rimontgó

While many bemoan the state of the property market, it is good to know that there are real estate companies that are recording good results. The success achieved may have been hard-fought, but it provides an encouraging sign that those who are willing to innovate and adapt – and are well-prepared in terms of marketing, organisational structure and the service they provide – can do well.

In terms of significant sales, i.e. the sale of so-called important properties, Inmobiliaria Rimontgó recorded four such transactions in its home market area in 2010. These included two luxurious villas in Jávea, along Spain’s scenic east coast, a large villa just off the city of Alicante, a little further south, and a grand property in the region of Elche.

But in addition to such ‘local’ transactions of note have come the fruits of the international cooperation that Rimontgó has worked so hard to develop, and which finds itself embodied in EREN (European Real Estate Network) and the other international organisations that the company belongs and contributes to.

Most notable among these are a luxury Vienna apartment bought by an American-based

couple that was being transferred to the Austrian capital. Working closely with its EREN partner in Vienna, Marshall Immobilien, Rimontgó succeeded in finding its transatlantic client a beautiful new home and concluding the multi-nation deal in an efficient and transparent manner.

Other enquiries for international real estate that came through Rimontgó’s award winning website and which were successfully concluded with the EREN partners in Switzerland,

Portugal, New York and Florida respectively, are:

· A record sale to a Danish citizen of an estate in Lugano listed at CHF30 million

· A beautifully restored city apartment bought by a French family in Lisbon’s historic Chiado district

· The close working relationship with its partners in New York was also emphasised in the purchase of an important apartment by a Venezuelan national

· When a Florida resident wanted to sell his property in the Oliva Nova Golf Course near Valencia, without having to travel to Europe. Powers of Attorney were issued on behalf of Rimontgó and the proceeds from the sale of the property to a Madrid family were wired to the seller, who was very pleased with the service received

It all proves that international cooperation between likeminded companies can produce excellent and mutually beneficial results. For Rimontgó, the good results of 2010 serve as further encouragement and reward for the hard work and dedication they have shown in pursuit of a clear and effective market strategy.

Courtesy of Don Pilotte of Prudential Montana Real Estate

Both nationally and locally real estate brokers have noticed an increase in the number of cash transactions.

For example, between January 1, 2010 and late March 2011 of 166 transactions in Big Sky, 72 or 43 percent have closed with cash. According to a recent article in the San Francisco Examiner in January 2011, 28.7 percent of the sales closed with cash. Also in January, 2011, 46 percent of real estate transactions in Toledo, Ohio were cash sales. The MLS of Central Oregon that tracks sales in the Bend, Oregon area noted that 32 percent of the sales in February were cash transactions.

The National Association of Realtors noted that 54.2 percent of the sales in Miami, 45.9 percent in Las Vegas, 44.9 percent in Tampa and 35.6 percent of the sales in Phoenix were cash transactions. These four cities were all hit pretty hard by the recent recession and prices were dramatically reduced due to numerous foreclosures and short sales.

While there are a number of reasons for this increase in cash sales, such as foreign investment, cashing out equity in other properties or investments or using cash and a quick close as a negotiation strategy, there is also another potential reason: the return of the investment buyer.

Investment buyers look for opportunity; the combination of motivated sellers, short sales and foreclosures combined with a lot of inventory creates an almost ideal situation for those investment minded buyers. This also could be a signal that many buyers believe that we are close or at the bottom of the market. Already in Big Sky we are seeing significant market absorption in certain areas and price ranges.

Courtesy of Kenn Hall of Fannie Hillman + Associates

WINTER PARK, FL---Fifty one years ago a bright-eyed 18-year-old freshman at the University of Georgia was ready to begin preparing for a career in business when she says she was told there was “no place in the business world for a woman.”

Nancy Shea Bagby wasn’t discouraged. Although her career aspirations didn’t go south, she did. She transferred to the University of Florida, earned a bachelor’s degree in education, taught at elementary schools in Miami and Atlanta, was an assistant photo editor with LIFE magazine in New York, served as a flight attendant with Delta Airlines, and raised two daughters along the way.

And she was just getting started.

A Winter Park-Maitland resident since 1972, Bagby “waited until her children were out of school” and decided to go back to school and earn her master’s degree in business and finance at Rollins College. Although she never completed her degree, she did wind up mastering a career in another field---real estate.

Mastered might be an understatement. Since joining Winter Park’s Fannie Hillman + Associates in 1985, she has sold and closed over $480 million in residential real estate which pencils out to around $19 million a year. Last year, in a challenging economy, she led all company sales agents with sales of $16.6 million, and this year posted a 25-year career-best first quarter of over $9.2 million.

Not bad for someone who decided nearly 26 years ago to start a career in real estate “almost as a lark” and has been Fannie Hillman’s top producer for the past two and a half decades.

“Nancy is a very special person with a very special talent who knows the Winter Park/Maitland area as well, if not better, than anybody else in this business,” says Scott Hillman, president of the

successful, 30-year-old independent firm. “In fact, Nancy has handled more lakefront transactions than any other agent in the Winter Park/Maitland area since 1985.”

And she shows no signs of slowing down either. Now a grandmother with a daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren in Seattle, WA, and another married daughter with two children in nearby Maitland, Bagby thoroughly enjoys what she’s doing.

“I love the business I’m in and the people I work with,” explains Bagby, whose sister is a Realtor in Palm Coast, Florida, and two brothers who are developers in Jacksonville, Florida. “I wouldn’t

think of doing anything else or being anywhere else. We have a very close knit office where people work in tremendous harmony. We all take a great deal of pride in what everyone else in the office is doing.”

A team player first, Bagby, works “primarily by referral” and attributes much of her success to “a wonderful repeat business” and her team of Sue Ann Rand and daughter Julie Bagby Williams. Sue Ann, a licensed Realtor and broker “has been an invaluable assistant for the past 17 years and an incredibly gifted person,” said Bagby, while daughter Julie, who holds an MBA from Emory University in Atlanta, “is my people person with a sparkling personality that has served our team well for the past four years.”

Ask those who know and work with Bagby and they’ll tell you she’s also “a people person” with a “down-to-earth, magnetic personality.” Active in the community and a member of numerous civic organizations, Bagby says she’s “extremely interested in helping people” and admits spending a great deal of time consulting with clients and non-clients alike on real estate matters.

“Selling homes is a tremendously emotional business that requires knowing and understanding the individual and his or her needs so that they develop a trust and confidence in you,” Bagby emphasizes. “Right now, I do as much counseling and advising as I do selling.”

And therein lies the key to Bagby’s ability to cultivate a sizeable list of referrals and repeat business.

“I’ve had the good fortune to have had such wonderful clients over the years and am very grateful for their tremendous support,” says Bagby. “They are as much a part of my success as the people I work with.”

Even though Bagby long ago proved there is a place in the business world for a woman, she hasn’t lost her sense of perspective and allowed success to obscure her priorities.

“I have a wonderfully enjoyable and successful career, but in the overall scheme of things my family is number one in my life,” she says.

Real estate certainly has been anything but a disappointing second.

About Fannie Hillman + Associates
A member of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, Fannie Hillman is listed in Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate, and maintains a global presence through affiliations with London-based Mayfair International, Luxury Portfolio, and Chicago-based RELOHomeSearch, a website run by Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®, the world’s largest network of premier independent residential real estate firms representing 600 companies with 5,000 offices and 150,000 sales associates in more than 30 countries. Fannie Hillman also has exclusive rights for Residence International in the Central Florida area. Fannie Hillman is located at 205 W. Fairbanks Avenue. For more information call (407) 644-1234 or visit the company’s web site at fanniehillman.com.

Courtesy of Leibowitz Realty Group

BallenIsles Country Club is a premier, gated, residential community of privacy and prestige nestled in the heart of Florida's Palm Beaches. Here, amidst 1,300 pristine acres, the traditions of America's great private clubs are being carried on in a community of 1500 plus luxurious homes (33 unique neighborhoods ranging from 1,800 square foot patio homes and golf villas to more exclusive areas of spacious estate homes. Prices start at approximately $300,000 and go up to nearly $4 million). Boasting championship golf courses, and unsurpassed amenities. BallenIsles is truly an enviable enclave reserved for its members and their special guests. More than half of the BallenIsles community is comprised of year round residents.

• A Magnificent Trio of Championship Golf Courses
• The Ultimate 72,000 square foot Grand Clubhouse

Courtesy of Brian Langhorst of Luxury Real Estate

Luxury Real Estate is pleased to announce the inclusion of Premier Realty Partners in its prestigious network of fine high-end estate brokers and firms. Premier Realty Partners was selected to represent the Orlando, Lake Nona, Windermere, Lake Mary, Longwood, Baldwin Park, and Doctor Phillips, Florida areas at the invitation of Chairman/Publisher John Brian Losh. Mr. Losh extends membership invitations to brokers and firms throughout the world who consistently demonstrate expertise in the marketing of luxury properties. Currently, Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate includes more than 1,400 members with properties in 67 countries and nearly every state in the U.S.

This exclusive group’s properties can be viewed on the network’s award-winning Web site LuxuryRealEstate.com, the most-viewed real estate Web site expressly dedicated to luxury properties. The site features more than 60,000 of the world’s finest for-sale listings with an average price of more than $2 million. According to the Web information service Google Analytics, LuxuryRealEstate.com receives more than 2.6 million unique page views per month coming in from 197 countries around the world.

Premier Realty Partners is an independently owned luxury real estate brokerage headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The boutique office is guided by longtime local real estate experts Chocky Burks, Steve Healy, and Matt Tomaszewski. Together with their highly qualified team of agents Premier Realty Partners provides real estate services for clients looking to buy, invest or sell property in Central Florida.

The 2011 edition of Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate’s annual membership directory is available by calling Premier Realty Partners or writing to: Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate, 2110 Western Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98121.

Courtesy of Michael McFadden of Luxury Real Estate Vacation Rentals

Good news for Holiday Isle Properties customers:

“Getting to Northwest Florida just got a lot easier, thanks to Vision Airlines. The Southeast-based airfare provider, headquartered in Suwanee, Georgia, recently announced an expansion that will allow fast and efficient travel to and from the Northwest Florida Regional Airport in Fort Walton Beach. The announcement is great news for clients of Holiday Isle Properties, a premier vacation rental management firm specializing in Destin, Florida properties. Previous customers have been absolutely awed by Holiday Isle's choice selection of Destin vacation rentals and prime Gulf-front properties. Now, instead of driving hours to get to their beautiful Destin Florida rentals, guests can choose to fly there.”

To read the rest of this exciting new announcement on PRWeb.com, click here.

Courtesy of Leibowitz Realty Group

Mirasol is one of South Florida's most popular gated country club communities. The club is set in beautiful Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and just minutes from the heart of Palm Beach. View the Mirasol country club community video below to take yourself through the community of Mirasol.

Mirasol's club facilities consists of approximately 70,000 square and include: 36 holes of championship golf. The two renowned courses the "Sunset" course designed by Arthur Hills and the "Sunrise" course designed by Tom Fazio. Golf practice facilities consisting of a driving range, short game practice area, practice putting area, and a golf instructional building. Members have access to unparalleled luxury amenities including the golf pro shop, locker room facilities, card rooms, dining room, and steam rooms, 15 tennis courts, tennis pro shop, and junior Olympic size swimming pool.

Courtesy of Krista Zilizi of Isleworth Golf & Country Club

(Photo: Sotheby’s monumental sculpture exhibition returns to Isleworth Golf & Country Club. Consejo al Espacio IX is one of a dozen Eduardo Chillida sculptures currently on display at Isleworth.)  Windermere, Fla. (March 9, 2011) – Isleworth Golf & Country Club welcomed the monumental works of the late abstract sculptor Eduardo Chillida, marking the celebrated Spanish artist’s first major U.S. exhibition of his large-scale, outdoor sculptures.

Coming directly from the artist’s estate, each of the 12 sculptures on display within Isleworth were conceived for the outdoors and are being offered in a single-artist private selling exhibition through April. The dozen sculptures installed throughout Isleworth range from $2 million to more than $9 million.

The Chillida collection is the second single-artist exhibition Sotheby’s has staged at Isleworth, which has hosted six sculpture sales since 2004. Sotheby’s 2008 Bernar Venet retrospective, Isleworth’s first single-artist presentation, was met with resounding success. Chillida’s works were formerly housed in the Chillida Leku Museum, the artist’s sculpture garden in northern Spain that closed this year after operating for a decade. The Chillida Family chose to showcase a selection of the artist’s works at Isleworth because the community’s verdant and expansive surroundings mirror Chillida’s sculpture park.

(Photos: Chillida’s Homenaje a Cioran and Consejo al Espacio VIII at Isleworth. Chillida’s Elogio del Vacio VI at Isleworth.)

“We are so pleased to have the opportunity to display Chillida’s masterpieces in our community,” said Vivienne Lewis, president of Isleworth Golf & Country Club and a Tavistock Group director. “It is an honor to be able to further the legacy of one of the most internationally renowned sculptors.”

Chillida, who died in 2002, is considered one of the leading sculptors of the 20th century. He achieved international recognition with his revolutionary approach to using natural surroundings as integral and inextricable elements of his sculptures. Made of iron, steel and stone, Chillida’s works are inspired by his rural and industrial roots in Spain’s Basque Country, where he forged his first work in iron at a local foundry.

Margot Knight, president and CEO of the United Arts of Central Florida, is familiar with the artist and has a keen understanding of his sculptures. Knight had the opportunity to meet Chillida in 1992 during a cultural exchange with the Basque Ministry of Culture.

“Though not as well known in this country, Chillida is held in iconic awe by his own countrymen and throughout Europe,” Knight said. “His monumental works challenge the spaces they inhabit, and his sculptures are as well displayed in the grassy landscapes of Isleworth as they are in his native land.”

Chillida’s art trail is extensive with more than 40 works on public display in cities around the world. Berlin, two colossal iron structures in front of the new German Chancellery in Berlin, is Chillida’s tribute to German reunification. Chillida’s Wind Combs, a series of giant steel forceps suspended from the granite cliffs of San Sebastian, symbolizes man’s connection with nature.

All 12 Chillida pieces at Isleworth are available for private sale through Sotheby’s. Contact Alma Luxembourg at alma.luxembourg@sothebys.com or +1 212 606.1621 for pricing and general inquiries.

ABOUT ISLEWORTH GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB

Nestled amongst the Butler Chain of Lakes in southwest Orlando, Isleworth Golf & Country Club is a 600- acre community with more than seven miles of shoreline and a championship golf course. 2011 marks Isleworth’s 25th anniversary and its transformation from a citrus grove to one of the world’s most prestigious and secure luxury residential communities. Conceived by Arnold Palmer, designed by Ed Seay and enhanced by Steve Smyers, Isleworth’s course features generous, undulating and fast greens and is consistently ranked one of the longest and toughest in Florida. Isleworth is home to an 89,000-squarefoot Mediterranean-style clubhouse where members have access to multiple dining venues and a fitness center. Members also enjoy tennis facilities, a year-round children’s program, concierge services and 24- hour gated security. Isleworth’s natural setting lends the perfect backdrop for its permanent one-of-a-kind collection of monumental sculptures, which are displayed throughout the property. Sotheby’s monumental exhibition returns to Isleworth this spring and features extraordinary works by abstract sculptor Eduardo Chillida. Elegant estate homes, priced from $2 million to more than $20 million, are afforded commanding golf to water views. For more information, visit www.isleworth.com or call (407) 876-0111.

Courtesy of Kenn Hall of Fannie Hillman + Associates

WINTER PARK, FL---While Greater Orlando’s existing housing market began to show signs of life last year and slowly work its way out of a deep recession, the market’s vital signs literally flat lined over the past decade, according to the 2010 Hillman Report.

“The past 10 years (2001-2010) were basically a lost decade...a roller coaster ride that went absolutely nowhere, especially in terms of pricing,” said Scott Hillman, president of the 30-year-old independent Winter Park brokerage of Fannie Hillman + Associates which produces the semi-annual Hillman Report based primarily on information in the Orlando Regional Realtor Association’s MLS database covering Orange and Seminole counties.

“While there was some decent growth in terms of transactions over the past 10 years, there was little if any gain in any other category,” he said. “Prices stayed pretty much the same and only a couple of very specific areas had a gain or loss of more than two percent per annum. For all intents and purposes the market was flat.”

Hillman pointed out that the “roller coaster ride” had its peaks and valleys with the height of the market occurring in 2005 when transactions were high and inventory was low. Prices continued their upward climb, peaking in the summer of 2007 before nosediving as transactions slowed and inventory rose.

“I still contend that the market was at its worst in February 2009 when the inventory/transaction ratio was at its highest which, in my opinion, was a clear indicator of a bad market,” Hillman said.

“As we moved into the second quarter of ’09 things started to slowly improve.”

As the “lost decade” came to a close, existing single-family home transactions for 2010 were up over 2009 in four of the five price categories, while prices were down. Transactions were up 10 percent for homes priced under $300,000, after soaring 71 percent the previous year, and were also

up approximately 10 percent for homes priced from $300,000-$500,000. Transactions jumped 16 percent for homes priced at $500,000-$750,000, and sales were up a robust 28 percent for homes in the million-dollar plus range.

Transactions for condos continued to do well in lower price ranges but struggled in product priced over $500,000. Condos priced under $200,000 in Winter Park (zip code 32789) were up an astronomical 126 percent, while condo sales in that price range were up over 40 percent throughout the Greater Orlando market.

“Overall, the value of condominiums was down which drove sales in the lower price ranges,” Hillman said. “However, despite a strong performance in lower price ranges, there remains a substantial condominium inventory yet to be absorbed.”

For a copy of The Hillman Report, call (407) 644-1234, or visit Fannie Hillman’s website at www.fanniehillman.com.