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What It’s Like to Own a Luxury Home

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:59:13 +0000

High-end Realtors and estate owners give an insider’s perspective.
Privacy and security are important factors when it comes to living in New York City.
Is it really all about champagne wishes and caviar dreams? While living in a multimillion-dollar home has its perks, it’s also a lot of financial responsibility. Some new homeowners overlook the details and work required to own a luxury home. However, it’s often worth the upkeep.
“Real luxury living is the features and the peace of mind and luxury of a hotel but the warmth and hominess of your own home and your 25 staff members,” says Wendy J. Sarasohn, senior vice president of residential real estate firm Corcoran Group, which serves New York City, Long Island, N.Y., and Palm Beach, Fla. Its clients range from Wall Street bankers to entertainment industry moguls.
Pampered in Privacy
For luxury homeowners, it’s all about amenities, and luxury living in New York City is all about privacy and security, Sarasohn says.
“No one comes into the lobby of the apartment building without being screened or announced,” Sarasohn says. “The buildings have beautiful lobbies filled with fresh flowers, a white-gloved doorman and a car greeter. It’s a very stressless lifestyle. Most of the buildings offer mind-boggling views of the city so that you’re physically and psychologically above it all. You have silence and a feeling of being powerful.”
Other amenities include first-class spas with private massage rooms, swimming pools, nail services and other beauty and fitness services. If you don’t want to have your manicure and pedicure downstairs, you can have it in your apartment. As for groceries, the concierge will fill your refrigerator with whatever you need. Most luxury apartments also feature radiant floor heating, wine coolers and state-of-the-art kitchens. The buildings also provide party rooms so you can entertain guests in your building but outside of your apartment.
The Price of Luxury Living
A luxury homeowner in New York who prefers to remain anonymous (most of them do) describes his property in the esteemed Hamptons. Purchased incomplete in 2005 for $2.8 million, the 11,500-square-foot home features an infinity pool, an attached 15-person whirlpool, a cinema that seats nine, full-size gym, billiards room and full-size bar. He says he put more than $650,000 into the home’s lavish details.
The homeowner visits his Hampton home weekly during the summer and every two weeks in the off-season. Even when he’s working in New York City, his home in the Hamptons is regularly maintained. Including electric, landscape, pool maintenance and other utility bills, he estimates spending about $5,000 each month just for upkeep. Add that to the $8,000 each month he spends on his primary home in Manhattan.
With all his expenses, he admits budgeting is very important for any luxury homeowner, no matter what state the economy is in. “You have to pay close attention to where you’re putting your money,” he says. “Real estate still remains a good investment. Even though things are deteriorating, now is still a good time to buy. The decline of the stock market is far more severe than the decline of housing.”
He advises that now is the best time to purchase a luxury home, but buyers who are purchasing solely for investment purposes should be cautious and figure in the price of running and preserving the home.
“Make sure you have not only figured the cost of home and mortgage, but also the utilities and maintenance,” he says. “This is important in calculating the home’s affordability. Also, you would want to buy in an area that you feel has a good growth potential. I felt that the Hamptons were a good investment at the time. Individuals who want to purchase purely for investment need to be careful. You must take into consideration that most luxury homes do not have a high turnover rate.”
All things considered, owning a luxury home certainly has its perks. But keep in mind that the home price is just the beginning of what you should expect to pay. Luxury living is not just about buying an expensive property. It’s a lifestyle that requires maintenance and responsibility, no matter if it’s an apartment with a terrace on the top floor, an antique estate on 200 acres of lush green property or a waterfront mansion steps away from turquoise waters and velvety sand.

Urban ‘green’ spaces may contribute to global warming

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:56:52 +0000

Turfgrass management can create more greenhouse gas than plants remove from atmosphere
Dispelling the notion that urban “green” spaces help counteract greenhouse gas emissions, new research has found – in Southern California at least that total emissions might be lower if lawns did not exist. milfs

Turfgrass lawns help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and store it as organic carbon in soil, making them important “carbon sinks.” However, greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizer production, mowing, leaf blowing and other lawn management practices are similar to or greater than the amount of carbon stored by ornamental grass in parks, a UC Irvine study shows.
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These emissions include nitrous oxide released from soil after fertilization. Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that’s 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, the Earth’s most problematic climate warmer.
“Lawns look great – they’re nice and green and healthy, and they’re photosynthesizing a lot of organic carbon. But the carbon-storing benefits of lawns can be counteracted by greenhouse gas emissions,” said Amy Townsend-Small, Earth system science postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the study, forthcoming in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The research results are important to greenhouse gas legislation being negotiated. “We need this kind of carbon accounting to help reduce global warming,” Townsend-Small said. “The current trend is to count the carbon sinks and forget about the greenhouse gas emissions, but it clearly isn’t enough.”

Turfgrass is increasingly widespread in urban areas and covers 1.9 percent of land in the continental U.S., making it the most common irrigated crop.

In the study, Townsend-Small and colleague Claudia Czimczik analyzed grass in four parks near Irvine, Calif. Each park contained two types of turf: ornamental lawns (picnic areas) that are largely undisturbed, and athletic fields (soccer and baseball) that are trampled and replanted and aerated frequently.

The researchers evaluated soil samples over time to ascertain carbon storage, or sequestration, and they determined nitrous oxide emissions by sampling air above the turf. Then they calculated carbon dioxide emissions resulting from fuel consumption, irrigation and fertilizer production using information about lawn upkeep from park officials and contractors.

The study showed that nitrous oxide emissions from lawns were comparable to those found in agricultural farms, which are among the largest emitters of nitrous oxide globally.

In ornamental lawns, nitrous oxide emissions from fertilization offset just 10 percent to 30 percent of carbon sequestration. But fossil fuel consumption for management, the researchers calculated, released almost as much or more carbon dioxide than the plots could take up, depending on management intensity. Athletic fields fared even worse, because – due to soil disruption by tilling and resodding – they didn’t trap nearly as much carbon as ornamental grass but required the same emissions-producing care.

“It’s unlikely for these lawns to act as net greenhouse gas sinks because too much energy is used to maintain them,” Townsend-Small concluded.

Previous studies have documented lawns storing carbon, but this research was the first to compare carbon sequestration to nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions from lawn grooming practices.

The UCI study was supported by the Kearney Foundation of Soil Science and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UCI is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,000 staff. Orange County’s largest employer, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3.9 billion.

News Radio: UCI maintains on campus an ISDN line for conducting interviews with its faculty and experts. Use of this line is available for a fee to radio news programs/stations that wish to interview UCI faculty and experts. Use of the ISDN line is subject to availability and approval by the university.

Top 10 Expert Tips for Buying a Luxury Home

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:53:47 +0000

From a brand-new Trump condo and a historic Newport estate to a golf course community in the South, there’s a plethora of choices in high-end homes. Consider these tips from luxury home market pros before buying your dream home.
1. Learn the search process.
“Many luxury homes go unlisted to protect a seller’s privacy. These properties are often found through the Realtor’s personal connections as opposed to the MLS.” Virginia Cook, Virginia Cook Realtors, Dallas
“You may need to go to more online sources as not everything is on the large search engines.” Ronald Phipps, Phipps Realty, Warwick, R.I.
2. Go beyond the photos.
“Make sure you don’t dismiss properties based on their front elevation photos. Many large homes aren’t photogenic that way and you have to see them in person to appreciate. I recommend my clients do a search of the property and vicinity on Google Earth so you can see what’s around the home.” Ronald Phipps, Phipps Realty, Warwick, R.I.
3. Work with a local expert.
“It’s critical to have a good buyer agent who is familiar with the area you want to buy in. There’s a bit more control on access to high-end properties in terms of fewer open houses and more appointments have to be made to see them.” Elizabeth Blakeslee, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Washington, D.C.
4. Bank on your relationships.
“I strongly recommend you go to the bank you have a relationship with. They have your portfolio already. Also, know the difference between the pre-approval letter and the prequalification letter.” Nancy Suvarnamani, Century 21 SGR Inc., Chicago
5. Document everything.
“There is more scrutiny today in the high-end market. Financial documentation is critical. Anyone who is making a lot of money has a manager or an accountant and tries hard to shelter their money so it can be difficult to show the bank you have the income.” Steve Goddard, RE/MAX Beach Cities Realty, Manhattan Beach, Calif.
6. Hire smart, reliable advisers.
“A good Realtor won’t make the client’s decisions but will make suggestions. Pay attention to your financial planner and Realtor that you trust. They should agree on what you should be doing and if they don’t, arrange a meeting.” David Boyer, Jack Woodcock Team, Las Vegas
7. Don’t forget about title insurance.
“You need to get title insurance so you’ll be insured against any problems that were forgotten about. You want to make sure you have a chance to have a look at the exceptions page of the title insurance process before closing time.” Moe Veissi, Veissi & Associates, Miami
8. Look into the future.
“Make sure you know what building is planned around you. What happens if someone pushes the bar and builds another building even taller?”
“Know the timeline. You don’t want to tie your cash up for a long period of time if there are any kinds of construction delays.” Alexander Chaparro, @properties, Chicago
9. Know what to expect with cooperatives and condominiums.
“For co-ops and condos you want to be represented by an attorney who will research the building on its financial viability.” Klara Madlin, Klara Madlin Real Estate, New York City
10. There’s room to negotiate.
“It’s individual points, the view or remodeling that makes these properties one of a kind and makes them able to command a particular price. Have your agent research the comparable properties that have recently sold, getting closing prices, right before you make an offer.” Fanny Y. Chu, Prudential California Realty, San Francisco

Graves for the Living; Lives for the Dead

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:52:19 +0000

Have you met a person who has given up on life and is just marking time until their death? They are joyless, without light and come across as bumps of flesh and bone. I’m not talking about the sick or the elderly. I’m talking about the ordinary person who just walks through life with no hope except that it will all end soon.

Then there are those who are obviously wholly dead on the inside, yet they continue to creep into our lives pretending to be human while proclaiming the honor of their lives. We know they are dead, but waking, and they are completely unaware of their deaths.

I’m not talking about ghosts or those dealing with a terminal illness. I’m talking about those who have lost their lives through un-frugal, non-kind and selfish living and then fail to recognize the consequences of their change in condition.

How are these opposite ends of the human experience created and how do we — as cogent, caring and self-aware human beings — deal with the recognition of these horrifying disconnections all around us?

On one end we have the stumbler waiting for the terminal inevitable without joy or passion. On the other end we have the dead — speed walking and traveling in circles — unwilling and unable to realize their lives are lost and bear no magnitude, but yet, they loudly carry on to spite our truth.