Luxury Real Estate Blog

On Thursday, June 14, 2007 I read an article in The Seattle Times called “Megahouses multiplying, but how big is too big?” This article brought up the point that people living in modest neighborhoods are complaining about large mansions being built nearby around the United States in places like Austin, Texas; Marin County, Calif.; Queens, N.Y.; Chevy Chase, Md.; Bellevue, Wash. and Atlanta. The following day I read this article, also in The Seattle Times, entitled “Pursuit of luxury knows no bounds for rich who splurge with abandon.” According to this article, the distance between haves and have-nots is as wide as it was during the Great Depression, and there seems to be a disregard among the super-rich for the costs of their tastes.Suddenly the situation is becoming clearer.I’m certainly not saying it is a bad thing to desire the best properties money can buy. Luxury home buyers are willing to pay top dollar for large, rare and unique properties because they are so luxurious and distinct from other homes. The incredible demand for immense, luxury properties is naturally pushing builders and real estate professionals to supply large, exquisite homes in new places. However, I am saying that wisdom and prudence should prevail as buyers and sellers make decisions about new properties that affect neighbors and society at large. Let us respect the needs of the many and not just the few so that all can benefit from new home sales that can raise neighboring property values instead of making neighbors feel uncomfortable.As more buyers demand high-quality luxury properties we have more opportunities to help them make responsible, constructive decisions.

When it comes to relocation, we have made it a priority to know all the regional agencies and as a result have come to know all the players well. We work privately in that respect. Additionally, we try to drive everything to our website as we have many of our agents on board with relocation.Something that I strongly recommend for increasing your presence and gaining more referrals is engaging with civic minded organizations. We donate money to several different groups and have become quite visible locally and regionally. This strong presence has driven many referrals our way.

By Charlene Meenan Great success should always inspire people to achieve more in their lives and professional careers. At Chase International, success is praised and shared with the entire company. It does not matter if it is your first sale, just a sale or a company best. I think that lays the groundwork to make you want to be your best and to understand that there are no limits on what you can achieve unless you put them there.

Relocation is always a challenge because it depends on who the relocation person is. It is about a constant relationship between that relocation director and our company. It is important to keep the brokers in front of them at all times. It is very much a one-on-one, face-to-face proposition. The referrals we do get have about a 90-percent success rate because we use the concierge style of service. We are definitely a time saver for them.What I mean by full concierge service is everything from making an appointment with the school principal to having a babysitting service on site; if they have a two-year-old and need to look at a house we need to accommodate them. Relocation is about micro-managing people’s lives. Our clients are very impressed because we give them more than we promised. They wouldn’t think of leaving us.Additionally, matching our agent to the client is critical. Look for things the agent may have in common with the client, i.e the wife loves horse back riding or has a teenager. Then I could match them up to the agent who was really athletic and had a teenager of his or her own.

With relocation work, one has to be extremely hands-on and stay in touch with referral companies and customers. We have worked very hard at keeping in close contact with relocation directors in agencies and businesses across the country; and, of course, now that we have expanded our territory to coastal South Carolina, they are more likely to call us for “one-stop shopping” for Savannah and the Lowcountry. My advice? Do everything they ask you to do ... with a smile! Within our offices, we like to have a member of the relocation “team” respond to referrals. This gives us a consistency with our relocation service. We look for agents who are friendly, knowledgeable, and who are very familiar with the territory in which the customer is interested. It is difficult to maintain this service level, but if you have the same team of agents doing it, it becomes easier with each referral.