Archives for 2013

6 Most Typical Features of Luxury Homes

The-Ridges-luxury-homesLuxury homes have some great features that can make the people who live there more comfortable and give them more great facilities. There are a lot of things that they can do and when you have lots of money, you can virtually do whatever you want. Some examples can be found below.

Spa-Like Bathrooms

A typical bathroom tends to be just a loo, sink, shower and/or bath but a luxury house will have some really lovely features. You can find a sauna, hot tub or even a small pool in some bathrooms. Extra luxurious features can include towel warming drawers and electric floor heating from Warmyourfloor.com.

spa bathroom

Having a warm space can make such a difference as it is much easier to relax when it is warmer. The design of the bathroom also adds to its luxury with beautiful floor and wall tiles, soft and fluffy towels and robes and lovely smelling bath products.

Home Automation and Control System

Having things in your home that make life easier can be the height of luxury. For example, having electric gates at the end of the drive, so not only do you have security, but easy access. Automatic garage doors can also make life a lot easier when you are entering and leaving.

luxury gate

Inside the house having a home lighting system and an entertainment system that can be controlled remotely can make things easy and fun for everyone. Having a home automation system can mean that switching lights, heating and music on and off in a large home is a lot easier.

Outdoor Kitchen

All the great chefs have an outdoor cooking area it seems. A stone oven outside or barbecue area and it can be a great way to entertain. Topped with a stylish eating area, lovely cooking equipment and some ground heating, you do not even need to rely on the weather being that good.

outdoor kitchen

Having friends over for a meal can be a completely different experience when you are outside, enjoying the fresh air and admiring the garden. You may need a gardener though, to make sure that everything looks great before your friends arrive.

Custom Lighting

If you want to make a feature of something in your home or just make your room look different, then some custom lighting can do the trick. Buying off the shelf lights may not give the effect that you want and so getting someone in to design lights that fit in with your room and the design of the house can really make a room look very different.

room lighting control

It can make as big a change to a room as redecorating or new furniture can as you can play around with color and brightness as well as the direction of the beams of light. Having the right lights both inside the house and on the outside can make a really big difference to the look and feel of the house.

Walk in Closet

We have all seen films where rich American women have huge walk in closets. These are necessary to store all of the designer clothes, shoes and handbags that a wealthy lifestyle needs.

walk in closet

Keeping everything look neat and tidy is essential and you will need to keep it all in order so you know where everything is. Shelves, drawers and hanging space all will need to be incorporated in order to make sure everything has the perfect place. These can be custom built to fit in the space that you have available.

Home Theatre Room

To see all of the latest films in luxury then a home theatre is a must. To have a big screen so that you can view your favorite movies in the way you would at a cinema is the ultimate luxury. You will need plush seating and some rooms even come with a popcorn machine or snack dispenser so you get the ultimate cinema feel but in the privacy of your own house.

luxury home theater

Whether you choose to have a few sofas in front of a screen or rows of cinema style seating will depend on whether you want to be able invite a big group of friends over or just have private family viewings.

Slice & Splice: Modern Twist to Traditional House

traditional-meets-additional-architectureThe owners of this rather lovely old house in Brussels, Belgium, wanted easier access and better views to their beautiful back garden, and needed to update key interior bathroom and kitchen spaces.

In a single architectural stroke, this wrapping intervention by EXAR Architecture (images by Marc Detiffe) adds contemporary functions and lovely contrast to the existing structure.

The effect is surprisingly understated from the street, preserving the historic facade for pedestrians and neighbors, but adding a dynamic, almost-secret and highly-functional component to the back of the building.

Big modern windows with black trim, topped with rusted steel, play off of existing brick and stucco exterior, twisting to enclose the cleanly-revamped upper level (bathroom) and open up the freshly-renovated lower one (kitchen).

Home Prices in 2012: Best Year-on-Year Gain in Six Years

real-estate-inflation.pngCoreLogic®, a leading residential property information, analytics and services provider, recently released its December CoreLogic HPI® report. Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased on a year-over-year basis by 8.3 percent in December 2012 compared to December 2011. This change represents the biggest increase since May 2006 and the 10th consecutive monthly increase in home prices nationally. On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by 0.4 percent in December 2012 compared to November 2012. The HPI analysis shows that all but four states are experiencing year-over-year price gains.

Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased on a year-over-year basis by 7.5 percent in December 2012 compared to December 2011. On a month-over-month basis, excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 0.9 percent in December 2012 compared to November 2012. Distressed sales include short sales and real estate owned (REO) transactions.

The CoreLogic Pending HPI indicates that January 2013 home prices, including distressed sales, are expected to rise by 7.9 percent on a year-over-year basis from January 2012 and fall by 1 percent on a month-over-month basis from December 2012, reflecting a seasonal winter slowdown. Excluding distressed sales, January 2013 house prices are poised to rise 8.6 percent year over year from January 2012 and by 0.7 percent month over month from December 2012. The CoreLogic Pending HPI is a proprietary and exclusive metric that provides the most current indication of trends in home prices. It is based on Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data that measure price changes for the most recent month.

“December marked 10 consecutive months of year-over-year home price improvements, and the strongest growth since the height of the last housing boom more than six years ago,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. “We expect price growth to continue in January as our Pending HPI shows strong year-over-year appreciation.”

“We are heading into 2013 with home prices on the rebound,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “The upward trend in home prices in 2012 was broad based with 46 of 50 states registering gains for the year. All signals point to a continued improvement in the fundamentals underpinning the U.S. housing market recovery.”.

Highlights as of December 2012:

• Including distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Arizona (+20.2 percent), Nevada (+15.3 percent), Idaho (+14.6 percent), California (+12.6 percent) and Hawaii (+12.5 percent).

• Including distressed sales, this month only four states posted home price depreciation: Delaware (-3.4 percent), Illinois (-2.7 percent), New Jersey (-0.9 percent) and Pennsylvania (-0.5 percent).

• Excluding distressed sales, the five states with the highest home price appreciation were: Arizona (+16.4 percent), Nevada (+14.7 percent), California (+12.8 percent), Hawaii (+11.7 percent) and North Dakota (+10.8 percent).

• Excluding distressed sales, this month only three states posted home price depreciation: Delaware (-1.9 percent), Alabama (-1.0 percent) and New Jersey (-0.5 percent).

• Including distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the national HPI (from April 2006 to December 2012) was -26.9 percent. Excluding distressed transactions, the peak-to-current change in the HPI for the same period was -20.8 percent.

• The five states with the largest peak-to-current declines, including distressed transactions, were Nevada (-52.4 percent), Florida (-43.5 percent), Arizona (-39.8 percent), Michigan (-36.5 percent) and California (-35.4 percent).

• Of the top 100 Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) measured by population, only 16 are showing year-over-year declines in November, two fewer than in November.

For more information, visit www.corelogic.com

Social Media Roots

social media roots

source: VerticalMeasures.com

The Psychology of Music [infographic]

the-psychology-of-music

Green Clean Your Home: Natural alternatives clean your home

green-clean-your-home

Top 10 Most Expensive Homes In The World

Living big comes at, of course, a price tag that’s just as big. For most of us, owning a huge mansion or your own estate is, unfortunately, only possible in dreams but for the owners or former owners of the following 10 houses, which also happen to be some of the most expensive ones there are in the world of real estate, what is seen as wishful-thinking for us is in fact reality for them.

10. Rybolovlev Estate

Picture 110 Top 10 Most Expensive Homes In The World

Price: $95 Million

Once owned by Donald Trump and ex-wife Elena Rybolovlev, this single family home, with its 18 bedrooms and 22 bathrooms, is one of the most expensive ones in the country. After the divorce, it was originally put up for sale for a whopping $125 million but it got haggled down to a mere – “mere” for the much-more-than-average earning of us all of course – $95 million.

9. Silicon Valley Mansion

Picture 112 Top 10 Most Expensive Homes In The World

Price: $100 Million

The next on the list may be currently valued at $100 million but the Silicon Valley Mansion, also known as Palo Alto Loire Chateau, was once estimated to be worth a little more than half of its current value: $50.27 million to be exact. For reasons unknown to many, the estate’s current owner, tech billionaire, Yuri Milner, actually forked out about a 100% more than what the estate, with it’s 25, 545 square foot of living space, is actually worth.

8. Fleur De Lys

Picture 113 Top 10 Most Expensive Homes In The World

Price: $125 Million

The Fleur de Lys has been on the market since 2007 and its price tag of $125 million has not dropped a single cent since then – we have to give it up to owner Suzanne Saperstein for her patience and tough negotiating skills. But for anyone keen, this European-style is sized at a ginormous 35,000 square foot of living space that includes 12 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms and a 50-seat theater (not a home theater but an actual one!).

7. The Manor

 Top 10 Most Expensive Homes In The World

Price: $150 Million

Situated in one of Los Angeles’ posh neighborhoods, Holmby Hills, the 15,700 square foot Manor was called home by entertainment royalty Candy Spelling and her late husband, Aaron Spelling. Now up for sale at the above mentioned price of $150 million, the luxurious estate houses more than a hundred rooms.

6. The Pinnacle

Picture 114 Top 10 Most Expensive Homes In The World

Price: $155 Million

Owned by Edra and Tim Blixseth – the same Blixseths who own the very exclusive Yellowstone Club – the Pinnacle is both a home as well as a ski lodge featuring 10 bedrooms and – get this – heated floors; even those in the driveway.

5. Franchuk Villa

Picture 115 Top 10 Most Expensive Homes In The World

Price: $161 Million

This London mansion was once a girls’ preparatory school before it was transformed into a home for Ukrainian businesswoman and philanthropist Elena Franchuk. Boasting 21,000 square feet of living space, 20 foot ceilings, an above average number of bedrooms – 10 to be exact – and other amenities like an indoor swimming pool and a private movie theater, the villa definitely meets the prerequisite of a multi-million dollar mansion.

4. The Hearst Mansion

Picture 28 Top 10 Most Expensive Homes In The World

Price: $165 Million

A gift from his “mistress”, actress Marion Davies, newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst’s former mansion was created by architect Gordon Kaufmann who also happened to have played a role in designing the Hoover Dam. The estate has – just to name a few – 29 bedrooms, 40 bathrooms, a nightclub, a cinema, 2 tennis courts and a 75 foot long pool.

3. Fairfield Pond

Picture 29 Top 10 Most Expensive Homes In The World

Price: $198 Million

Next on the list is billionaire Ira Rennert’s Hamptons home with its breathtaking view of the Atlantic. Built by Rennert himself, the 63 acre estate boasts over 100,000 square feet of buildings, 29 bedrooms, 29 bathrooms, squash courts, tennis courts and a basketball court

2. Villa Leopolda

Picture 210 Top 10 Most Expensive Homes In The World

Price: $736 Million

Built by King Leopold II of Belgium in 1902, the estate is currently home to Russian billionaire Prokhorov who despite having lost billions – no thanks to the latest economic crisis – still had enough to buy himself this estate which, among many other things, features 27 stories, 19 bedrooms and 50 gardens.

1. Antilla

Picture 211 Top 10 Most Expensive Homes In The World

Price: $1,000,000,000

Top of the charts is this 27-storey Mumbai house that is worth so much, it’s within the billions range and features practically anything imaginable like 6 floors of parking, a 4-storey garden, a fully equipped health level and even a ballroom level.

Read more: http://www.gizmocrazed.com/2013/01/top-10-most-expensive-homes-in-the-world/#ixzz2JmrlS1SE

Read more: http://www.gizmocrazed.com/2013/01/top-10-most-expensive-homes-in-the-world/#ixzz2JmrRoUBn

Facebook on mobile

Seattle Rental Market Statistics: 2002 vs. Today

  rentals-seattle-wa

Looking at rental statistics for Seattle, take a look at current pricing in Phinney Ridge, Lake City and Newcastle compared to a decade ago.

Average Pricing in Phinney Ridge in 2002 Average Pricing in Phinney Ridge in 2012
Studio: $600 Studio: $806
1 bedroom: $876 1 bedroom: $959
2 bedrooms: $1,098 2 bedrooms: $1,362
3 or more bedrooms: $2,300 3 or more bedrooms: $2,120

 

Average Pricing in Lake City in 2002 Average Pricing in Lake City in 2012
Studio: $533 Studio: $600
1 bedroom: $685 1 bedroom: $809
2 bedrooms: $1,003 2 bedrooms: $1,220
3 or more bedrooms: $1,429 3 or more bedrooms: $1,600

 

Average Pricing in Newcastle in 2002 Average Pricing in Newcastle in 2012
Studio: n/a Studio: $675
1 bedroom: $671 1 bedroom: $885
2 bedrooms: $839 2 bedrooms: $1,013
3 or more bedrooms: $1,282 3 or more bedrooms: $2,048