Tips for Staffing a Luxury Estate
Staffing A Luxury Estate
Owning a high-end property, although luxurious and rewarding, has its challenges. According to David Cassford, founder of Cassford Management, a luxury estate and hospitality consultancy, effectively staffing your property is the single most important step to running an organized and successful estate.
Whether it is a pied-à-terre in New York City, a luxury estate in Greenwich, waterfront property in Miami or a sprawling ranch in Texas, it takes qualified and experienced household staff to keep these assets running smoothly.
Here are 10 things to look for when staffing a property:
1. Assess the amount of staff you will need.
This will depend on the size of the household and grounds — and the family dynamics. For instance, a working couple with two young children living in a 10,000-square-foot home on three acres may need a house manager, two housekeepers, a nanny, a chef, and a groundskeeper.
2. Source qualified help from a reputable staffing agency.
Look for an agency with a proven track record that is going to work with you and not just overwhelm you with resumes that do not match the criteria you are looking for.
3. Allow an ample amount time to search and secure the right staff.
This can take one to three months to source the right personnel.
4. Run a background check and validate that the candidate has legal working status.
Most reputable agencies will run a background check on candidates prior to an offer of employment. All agencies should be able to verify whether the candidate is legal to work.
5. Hire trained and experienced staff.
Check and test the candidate’s knowledge of their profession; do not rely on the agencies to check the facts on the candidate’s resumes. If you have specialty pieces in your home such as silver, antiques or crystal, then the candidates need to know how to clean and care for them.
6. Housing for live-in staff.
Decide how many staff you need to live in, and the space and privacy needed to accommodate them. (Bunk beds in the attic are not acceptable.)
7. Create an operating staff service budget to support the seamless running of your property.
Budget a minimum of $100,000 upward to $1 million or more to employ and retain household staff. Key factors such as the size of the property, amount of staff required servicing the property and your personal lifestyle all affect the budget.
8. Be by the book.
Have an estate and household operations manual that includes all human resource practices for your property and defined job descriptions and duties.
9. Pay staff 100% on the books.
Do not pay staff under the table – this will come back and bite you.
10. Provide health benefit coverage as an employer best practice.
Preparedness is always your best protection. In the event a staff member has a medical emergency, they are covered.
For more information, visit www.cassfordmanagement.com or email info@cassfordmanagement.com.
Villa La Leopolda - From E450 million to E30 million.
There have been lots of rumblings recently about the luxury property market on the French Riviera being immune to the down turn, but this seems not to be the case. In a region where $500,000 barely buys a tiny apartment, the downturn has hit and hit spectacularly hard. The withdrawal of Mikhail Prokorov from the purchase of Villa Leopolda for the almost-insane sum of E450 million signaled the beginning of a major crash in values. According to the Telegraph, that particular property would be unlikely to sell for much more than E30 million nowadays. Alexander V. G. Kraft, Chairman and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty said:
The prices are coming more in line with the rest of the market. Trophy properties will be more in line with ‘normal luxury properties’ – about 20 to 30 million. For trophy properties it used to be a question of how much someone was willing to pay. They would come quietly onto the market – they would be marketed under the table. This system really has totally collapsed. Buyers willing to pay anything like those sums just don’t exist.”
This is certainly in line with the gossip along the Riviera. Discounts of anything up to 90% on the trophy properties – what few are selling, and 60-70% discounts on the more realistically priced properties. One Russian seller took E1 million for a property he paid E3.5 million for just last year. Property prices on the French Riviera have been falling for some time and sales have all but dried up in the luxury segment. France always lags behind the rest of Europe, but they eventually catch up. The Cannes film festival is shadow of it’s former self, with parties cancelled and hotels offering shorter than 10 day stays – almost unheard of until this year. And the Monaco Grand Prix is in all sorts of trouble this year, with corporate bookings evaporating and harbor berths available. Well, not any more – yesterday was your last chance to berth. Normally it is all but impossible to get a trackside table at one of the cafes. I might even take a peek myself this weekend.
EDIT – Having now spoken directly with Mr. Kraft of Sotheby’s International Realty – It would appear that the Telegraph fabricated this quote and Mr. Kraft said no such thing about La Leopolda. I have written to the Telegraph asking where this quote came from and will make a new post once I have found out. What Mr Kraft actually said is this:
There is still interest and offers are being made. Exceptional properties like Leopolda, which is one of the world’s most beautiful homes, will always sell for a premium. But those who bought at the top of the market aren’t prepared to take a 50 per cent hit.
Sotheby’s actually had an offer of E150 million which was rejected. I am a little unsure why on earth the Telegraph would fabricate a quote. We shall see.
The saga of the sale of Villa Leopolda continues. Back in August the Villa Leopolda was reportedly sold for 500 million Euros. We later discovered that the sale price was in fact 365 million Euros and at that time the buyer’s name remained a secret, although we were hearing rumors that it was Mikhail Prokorov.
I thought that unlikely as Mr. Prokorov had previously sworn never to set foot in France again after his arrest for procuring prostitutes back in 2007. It later turned out he was paying the prostitues in Louis Vuitton bags and luxury goods, so the charges were dropped as no cash changed hands.
In February, we discovered that the buyer was indeed Prokorov, but he had been forced to back out of the sale and was requesting a refund of his 39 million Euro deposit. Which also put the sale price at 390 million. Under French law, a 10% deposit is required. This is no refundable under normal circumstances and this was upheld in a recent court ruling.
But, these are not normal circumstances – 39 million Euros being quite a lot of money – even to some one of Mr. Prokorov’s means – and it seems Mr. Prokorov’s lawyers have come up with a loophole that might be appropriate. The latest bit of gossip is that the matter is back in court, the issue relating to the right of prior acquisition by the French national land agency SAFER, who were apparently notified of a lower price on the property than was stated in the sale contract. For those of you unfamiliar with French laws, the state has the right to intervene in a sale of any property and purchase it for themselves at whatever the agreed price is. This is a ruse usually reserved for French Mayors to prevent sales that might go through that they might consider “not to be in the interests of the community,” in other words – the Mayor’s friends might want the property instead.
Anyway, SAFER normally only intervene in a sale purchase to grant right of first purchase to a farmer and have stated they have no interest in the property. But, they have also stated that the valuation they received was substantially different to that in the contract, which is not unusual when trying to avoid paying full taxes.
Lily Safra, the current owner, says there is no case to answer, and that the Russian billionaire is using an ‘absurd pretext’ in order to be released from the contract.
At the time the property was sold, it seems Ms. Safra was rather reluctant to sell it, and only agreed to do so after protracted negotiations with Prokhorov. Whilst a sale price of around 390 million would certainly seem a good reason to sell, it is also being reported that she was proposing to give all the proceeds to a medical charity. In the meantime, she and her domestic staff have quit the property, all the furniture has been removed and it now stands empty awaiting the outcome of the court case.
The ongoing saga of the sale of the most expensive villa in the world continues. Back in August 2008, we were shocked to be able to announce the agreed sale of Villa Leopolda, Villefranche-sur-mer, on the French Cote D’Azur at the guesstimated price of 500 million Euros. Shortly afterwards, we were able to confirm the sale price as being 365 million Euros ($545 million) which was a staggering price to pay for a single property. The rumor at that time was that Mikhail Prokorov was the mystery Russian billionaire.
Enter financial crisis stage left. Mikhail Prokorov was indeed the buyer, but thanks to a few financial issues back home (Russia has been very hard hit by the crisis) Mr. Prokorov has withdrawn from the sale and is asking for his deposit back.
Under French laws, Mr Prokorov would have been required to place a deposit of 10% – in this case, the rumor is that he paid 39 million Euros, which puts the sale price at 390 million. Some are suggesting that this is just a ploy to reduce the sale price and a new offer of 200 million is on the table. But Mr Prokorov is estimated to have lost 7 billion Euros through a combination of the falling value of the rouble and stock market drops. Either way, he is unlikely to get the money back.
In the meantime, Villa Leopolda is back on the market, the local real estate agents are brushing up on their Arabic language and looking for a Saudi Prince who might be interested instead. An un-named Saudi prince recently purchased Carla Bruni’s castle in Italy. The concensus is that the Russians are out of the luxury property market in France for the foreseeable future.
Moscow Millionaires Fair Opening
This year’s millionaires fair in Moscow was what could best be described as “a disaster.” Even an offer to “Buy one get one free,” on luxury yachts failed to attract any buyers.As recently as this summer, it seemed every Russian millionaire worth his salt needed a minimum of three yachts (one for each girlfriend presumably,) but that need went out the window along with billions of dollars of paper wealth as the financial crisis took hold of Moscow.
“Now it’s all over,” said Irina Ivanova, manager of Premier Yachts, standing beside the 18-meter Princess yacht, which was guarded by men in ninja outfits. A customer of hers in the Russian town of Samara, she said, had recently sold a boat worth €1.5 million ($1.94 million) for less than one third that price. “He had to cover a debt in a hurry.”
Demand has become so bad, she added, that her company is selling the boats two-for-one. “You buy an 18-meter and you get a 10-meter yacht free… Nobody has taken us up on it yet, but at least it keeps people calling.”
Russian Oligarchs are being bailed out with government funds left and right. Metals magnate, Oleg Deripaski has been granted a $4.5 billion government loan to enable him to pay off a group of western banks and prevent them from seizing a 25% stake in his company Norilsk Nickel, and Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group was loaned $2 billion to repay a debt to Deutsche Bank and prevent the loss of its 44 percent stake in VimpelCom, one of Russia’s largest cellphone companies. Deripaska is estimated to have lost $16 billion on paper, which admittedly pales in comparison to Roman Abramovich’s $20 billion losses, but still……
It is reasonable to think that once the dust has settled, many of these flamboyantly wealthy Russians will no longer be in a position to throw money around in the style to which they have become accustomed. All government loans are due end-2009, and the government now holds large stakes in both companies as collateral.
The failure of the Millionaires fair is just the beginning, and the face of Russian capitalism will change for sure. Exactly what the new face will be is uncertain and it may be some time before we witness the sort of record sale price reached for “La Leopolda,” a villa in France which sold to an un-named Russian for €365 million during the summer.
Dwindling demand, rising interest rates and high inflation means many well-known Indian luxury property developers are shifting their focus down-market in major Indian property markets. “Affordable housing,” is becoming the new “luxury.”
Key real estate players like DLF, Ansal API, Omaxe, Unitech, Puravankara, Matheran Realty, Indu Projects, Shriram Properties, Jain Heights & Structures, Shapoorji Pallonji and Hiranandani Constructions are shifting their focus from luxury segment to mid-segment and affordable housing.The Financial Express
A luxury real estate auction in Florida attracted a decent crowd, with a $2 million+ home sale. Luxury property auctions are perhaps the most realistic way of kick-starting the sluggish market. The entertaining thing though, is that the organisers, Concierge auctions’ press release states: “The program benefits both buyers and sellers, as they can participate with confidence knowing the properties will sell on Auction Day regardless of the high bid.” Yet a few sentences later, “Concierge Auctions has made the determination that it is in the best interest of the seller and registered buyers of 850 Mangrove Point Road to re-offer the property in the next Sarasota auction in December.” This must be some strange new meaning of the words “Will sell regardless,” that I was previously unaware of. 
Luxury real estate auction in Florida.
Investors spent hours in their cars battling for parking spaces at the Dubai Cityscape exhibition. When one considers the fact that many planned projects have recently been cancelled; a rash of arrests and scandals in the real estate sector were made following allegations that Damac were involved in selling property they did not own (amongst other allegations); recent changes in the laws regarding visas for foreign buyers meaning a residence visa is by no means a given; and the fact that several banks have admitted being heavily involved in the sub-prime mess, one comes to one of two conclusions – denial is alive and well in the UAE – Or they are paying cash.
Despite concerns triggered by the international credit crisis, traffic backed up for kilometres yesterday as drivers battled for hours to reach the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, home to Cityscape, the international property investment and development show. The National
This apparent surge of confidence is at sharp odds with other news coming from the region. The Saudi stock market fell a massive ten percent in value yesterday – the biggest single day drop in years, and the Dubai Financial market fell 14% this week alone.
Closer to home, Bloomberg is reporting an an upswing in the amount of million-dollar timeshares, and suggesting that America’s wealthy are redeeming their reward points in an effort to save money, which they feel indicates a cutback in the luxury real estate market.
Seventy-one percent of America’s wealthiest households — representing the top 10 percent of incomes — say the real estate and banking crises have hurt their sense of financial security, and 48 percent are now worried about running out of money, up 13 percentage points from April, American Express Co.’s publishing unit and Harrison Group said in a survey released Oct. 2 Bloomberg
In Vancouver, analysts at Re/Max are suggesting that the luxury property market in Victoria is showing signs of slowing down. there is some good news at the very top end of the luxury markets though. Following the recent record sales of property in France, an un-named Russian buyer has just purchased a seven-storey, 1,300 square meter apartment within walking distance of the Kremlin in Moscow for the almost-unbelievable sum of $99 million. And the most expensive apartment on Australia was sold in Sydney. Another secret buyer reputedly paid $20 million for a two-storey, 350 square meter penthouse in Potts Point – off plan.
