The Changing Face of Luxury Real Estate – Mandarin Royal Hotel Burns – Agents Switch to Pay per hour – Free Cars with Luxury Properties – Price Reductions Galore in San Fransisco and Realtors Combine Forces

Well, you don’t get much more changed than being burnt to the ground. The Mandarin Royal Hotel, a 44-storey luxury hotel in the center of Beijing burned completely yesterday in a massive fire during the final celebrations for the Chinese New Year. There are some suggestions that a firework may have started the blaze. Call me cynical if you will, but the economic downturn may have made this a rather superfluous addition to Beijing’s array of luxury hotels and some could say it was “fortuitous,” timing.

Part finished, rapidly dwindling demand for luxury hotels and not a single person hurt in one of the biggest single-building blazes ever. Local fire crews were only able to reach 12 stories high, so I imagine someone, somewhere is in hot water for failing to arrange decent fire protection in a city that has sprouted more high rises than enough over the last few years. That certainly is an impressive fireworks display.

Inman reports that some agencies are switching to an hourly, “pay as you go,” model of charging clients rather than the traditional commission structure. Seattle-based real estate company RT Brokerage Services Inc. has rolled out hourly fees for its real estate services. I will certainly be watching this model with interest, although estate agents are not exactly famous for watching the clock, so this may be difficult to monitor.

You know things are tight when developers start giving away substantial freebies in an effort to drive (sic) sales. But Avenue lofts in Ft Lauderdale are offering a free Mini Cooper with the purchase of a two bedroom loft. “They can take it home, drive it home, free and clear, no payments,” said Carola Hooper, sales manager at Avenue Lofts. And these are apparently “genuine lofts” as opposed to the other sort? My wife has been nagging me for a Mini Cooper for years, although I am not sure it is worth moving to Florida for. Some Dubai-based developers were offering similar deals with free BMW 3-series. Unfortunately Damac, one of the largest then reneged on the deal when the time came to deliver the cars.

I have long been of the opinion that realistic sellers is about the only thing that will get the real estate ball rolling again (and some trustworthy bankers) and it looks like some one has heeded my call -  A Gold Coast mansion – 2712 Broadway in San Francisco, was placed up for sale at $9.495 million on January 30th and  promptly reduced to $7.75 million just a few days later. By any stretch of the imagination that is a sizeable drop, so if you are interested in a piece of San Fransisco Luxury Property, drop them a line.

Price reduced on San Fransisco Luxury Property

One thing I am seeing a lot of recently is estate agencies combining forces and the latest is a strategic alliance between Century21 Parker Real Estate Sales Associates and Weidel Flemington who have combines forces and relocated to the recently renovated and expanded  office at 405 Route 202 in Flemington, New Jersey. Which make sense in one way – one office, one set of overheads, less staff etc. On the other hand, it helps to drive down demand and prices for commercial real estate……….