IN THE NEWS
Luxury Portfolio® New Luxury Homes Website Now Live
Posted 11/01/2005Luxury Portfolio (luxuryportfolio.com), a comprehensive new luxury home marketing program and website from Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®, is now live. The program features an annual Fine Broker Collection sourcebook, marketing collateral support, training and retreats for luxury specialists, consumer advertising, and a luxury homes tips e-newsletter for participating agents.
Spearheading Luxury Portfolio is Executive Vice President Paul Boomsma, who has 20 years of luxury real estate experience, including a long-term role as vice president of marketing for a leading Sotheby’s real estate firm in Chicago.
“When we researched the luxury home sale activity of our members,” Boomsma commented, “it became obvious that this network was home to the highest concentration of luxury brokers in the world. Collectively, they generated nearly 23,000 transactions totaling almost $43 billion in sales of homes priced at $1 million or above in 2004 —20 percent more than our closest national competitor. Luxury Portfolio is simply designed to tell that story to consumers by showcasing, on a national and global stage, the dominance of these brokers in the luxury marketplace.”
Nearly half of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World’s 650 member firms represent the high end of the market, with over 30 of its affiliates generating over 200 $1-million-plus sales annually, and several companies topping the 1,000-transaction mark in this segment. Luxury Portfolio showcases that market power through the website and supporting advertising to high-net-worth consumers, co-branding with affiliate firms, and a menu of marketing components designed to further enhance the profile of the network’s luxury brokers.
The network’s roster of members involves many movers and shakers of the luxury market, including such well-known luxury icons as Halstead Property, and Houlihan/Lawrence in the metropolitan New York market; Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell, John R. Wood, and Michael Saunders in Florida; and Alain Pinel, Long Realty, Russ Lyon Company, and Willis Allen in the West. Leading Real Estate Companies of the World’s luxury-oriented members include both boutique firms focused almost solely on the high end like Lois Schneider Realtors in Summit, NJ and Realty Seven in Wilton, CT, as well as large mega-brokers like Long & Foster, which sold 1,600 homes over $1 million in 2004.
Luxury Portfolio is also aimed at affluent consumers who have home bases in different cities or who have one or more vacation homes. The website features artfully displayed luxury homes in an interactive online “Luxury Property Gallery,” with abundant photography and virtual tours, comprehensive property information and search criteria, home design and lifestyle trends information. In addition, Luxury Portfolio has partnered with Fodor’s, publisher of world-renowned travel and recreational guides, in order to deliver comprehensive destination overviews that include fine dining and luxury hotel information.
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World’s Chairman of the Board, Michael Saunders, known as a luxury marketing legend well beyond her Sarasota, Florida marketplace, puts it this way:
“We’ve seen changes in the luxury segment of the market that have created a void. There are several players in this space, but no prevailing leader. Luxury Portfolio intends to take advantage of that opportunity to provide a singular experience for the affluent consumer that will ensure the continued dominance of our luxury market specialists. We are thrilled to have the experience and marketing talent of Paul Boomsma to manage this effort.”
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World’s growing international footprint, with members in 24 countries, also supports the global scope of today’s luxury homes market. Recent additions to the network include firms in France and Portugal which opted to leave the Sotheby’s network rather than franchise. Leading Real Estate Companies of the World’s Ireland affiliate, Dublin-based Ganly Walters, which is involved in a new European luxury network, will also play host to Leading Real Estate Companies of the World’s first international symposium in June of 2006 in Dublin, where a prominent topic will be Luxury Portfolio.