Robert Lockard

I have some very fun news to share. A new TNT movie starring Oscar® winner Cuba Gooding Jr. is currently filming in the Detroit area, and part of the filming is being done at a waterfront luxury home on Windmill Point Drive in Grosse Pointe Park. This property is being represented by Higbie Maxon Agney, Inc. Realtors, a member of Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate and the Board of Regents.

Check out this wonderful story in the Grosse Pointe News that I received earlier this week. Sorry I don't have a link to the story online. Apparently, that newspaper doesn't post some of their stories on their Web site, but luckily I have a PDF version of the printed article.

The movie is called "Gifted Hands: The Story of Ben Carson" and it follows the life of Ben Carson, born into poor conditions, who was able to lift himself up and become a famed pediatric neurosurgeon. It's scheduled to debut on TNT on Feb. 7, 2009. I love inspirational stories about good people triumphing over difficult circumstances. Actually, this discussion reminds of a blog entry that Jim Walberg, the co-Owner/Broker of The Bay Area Team, just wrote about not giving in to fear despite our difficult financial market.

The luxury property on Windmill Pointe Drive is quite remarkable. It includes near two acres of land, its own private dock and 12,000 square feet of living space for $7.3 million. If you'd like more information, you can contact Heather Adragna Ulku or check out this brochure on the property.

The photo of Cuba Gooding Jr. is from www.flickr.com/photos/rafamado/2635448556 and it is the copyright of Rafael Amado Deras.

This is a plug for the the upcoming 13th Annual Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference. I thought I'd just say that at the start. I hope to talk about some more meaty things soon, since there is so much trouble going on because of foolish greed, but today I'll focus on this positive opportunity to network with fellow luxury brokers.

Rosita Sarnoff, the Executive Vice President of Stribling & Associates, Ltd., recently shared some great activities her company is planning for Luxury Real Estate members who are attending the Post-Conference Networking Trip to New York City from Oct. 14-16, 2008. This Networking Trip will begin right after the Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference in Philadelphia.

From 3-7 p.m. on Oct. 15, Rosita said that Luxury Real Estate members will enjoy tours of magnificent luxury properties and a cocktail dinner in a $38 million Penthouse and the newly renovated Plaza Hotel. "We're going to give them a terrific afternoon," Rosita said.

The afternoon will begin in a full-floor condominium overlooking Central Park that was recently offered on the market by Stribling & Associates. It includes 4,400 square feet of living space, four bedrooms, 4.5 baths, a personal gym and library. After spending some time in that luxury home, they'll head next door to the world-renowned Plaza Hotel. They'll be given a grand tour of the hotel, eventually finding their way to the Rose Club restaurant, where they'll enjoy gourmet food.

By the way, the Plaza Hotel was recently redesigned so that it now includes both hotel rooms and hotel condominiums. I wrote an article about hotel condos in the winter 2008 issue of LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine. Check it out if you'd like to know more about those interesting properties.

Only one Luxury Real Estate member from each geographic area will be able to attend this Networking Trip and reservations are sure to go fast, so be sure to sign up today! Brokers and agents will be able to speak freely and build relationships they otherwise might miss out on at both the Fall Conference and Post-Conference Networking Trip. We look forward to seeing you there.

By the way, Stribling & Associates is a member of the Board of Regents, an exclusive group of brokers that leads the Luxury Real Estate network. The photo of the Plaza Hotel is from www.flickr.com/photos/oquendo/2463578547 and it is the copyright of Oquendo.

Nick Antonicello, Director of Sales for Unique Homes, pointed out an interesting story to me last week in the Los Angeles Times Blog. You might have already heard about it, but I just want to put in my two cents about the whole affair.

Peter Viles, Senior Producer for Real Estate at LATimes.com, wrote in his blog entry that Donald Trump, possibly the best-known real-estate developer in the world, is seeking to buy Ed McMahon's mansion to save him from foreclosure.

In an even more bizarre turn of events, Mr. Trump now might be having some competition for buying Mr. McMahon's luxury home. That's according to a new blog post today by Ann Brenoff, author of the Los Angeles Times' weekly "Hot Property" feature.

As Mr. Spock would say, "Fascinating."

To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of this story. I mean, Mr. McMahon certainly seems like a good man who simply let his finances get out of control until he went from delivering oversized million-dollar checks to being unable to pay for his multimillion-dollar luxury property. His story just seems remarkable and bitterly ironic.

Since he went public with his mortgage troubles, it appears that Mr. McMahon will now be able to make it through this difficult experience fairly well. Competing offers on a house that's about to be short sold is pretty impressive, I think.

I guess, in the end, my point is: Is this justice? I mean, not everyone can be helped like this. Is Ed McMahon's celebrity status the main reason why he is receiving this attention and assistance? I'm uncertain of the answer to these questions. I hate to see anyone suffer, but is some suffering just while other suffering should be alleviated, and how do we judge that?

I believe that life is generally good, although it is difficult and filled with perils. Mr. McMahon seems to have had a very good life, gaining much more success and fame than most people will ever know. I feel bad that he is facing failure near the end of his life, but perhaps that is a lesson he needed to learn. I am sure we all must face failure and seek to succeed afterwards. Hopefully we will learn to be better people in the process.

The photo of Mr. Spock is from www.flickr.com/photos/cultureculte/2306916969 and it is the copyright of culture.culte.

"Photography is not about cameras, gadgets and gismos. Photography is about photographers. A camera didn't make a great picture any more than a typewriter wrote a great novel."

So says Ilya Moshenskiy, the Principal Photographer of Ilya's Photography in Washington state. I love that quote because, as a writer, I can definitely relate to his point about great works being written by people and not by keyboards or computers.

Ilya is an amazing photographer in a variety of fields, including luxury homes, weddings, events and cuisine. He has been the Official Photographer of the past nine Luxury Real Estate conferences and he always produces the finest photographic masterpieces. Just ask Jim Walberg, a LuxuryRealEstate.com member in the Caribbean.

Check out these amazing photos that Ilya took at this year's Seafair, Seattle's big summer festival.











To see more of Ilya's photos from Seafair 2008, click here!

I'll end with one more quote from Ilya. He uses only the finest photographic tools in his work, but he also notes, "It doesn't matter what kind of camera you are shooting with; the real issue is who is behind the camera. Great photography requires perfect lighting and composition. It will always be a human behind the viewfinder. High-end photography demands exceptional skill and not every photographer is up to the task."

Ilya is certainly up to the task. Contact him at ilya at ilyaestate.com or 425.883.2246 today!

I'm going to talk about something a little off-topic from my usual discussion of luxury real estate, but which I find compelling and interesting.

On Saturday, May 10, 2008, I ran my first half-marathon at the 2nd Annual Tacoma City Half-Marathon. That was 13.1 miles of pain and unique discovery. I had never run more than 10 miles in one stretch before and so I pushed through some barriers and found some amazing truths on the other side.

I ran the race with one of my sisters, Nicole. She was actually the one who invited me to run this race in the first place. You see, back in October 2007, my left knee began causing me a great deal of pain so I went to a Physical Therapist for two months and did some exercises to get the joint realigned. A few days after Christmas, the pain in my knee disappeared. I went to my Physical Therapist and she was as amazed as I was by this. She counseled me not to get carried away and start running again just because there was no pain at the moment.

However, a month later, my sister Nicole told me that she was running a half-marathon in May and asked me if I would like to join her. Everything seemed to be screaming at me not to do this, and I was sure that if I said yes that I would just injure myself. But something else in my mind felt perfectly at peace with the idea of doing something difficult with my sister, and I decided to trust that feeling instead of giving into my fear.

For the next three months, I trained hard to prepare for the half-marathon. I tried running on a treadmill, but that felt uncomfortable and awkward, so I mostly rode an exercise bike for nearly an hour each day. Like an ominous harbinger, the pain in my knee began to return when I tried to run, but I simply bought a knee brace and tried not to focus on the pain. I dropped about 15 pounds in the month leading up to the half-marathon, not that I was particularly heavy to begin with, but it felt good to get leaner.

The day of the race came, and I had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to travel down to Tacoma for the race's start at 7:30 a.m. I forgot to eat breakfast that morning. I met up with my sister and her family who were there to cheer us on. I noticed one of the runners was dressed like Elvis Presley, with a giant black wig, white jumpsuit and sunglasses. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of him.

The first three miles went quite well. I had run many Cross Country races in high school, and so running 3.1-mile races came naturally. However, as the race stretched longer and longer I began to worry. Both of my knees began to hurt, my legs began to burn and I began to wonder if I could finish the race. when I saw the 11-mile mark, I was ready to surrender to oblivion. My strength was fading fast and I was losing hope that the race would ever end. Luckily, my sister Nicole was running next to me and she was able to encourage me to keep going. Seeing her continuing to go strong and hearing her comforting words helped me push through the walls that threatened to keep me from completing the race, and I was able to endure to the end.

Once I triumphantly crossed the finish line, I could barely walk. My knees and legs seemed to stiffen so that they became almost impossible to walk on. I hobbled around for a while with Nicole and her family and then drove home to lie down for the rest of the weekend. I could hardly move on Saturday and Sunday, but the pain gradually lessened and I was able to exercise for 40 minutes on Monday.

Whew! That's a long story. Now that I've let it out, I can see several applications to other aspects of life, and I'll try to focus on just one.

Long-distance running has appealed to me for many years, as opposed to short-distance sprinting. I like the consistent discipline and prolonged amount of time that goes into long races. You can take little mistakes or problems in stride, while in a short race one mistake can cost you precious tenths of a second that can ultimately lead to your defeat.

Likewise, our success in the real-estate industry is not based upon our short-term sprint to the finish line, but a concerted, long-term effort to grow and perform better each day. Small mistakes along the way can be taken in stride if we have the right perspective and realize that we have miles to go and needn't sweat the small things along the way.

I was able to push through my fears, limitations and pain to accomplish something I hadn't thought possible. May we all strive to do the same thing as we face personal and professional challenges.