onthebuyside.com

Most Expensive Beachfront Homes - Forbes.com

A $40 million, 22,000-square-foot mansion on a secluded island in the Pacific Northwest or Shaquille O’Neal’s house on Miami’s Star Island?Decisions, decisions.

“Every location has a very distinct personality,” says Steve DiFrancesco, a broker at Hunter, Reed & Co, a Philadelphia-based luxury real estate company with listings in Nantucket. “You can drive to the Hamptons [from Manhattan], Martha’s Vineyard is more wooded and Nantucket is low-key. High net worth people seek out what matches their personality.”

Then again, if you are a really successful trader you shouldn’t have to choose.

As we in the Northeast enjoy the first warm day since… since… never mind. We know the drawbacks of living here. High taxes, small living spaces, cold weather and cold people. Which is why it isn’t much of a surprise that many of us end up moving out West. Even the largest and most luxurious properties look undervalued by comparison.

Still, we’re not going to just pack up and move anywhere. There’s got to be something worth going to. Golf, for example. The TPC Scottsdale was designed as the stage for the FBR Open — the largest spectator event on the PGA TOUR. Or the weather. On average, the temperature reaches freezing only five days per year. Sure, the summers can be hot - but doesn’t it make more sense to spend 8 months in Scottsdale and escape the summer than to try to escape the New York winter for a couple of weeks?
Whether to move out permanently, or even become a snow bird, discriminating buyers eventually discover Scottsdale Fine Properties:

Scottsdale Fine Properties is a diamond when it comes to real estate services. Owner and Designated Broker, Lesley Martinson and her team understand the fine art of managing transactions at the high end of the market. Their exclusive focus on the luxury home, investment, vacation and condominium segment, and delivering an extraordinary level of service, have earned them both success and a sparkling reputation nationwide.

Consider some of their feature properties: for the price of a 2-bedroom condo in Manhattan you can have 10,000 sq ft plus of luxurious living. The New York City apartment you could buy for $4 million would fit in this house’s closet.

So go ahead and look. We dare you. Sure, you’re just browsing. But the bug will get in your ear and… that’s figuratively speaking, of course. There are no bugs to speak of in Scottsdale.

Shelter Island Stunner - Forbes.com

For the first time in its history, the Shorewood Manor, a 23-room Queen Anne Victorian on Shelter Island, N.Y., is publicly listed for sale. Interested? Be prepared to pony up $33 million.

Actually, since it has been around since the 1800’s you can’t even get this deal once a century.

Digit Online

Considering the relatively high-cost of Blu-ray Disc recorders, anything that reduces the price is welcome but Sharp’s latest recorder does away with something that’s previously been essential: the TV tuner. Instead, the BD-HP1 can use the tuner in Sharp Aquos LCD TV sets. It hooks up via iLink (IEEE1394) and can power just their tuner, so the entire set doesn’t have to be switched on to make recording possible. But it does mean you can’t record one channel while watching another. It costs about ¥150,000 (US$1,260) in Japan. A similar model is due to go on sale overseas later this year. Sharp hasn’t yet determined the exact timing, markets or pricing.

We still ask: Will Blu-Ray be the next Betamax?

Priciest Penthouses 2007 - Forbes.com

You may have a million-dollar yacht, beachfront vacation home and plush private jet. But you haven’t truly reached the top until you reside in a penthouse.That’s because whether the views are of Central Park or the Golden Gate Bridge, competition among top dogs for these plum properties is fierce.

Ain’t it the truth?

The Well Stocked Bachelor Pad - Forbes.com

“The couch is easily the most important thing,” says Andrew Torrey, of B.A. Torrey & Co., who designs apartments for stock brokers, musicians and professional athletes in New York City. “The couch is where bachelors live, and they need to be able to control everything in the apartment from there.”

Perhaps. But perhaps the bachelors living on the couch should try to get out more. They might then avail themselves of other furniture and perhaps end their bachelor days as a result.

You know you want one.

Castles For Sale - Forbes.com

Though the number of castles sold worldwide is minuscule compared to the overall real estate market, it has increased in recent years, thanks to the rising wealth of buyers, increased visibility–there are several castle-specific Web sites out there–and general enthusiasm for real estate.There is a surprising range of castle options to choose from these days. They can be age-old or spanking-new, in New Jersey or South Africa, and have turret-high or relatively affordable prices.

In fact, depending on the exact location, the size and the level of restoration, smaller castles can be purchased for as little as $1 million–easily the cost of a two-bedroom condo in Manhattan.

Private lake, seclusion yet near amenities, no state income tax - who could ask for more? And who would dare ask more than the current $100 million price tag?

What Price Tranquility? $100 Million - Forbes.com

In total, the estate has nine bedrooms (five in the main house), 14 full baths, five half baths, a 19-seat movie theater and garage space for 16 cars. Much of the property has been left natural, with walking paths curving through the acres. The grounds also include two par-3 golf holes, one with a 3,500-square-foot green. There is a state of the art golf simulator, an art studio with ceramic firing room, guest house, stable and gym with NBA backboards and scoreboards.The house comes complete with antique and reproduction furniture, works of art and soft furnishings–including, believe it or not, basketball uniforms.

“I really think we will get it,” Chase says of the $100 million asking price. “I really do.”

Who said Big Brother was creepy? There’s nothing like getting your groove on when a female voice chimes in to tell you your mother is calling.

Haute High-Tech Homes - Forbes.com

When mortgage broker Doug Burton arrives at his sleek Hollywood home, the house knows exactly what to do.

A small laser beam lets Burton know when he’s pulled his car far enough into the garage, and a light indicates whether the alarm system has been tripped since he left. As he enters the house, which appeared in the Steve Martin film Shopgirl, lights automatically switch on along his path, from the kitchen, to the hallway, to the master bedroom, and all the way to the closet, where he heads to change his clothes.

He doesn’t need stop to fiddle with the stereo system on the way; his favorite music automatically begins to play. And if the phone rings, the music automatically mutes so a female voice can say, if appropriate, “Your mother is calling from her cellphone.”

We recently disparaged island ownership, saying:

Who doesn’t want the joy of complete solitude, completely shut off from the outside world yet requiring frequent trips to it for supplies? The life of generating one’s own electricity? Of one damn coconut after another, and don’t even get me started on the spam? For those lucky enough to afford such luxuries, there is now another channel through which to acquire them.

Now we learn of another island up for auction that makes those drawbacks sound like amenities.

How you can buy a Pacific island | News.blog | CNET News.com

Howl @ The Moon has passed along a great real estate tip, a government auction for an atoll 700 miles southwest of Hawaii. But before you jump at this deal, offered by the GSA’s Office of Property Disposal, check the fine print: It apparently was the site of thermonuclear explosives testing by the U.S. military at the height of the Cold War.

If you do decide to buy the islands anyway, at least you’ll know why the pineapple in your mai tai is glowing in the dark.