FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

What defines an estate or luxury home?

Who are the buyers for Discovery Bay Homes?

How long will the current "hot" Discovery Bay home sale market last?

What is the definition of an estate home?

Is it a mansion... or a villa... or a castle?  Of course, these are the obvious examples of estate homes.  The definition of what constitutes a luxury or estate home tends to differ by location.

In the past estate homes were considered by industry professionals to be "Upper Bracket."  Those two words on a real estate advertisement signaled one thing for sure:  If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.  Across most of the United States, even in a soft economy, there are still a lot of people who don't have to ask.

Luxury is no longer a matter of price, but of choice.  Luxury doesn't mean size any more, either, but luxury appointments. You don't have to have a 5,000+ square-foot house to say you live in an estate or luxury home. A 2,000-square-foot home that's very well appointed will equally qualify as an estate or luxury home.

"A luxury or estate home offers unique and distinctive features not found in other competing neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area," says Ed Monaghan, a 24 year Bay Area veteran and top-producing  RealtorŪ and Mortgage Broker with RE Realty Experts. Ed specializes in the sale of new and resale homes in the waterfront community of Discovery Bay, CA. 

"Discovery Bay has been the San Francisco Bay Areas' Most Jealously Guarded Secret for years... unitl recently," says Monaghan.  "Luxury and estate homes, on the water, and on the the golf course, are becoming a vanishing commodity but in Discovery Bay can be purchased for a fraction of what people are paying for similiar homes in other luxury waterfront and golf course communities in the bay area.  Luxury and Estate homes in Discovery Bay are surprisingly still affordable... but this trend is changing rapidly." Monaghan said. 

Discovery Bay offers riverfront luxury homes on deep water with access to thousands of miles of California Delta waterways, exclusive gated communities, elegant lakefront homes and country club estate homes on a private 18-hole golf course.  Discovery Bay has grown to a town of nearly 10,000 people since the mid-1970's.

And who are the buyers for luxury homes in Discovery Bay?

"Bay Area homebuyers are now beginning to discover, Discovery Bay.  Who are the buyers?  Could be you or I or celebrities and sport stars.  All homes in Discovery Bay meet the definition of  Luxury - Estate homes.  Every home is unique and distinctive.  I consider every home in Discovery Bay to be a luxury - estate home and believe every home should be marketed as one. Even celebrities, ball players and politicians have purchased homes here as their personal residence or as a second home.  The word is out!," said Monaghan. 

"But being located approximately an hour drive from the greater San Francisco Bay Area poses a unique marketing challenge for local area RealtorsŪ."

How do you market homes in Discovery Bay to potential purchasers who not only want and are ready to buy, but also can afford to buy these homes?

"Local advertising is important but local advertising really limits your market to local move-up home buyers in the Discovery Bay and immediate surrounding area. You have to look outside the box ... market to a broader audience, which is quite expensive and not cost effective for most real estate agents.  You have to get the information in front of homebuyers with more disposable income, not only in your print ads but by means of an established presence on the World Wide Web.  Print ads are a great vehicle to drive prospects to your website." said Monaghan. 

"With large offices in Fremont (marketing to the Oakland to Silicon Valley corridor),  Pleasanton (marketing to the I-680 corridor), our association with Realty Alliance which exposes our listings to 35,000+ agents throughout the San Francisco Peninsula and Northern California, and an enormous world-wide-web-based presence, I am able to provide incredibly broad exposure for my listings," said Monaghan.

Monaghan is a huge advocate of web-based marketing.  He markets his listings on his own three real estate websites www.estatesofdiscoverybay.com, www.edmonaghan.com and www.werepacking.com in addition to his company's website www.realtyexperts.com.  All of his sites are linked to his morgage website www.directsourcefunding.com/edmonaghan and all contain links to all major internet search engines including real estate related search engines as well as all Bay Area news stations, newspapers and all Northern California sports teams.

"Although most of my business is from referrals and repeat customers, I get the majority of my buyer leads from the internet.  Nearly all buyers look at homes on the internet before calling a Realtor and it is my job to not only provide them with the information they are looking for but to give them enough FREE information to get them to stick. By that I mean, get them to stay on my site long enough to leave me their contact information.  Once a buyer finds their way to my site, I have three seconds to get their attention.  If you don't have enough good information on your site to get them to stick they'll be gone in 3 clicks.  Just long enough to get the listing info and leave," says Monaghan.

Market Trend:  How long will it last?

No matter how you define the market, it is growing. Aging baby boomers, in particular, are driving sales of everything from chic downtown condos to custom suburban homes as the bulk of the generation enters its peak earning years at the same time it cashes in on massive home equity and sizable inheritances.

Today every boomer either is or shortly will reach the empty-nesting life stage. This life stage marks a dramatic shift in consumer spending, away from needs-driven purchases for home and family and more spending devoted to personal luxuries. That drive includes not just the houses themselves, but the cars, jewelry and clothes that go in them as well as the gardens, pools and patios outside.

"It's a unique phenomenon and how long it will last is the question," said Monaghan. "But there is a tremendous reshifting of where people are investing. They're asking, Should I invest in the market or something more concrete?"

"I've seen all of the ups, downs and changes in the Bay Area real estate market since purchasing my first home in 1975, and I can say with confidence that today, Discovery Bay is the place to be!  The people... the lifestyle... the investment potential... it simply doesn't get any better than this," continued Monaghan.

And, over time, houses and the land they sit on have proven to be good investments. That's especially true for property in the best locations, which often defines a luxury setting such as Discovery Bay.

"It's not people saying they're going to turn this over in two years and make $200,000. It's people saying 'Where I place value on my security is in my house.' It's psychological. It's a quality-of-life issue and it's not going to dwindle soon," Monaghan said.

... by the way... which way to the Yacht Club?