Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate
East Bay Real Estate: Jim Walberg & Ann Marie Nugent Sharpen Their Tools
December 14, 2010 by Jim Walberg · Leave a Comment
Jim Walberg and Ann Marie Nugent, of The Bay Area Team at Keller Williams Realty, continue their non-stop networking with Realtors globally as they expand their relationship and knowledge in the world of luxury and international real estate markets. This Fall they attended several luxury real estate conferences including; the “Leaders in Luxury” in Austin which included 100 of the top luxury professionals in the U.S.; and Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate’s conference in Seattle – a worldwide luxury real estate group whose membership is by invitation-only, and has the highest viewed luxury real estate website in the world. They were awarded the “Global Networking Award” out of 120,000 Realtors. Walberg and Nugent also attended the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) conference in Seattle, which is a division of the United Nations and networks with two million real estate professionals around the world. This group gives the Bay Area Team the advantage of putting their property listings on FIABCI’s international MLS (PROXIO); and, the Economic Relocation Council Symposium – also held in Seattle, which works with international corporations and relocation directors in the support of outbound and incoming executives to the Bay Area. Walberg was one of the presenters at ReBarCamp in the East Bay regarding the topic of effective internet marketing for Realtors. They credit their success to non stop learning as they continue to be one of the Top Teams in Keller Williams Realty. Ann Marie and Jim’s continued participation in these groups gives them the cutting edge knowledge and experience when dealing with their luxury, international, and corporate sellers and buyers. Contact them today for an extraordinary real estate experience!
Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate
Luxury Marketing Council: Jim Walberg On The Panel For “Alpha Agent’s” Event
April 5, 2010 by Jim Walberg · 1 Comment
Who Said You Can’t Sell Luxury Real Estate Online? Success Stories and Strategies from Those Who Can AND Do!
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – (April 22, 2010) Jim Walberg, a business owner in the San Francisco Bay Area, and REALTOR®, who is well-known for his results in the world of internet marketing as it relates to the sale of luxury real estate globally, shares his effective strategies with the San Francisco chapter of The Luxury Marketing Council’s Annual “Alpha Agent” Event April 22, 2010 at One Hawthorne Luxury Condominiums – 645 Howard Street. This is the annual event attended by the top 150 Realtors representing luxury estates and residences, and equestrian properties in all of Northern California.
Each year the San Francisco chapter of The Luxury Marketing Council conducts over member educational and networking meetings and events. The Annual “Alpha Agent” Event is their most popular. The April 22nd event will focus on the use of on-line marketing strategies for the sale of luxury real estate with emphasis on Blogging, profitable use of Social Media and the structure of the Virtual Office. LMC participates in the intelligent exploration of the best marketing practices and trends in all the luxury marketplaces. Read more
Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate
FIABCI-USA: Jim Walberg Presents At The 2010 Spring Conference
April 4, 2010 by Jim Walberg · 1 Comment
Expert Internet Marketing Professional, Jim Walberg, Shares Lead-Generation Tips at FIABIC-USA Conference
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINA – (March 27, 2010) – Jim Walberg, owner of The Bay Area Team, and a 40-year business owner and REALTOR®, who is well-known for his very successful real estate companies in the Caribbean and San Francisco real estate markets, openly shared his global marketing strategies at the FIABIC-USA 2010 Spring Conference in Alexandria, Virginia.
Five years ago, Walberg said he had a vision of expanding his real estate practice from San Francisco to include the Caribbean Islands. At that time he launched the websites Bay Area and Caribbean websites that allows Buyers from all over the world to purchase real estate in two of the most desirable locations in the world. Read more
Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate
BuyWell Coffee: Is The Coffee You Are Buying Changing The World?
September 22, 2009 by Jim Walberg · 2 Comments
So, we were in Colorado last week attending several real estate conferences. The last one was the Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference in Vail as one of their conference presenters regarding our internet marketing strategies for our customers. After the conferences we visited our friends who provided us a little R&R at their home for two days. During our visit we learned that Jay and Carol helped start the only premier coffee roasting company committed to roasting 100% Fair Trade, 100% organic coffees that are naturally rich in antioxidants, handcrafted to perfection using 100% certified renewable energy. BuyWell Coffee was founded with a BIG dream – combating poverty and protecting the environment through coffee purchases. Did you know that the second highest volume commodity traded in the world, after oil, is coffee? Well, believe it! And, the vast majority of coffee growing families are living on less than $2.00 per day! Read more
Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate
Ilya Moshensky – THE Photographer For The World’s Luxury Properties!
June 9, 2009 by Jim Walberg · Leave a Comment
Ilya’s Photography sets the highest standards for quality in the industry with over 30 years of experience. He has enjoyed a lifelong passion for his work, and it is instantly evident with the results he delivers.
I first met Ilya at the Luxury Real Estate conference in Del Mar, California several months ago. I asked someone at the conference after I met him, “Who is that guy?” I was told he is the finest photographer in the world who captures the true essence of luxury real estate properties in the world! Over the past two years I have personally discovered that to be TRUE!!! We have become GREAT friends since our first meeting. He and his wife have become a gift to my wife and me. Read more
Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate
2009 Realtor MasterMind & Cultural Summit – Austin, Texas!
May 4, 2009 by Jim Walberg · 1 Comment
Keller Williams Realty just finished gathering together their top Realtors in Austin, Texas to share their best ideas. And, once a year their honor 60 Realtors for Service Above Self to their community. Jim Walberg was at both of these remarkable events.
Each quarter Keller Williams Realty invites the top Realtors from their North American offices to Austin, Texas for serveral days of sharing their best ideas for growing a real estate practice – MasterMind. And, once a year they have their Cultural Summit, which is a celebration of honoring two Realtors from each of their 30 North American regions for their extraordinary contribution to community service. Read more
Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate
2009 Luxury Real Estate Spring Conference – Las Vegas
May 1, 2009 by Jim Walberg · 5 Comments
The Four Seasons was the venue where Jim Walberg participated in the 7th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Conference as a panel member of Effective Social Networking & Blogging Tools For Realtors.
Imagine being with some of the brightest and best minds in real estate for three days! Well, that is what the Luxury Real Estate’s Spring conference was like this past week. The sharing of best practices with such a high caliber of professionals and business owners is an enviable experience for any Realtor. I was not only privileged to be a delegate at this conference, I also gathered some incredible business ideas that will continue to improve the customer experience for our clients, and grow our business in this shifting markets.
The featured presentation was the panel on how to 
use internet tools to dramatically expand your real estate business by increasing your lead generation results – the Strategies & Tactics of Top Real Estate Professionals regarding social networking, blogging, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Victor Lund from the WAV Group was the moderator. Jon Larrance from Perry & Company, Bruce Hiatt from Luxury Realty Group and me from The Bay Area Team, were the panelist. The interaction with the audience demonstrated that it was THE topic that they wanted to explore most in the 2009 world of social networking. Read more
Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate
Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate’s 7th Annual Spring Conference – The Power Of Social Networking!
April 8, 2009 by Jim Walberg · 16 Comments
Jim Walberg will be joining Michael Marquette of Marquette Turner in Australia, Jon Larrance, from Denver, Colorado, and Bruce Hiatt from Las Vegas, on a panel moderated by Victor Lund of the WAV Group to discuss “The Power of Social Networking”.
Luxury Real Estate’s 7th Annual Spring Conference is in Las Vegas this month. Every year the Luxury Real Estate group meets to discuss the latest trends in their niche market, and brainstorm cutting-edge marketing techniques. There will be approximately 200 of the top real estate professionals from around the world gathering to learn and share their latest successful tools. Given that the world of communicating is now at galactic speed with the use of FaceBook, Twitter, Blogging, and LinkedIn, it is critical for professionals to either master these tools are be left in the dust.
Myself, Michael Marquette from Sydney, Australia, Jon Larrance from Denver, and Bruce Hiatt from Las Vegas are panelists for the topic of “The Power Of Social Networking”! I am honored to be a part of this powerhouse group of professionals who are using the social networking tools in many different ways with similar extraordinary results.
Michael Marquette is recognized the world over due to his firm’s laser focused usage of social networking platforms. With its innovative news and information sourcing, the Marquette Turner internet presence has 
become “The number one visited luxury real estate website in Australia”.
Jon Larrance’s special interest lies in exploiting the practical business applications inherent in everyday internet functions. Jon is an active blogger, fan of Web 2.0, and has made it his personal mission to get all Perry & Co. Agents adept in at least one social networking platform. Although Jon is a licensed Realtor, he often gets more pleasure from teaching than from selling. Bruce Hiatt is an expert at using all the tools that the internet has to offer a real estate company and agent. In fact, Bruce directly attributes over 30% of Luxury Realty Group’s total sales to their blogsite alone.
Victor Lund from the WAV Group will be the moderator of this featured conference panel. He is known for his in-depth analyses of what technology it takes to succeed in luxury real estate. Victor’s articles on the topic are often featured in the much revered Inman News. Victor has agreed to the challenge of keeping the discussion with the panelists and audience to within the hour allotted on Tuesday, April 29, 2009, 10:30am, at the Four Seasons Hotel, Las Vegas.
The panel invites you to follow the discussion through Twitter.
Luxury Real Estate – luxurylounge
Victor Lund – victorlund
Jon Larrance – perryandco
Jim Walberg – jimwalbeg
Bruce Hiatt – luxuryrealtygrp
Michael Marquette – mmarquette
Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate seeks out firms and individuals who have a reputation for exceptional knowledge and expertise in the marketing of luxury properties throughout the world. There are currently nearly 1,900 firms worldwide in this exclusive organization with more than 5,000 offices and 120,000 agents. This assembly of brokerage firms and individuals collectively sells over $100 billion in real estate every year, with an average sale price of $2,200,000. We are very fortunate to have been invited to be a part of this amazing worldwide group of professionals. Check on Twitter during The Power Of Social Networking panel discussion to keep updated on the event. Until next time…
Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate
East Bay Real Estate – Global Internet Marketing Works!
March 16, 2009 by Jim Walberg · 1 Comment
Because of Jim Walberg’s focus on a global internet marketing strategy, we are serving Buyers from all over the world. The latest Buyer called from Greece last month.
We have a very focused internet marketing strategy for our San Francisco Bay Area and Caribbean real estate services. In addition, our participation as members of the exclusive Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate allows us to have all of the properties we represent on LuxuryRealEstate.com - the worlds most viewed website for luxury real estate throughout the world. That one website receives between three to four million hits a month!
So, here is the rest of the story regarding the latest home that we sold in Blackhawk Country Club. You may recall I was in Paris last January speaking at the Luxury Real Estate’s international conference. Just before we left for Europe we received a phone call and immediately picked it up. It was from a
man calling from Greece who had found us on the internet and he was looking for a single story home. We happened to have a single story listing in Blackhawk Country Club. ( The key to any of the inquiries from our internet listings is an immediate response. Most of the time we answer the call immediately when it comes in. )
Our new client calling from Greece let us know he wanted to purchase a home for his parents who lived in the East Bay, because he wanted them closer to his younger brother’s family who lived in San Ramon. At first we thought it was some type of a joke. But, as the subsequent conversations continued, he told us he was flying out on a Friday and wanted to complete the purchase by Sunday night. He did exactly as he said. We met him at the home, he previewed it, and he asked us to write up a purchase contract for it. Within just a few hours the transaction had been accepted by our Seller. It just closed escrow several weeks ago.
The added fun to this story is our Buyer was making this purchase without his parents knowing about it. Since it closed escrow, we arranged for new hardwood floors; travertine; bathrooms; window coverings, and interior painting. The Buyer even had ordered very item a home would need and had it shipped to the home; silverware, appliances, linens, towel, outdoor furniture, light fixtures, etc. Everything was prepared for a turn key move in by his parents.
He just flew in from Greece a few days ago in order to prepare the home for a “Welcome Home” party for his parents. He told his parents that he wanted them to join him at a friend’s home in Blackhawk to celebrate the birthday of their grandson. They still didn’t know the home was for them. They arrived, thinking that it was the home of their son’s friend and they brought presents for their grandson. After taking them on a tour of the spectacular home, and having some appetizers and wine, the son broke the news to them that the home was actually a gift to them. They were speechless, and there were lots of tears, and non-stop comments such as, “You should not have ever done such a thing for us.”
This was one of those magical moments that happen from time to time while we are serving the needs of our customers. And, it would have never happened if we didn’t have a laser focused global internet marketing program. Plus, always getting back to the people who contact as fast as possible. Contact me if you ever have questions or need assistance. Until next time…more good news to follow regarding how we are coming out of these challenging economic times…
Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate
Sully Sullenberger – The World Is Embracing Him As Their Hero!
February 9, 2009 by Jim Walberg · 1 Comment
It was amazing to see how Europe wants a hero, too. Sully Sullenberger has been adopted as the one they need right now.
We just returned from a trip to Europe attending the Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate International Conference in Paris. Sully Sullenberger was the talk of the town wherever we went.
Many of you know that Sully is a dear friend and a neighbor of ours in the San Francisco Bay Area – Danville. You also have been following the whirlwind attention that has come to him because of the “Miracle On The Hudson”. Sully was the right person, at the right time in history, with the right skills. His 35+ years as a jet pilot and as a glider training pilot was the perfect stuff for the first forced landing in water that had NO fatalities.
And, Sully is a very reluctant hero. While we were at 
the Paris Conference the town of Danville had a welcome home parade for Sully and his family. Thousands of people were there to thank him. His entire speech was two sentences long thanking his community members for the honor they were giving him. So, this Sunday you will see him on 60 Minutes. On Monday, he will be receiving the key to New York City from Mayor Bloomberg. And he will be on the David Lettermen Show in the next few days. He is so humble and understated that the hero mantle does not fit well with his style. However, we need a hero today, given all of the bad stuff that is going on in our world.
Sully is carefully allowing the hero title to be added to his name. He and the US Air crew were honored at the start of the Super Bowl. In speaking with Sully and his family, the book and movie deals presented to them are overwhelming. His job opportunities with international news corporations, and the interest in his corporate safety company are beyond overwhelming.
The day we were leaving for London was the day after the crash. I had been at the Sullenberger’s home the night of the crash and eventually spoke with the world news organizations waiting outside their home. Because of that moment I was called the next day by Fox News for three different interviews that day, with my last interview being
just an hour before we left for the airport to London.
During our two+ weeks in Europe, everyone wanted to know about Sully. They were so excited about the opportunity to have a world hero, not just for the USA. We gathered newspapers and magazines from five European countries to add to their scrapbook that is already gigantic. We are so glad that Sully’s wonderful story continues to have the attention of the nation so we can honor a reluctant hero who was just doing his job. What an inspiration for all of us emulate. Thank you, Sully, from Jim Walberg and your East Bay fan club!
