2021: SURVIVAL, STASIS OR RESURGENCE?
Thursday, February 11th | 10.00 AM – 11.00 AM
To help provide a much-needed roadmap for business success in 2021, LuxeSF is delighted to have back the Nostradamus of economic theory and prediction, Jose Rasco, Managing Director, Head of Investment Strategy at HSBC Private Bank.

LIQUIDATED DAMAGES
Thursday, April 1st | 10.00 AM – 11.00 AM

LuxeSF introduces this new program series which distills wisdom from difficult real estate transactions and translates that knowledge into detailed and actionable learning that helps other Realtors avoid those very same challenges.

A liquidated damages provision is a boilerplate, but rarely invoked, addition to every real estate contract, but when activated, it carries significant risk for uninitiated buyers and their agents. However, the recent tsunami of real estate contracts negotiated and signed for “sight unseen” properties during the COVID-19 pandemic has driven this issue to the surface, much to the chagrin of agents who have not previously encountered the situation, let alone the monetary and relationship penalties that erupt as part of the process. 

Prominent San Francisco and Marin-based Realtor, Tyler Stewart has walked the walk. In this in-depth and candid conversation she outlines the facts of a transaction that cut right to the center of the liquidated damages issue, reprises the surrounding discourse that accompanied the dispute and delivers the priceless learning she drew from the experience. Let hers be a lesson to others. The attorney who represented Tyler in the process, Chris Skelton, will join the conversation to provide the supporting litigator’s perspective.

WHAT DID THE WINE INDUSTRY LEARN FROM 2020?
How Did Napa & Sonoma Wineries Really Fare and How Should They Adapt in 2021?
Thursday, April 15th | 10.00 AM – 11.00 AM

Ask the management of Napa and Sonoma wineries about the impact of COVID-19 upon their business and operations and you’ll receive a multitude of opinions, from braggadocios tales of unimpeded success to tragic reports of despair and loss. While the center cut of opinion seems to be one of cautious optimism as we enter 2021, one can’t help but detect a palpable note of “whistling past the graveyard” as the industry addresses the inevitable fear and confusion that defined 2020 and bleeds into 2021.

To gain a more precise understanding of the issues confronting the industry going forward, LuxeSF has gathered a panel of eminently-qualified expert practitioners to provide Napa and Sonoma wineries, particularly smaller producers, with understanding and clarity about what happened in 2020 as a result of COVID-19, how it changed the marketing protocols and what it means for long-term survival in terms of tectonic marketing shifts.

• SHAMUS DONLON, Director, Luxury DTC Marketing & Operations, E. & G. Gallo Winery
• MICHAEL OSBORN, Founder & Executive Vice President, wine.com
• DR. LIZ THACH, Distinguished Professor of Wine and Management at Sonoma State University

MEET THE 2021 RISING STARS OF BAY AREA REAL ESTATE
Thursday, June 17th | 10.30 – 11:30 AM

A perennial LuxeSF favorite, we grill a panel of the Bay Area’s up-and-coming stars about their motivation, inspiration, aspiration and determination, and how they’re making it to the top. These are the ones to watch as they make their way to the major league of top producers.

SAN FRANCISCO REAL ESTATE: WHERE ARE WE HEADED
Thursday, June 24th | 10.00 AM – 11.00 AM

If there’s one lesson we’ve learned about San Francisco real estate — it’s a roller coaster ride. Experience has taught us that life in 7X7 land is a series of bubbles and busts. The dot.com implosion of 2002, the catastrophic Recession of 2008, the devastating COVID pandemic of 2020. Let’s face it. This is not a business for the faint of heart.

Yet here we go again. First half of 2021 reveals unheard of inventory shortages; multiple offers as the new norm; properties going into contract at 30-100% over ask; home purchases made sight unseen; and a mad scurrying for property that reflects a buyer fear of being left out.
While San Francisco has suffered to some degree as trade-up renters and condo owners sought the bucolic appeal of the Northern suburbs and East Bay enclaves, the pendulum is swinging back. Like water finding its own level, smart shoppers have awakened to the once-in-a-lifetime confluence of elements that make San Francisco the best deal in the Bay Area – low interest rates, motivated sellers, a wide array of property options — single family and high-rise condo, and COVID-inspired deals that will rarely, if ever, be seen again in our lifetime.

So, given this mélange of cautious optimism, tempered with uncertainty, as well as the unbridled opportunity arising from current market dynamics, where are we headed for the balance of the year? We have the answers.

Expert realtors who know the market like the back of their hand, who have seen it all before and who consistently rank as the alphas in their field will provide their best insight and prediction, which in turn, will provide a reliable compass heading out of the wilderness.

MAKING SENSE OF CONFUSING BAY AREA REAL ESTATE DATA
Thursday, July 15th | 10.00 AM – 11.00 AM

COVID upended all of the expected and predicted performance metrics for Bay Area real estate sales in 2020. The migratory search for more space and a safer quality of life, accompanied by continued low interest rates, has driven super-heated activity and low inventory levels that are yet to subside. How does one make sense of a market that defies history and logic?

The Bay Area is fortunate to possess one of the nation’s pre-eminent real estate research gurus. During the unprecedented COVID period, Patrick Carlisle, Chief Market Analyst, San Francisco Bay Area at Compass has been methodically sifting through the data, seeking reason amidst the ganglia of confusing numbers, statistics, trends and anecdotal opinions that crowd the marketplace.

At this important event for every Realtor seeking to make sense of buyer and seller behavior in a post-COVID world, Carlisle puts his formidable analytical powers to use in explaining the past, but, more importantly, delivering a blueprint for where the Bay Area real estate marketplace is headed.

ANNOUNCING THE 2021 LEADING 100 LIST OF BAY AREA TOP PRODUCERS
Thursday August 26th | 10.00 – 11.00 AM

The Leading 100 list is announced on Zoom with details of all the 2021 Leading 100 honorees (Individual and Teams) including their ranking, 2020 sales volume, and brokerage.

TAPPING INTO THE GLOBAL NETWORK
What Realtors Need to Know About Marketing Their Listings Beyond the Bay Area
Thursday, September 30th | 10.00 – 11.00 AM

With so many high-end properties and multi-million-dollar listings coming to market in the Bay Area in 2021-22, the demand exists for a networking capability that enables individual agents to promote their listings in an affordable, efficient, user-friendly fashion to prospective buyers within the U.S. and around the globe – Asia, the Pacific Rim and China, in particular. These are the classic properties that appeal to a specific base of low-profile, wealthy and astute buyers who are seeking Bay Area real estate for a variety of reasons – for investment, migration, retirement, relocation, or the simple desire to live in one of the world’s most iconic and paradisaical locales.

For these discerning buyers, Zillow is not an option. Of utmost importance is the ability to have access to a portfolio of property listings via a reliable network that can deliver the finest properties, experienced and trustworthy agents and the back-end resources that can manage complex bi-coastal and global transactions.

LuxeSF has convened a panel of experts on the subject of global networking – who does it, how does it work and how to tap into the leading networks that cater to this need.

2022 SHOULD I WORRY?
We Talk to RealTrends about the Opportunities, Challenges and Uncertainties that Will Confront Realtors in 2022 and Beyond
 Wednesday, October 20th | 10.00 – 11.00 AM

In a year of dramatic upheaval and polarizing trends in wealth generation, this report explores
the global billionaire population and its wealth in 2020, presenting global wealth drivers,
regional trends and a ranking of the leading billionaire countries and cities.

Even the most wide-eyed optimist will admit that the real estate industry is entering a seminal period of disruption and change as the marketplace experiences repetitive periods of “boom or bust”, technology continues to make ever-increasing inroads into traditional marketing and operational practices, and iBuying platforms continue their Panzer-like onslaught, resulting in consumer confusion and adverse industry disruption.
To address this uncertainty, LuxeSF is privileged to engage in conversation with Tracey Velt, Managing Editor of RealTrends. We’ll engage in a forensic discussion about the bright spots and vulnerabilities that will confront the industry, the brokerage, the agent and the home buyer/seller as national and regional trends, driven in part by tech innovation, change the customary role of the agent from vital supporting intermediary to a new version of hybrid adviser whose profile, persona, function and value are yet to be clearly defined.