Laura Brady, president of international luxury real estate auction firm Concierge Auctions, co-founded the company eight years ago, after a career as a luxury real estate agent.
Ms. Brady, 38, foresaw the pending market decline and decided to take action. Under her leadership, Concierge Auctions has made over $1 billion in sales to date.
We caught up with Ms. Brady, who lives in Austin, Texas, to discuss how uncertainty is affecting the real estate market, why she loves the Rocky Mountains, and more.
More:Wealthy Millennials Are Changing the World, Says Sotheby’s International Realty’s Marketing Chief
Mansion Global: Describe your dream property.
Laura Brady: I have three young daughters, so a property that they would enjoy. We love going to go to the mountains as an escape, because we live in Austin, where it can get quite warm.
I’d love something that wouldn’t be too much upkeep—I love Colorado and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and it’s hard to decide between the two of them.
MG: Do you have a real estate property that got away?
LB: I don’t really. We’ve made some good purchases. If so, it must not have been meant to be, because I’m not remembering any.
At one point, though, we were remodeling a mid-century modern home in south Texas. We spent three years remodeling it and ended up moving.
More:Berkshire Hathaway’s Ellie Johnson on the Luxury Market’s ‘Period of Adjustment’
MG: What does luxury mean to you?
LB: It’s more about the lifestyle the home evokes than the fixtures and finishes. It’s something that looks good but is durable. Also, it’s about what surrounds a house and the proximity to what you want to be doing, which is why location is such an important part.
Amenities that make your lifestyle more enjoyable or easy are important, too. Whether that means surround sound or great appliances in the kitchen. It’s really not just about looking pretty. Amenities and details should be functional, enabling you to have a better ease of lifestyle.
MG: What area do you think is the next hub for luxury properties?
LB: I keep coming back to the Rocky Mountains. It already has a lot of luxury, but I see it gaining traction. It’s about large estates, privacy and acreage that’s so expansive.
More:A Paris-Based Designer on Her ‘Classic Contemporary’ Taste, Commitment to Warm Decor
MG: Where are the best luxury homes in the world and why?
LB: The prominence of a lot of the homes in Europe with rich pedigrees can’t be replicated. We’ve sold castles and chateaus that were built in centuries past that are amazing.
As far as the best in the U.S., it’s not just about the home itself, but the land. Large waterfront estates—from Hawaii to California to Florida—will always have cachet because there’s limited space.
And I always come back to the large ranch estates, too.
MG: What’s your favorite part of your home?
LB: The living room, because that’s where we do most of our living. I have children, and we like having guests over. I have a large extended family, and our living room has sliding glass doors that open to the outside. It’s a casual, easy-to-move-around home.
More:Property Developer Sharif El-Gamal Advises to ‘Get in the Game’
MG: What best describes the theme to your home and why?
LB: My husband and I are both organized and meticulous, and we like to live fairly minimalistically.
MG: What’s the most valuable thing in your home?
LB: The art and furnishings. My husband is an interior designer and has an educational background in furniture history, so we like to collect famous furniture and original art.
More:Architect Richard Meier Is Amazed By These Home Prices, Too
MG: What’s the most valuable amenity to have in a home right now?
LB: Kitchens and bathrooms are important, but there’s a lot of focus on smart technology. Not just the way they turn on and off, but the quality of surround-sound and A/V equipment.
MG: What’s your best piece of real estate advice?
LB: Consider your real estate purchase like any other investment or asset class. There hasn’t been as much focus on real estate as a financial investment as there could be.
A lot of financial advisers who advise you on finances aren’t experts on real estate, which is interesting because it’s usually the largest investment you make.
You want to purchase a home that you’re going to enjoy, but will also take care of the funds you’re investing into it. You want to be knowledgeable about a home’s resale potential.
You want to be a steward of your own finances and think about how your home is going to make money for you.
More:Click to Read More Luxury Real Estate Professionals Share Their Insights
MG: What’s going on in the news that will have the biggest impact on the luxury real estate market?
LB: Certainly any kind of uncertainty in the news has an impact on the real estate business. Social, economic and political uncertainty affect real estate. The more confident people are, the more confident they are to spend money on anything, but especially real estate.
MG: If you had a choice of living in a new development or a prime resale property, which would you choose and why?
LB: It depends on the lifestyle it offers. Most recently we picked a new development, because it’s on a golf course and there are a lot of options for my kids. But I would have been fine with an older house, too, if it had the same surroundings.