The common thread is that three of these items fit the graph in box number one.  These items are a good example of "aspirational" marketing.  What is aspirational marketing?  A simple answer is that aspirational marketers expose their produts, i.e., Maybach car, Patek Phillipe pocket watch, and Bayside by Bosa to a large audience.  This large audience consists of people who think someday they may be able to afford these "luxury and limited" items.  A small group of this audience (generally around 30%) become the "consumption" audience and are the actual target market because they can afford to purchase right now and they want products that appear limited and invoke "invidious" (I had to look this word up...it means consumption designed to cause envy) in their purchase.  Think of people you know who want to have the best and will pay the price for the best.  Price is never the issue with these people.  It is the feeling that being able to purchase an "aspirational" product that everyone else cannot afford.  It is simple human nature.

Notice how Bayside by Bosa does their marketing.  Bosa focuses on the consumer who can afford their condos.  They focus on making the others wish and hope to purchase down the road.  This is exactly how the Maybach makes its owners feel when they purchase a vehicle.  Only 66 Maybachs were sold in the United States during 2009.  At over $400,000 per vehicle, the aspirational audience is small, but the actual consumption market is even smaller.  Even a small consumption market is a market.

Patek Philippe sends you a newsletter but only after you purchase their watch and register the serial number.  This takes exclusivity to the max.  Bayside by Bosa offers special open houses to real estate agents who think they have clients that can afford the Bayside by Bosa prices.  Aspirational marketing is targeted to the part inside that is "snobby."  Another San Diego example is Mission Hills.  Owners live in Mission Hills because they can and cannot afford to live there.

Downtown San Diego has been marketed to aspirational condo buyers no matter what the price range.  Lower end purchasers are shown how they can make an inroad and become an "urban dweller."  The Metropolitan buyer is shown how they can live in understated elegance at the top of the Omni Hotel and even have their "own" entrance to Petco Park.  Bayside by Bosa is marketed to the cosmoplitan buyer who wants lifestyle over anything else.  It's all relative.

This is a series of articles by Sharyn and Victoria Crown, Downtown San Diego real estate agents.

This is a series of articles by Sharyn and Victoria Crown, Downtown San Diego realtors.

If you would like the entire Downtown San Diego 92101 Sales for January, click the link above.

Try walking your dog in this Washington D.C. weather. Live in San Diego!This is why San Diego is such a desireable place to live.  It seems even though our market has declined, people still want to live here and as more people arrive, our prices will be stabilized and may even start to increase.  Purchasing a downtown San Diego condo may be one of the best moves you could make.

Would you purchase a second home in Washington D.C.?  I don't think so unless you are a polar bear.

This is a series of articles by Sharyn and Victoria Crown, downtown San Diego real estate agents.

This is a series of articles by Sharyn and Victoria Crown, Downtown San Diego real estate agents.

Nexus is located at 875 G St. in the East Village area of Downtown San DiegoThis is a series of articles by Sharyn and Victoria Crown, Downtown San Diego realtors. 

Trendgraphix takes the statistics from Sandicor, our multiple listing service, and compiles them into graphs that give a picture of the marketplace.  What is interesting about this particular graph is the discrepancy between the average listing price versus the average sale price.  Notice there tends to be a $250,000 - $300,000 difference between the listing price and the average sale price.  It appears  that downtown San Diego condo buyers are in the lower-priced quadrant.  This can be attributed to affordability.  The lower end of the downtown San Diego condo marketplace is where a buyer can obtain a VA or FHA loan, which equates to low or no-down loan programs.  When rents and mortgage payments get close, most people want to purchase their own place. 

2010 will be an interesting year to follow.  We may start to see if the mid-range priced condos in downtown San Diego will recover.  Recovery generally starts from the bottom up,  so what will be the difference between listing and sale prices in six months? 

This is a series of articles by Sharyn and Victoria Crown, downtown San Diego realtors.

The Willis Allen motto:  "Willis Allen. Real Estate. Real Integrity since 1914." is something we believe in and as you can see from our Coronado office photo, we are working with some great folks.  Life is change.  We are changing.

 This is a series of articles by Sharyn and Victoria Crown, downtown San Diego realtors.

This is a series of articles by Sharyn and Victoria Crown, Downtown San Diego realtors.

If you would rather download a pdf Good Faith Estimate just click here and download your copy of the GFE.

This is a series of articles by Sharyn and Victoria Crown, Downtown San Diego real estate agents.