First Team(R) Real Estate Wins Global Marketing Award for Luxury Properties

COSTA MESA, Calif., March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- An innovative listing presentation created by First Team Real Estate's luxury division, First Team Estates, received a first place marketing award in the category of "Luxury Portfolio Advertising" from Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® at its annual conference in Las Vegas on March 11, 2010, increasing the Orange County, CA-based company's international prominence among luxury real estate firms in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

"We designed the presentation packaging and layout to appeal specifically to the luxury home seller on an aesthetic level, but its concept and tools go well beyond aesthetics. It is filled with proven, real-world tactics that can be rapidly and effectively engaged to market luxury homes across an international marketplace," said Ondar Tarlow, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations at First Team.

"The international reach of our marketing and advertising both online and in print delivers to our seller clients interested buyers from around the world. In addition to our website www.FirstTeamEstates.com, we also promote listings on award-winning websites such as www.LuxuryPortfolio.com, which is available in nine languages with home pricing available in over 60 currencies.  Through these venues and hundreds of other listing syndication and affiliate websites, our properties are viewed by a massive international audience.  Our award-winning listing presentation is one more indication that wherever the buyers are, online or offline, we're there, too," said Debbie Lewandowski, Director of First Team Estates.

First Team Estates also won 2nd runner-up for company brand advertising with its compelling "Live Beautifully" display ads as seen in Riviera magazine, a prestigious global publication focusing on luxury markets around the world. According to Tarlow, the ads engage interested buyers by inspiring them to picture themselves "finding their own place to live beautifully" in the context of the First Team Estates brand.

First Team and its Estates Division have gained standing because they sold more homes in the $1 million and up price range than any other independent real estate company in Orange County, CA in 2009. Under the leadership of its president, Cameron Merage, who founded the company in 1976, First Team has developed such an effective system of marketing clients' homes that it creates more than 100,000 buyer inquiries every year for properties in Southern California.

"Our service standard, The NEW Rules of Luxury Real Estate, raises the bar for our agents and the service they deliver to their clientele.  Our luxury division has all the prestige of a boutique luxury real estate company with the ability to leverage the larger operation's resources to the advantage of both agents and clients," Tarlow added.

To learn more about First Team Estates, please call the  Newport Beach main office at (949) 759-5747 or visit www.firstteamestates.com. For more information about First Team Real Estate, call its corporate headquarters at (714) 557-0771 or visit www.firstteam.com.

About the Company

First Team® is the #1 independent real estate company in Southern California. First Team Estates®, the exclusive luxury property division of First Team caters specifically to the affluent market. The investment in local and international marketing makes it possible for First Team agents to expose their listings on a local and global basis through the company's expansive marketing tactics.

The award winning First Team Estates® "Live Beautifully" campaign embodies the studied approach First Team Estates® has taken in meeting the uncommon aspirations of the high-end client on a more individual level, as an ideal that can be customized to fit each individual client's needs. "Live Beautifully" reflects the business philosophy of First Team Estates®, its agent's and client's lifestyles.

First Team and First Team Estates' developed a new set of business standards and criteria for real estate agents to service their clients successfully. The NEW Rules of Luxury Real Estate, based on professional expertise acquired over 30 years of industry leadership, are clear, precise and practical tools buyers and sellers can use immediately.

About Luxury Portfolio Fine Property Collection®

Launched in 2005, Luxury Portfolio Fine Property Collection® (www.LuxuryPortfolio.com) has grown to include over 15,000 of the world's most remarkable properties and attracts over 1.2 million high-net-worth visitors a year. The first to promote luxury properties in multiple languages and currencies, Luxury Portfolio is unmatched in the global arena, with members in 27 countries and website visitors from over 200 countries every month.  It was the first site of its kind to promote homes in multiple languages and currencies.  The site's total inventory of available properties exceeds $35 billion.  Please visit www.luxuryportfolio.com for luxury homes and luxury homes for sale throughout the world.

About Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (www.LeadingRE.com) is a global real estate network comprised of over 600 of the best-known local and regional real estate firms. With nearly 5,000 offices and 150,000 sales associates in the United States and 35 countries abroad, LeadingRE affiliates sell almost $300 billion in home sales, representing nearly one million transactions annually. The network has #1 marketshare in more of the top 88 U.S. markets than any national brand, representing a powerful force in American real estate.

SOURCE First Team Real Estate