John Travolta

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

In 2017, the famed Hollywood star purchased a contemporary mansion in Clearwater, Florida for $3 million under Hawker Investment Trust, Travolta and his late wife Kelly Preston’s go-to trust in which his sisters are listed as trustees. Located a mere mile from the Scientology headquarters, Travolta has served as a devout member of the controversial Church of Scientology since 1975. Clearwater also provides residence to fellow Scientologists Tom Cruise, who lives in a downtown penthouse, and Kirstie Alley, who owns a multi-residence waterfront compound.

Now, Travolta is bidding farewell to his former Florida home for $4 million. The property was initially listed in March for $4.65 million but nonetheless, the 67-year-old actor is walking away with a profit. This sale comes about a year following the passing of his late wife Kelly Preston in their home due to breast cancer. In January 2020, Travolta sold his $18 million Spanish-style mansion in Los Angeles and earlier this year, parted ways with his longtime waterfront residence in Maine for $5 million. He currently owns a $2.65 million Calabasas home which he purchased with Preston in 2019.

Travolta’s former Florida home spans more than an acre of picturesque land and includes five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. The open floor interior presents a modern two-story staircase and spacious foyer. The living area is equipped with an electric fireplace. The kitchen offers bar seating and a breakfast space. Upstairs, the primary suite features an ensuite bathroom with a contemporary encased spa bath and a terrace overlooking the harbor. Other luxe amenities of the home include a seaside infinity-edge pool, a separate one-room cabana, and an artist’s studio with a bath. Resting on the western shores of Clearwater Harbor, the waterfront estate is heavily gated and surrounded by foliage. The exterior space consists of an expansive boat dock and boasts panoramic views of the gleaming coast and skyline.

Rafal Wazio at Coldwell Banker Residential represented both sides of this deal.

The post Closing A Deal On Clearwater: John Travolta Sells Florida Home For $4 Million appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

Watch their conversation below.

The topics included Isoldi’s illustrious career from a family business to the corporate world of Coldwell in New Jersey and New York, and his eventual move and ascendancy in real estate.

Originally from Westfield, New Jersey, Isoldi is a broker sales associate affiliated with the Westfield East office of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New Jersey and Rockland County, New York. With 30+ years of real estate experience, he got his real estate license at eighteen. He says, "I went to Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, which was close enough that I could come home on the weekends, see open houses, and start to get a book up business going, so when I graduated, I had a client base to start with." He continues, "My father did real estate. I grew up in this business my entire life, so I loved it from from a very, very young age. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. My parents said, 'you have to get a college education,' so I went somewhere local to hit the ground running and that is how it all unfolded."

Frank D. Isoldi

Photo Credit: Frank D. Isoldi

Here are some of the questions and answers from the exclusive interview with Isoldi.

Seth Semilof: Where do you think your skills were? Is it sales? Is it working hard? You found a marketing strategy. Tell us about that.

Frank D. Isoldi: First of all, you have to work hard. Everybody thinks this business is so easy and glamorous and fun and it is, it is all that, but you have to work. I worked. I came home from college on the weekends to see open houses. I wasn't afraid to put the time in. Then, it is networking. It is what Haute Residence does. There are great networking opportunities out there. You have to be a people person and you have to be willing to you know put yourself out there. It is all about marketing branding and getting your name out there consistently.

SS: How was it going from working in a family business to now working in a corporate environment?

FDI: What I do love about the offices is that it is very competitive. There are a lot of top agents, but we really, really, really are a family. I was certainly intimidated with a change going from a small boutique family run business to this major company, but I think I thrived. I learned to stay in my lane and be respectful. Then we became close friends and family. It has been a really wonderful experience.

SS: How has technology changed your business? Do you think referrals are still the most important part of being successful in real estate?

FDI: Technology is life changing. I can make appointments from the car. You can put yourself out there on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. This is a relationship business. You can now create relationships with people all around the world. Start to get referrals from people that you have never even met before. If they feel like they can trust you both online and in person, they are going to refer to you for business. Social media has dramatically changed this business.

SS: Where have you seen the most success in your career?

FDI: When you are talking about luxury properties and luxury clientele, print is still very important for our business. Everything is on social media. It is easy, quick, free, instant, but magazine are still a very, very important aspect of marketing high end luxury properties. I don't think that social media can replace print and print marketing, but it is certainly a major enhancement.

SS: You said the market is on fire. Where are the buyers coming from?

FDI: We are 22 miles outside of Manhattan, so Wall Street is a big part of our market. We are also seeing people coming in droves from New York to New Jersey, to the suburbs. We are seeing tremendous movement in Westfield because interest rates are still historically low, so it is a win-win.

SS: What niche are you doing now or is your business just so big that it is continuing its a machine?

FDI: I have hit the point on my business where I want more business. I want to make more money every year and continue to beat last year's production. Also, we want to make the experience for our client better every year and every transaction. Our purpose is continuing to grow now because you know people want and they want everything to be as easy as possible. We are putting together all these protocols and trying to make the experience top, top, top notch for our client.

For more information, please contact Frank D. Isoldi at 908-787-5990 or frankisoldi@gmail.com

Frank D. Isoldi is the exclusive agent representing the Westfield, New Jersey real estate market as a member of the Haute Residence Real Estate Network. View all of his listings here.

The post Chat With Haute Residence Leaders, Episode 2: Frank D. Isoldi appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

Once owned by golf legend Johhny Farrell, this stately Wychwood Colonial has been expanded & upgraded throughout offering three levels of old-world charm blended with modern-day conveniences. Highlights include spacious rooms, gleaming hardwood floors, 3 fireplaces, arched doorways, Da Vinci “slate” roof and plenty of windows to bring the outdoors in. Set on nearly a half-acre of landscaped grounds with a patio and two-car attached garage, this home offers plenty of room for living, dining and entertaining. Convenient to schools, parks and award-winning downtown for shopping, dining and NYC transportation, don’t miss this fabulous home!

Address: 951 Kimball Ave., Westfield, NJ 07090

Price: $1,299,900

For more information, please contact Frank D. Isoldi at 908-787-5990 or frankisoldi@gmail.com

Frank D. Isoldi is the exclusive agent representing the Westfield, Union County, New Jersey real estate market as a member of the Haute Residence Real Estate Network. View all of his listings here.

Photo Credit: Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

Photo Credit: Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

Photo Credit: Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

The post An Upgraded Home In Westfield By Frank D. Isoldi appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

We talked to Shea, who is also our exclusive agent in Paradise Valley, Arizona, about his leadership at  HōM | Distinct Properties and his vision of the real estate market in Arizona, about his inspirations and aspirations, about his ability to transform a space and connect with his clients.

How did HōM | Distinct Properties come to be? How big is the team and what makes it stand out in the local luxury real estate market?

HōM | Distinct Properties is made up of 10 individuals, aside from myself. Our constant effort in our marketplace is to disrupt the normal way of doing business - we call it “Pattern Interruption.”

We aim to do things differently by acting in ways that take the pressure away from, and off our clients. A great example of that is our policy of “no transactional surprises;” our goal is for our clients to have a full and detailed account of what to expect not only in the next step, or what to expect as far into the future as we can see, but also what to expect of the people we’re dealing with in the transaction and how we’re managing their expectations.

We also promote standards of quality that are hard, if not impossible, to recreate without our eye. One example of our standards is our use of fresh flowers … for every showing … and not just those supermarket-special flowers in a vase either, no; we actually design arrangements based on the architecture of the home, keeping in mind who we believe our target buyers are, in order to enhance and reinforce the quality and the beauty of each listing.

HōM | Distinct Properties is a catchy name. How did you come up with it? What does HōM mean?

The old adage “back to the basics” is where the name HōM | Distinct Properties came from - hōm is the phonetic way to spell “home;” I literally looked up “home” in a dictionary for inspiration, and loved the way the phonetic spelling looked, as simple as that sounds. I loved the way it reinforced not only my background and interest in the English language, but it also became a symbol of the team itself, it became a moniker of what we’ve set out to do in our industry: build from the basics.

You were licensed in both Arizona and Texas. Why did you decide to base your team in Arizona? What is it about the market that attracts you?

I was licensed in Texas, but do not hold my Texas license any longer. I was attracted to Arizona first by the look of everything – it's unlike anywhere else in the world, and I think most people who live here and visit say the same thing. I’ve always loved being distinct, and Phoenix provides a confluence of people from all over who appreciate the very same. The market has always been among the most notable in the country, and has an amazing year-round attractiveness due to all our industry and tourism. Paradise Valley, specifically, has some of the best spas and resorts in the country, and relaxing, in my book, will never go out of style.

What is a typical day for you at work?

I start my day with a cup of coffee or two, glancing at emails that I may need to jump on right away from the night. As long as there aren’t any “fires” to put out, I’ll do some yoga and cardio, then fix a nice breakfast and head into the office. Most of the time, I’m popping into the office to print something, collect marketing material, or speak to someone, before I’m running out to meet someone for lunch or coffee. After a meeting or two, I usually have showings, and I’ll go have some fun looking at houses with people. I’ll usually head home after showings, and work from my office there, catching up on emails, texts and phone calls. After those have died down, I’ll turn to marketing initiatives I’ve laid out, and look to see what the next day brings. I often joke with my clients and team, although it’s somewhat serious, that I don’t have a 9 to 5 job, I have a “from-when-I-open-my-eyes-to-when-I-close-my-eyes” job.

You are keen on art and fashion and design. How these interests translate into your real estate career?

I’ve always found influence from world that surrounds me – I love art and fashion and design, because those are the things I see every day. They inspire my mood, my vision, and what makes me curious and ambitious. Needless to really say, when my clients come with experiences from one, or all, of those worlds, it makes me very happy. Real estate is the common canvas in all three of those genres – all three of them live in your home as representations of you.

You owned two other businesses before launching your real estate career, how these experiences inform your leadership at HōM | Distinct Properties?

I learned a lot as a small business owner, and undoubtedly the best lesson is ‘effort.’

Those years set me up for the success I have now by being unforgiving – when you’re in business for yourself, you either learn quickly, or you stop trying – I learned a lot! I compartmentalized setbacks, thinking, “I exist with a purpose, and although the method I tried didn’t work, my purpose is still the same.” I just kept trying, and that’s the greatest lesson I share with my team – we will always have another solution to present.

As a young real estate agent, who utilizes the latest digital opportunities in the industry, what do you think is the next big thing in the presentation of properties? 

A lot of people play into the hype of latest and greatest technology, but one thing I’ve noticed my clients appreciate more than anything is a human connection. If you think your differentiator is technology in this industry, a medium that is ever-evolving, ever-changing, and forever being mirrored and replicated, you’re sadly mistaken. With money and time, I can recreate anything you do with technology. The one thing I can’t do with any amount of resources is recreate you. I think the next big thing is a balancing act, one that maintains a sophistication in presentation that drives innovation, and one that also incorporates measures that alleviate the constant battle of inhuman experience. The key, in my opinion, is being your authentic self.

Images courtesy of Justin Shea

The post Justin Shea: The New Guard of High-End Real Estate Agents appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.