Like many raised in Israel, Assaf Avissar began traveling immediately after completing his obligatory military service. Curious and passionate about understanding people from many backgrounds, he worked his way around the world, immersing himself in many cultures. Long stays in such places as Sydney, Costa Rica, Brazil, and New York helped shape Assaf's concept of where he would (and wouldn't) eventually want to settle down. Arriving in San Diego to visit a friend, Assaf quickly knew he had found home. "It was different than anywhere: beautiful, laid-back, diverse, surrounded by great surfing — a place where your community is your family. It felt like freedom. This is the good life!" said Assaf, now a San Diego local for over 20 years and a proud U.S. citizen.
And San Diego, it seemed, was ready for his international brand of hustle. Assaf quickly gained a reputation for his dedication to his clients' needs — putting himself in their shoes, understanding their needs and wants, and refusing to let them down. Based on past experience with his family's real estate business, Assaf chose to become an agent just when the market seemed at its worst, mentoring with Penny Nathan as she was founding Ascent Real Estate (now Coldwell Banker West). Where others saw hardship, they explored the opportunity to create win-win situations and help clients thrive in tough times. Assaf says, "We set out to prove that honesty was an asset, not a weakness; focusing on the client, not the commission, is the only way to provide true value." As a result, Assaf is always in demand.
Assaf specializes in Metro and coastal properties; with his wide professional network and supportive team, he serves all of San Diego County with a deep familiarity for the area's unique communities and market conditions. With his unique combination of empathy and hustle, Assaf helps buyers and sellers make the most of a home sale with the least amount of stress.
Assaf was recommended to us from a family friend and we could not be happier! He instantly built rapport with us and we felt we could truly trust him right off the bat. As first time home buyers...we knew nothing! Assaf took so much time breaking everything down and explaining every step of the way. I can confidently say Assaf had our best interest in mind and made sure we got exactly what we wanted. Once we entered escrow Stephanie was extremely helpful making a very stressful process go smoothly. She was very patient answering many questions from us and helping us get what we wanted from the seller. Overall, we are so happy and grateful for Assaf and Stephanie’s knowledge of the market, attention to detail, loyalty to their customer, and negotiation skills. We can’t wait to move in to our dream home!
- CarlyAssaf Helped me out to purchase my first home in San Diego and made my move from Seattle to San Diego as easy as it can be. I think that his responsiveness was one of the most important attribute that helped this deal to be successful. He was very knowledgeable about the neighborhood and area and knew what to match to my wants and needs.
- JonWe worked with Assaf and his team to sell our property in San Diego while living in Kansas City (after working with him to buy it a few years ago). We are so pleased with how smooth the process went and also with the price we got for it. We completely trust Assaf to advise and represent us. With San Diego not being our primary residence, we rely on him to educate us on the different neighborhoods of San Diego. He is incredibly knowledgeable about the pros and cons of buying in different areas. We are currently using Assaf to help us find a new property. He keeps us informed of new and coming soon listings, is always available and immediately responsive. He has spent countless hours taking us to see new listings and has been very patient with us as we have taken our time and changed our minds a few times. I cannot recommend Assaf and his team more highly. There is no one else I'd want to work with when buying or selling in San Diego!
- Liz
1133 Carlos Canyon | Chula Vista, CA 91910
Situated on an 20,120 ESF lot with magnificent views, this updated beauty has paid solar, a movie theater, gated courtyard, and an abundance of custom details including 4 fireplaces, 3 fountains, a curved wrought-iron staircase, and arched wooden doors. The kitchen features a large center island, upgraded appliances, chef’s range, built-in coffee machine, and a large pantry. 2 bedrooms downstairs and 3 upstairs; 3 of the bedrooms have baths en suite. The primary bedroom has its own covered balcony, walk-in closet, and an expanded bath with walk-in shower and freestanding tub. The formal dining room opens to an exterior covered dining area with nearby fountain. Outdoors, you’ll also find a covered patio with fireplace, a large kitchen area, pool, spa, and a deck overlooking spectacular views. The lot includes fruit trees, grapes, and tall, mature trees for privacy. This one-of-a-kind property is located in Rancho Del Rey, close to all and with no HOA or Mello-Roos.
More than a century after the debut of its first luxury trains, the iconic Orient Express will expand into the cruise world with the debut of Orient Express Silensea. The very first Orient Express sailing ship and “the largest sailing ship in the world” will set sail in 2026 and push “the limits of the possible,” according to a press release recently unveiled by French hospitality group Accor and Chantiers de l’Atlantique, a leader in the construction of cruise ships.
Sebastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO, Accor, promises the ship will “offer unparalleled service and spaces with refined designs, reminiscent of the golden age of legendary cruises” — not unlike the luxury trains for which the Orient Express name is best known. Part innovation in luxury and part innovation in yachting sustainability, the 220-meters-long Orient Express Silensea will boast three SolidSail rigs, a revolutionary 1500m2 unit sail propulsion system and a hybrid propulsion running on liquefied natural gas (LNG). Laurent Castaing, Managing Director, Chantiers de l’Atlantique, calls it “the benchmark ship in environmental terms” and “a sailboats of the future.”
Inspired by the golden age of the French Riviera, Orient Express Silensea will recall the time when writers, artists, painters, sovereigns and movie stars discovered between MonteCarlo, Saint-Tropez, Cap d’Antibes, Cannes and its Croisette, a refinement tinged with carelessness and joie de vivre, calling for escape. The ship comes by its history honestly. In 1867, founder Georges Nagelmackers discovered his inspiration while boarding transatlantic ships from Europe to America. On these ships, he found luxurious suites for travel filled with sumptuous decor, the social life of the
restaurants and a unique atmosphere of the lounges, libraries and places for entertainment. This experience of luxury sea travel would later lead to the launch of his legendary train, the Orient Express, in 1833.
Bringing together the best French talents, the Orient Express Silensea will “celebrate the Art of Travel” thanks to the vision of architect Maxime d’Angeac, who designed the interior layout and the decorations, and the Nantes design agency, Stirling Design International, who designed the exterior lines. The vessel will have 54 suites measuring an average area of 70 square meters, including its monumental
Presidential Suite of 1,415 meters square meters (including 530 square meters of private terrace). Two swimming pools, two restaurants and a speakeasy bar “will add to the quintessence of luxury.” For entertainment, guests ill be invited into the Amphitheater-Cabaret and a private recording studio. Spa treatments, meditation sessions and stopovers for cultural discovery allow a complete escape from the mundane world.
Orient Express Silensea will sail using with a revolutionary “SolidSail” technological design: three rigid sails with a surface area of 1,500 meters each will be hoisted on a balestron rig, with 3 tilting masts culminating at more than 100 meters high, able to provide up to 100% propulsion in suitable weather conditions. For a more
environmentally friendly voyage at sea, a hybrid formula will combine wind power with a stateof-the-art engine running on liquefied natural gas (LNG) and will allow the use of green hydrogen once technologies accepted for an ocean-going passenger ship.
The Orient Express Silensea will join the hospitality brand’s first hotels, Orient Express La Minerva in Rome and Orient Express Palazzo Dona giovanelli in Venice, which are anticipated to open in 2024. Another hotel project is also planned for Riyadh, followed by the launch of the Orient Express La Dolce Vita (a luxury train journey across Italy) and the return of the rails of the legendary Orient Express train, also in 2024.
More information is available at www.orient-express.com
This month we are debuting not only a new office in our global network, but an entirely new region for the Coldwell Banker brand! Our first office in Luxembourg has opened this year, nestled between France, Germany and Belgium. We are thrilled to introduce you to the picturesque region and to the Brokers at Coldwell Banker Hestia, Caroline Gachet and Charlie Luthar.
This month we are debuting not only a new office in our global network, but an entirely new region for the Coldwell Banker brand! Our first office in Luxembourg has opened this year, nestled between France, Germany, and Belgium. We are thrilled to introduce you to the picturesque region and to the Brokers at Coldwell Banker Hestia, Caroline Gachet and Charlie Luthar.
“We invite you to discover our small, but really nice country. It’s worth your discovery!” Caroline Gachet shares. This is a modest statement, as Luxembourg may be one of the smaller countries in Europe, yet it is filled with gorgeous landscapes and medieval castles, and much of the city’s historical monuments have been carefully preserved. The historic walls and buildings aren’t the only things that have survived the past ten centuries, there is also the Schueberfouer fair that began in the year 1340. Every August, Luxembourgers celebrate the eight-day market week with a fair where you can shop and enjoy the local gastronomy, along with traditional fair rides, like a carousel and Ferris Wheel. Organized by
the city of Luxembourg, it takes place on 4 hectares of land known as the Champs de Glacis, and you won’t want to miss having some gromperekichelchers, the famous potato pancakes of local origin. Along with the fun annual events, Luxembourg has an excellent reputation for providing public transportation, education, and ranks highly among environmentally friendly countries in the world. It’s also a technology and finance capital, with both Amazon and Google calling it home for some of their offices.
“Don’t hesitate to invest here, the demand is always bigger than supply,” Charlie Luthar advises, Ms. Gachet’s partner. He continues, “The market increases every year for 5% minimum (12% in 2019) and you will be sure to do a good investment.”
With it’s fairy-tale aesthetics, excellent infrastructure and promising economic growth, you can be sure we will be at least attending Schueberfouer and checking out the available real estate in Luxembourg as soon as possible!
What is the perfect weekend day weekend in Luxembourg would through the city center streets, having or dinner in one of the many restaurants, museums, and making stops for a drink bars/pubs.
Tell us about the foods your area gastronomy most known is the Luxembourgish, Italian.
Where do you recommend someone your region, why: “Vallée des sept perfect place for tourists to spend some region. It is formidable for a mix of by visiting the Castles in ruins and restaurants.
Is there a specialty your area Luxembourg is a country in which everyone sectors of finance or technology, and Google made one of their headquarters
day like: The perfect consist of walking having a great lunch restaurants, visiting the drink in all the different
area is known for: The Luxembourgish, Franco-
someone vacation in sept châteaux” is the some holidays in our of nature and culture and lots of different area is known for: everyone works in the that is why Amazon headquarters here.
POPULATION: Roughly 600,000
LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: Luxembourgish, French, German, and English
CLIMATE: Moderate
CURRENCY: Euro
TYPES OF ARCHITECTURE: Contemporary
AVERAGE PRICING: 11,000 € - 12,000 €/meter
AVERAGE YEARS IN HOME: 10 years
https://blog.coldwellbanker.com/coldwell-banker-around-theworld-march-2021/
