Scott Kauffman Author Archive
Scott Kauffman, Senior Real Estate & Luxury Lifestyle Columnist
Scott Kauffman is a National Association of Real Estate Editors award-winning journalist and considered the leading expert on golf course business, private clubs and resort-style/active-adult communities worldwide. Kauffman features more than 20 years of newspaper, magazine, broadcast and public relations/digital media experience, including full-time staff writer positions with USA TODAY, The Orlando Sentinel and Golfweek Group.
After leaving Orlando-based Golfweek in 2004, Kauffman fulfilled his entrepreneurial real estate/media spirit when he started sister companies -- Aloha Realty Group LLC and Aloha Media Group LLC -- to focus on the high-end leisure real estate sales and marketing industries. After becoming a licensed Florida real estate broker in 2006, the University of Hawaii graduate started his own full-service boutique brokerage firm and consequently closed more than $90 million in commercial and residential real estate transactions, including vacant land, office buildings, luxury vacation homes and Disney Vacation Club timeshare.
Prior to moving to Florida, Kauffman was a full-time sports reporter for both the Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspapers, and later USA Today and USA Today Baseball Weekly at corporate headquarters in Arlington, Va. Kauffman grew up in Taiwan as an expat and speaks Mandarin Chinese.
Now living in Orlando with his wife and two daughters, Kauffman is the most widely published writer for golf and resort-style real estate, having written for more than 80 national golf, real estate, travel and luxury lifestyle publications in his award-winning journalism career. The avid golfer and traveler also has co-authored several golf- and travel-related books and collaborated on media and marketing projects with many high-profile golf and real estate clients such as Bella Collina, Tavistock Group, The Idaho Club, Montverde Academy, Stockworth Realty, The Worthington Group, Bonita Bay Group, Marriott Golf, Nathaniel Crosby’s AppleTree Golf Society and the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy.
Kauffman is often quoted in the press, including being interviewed by Lou Dobbs of CNN Moneyline nearly 20 years ago after his headline-breaking story on the $820 million sale of Pebble Beach to a group led by the late Arnold Palmer, Clint Eastwood, Peter Ueberroth and Richard Ferris. In his spare time, the self-described foodie loves being outdoors, spending time with family and discovering the next great place to "live, work and play."
The world's largest international property listings portal GlobalListings.com has announced it has signed a worldwide news syndication partnership with The World Property Journal.
Michael Gerrity has been at the forefront of real estate for more than 30 years. First, the Orlando native had a stellar real estate brokerage career, selling and leasing nearly $300 million worth of commercial office transactions.
When Captain James Cook was credited with discovering Hawaii in 1778, the British explorer landed on what is considered one of the most remote land masses in the world.
Ever since Captain James Cook discovered Hawaii in 1778, visitors have been in love with this dreamy paradise in the Pacific. The Islands offer a certain allure that resonates on many levels to millions of people who live here.
When you think of thriving destinations for golf resort communities, the Sun Belt naturally comes to mind first - places like Florida, California and Arizona - not Canada - until now.
A newly published report by the prestigious Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews shows there are 34,011 golf facilities in 206 countries.
California might be in a crippling drought, but the state's residential real estate market is far from drying up.
While much of America struggled during the last financial crisis, Texas grew in greater economic stature on a number of levels.
There's a common saying that the Chinese word for 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One means danger; the other represents opportunity.
If the ferocity of this year's winter is any reminder, there's a reason millions of American and Canadian "snowbirds" head south each year for the winter months.
In my 15-plus year of specializing in golf and resort-style real estate, I've had the pleasure of visiting many of the finest private clubs and resort communities in the world.
Private and exclusive residential community in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., announces record home sales for the first six months of 2014
After 10 years at the helm of China's Communist Party, Hu Jintao is scheduled to step down this week as the party's general secretary and hand over China's control to his designated successor, Xi Jinping. This ceremoniously change of China's guard officially began last week as China's 18th Party Congress convened in Beijing and respectfully bid adieu to their revered leader.
Escalante Golf, owner-operator of the exclusive Black Diamond golf club, recently unveiled a new multi-million dollar master-plan for the iconic golf course development. Located about 75 miles north of Tampa, Black Diamond is highlighted by the famed Tom Fazio-designed Quarry Course.
Buoyed by strong hotel and vacation ownership revenue, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) reported net income $170 million and $0.87 per share in the third quarter of 2012, a 4.2 percent increase from the previous year's quarterly net income.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., Trinity Investments, LLC and Terra Investments S.R.L.C.V. recently announced the debut of the first Le Méridien Hotel in Mexico City with the opening of Le Méridien Mexico City.
Luxury shared ownership resort-style real estate projects have stopped their bleeding. After three consecutive years of sharp sales declines, the luxury shared ownership industry - represented by high-end fractional real estate developments, private residence clubs and destination clubs - saw overall sales climb to $552 million last year, a 4.2 percent increase from the previous year's $530 million in sales.
Award-winning architects Dana Fry and Jason Straka are designing a new golf course at PGA of Italy National Resort and Spa. The new championship course, which is being designed under the auspices of well-known golf course architectural firm Hurdzan-Fry Environmental Golf, is near the town of Aulla in Tuscany.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) recently announced that MGM China Holdings Limited, a 51%-owned subsidiary, has formally accepted a Land Concession Contract in the form of a lease granted by the Macau Government to develop a five-star luxury resort and casino in Cotai.
Four years ago, India's Tata Group paid $2.3 billion for British luxury car maker Jaguar and Land Rover. Now, India's multi-industry conglomerate is going after another luxury brand, Orient-Express, in a hostile bid takeover attempt.
