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The BBC is trailing interesting research from its new series of The Truth About Property that suggests that not only are more people "crash-proof" than in the early 1990s (it would take a house price drop of 56% to put the average borrower into negative equity), but that a house price crash would be far from entirely unwelcome, even among the property-owning class. People, apparently, are seeing a fall in values as an opportunity to trade up for less. The last series of this show was excellent, the Rat and Mouse has high hopes for series two, starting tonight, at 8pm, on BBC 2.
Technorati Tags: property, property TV, real estate |
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It's a blue and white beach hut near Southwold, and it's offers over £70,000. According to this, local agents are expecting something more like £80,000. According to the particulars it does come with some plastic chairs, windbreaks and a kettle.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate |
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Business is booming in the repo sector, with new figures showing that home repossession orders increased by a fifth in the first quarter of the year (compared to the same period in 2007). They're also up 9% on the previous quarter. The figures come courtesy of the Ministry of Justice, and they'll be received with much interest, as the first clue to how over-stretched homeowners are coping with the downturn.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate |
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Property search engine Zoomf have announced a new feature they're calling "Boost". Aimed at estate agents, it borrows its MO from Google Adwords. Agents pay a set monthly amount to see a priority ad appear alongside relevant geographical search results, but are only charged when they receive leads. Unused credit carries over to the following month. It's a slick idea... although Zoomf could do with a page explaining/introducing it. And if you're browsing with Safari, you appear to be out of luck this morning. (I've just emailed the Zoomf team... I'll post their response.)
Technorati Tags: property, real estate, Web2, web2.0 |
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Interesting, Australian, Web2.0 action from Streetfolio... a "simple property management" solution aimed at property investors and buy-to-let landlords. Plug in a few details of your portfolio... price paid for each property, current value, rental income, mortgage outgoing, and the web application converts the information into a handy cashflow statement and an analytics page, so you can feel on top of your investments. There's a contacts and reminders section, too, plus a place for insurance and mortgage information. Does it do anything an analogue filing cabinet can't do? No. Will it make you more likely to stay on top of things in these troubled times? Possibly. It's free to manage one property, then there's a sliding scale of membership depending on the size of your property portfolio, but it's not expensive. All the examples are Australian, but don't let that put you off, its scope is international.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate, Web, Web2, web2.0 |
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At 5%. Few people expected back-to-back cuts; but there's a lot of talk of a cut to 4.75% next month. More here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate |
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According to Hamptons estate agents, properties in the £1m region have been hit the hardest by the slump, with prices falling by as much as 15% since September 2007. Only the super-prime sector - propped up by overseas buyers - continues to thrive. More here.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate |
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Thanks to the Rat and Mouse reader who alerted me to the new flat-pack homes apparently available through Argos... although I can't find any sign of them in the online catalogue. According to this, in the Sun, they start at £11,000 (plus £4.95 delivery) and can be erected in a day or two.
[photo from the Sun]
Technorati Tags: design, property, real estate |
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2007 was the year the ‘lifestyle farmers’ bought more land than actual raised-on-the-dirt farmers. If you read the Sunday supplements you know the type, migrating London fops inspired by Blur’s Alex James to add a little country rosiness to their families’ cheeks without going the whole ruddy, tractor-face mile. Then and bigger City investors with bonuses to burn who – apparently – tend to make their country purchases on the hush-hush. Lifestyle farmers grow vegetables and chop wood for their stoves, but allow local farmers to raise animals on their land while they stay out of the rain and knit chickens.
Our publisher, on the one property sector still booming, in his guest column for Citywire.
Technorati Tags: property, real estate, theRatandMouse |
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The Independent gets a look inside an interesting Finchatton [warning, classical muzak] development in Eaton Square. It's a mixture of Victorian grandeur and very 21st Century glass-and-metal modernism... manifest in a giant rear extension and basement (housing cinema, swimming pool, and bedrooms for staff and security). What I don't understand is exactly how a Grade II-listed property (with historical importance... it was formerly the home of Lord Napier... although he couldn't have spent much time there) got the nod for such a radical extension. It's hard to imagine how the character of the building isn't altered by attaching what looks like a space ship to it. There are pictures here.
Technorati Tags: architecture, London, property, real estate |
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I am immediately conscious of my pink bag and purple skirt, which shout vulgarity in the harmony of grey, black and white. Only a hint of red is allowed in each room, in a cushion or a rug.
The Sunday Telegraph carried this very entertaining tour of some minimalist masterpieces, including a Victorian mansion block flat (pictured) in Battersea... all original features concealed behind white fake walls and a wipe clean floor... and a south London semi which isn't pure minimalism (it has colour) but it works on the principle of hidden storage and is described as "monastic". Visiting the Battersea house, the writer leans how it was designed to cater for a utilitarian principle... carefully measured distances between (stored) appliances in the kitchen that reflect their use. It's Steve Jobs' Apple Mac workflow principle on a domestic scale. It's a theory I've always tried to sell to my wife, when extolling Bauhaus (my own frustrated enthusiasm). But - I don't know - it doesn't sound that convenient:
Even making a cup of tea isn't a simple matter: "I know I am a Minimalist freak," says Tanji. She opens a cupboard, gets out the kettle, fills it, plugs it in, makes the tea, then empties it, unplugs it and puts it back in the cupboard. For there must be no clutter.
Head over to the link above for the original piece, complete with pictures. Interestingly, all the properties mentioned are for sale. The Battersea flat is with John D Wood, here.
Technorati Tags: design, London, property, real estate |
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It's Highwood House in expensive Mill Hill, and it's significant because during the early 19th Century it was the home to Sir Stamford Raffles, the man who founded Singapore. That might not get you all excited, but it appears to be creating a fuss in Singapore, where there are calls for the building to be turned into a museum or bought and restored by a wealthy Singaporean. I can't find a listing, but the story goes that it's on the market for £3.5m.
If these walls could talk... HG Wells edition [May 2, 2008]
UPDATE - a hearty thanks to the Rat and Mouse reader who put me in touch with the particulars, here.
Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate |
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According to research by Debtwire, there were 13,000 estate agents offices in January and now there are only 12,000, with each office employing on average four agents. (If you think you've seen the missing 4,000 estate agents, please let us know.) By extrapolating from the figures, there's talk of 600 estate agents handing over their clip boards and keys every single week. More here.
Technorati Tags: estate agents, property, real estate, real estate agents |
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It's 12 Fitzroy Road in Primrose Hill, the former home of author HG Wells, and thought to be the place where he at least started work on War of the Worlds (remember the references to the area?). It's with John D Wood, and a guide price of £3.25m buys you three reception rooms, four bedrooms and two bathrooms in one of the capital's most sought-after areas. Listing here.
[via the Times]
Technorati Tags: celebrity, London, property, real estate |
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