Real-Estation

Image via Wikipedia Should 1st-time homebuyers run back home? According to todays article in The Telegraph , young people are choosing to live with their families during the recession. The Telegraph in England tells the story of one, Simon Barker, a 37-year-old banker-turned-estate agent, who has fled the recession and moved back to his parents' house. Apparently he decided to rent out his one-bedroom apartment, and save money by living at his family home in Epsom. Full Story & Article by Anna Tyzack here

An interesting concept for a camouflaged hotel on a tree by Swedish architects Tham & Videgård Hansson Arkitekter The concept is to create a shelter up in the trees, a lightweight aluminum structure hung around a tree trunk, boxes clad in mirrored glass, 4×4x4 meters. The exterior reflects the surroundings and the sky, creating a camouflaged refuge. The interior is all made of plywood and the windows give a 360 degree view. The functions provides a living for two people, a double bed, a small kitchen and bathroom, a living room and roof terrace. The access to the cabin is by a rope ladder or a rope bridge. To prevent birds from flying into the windows, transparent stickers, visible for birds, will be added to the facades. Stickers that are Bird Visible, now that's something I haven't heard of before. MORE at Link here Via Archdaily

Property business to be top of list for Chinese delegation to New Zealand Property Wire reports that "China's answer to international property tycoon Donald Trump is heading to New Zealand for talks that may result in major investment in the country's real estate industry." Wang Shi, chairman of Shenzhen-listed Vanke, China's largest residential property developer, is among a number of leading Chinese and Hong Kong business people attending a conference next month in Auckland .......... Full Article over here .

Image via Wikipedia Brits moving to coastal properties New Research out from Halifax would indicate that just like Kiwi's, our UK cousins desire the attraction or enjoy the act of living on the coast. PropertyWire reports..... Home movers in England and Wales are increasingly moving to the coast where property is more popular than ever. Research from Halifax shows that seaside towns and coastal countryside have experienced the highest levels of net internal migration between 1997 and 2007. Some 80% of local authorities experiencing a growth of incomers are located on the coast and it is London that has seen the biggest drop in internal migration. Full article here

It would seem the time has come for the upstart in the UK, zoopla.co.uk to live up to its long-awaited promise and start shaking things up over in blimey with a new pay-for-performance model targeted at estate agents listings in the UK. Emma says "Agents now pay nothing to list properties on zoopla.co.uk and only pay for qualified leads they receive from the website. There are no fixed fees and no minimum commitments. At only £1 per buyer and £5 per vendor lead, the company says the model delivers a highly cost-efficient marketing opportunity to agents and sets the site apart from other leading portals, which continue to charge subscription fees." [.... MORE ] Source: zoopla.co.uk Pay-For-Performance - by Emma Sorensen

Greater Vancover Crimestoppers has launched an interesting campaign with the above pledge. First signs of a change in policy are being seen by some Canadian Police Departments who are encouraging people with information to come forward with the following pledge.... “You remain anonymous, criminals don’t” One of the websites says.... Crime Stoppers guarantees that callers never have to give their name or testify in court. When you call N.B. Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, our trained operators are interested in only the information you provide, not your identity. Crime Stoppers does not subscribe to call display and conversations are not taped or recorded - that's our promise! Or BC Crimestoppers whose website states similar..... LEAVE A SECURE TIP ONLINE If you have information about a crime you can now provide an anonymous tip online using our secure and encrypted web-tip form. You will never be identified. We don't use call display. We don't want your name,...

In a post over at Neatorama, they talk about this Japanese site that, by running a little Flash game/test, claims it can calculate your real brain age. So, how old is your brain? As the sites in Japanese, Neatorama provides the following instructions/translation. 1. Touch "Start" 2. Wait for 3,2,1 countdown to finish 3. Memorize the numbers’ position on the screen, and then click the circle from the smallest number to the largest. 4. At the end of the game, the age of your brain will be calculated. Hers my chart below as I can't read Japanese, I'm guessing it says my brain looks like it is 25, now if only I did? link to TEST here Via Neatorama