Category Archives: Real Estate

Could a home on stilts above a parking lot offer a solution to the housing crisis?

Posted on May 16, 2016 | Leave a comment

Small, skinny prefabricated houses placed on stilts above car parks could offer a solution for the housing crisis.

Architect Bill Dunster reckons the two-level Zed Pods are a way to provide low-cost housing in crowded cities, while making ugly and wasteful parking areas attractive and more useful.

The pods are being built by Dunster’s company Zed Factory. Each unit is thin enough to just cover two parking spaces, one behind the other, although double pods that cover four parking spaces can also be constructed.

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Selling Property:Clever (and easy) tips to making your home look more appealing

Posted on May 9, 2016 | Leave a comment

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The secret to having your occupied home-for-sale ready in one hour is to plan ahead,” Tracey McLeod, Owner of Showhomes and Presentation Sells told The Huffington Post Australia.

First of all, McLeod suggests employing the three month rule.

“In nature, three months is one season. In your home for sale, only keep out one season of clothes, bed linen, and toys. Everything that won’t be used in one season can be packed away beforehand. For those with kids, try to involve them in this process so it isn’t such a shock for them. Ask each child to choose what toys, books and clothes they can’t live without for the next three months and then pack the rest away.”

It’s also wise to pack away a large portion of your home before even putting it on the market. Just think, when it’s time to move out half of the hard work will be done!

“Pack up early in the home selling process, rather than later. Have only two-thirds to three-quarters or less if possible on the shelves in your cupboards, wardrobes, and pantry, and have items neatly stacked. If you can’t store boxes off site, neatly label and stack them in the garage.”

“Designate a cupboard shelf or storage box for each child to store their must-have items. Before bedtime, everything must go back into storage. This simple rule makes it much easier to clear living areas of toys, books, and other items in just a few minutes,” McLeod said.

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6% Commision for home sales once were the norm…that’s changing

Posted on May 4, 2016 | Leave a comment

Commissions of 6 percent for home sales once were the norm. That’s changing. – The Washington Post <!–

Mandie Sellars, a homeowner in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, had the misfortune of buying a home and then almost immediately getting a new job about an hour from her new home. Not only did she want to avoid paying commissions to sell the home she just bought and to buy another, but the market was also hot in the area where she wanted to live.

“I knew I needed to move fast, and so when I saw a property online that I liked I contacted a company called SoloPro,” says Sellars. “Twenty minutes later I was in the house with an agent and two hours after that I made an offer. My offer was accepted by 5 p.m. that day after the home had been shown 17 times.”

What’s different about Sellars’s experience is that she opted for an on-demand agent service that doesn’t charge commissions. She paid $25 for email alerts so she could find a property, $50 for the property showing, $100 for an agent to present her offer and $800 for a transaction coordinator. SoloPro will give her a rebate of 3 percent of the purchase price — the equivalent of a typical buyer’s agent commission — at her closing, which she estimates to be about $5,700.

Technology has changed businesses in ways that were unimaginable a decade ago, but even industry insiders say that residential real estate practices have yet to fully adapt to the reality that buyers and sellers have unlimited access to property listings and other information that was once held firmly in the hands of realty agents. That access has led many consumers to question the fees they pay for the services of an agent, commonly 6 percent of the home sales price, including payment to a buyer’s agent and a listing agent, or $30,000 on a $500,000 property sale.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Category Archives: Real Estate

Could a home on stilts above a parking lot offer a solution to the housing crisis?

Selling Property:Clever (and easy) tips to making your home look more appealing

6% Commision for home sales once were the norm…that’s changing

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