http://www.housematix.com Save your energy Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:20:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Vendors always went to highlight benefits whilst reducing perceived costs, but telling porky pies is another matter. In a country like Spain, where the information you get from estate agents is patchy at best, buyers often find that the property or plot size ain’t half as big as advertised. Here ... http://www.housematix.com/mark/2010/02/property/the-fibs-that-property-vendors-tell-in-spain-at-least/ A Spanish savings bank offers to lend money for free, at least for 3 years. A mortgage with no interest or capital repayments at all for the first 3 years, and no capital or interest roll up for later years. A loan with no admin fee (apart from notary costs, ... http://www.housematix.com/mark/2010/02/mortgages-finance/a-sign-of-the-times-%e2%80%93-a-mortgage-that-costs-nothing/ The Trump Ocean Club, the bellwether project under construction on the bay in Panama City, is still hitting its financial and construction targets, the developers told bondholders last week. Newland International Properties sold 23 units in the first half of the year, bringing the total sold to 832 of the ... http://www.housematix.com/kbrass/2009/09/property/solid-report-for-trump-project-in-panama/ As wishy-washy forecasts go, it doesn’t get much more wishy-washy than the Council of Mortgage Lenders prediction for activity in the U.K. Activity increased 26 percent from June to July, the highest level in nine months, according to the industry association's latest report. But the CML wasn’t exactly popping corks. ... http://www.housematix.com/kbrass/2009/09/england/talk-of-a-sporadic-and-shaky-recovery-in-the-uk/ [caption id="attachment_195" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Villa Shamballa"][/caption] The French Riviera may be one of the few markets where nobody really cares about the global economic showdown. Sure, there may be fewer Russian oligarchs wandering the docks, but a château overlooking the Mediterranean will always be priced the way it is priced, and ... http://www.housematix.com/kbrass/2009/09/cool-houses/no-bargains-on-the-french-riviera/ Unlike many grandly-announced ambitious eco-cities, Songdo in South Korea is actually happening. The first phase of the 1,500-acre complex west of Seoul opened earlier this month, promising, among other things, to set a new standard for green cities in Asia. Based primarily on New Urbanism concepts, Songdo is implementing a ... http://www.housematix.com/kbrass/2009/08/green-living/green-songdo-city-moving-ahead/ Luxist offers a glimpse at what $14.9 million buys in the Trump Tower on Fifth Ave. in New York City. The 48th floor duplex with 4 bedrooms and 4.5 baths offers floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views of the city. And the master bedroom is “designed so that the bed is ... http://www.housematix.com/kbrass/2009/08/cool-houses/inside-the-trump-tower-in-nyc/ Somehow this is not a big surprise: Dubai, the poster child for the boom years, is facing a surplus of 31,000 homes by the end of the year, according to a new JP Morgan report. You don't need a fancy economic degree to figure out the reasons for the sea of ... http://www.housematix.com/kbrass/2009/08/property/dubai-faces-sea-of-empty-units/ [caption id="attachment_106" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Chris and Annie Stewart"][/caption] Life in the Alpujarras of Andalucia was tough before he turned the experience into a series of bestselling books, explains best-selling author Chris Stewart, talking to Mark Stucklin of Housematix. “Annie has only been stung once by a scorpion, though admitedly it was in ... http://www.housematix.com/mark/2009/06/spain/life-can-be-tough-in-the-alpujarras-of-andalucia-explains-chris-stewart/ [caption id="attachment_100" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Beautifying the Spanish coast"][/caption] It has always amazed me how little outcry there has been in the Spanish press and society about the depraved goings on in the Spanish property market, and Spain’s uniquely grotesque town planning model, especially in the Valencian Region, home to the Costa ... http://www.housematix.com/mark/2009/05/spain/why-has-there-been-so-little-outcry-in-spain/