Home Improvement-Furniture-Design Interiors-Gardening

Easiest Way to Add Equity in Your Property

Taking out a loan is a popular and easy way of making improvements to your home; whether you want to add an extension to your existing property, convert a room to a different use, or fit a new kitchen, loans available in the UK financial market suit the purpose. Not only these loans allow you to make changes and improvements to your home, but it can also increase your house value. The increase in equity of your house may be more than the original cost of the extension or improvement you add.

Research shows that home buyers in the UK are willing to pay substantial premiums for refurbished or improved properties. Adding special features can definitely up the sale price of your property.

Home improvement loans can be used to add value to your existing property in several different ways. First, and most obviously, buyers prefer houses to be ready to move. They want to move into furnished houses compared to the properties requiring investment or refurbishment. Older properties can also benefit a lot from modernization. Putting in a new kitchen or double-glazing an old house to save on energy bills can be a plus point when you are putting your home on the market. Buyers also love special features like solarium, extensions, and attic conversions, and these features increase your house value significantly and make it a much more desirable prospect in a crowded real estate market.

The first consideration when finding a competitive homeowner loan for renovation purpose is, of course, the loan interest rate itself. The interest rate may vary depending on your financial status, the amount being sought and the repayment period. It’s worth looking around at the offers from several loan providers. The Internet is a useful tool in this regard, allowing you to compare prices at a glance and saving a lot of time and money. By comparing at different lending companies, you will quickly get an idea of which deals are competitive and which are less so. So, it is always worth shopping around in order to find a competitive loan deal, as the details can vary more than you might think.

However, you should look beyond the headline interest rate on offer and check the small print to avail a low rate homeowner loan. In particular, things to look out for include the options and penalties for early repayment, penalties for missed payments, and the details of any insurance scheme which you might wish to take to cover your repayments in case of accident, sickness or death. All of these factors definitely make your loan deal cheap and affordable.

Dubai Properties Exhibited at Mumbai Extravaganza Targeting Indian Investor

Leading master real estate developer Dubai Properties has participated at the premium luxury show ‘Mumbai Extravaganza 2008’ in Mumbai, India to showcase its latest portfolio of realty developments including the latest to be announced ‘Mudon’ project, to an elite audience of high net worth visitors and top tier conglomerates.

Mohamed Binbrek, CEO, Dubai Properties, said, “Mumbai Extravaganza gave us an opportunity to present investors with instant information on the latest developments from Dubai Properties, as well as introduce our latest project launches to a new market.

Indian nationals are amongst the top investors within the booming real estate market in Dubai”.

In 2007, Indian Nationals spent Dh4 billion on real estate in Dubai and over the past 10 years, they have spent a total of Dh6.5 Billion on the Dubai property sector.

While the majority of these buyers were Indians living within the UAE, 10% of them were living in India or otherwise, proving the existence of a substantial demand for Dubai real estate from outside the UAE.

Waterfront Property – Reasons It Is So Desirable

Who Likes To Choose Vacation Homes On The Waterfront? This is for People of sharp taste who admire a calm way of life. People get themselves a home where they can go to on a vacation or on weekends just to go away from the hectic city life, the noise, and all the work just to spend some peaceful time alone or with the family

An individual’s hobbies and interests will mainly decide their vacation pick. If the person is enjoys water-skiing, fishing, swimming and boating, they are liable to prefer a vacation home closer to the waterfront. This will offer access to a dock and obviously, the water. And what type of vacation home the person chooses will depend entirely on the time he would be spending here.

There are many people who live in these places too. These are people who never thought life could be so great on a waterfront and after a vacation never wanted to leave. When most of these people returned to their city homes they could not put up with all the noise and yearned to go back. Many waterfront owners don’t even dare dream about leaving their homes and living in he city. The waterfront homes are extremely peaceful and fun to live in.

The people who live on the waterfront are very diverse in behavior and culture. There are fishermen who have lived all their lives in these places and cannot even imagine of leaving their homes. Many others are people who have visited these places and fell in love with the serene atmosphere and made the waterfronts their homes to live a peaceful life. And some people, who came to these places for a vacation, loved their stay and are now unwilling to go back. Life in the waterfront is indeed very tempting.

One thing to be noted that most of the waterfront homes are situated in remote and secluded areas and some in resort areas. So these places may not suit the needs of everyone. One has to choose a place that suits him and his family the best. The real estate promotes options for holiday abodes such as condos, cottages, and timeshares. And what type of vacation home the person chooses will depend entirely on the time he would be spending here. As the individual is likely to visit these places once or twice throughout the year, it would be a total waste keeping it vacant for the rest of the year.

Maybe these places could suit the people who love to come to the beach, take long strolls, think, write poetry and love to be left alone. Or maybe if you just adore scenic locations and have all the time in the world and do not mind seclusion. These type of people need to look for different types of homes in a different location. The resort waterfront homes may not suit them. They may be looking for a home near a secluded and quiet lake.

We can all be grateful for the wide variety of waterfront property homes and the different types of people who live in them. Vive le difference!

Intellectual Property- Its Meaning and Development in India

“If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it.” Thomas Jefferson.

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) is the privileges given to the owners of works that are created with the help of individual intelligence. These creations can be in the business, technical, fictional and arty domains and can have various forms comprising, of scripts, inventions, software, a suite or a trade name.

The term “intellectual property” was introduced in the case of Davoll et al. v. Brown in October 1845 in the Massachusetts Circuit Court. In this Justice Charles L. Woodbury held that “only in this way can we protect intellectual property, the labors of the mind, productions and interests as much a man’s own…as the wheat he cultivates, or the flocks he rears.” Section 1 of the French law of 1791 also stated that “All new discoveries are the property of the author; to assure the inventor the property and temporary enjoyment of his discovery, there shall be delivered to him a patent for five, ten or fifteen years.

The basic purpose of IPR is to guard the rights of an author for his work and simultaneously permit the general public to view his creativity. IPR law also puts time limits on the rights given to these authors so that a balance is maintained. Intellectual property, like any other form of property can become a material of trade, can be owned, sold as well as bought. This type of property is gradually becoming important for ensuring competition in a knowledge based economy.

Intellectual property is divided into the following categories:

? Copyright

? Patents

? Trade Marks

? Design Rights

? Passing off

? The law of Confidential information

Copyrights, are mainly issued for the protection of original expressions of art, literature, music, drama etc. – for example, Pepsi has a copyright on the phrase “Yeh Dil Maange More”

Patents are the rights granted to the inventor on new inventions which are not common – for example, Graham Bell got a patent on his invention of the telephone.

Trademarks are mainly issued for protection of the make or the brand name and symbol that may be used by the brand owner-for example, the name ‘Coca Cola’ is a sheltered trademark and only the makers can use it.

Design is issued for the protection of artistic or visual features in products – for example, a toothbrush with large bristles can get a legal protection for its unique design.

Confidential information and trade secrets can also be protected by imposing restrictions on the physical use of that information and also imposing contractual obligations upon the persons dealing with that information – for example, the formula for making Coca Cola has been kept secret in this manner.

There are various organizations that are working towards the protection of intellectual property. Some of them are as follows:

(a) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Geneva which sanctions various treaties in the field of intellectual property.

(b) Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (relating to patents, trademarks, designs, etc.) of 1883.

(c) Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (relating to copyright) of 1886.

(d) Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) through which patents can be obtained in different countries by filing a single application.

(e) World Trade Organization (WTO), which contains the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). This agreement creates an obligation on all the members to recognize intellectual property rights in their country.

In India the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion is the supreme authority for all matters concerning WIPO. There have been remarkable developments in the field of intellectual property in India which is evident from the statistics shown below:

(a) In the year 1999-2000 there were merely 4824 application for patents that were filed whereas in 2006-2007 a total of 28,882 applications have been filed.

(b) There were merely 2824 applications examined in the year 1999-2000 whereas in 2006-2007 the number has gone up to 14,119 in 2006-07.

(c) There was a backlog of 5 lakh cases which has been brought down to zero now.

(d) The process of renewal of Trademarks certificates is now being done instantly and new applications are examined within a week.

(e) In 1999-2000, 8,010 registrations of trademarks were done which has increased to 109,361 now that is almost 13 times of the earlier figure.

(f) In the last four years there were 3.38 lakh trademark certificates issued, however in the last 64 years there were merely 1.65 lakh marks were registered.

(g) There have been 39 Geographical Indications products registrations since September, 2003. These include Darjeeling Tea, Pochanpally Ikat, Chaddar, Mysore Silk, Chanderi Saree, Kullu Shawl, Solapur Bidriware, etc.

(h) In the field of designs also the filing of applications has increased from 2874 to 5372 in 2006-07. The number of examined applications has also gone up to 5179 in 2006-07. The registrations in designs have also gone up to 4431 in 2006-07.

Current developments in the Intellectual property in India

(a) Establishment of NIIPM

The Government has already approved the proposal for establishment of a National Institute for Intellectual Property Management (NIIPM) at Nagpur. The Institute will perform training, education and research in this field.

(b) Modernization of the IP Offices

To provide additional employees, establish a higher level of computer network to support on-line processing, strengthen the data base and novelty search facilities, to make the people aware of generation activities, and to provide an access to international treaties/conventions easily the government is planning to modernize the IP offices. This proposal will be taken up in the 11th five year plan.

(c) Madrid Protocol on Trademarks

Madrid Protocol, administered by WIPO, is an uncomplicated, facilitative and lucrative system for the registration of International Trademarks. If India becomes a member of this then the Indian companies will have an advantage of registering their trademarks in all the countries which are the members of this protocol by filing a single application. The amendment of the Trade Marks Act is in progress so that our country can be a member of this protocol.

(d) International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA)

ISA and IPEA’s provide search reports on uniqueness and examination reports on patentability of various inventions. In India a scheme is under consideration to get recognition for the Indian Patent Office as an International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) under the Patent Co-operation Treaty.

(d) Mashelkar Committee

The Indian government has established a group of technical experts to examine the following patent law issues:

(a) Whether it would be compatible to the TRIPS agreement to limit the grant of patent for pharmaceutical substances only to a new chemical entity or to a new medical entity.

(b) Whether it would be compatible to the TRIPS agreement to exclude micro-organisms from patenting.

The bottom-line is that India is one of the most responsible members of the WTO. Besides creating waves in the global software industry India has framed stringent laws for the protection of IPR in the country. Bill Gates, the chief executive officer of Microsoft Corporation, has rated India as one of the strongest pedestals for software development. It is evident from this statement that if a person like Bill Gates who is so much aware of the IPR issues can designate India as one of the upcoming destinations for the software development then the foreign companies should not worry about the protection of their intellectual property rights while investing in India.

Home Equity Loans UK

If you want cash to cover some immediate personal expenses then one of the inexpensive ways is to take a secured home equity loan. Home equity refers to the difference between the actual market value of your house and the amount you owe to your bankers. The amount of money advanced in a home equity loan is a little less than the exact amount determined as home equity.

A home equity loan should not be taken lightly as one may need quite some time to repay the loan. It is not hassle free either as compared to other kind of loans. Once the application reaches the lender containing details of your property it is processed and bonafide officers of the bank perform the due diligence for valuation of a property. Once an exact value of your property is determined it is matched with your requirements. If the value of the property and the loan amount requested match then the loan is approved and the money disbursed to the customer. The loan amount disbursed is slightly lower than the value of the property keeping in mind any unexpected depreciation in the value of your property.

Homeowners usually go for these kinds of loans when they need money for home improvement purposes or to make fresh investments in buying land or property. Home equity loans can be fixed rate or adjustable rate loans depending upon the choice of the borrower. The interest paid on these loans is tax deductible unlike other consumer durable loans where the interest is not tax deductible.

Some lenders offer these home equity loans as a revolving line of credit to the customer where interest is charged only on the amount of money that is used by the borrower. The option to generate money though a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit should be exercised with great care as any default would lead to forfeiture of your residential property by the lending institution.

Home Improvement Tips for Raising the Value of Your House

Home improvement is nothing but the process of renovating, remodeling or making some changes to the existing home. Home improvement is one of the best ways to raise the worth of your investment property.

Home improvement can come in many types. Some of them include flooring, painting walls, installing air conditioning systems, adding new carpets, upgrading sinks in the bathroom and kitchen, adding new tiles, etc. These are just some types to mention. Still there are many ways to improve your home.

Home improvement tips to raise the Value and beauty of your house:

Develop the exterior of your house:

Always start home improvement with the exterior of your house as this is the major part of your property. Home exterior is the place which buyers see first. If a buyer impress with this then it precedes him further to think about.

So, home exterior decides a buyer whether he is interested in the property or not. Not only home exterior improve the value of your property, but also it adds beauty to your house.

Apply new paint or set up new sidings:

Applying fresh paint can greatly increase the value of your property. Painting is one of the great steps in home improvement. Painting is a simple and inexpensive way to increase the values of your property. In order to do it right you should follow some basic rules of using paint.

Some home painting tips for your home improvement:

• To appear the living space of your house large use the same paint color in adjoining rooms also.

• To expand room height, use different color for ceiling but use only light colors.

• Paint two cotes if you use light paints.

Landscaping:

This also comes under home exterior. Most of the people simply find landscaped lawns magical, particularly the woman of the house. Lawns arranged with plants, ornaments, and rocks make people to stop and stare for some time.

A green lawn at the front of your house looks great and adds to the beauty of the house. It refreshes your minds and your children can get fun by playing in the lawn. Lawns are companionable to the single-storied houses. A lawn adds a sense of proportion to your house.

Parking area – A matter of concern

Having comfortable parking space for your house obviously increases the worth of your house. Arrange shed in your parking yard to protect your vehicles and also it improves the appearance of your house.

Home interior – Makes your house a home

When you think to make upgrades in your home interior, immediately you will think about bathroom, kitchen, and then bedroom. First, start on these. Plan for new bathtub, tiles, and shower stalls in your bathroom and also arrange a full length mirror. Apply new paint to the interior and exterior of your bathroom.

Make your kitchen so that it has lot of free spaces that can fit a table, two sinks, counter top, usual appliances, and garbage disposal system. Also apply fresh tiles and are not light ones, because, stains will appear clearly on light colored tiles.

It is better to Plan for hardwood floor and proper lighting system at dining area, because it adds a pleasant look to your house.

Carpeting your house is also one of the home improvements. Carpeting improves your house beauty.

Till now you knew what to do for your home improvement. Follow these simple steps to make your home beautiful. So, start now and get your dream home! Visit Home Improvement

Dubai Properties Targets High Net-worth Indian Investors at Mumbai Extravaganza 2008

Mumbai Extravaganza offered a unique platform for international real estate institutions as well as developers to launch and promote new products. Apart from high net worth individuals, the high life show also attracted professional advisors such as lawyers, bankers, brokers, top management and decision makers of Mumbai´s leading corporations, successful entrepreneurs and celebrities.

Mohamed Binbrek, CEO of Dubai Properties, said: “We were pleased with our presence at Mumbai Extravaganza. The event gave us an opportunity to present investors with instant information on the latest developments from Dubai Properties, as well as introduce our latest project launches to a new market.

“Indian nationals are amongst the top investors within the booming real estate market in Dubai. The geographical proximity of India makes it an increasingly attractive sector for property developers in the UAE to contemplate. India itself is an emerging and credible market that boasts many international conglomerates and high-net worth investors with whom we are keen to meet and conduct business with.”

In 2007, Indian Nationals spent AED 4 billion on real estate in Dubai, and over the past 10 years, Indian Nationals have spent a total of AED 6.5 Billion on the Dubai Real Estate sector. While the majority of these buyers were Indians living within the UAE, 10% of them were living in India or otherwise, proving the existence of a substantial demand for Dubai real estate from outside the UAE.*

Dubai Properties was presented in the luxury event by Shorex Ltd. the award-winning London-based wealth management event specialist.

Top Kitchen Design Tips To Increase The Value Of Your Property

A well designed kitchen can greatly enhance the appeal and hence value of your property. When developing a property, you need to have a good plan in place. Each room in your property needs to have its own work schedule and budget. This is especially true for the kitchen which in a lot of properties is the most popular room in the house.

When designing your kitchen, you must consider:

1. storage space

How many cabinets are needed for the size of the room? How many shelves are required in the cabinets? What will be the locations of these cabinets?

You must also decide how these cabinets will fit around essential appliances in the kitchen.

2. lighting

The kitchen needs to be bright and airy. A dark and musty kitchen is not only unattractive but can also be unhygienic.

Kitchens need specific lighting for the purposes of food preparation. Ambient lighting serves as general lightning that gives the overall kitchen illumination. The best thing to use here is some sort of fluorescent tubing arrangement.

You can obtain direct lighting, for example aimed at the cooker and kitchen sink, by using conventional recessed lights, surface lights or light fixtures that are on a pendant or chain.

3. appliance space

In addition to the major appliances such as cookers and refrigerators, you also need to design in the locations of microwaves, televisions, telephones etc. These additional items can increase the beauty of your kitchen and help you to sell a lifestyle aimed at the upper end of the market.

4. the work triangle

This connects the three major points of a kitchen: the cooker, refrigerator, and the sink. The longer the distance between these points, the greater the effort required by the potential user.

There are 5 basic shapes to any kitchen design:

1. Single wall

The one-wall or single wall kitchen has all the work centres along one wall, which gives the least efficient plan. This type of kitchen is best for small homes and apartments.

2. L-shaped

The L-shaped kitchen gives a huge amount of continuous counter top space. In this style of kitchen, the work centre is on two adjacent walls, a natural triangle is formed and the traffic bypasses the work area. Space permitting, this design allows for the inclusion of a dining area.

3. U-shaped

In a U-shaped kitchen, a continuous countertop and storage system surrounds the cook on three sides providing maximum efficiency. Traffic flows around the work area not through it and simplifies the cooking process.

4. G-shaped

This is generally a modification of the U-shape but adds an extra wall of cabinets and appliances as a peninsula or fourth partial wall.

5. Corridor/Galley

This plan offers a single cook-efficient workspace with closely grouped work centres on parallel walls.

When designing your kitchen, you should consider the above as a minimum to ensure a quality final product that not only provides a great working environment but also adds value to your property.

Bank of Baroda Enters Into Memorandum of Understanding With Dubai Properties

Bank of Baroda, India’s international bank has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Properties, the region’s leading real estate company, whereby the bank will provide home finance to buyers of residential units in a number of Dubai Properties’ projects across the UAE.

The agreement was signed by Mohamed S. Binbrek, Chief Executive of Dubai Properties, and Ashok K. Gupta, Chief Executive, GCC Operations, Bank of Baroda.

Speaking on the occasion, Gupta said the agreement will facilitate the Bank to help individuals fulfill the dreams of owning their own homes. He added it was a step towards making Bank of Baroda the first choice of every customer.

Bank of Baroda is a leading Indian bank, with an extensive network of over 2,800 branches in India and 71 overseas offices in 25 countries. In the UAE, the Bank of Baroda is the only Indian bank offering full fledged banking services. It has six (6) branches in Dubai, Deira, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Ras-Al- Khaimah and an Electronic Banking Service Unit at Jebel Ali. In Oman, Bank of Baroda has three branches and one branch in Bahrain. The Bank also has plans to have its presence in all GCC countries.

The Bank of Baroda provides an entire range of banking products to individuals and corporates under one roof. The Bank’s Retail Banking Shoppe offers various value added retail products, such as housing loans in the UAE and India, overdraft against property, car loans, and personal loans. The Shoppe endeavours to take care of the individual’s financial needs in a specialized and speedy manner.

The bank is continuously adding new customer-centric products and services for the convenience of customers.

China?s residential property market is unlikely to recover soon

Rents have moved up much less than prices in China over the past few years. As a result, in 5 cities in China – Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen – gross rental yields are now a modest 4.42%, based on a sample of high-end used apartments (www.globalpropertyguide.com).

Shanghai’s gross rental yields average only 3.74%. These are lowest gross rental yields in our China sample, but then Shanghai is the only city where apartment selling prices have apparently not dropped, according to the China Real Estate Index System (CREIS) and eHomeday. Shanghai residential asking prices average US,742 per square metre (sq. m.).

Beijing apartments earn slightly higher gross rental incomes of around 4.21%. These are the country’s most expensive apartments, with an average offer price of average US,977 per sq. m. for the high-end used apartments in our sample.

Chengdu also has rather low gross rental yields, an average of 3.88%. Chengdu apartments are the cheapest among the five cities, at US,060 per sq. m.

The highest rental yields are in Shenzhen, where apartments in our sample earn gross rental yields of 5.69%. The high-end used apartments in Shenzhen cost an average of US$ 1,780 per sq. m.

Guangzhou apartments earn mid-range gross rental yields of 5.41%. Our sample of Guangzhou apartment prices averages around US,577 per sq. m.

BACKGROUND IDEA – RENTAL YIELD

What does “gross rental yield” mean? It’s very similar to the Price / Earnings (P/E) ratio in the stock market. Just as share prices have a P/E range, house prices tend to fluctuate around a rental yield range, research shows.

The gross rental yield is the annual rental earnings / the value of the property.

So if the rent is US,000 and the property is worth US0,000, the yield is 5%.

Our rule-of-thumb is that a gross rental yield of 6% to 7% means a housing market is ‘fairly valued’, though importantly, developing country housing markets usually have higher yields than developed, because of structural issues discouraging housing purchase such as the difficulty of getting mortgage finance.

Where yields (and rental costs) are comparatively low:

· People will prefer to rent, rather than to buy

· Investors are unlikely to ‘buy-to-let’

· Rents will tend rise faster than prices

Conclusion: No turnaround in China’s residential prices likely soon.

When the Chinese housing market was roaring ahead, rents moved up much less than prices. With the current market downturn, rents have dropped together with property prices (though slightly less). Gross rental yields now average a modest 4.42%.

Why are Chinese rental yields so low? Prices in China surged till September 2007, and then paused – and have not substantially dropped since then, according to CREIS, which uses a hedonic methodology (eHomeday arrives at closely similar results).

How far do gross rental yields need to rise in China? China’s gross rental yields of 4.42% are lower than would be expected in a developing economy. They are low, also, compared to other economies with similar income-per-capita.

We conclude that until one of two events occurs – more residential price falls, or substantial increases in rents – residential prices are unlikely to begin a sustained recovery in urban China.

The Chinese government has taken steps to support the market, such as temporarily suspending the business tax for residential property transfers, and encouraging cities to permit foreign purchases. China’s economy remains relatively strong, because of prompt government measures. Consumption spending is strong, restaurants are full, optimism remains high.

However, gross rental yields are still too low. Therefore, it is unlikely that there will be a convincing upturn in Chinese residential prices soon, the Global Property Guide believes.

Description:

The Global Property Guide is an on-line property research house.

Terms of Use:

On-line newspapers, magazines, sites, etc wishing to use material from this press release MUST provide a clickable link to www.globalpropertyguide.com Sites and newspapers found not to be providing a link to us will be removed from our press list.

Requests for Comments:

Requests for comments are best made by telephone to +(63) 917 321 7073. UK-based callers should telephone before lunchtime. Our local time is Hong Kong time, i.e., standard time + 8.00

Publisher and Strategist:

Matthew Montagu-Pollock

Phone: (+632) 867 4220

Cell: (+63) 917 321 7073

Email: editor@globalpropertyguide.com

Address:

Global Property Guide

http://www.globalpropertyguide.com

5F Electra House Building

115-117 Esteban Street

Legaspi Village, Makati City

Philippines 1229

info@globalpropertyguide.com