Indian tycoon's Taj style mansion likely to go under hammer

An Indian tycoon's palatial mansion here billed as 'Taj Mahal on the Swan' worth a staggering 70 million Australian dollars may come under the hammer as its owner's company has been placed in receivership.

Perth-based tycoon Pankaj Oswal is likely to put his partially-built riverside house on sale after his fertiliser company 'Burrup Fertilisers' was placed in receivership, media report said.

Dubbed as the 'Taj-Mahal-on the Swan', Oswal's residence is among the most expensive houses in Australia which is being built in the style of Indian architecture in the well-heeled Perth suburb of Peppermint Grove overlooking the Swan River.

According media reports, the Oswals are considering selling the property if they are offered a good price.

The million dollar domed structure is due for completion in 2012 and includes a temple, a gym, an observatory with a revolving roof and parking for 17 cars.

Chris Codrington, a spokesman for the Oswals, said "It's not...
For more info- http://www.financialexpress.com/news/indian-tycoons-taj-style-mansion-likely-to-go-under-hammer/737473/

Global Retail Majors Expected to Enter into Indian Retail Sector in 2011

If consolidation was the buzzword for the retail sector in 2010, the coming year is expected to see some big-bang entries of global retail majors as the sector looks forward to a positive outcome on the relaxation of FDI norms in retail. Even while India added around 5 million sq ft of retail space in 2010, some stores were relocated and some unviable ones faced closure. Once-lucrative businesses were bought out.

While Vishal Retail was acquired partly by Shriram Group and partly by private equity fund Texas Pacific Group, Indiabulls, which had acquired Piramal’s Piramyd Retail in 2007, put its retail expansion plans on hold to focus on its main businesses of financial services and real estate. Yet, with the lessons learnt from the past few years, prudent modern retailers managed to clock double-digit growth rates. Same store growth was well above 15%.

According to Thomas Varghese, CEO, Aditya Birla Retail , 2010 can rightly be called a revival year as “starting from the budget announcements to modifying income tax slabs, good salary increase across sectors and a fairly good monsoon—all aided in driving consumption across categories” . The revival though, had to overcome hurdles such as high rentals , attrition, higher cost of compliance and low investments flowing into the sector.

According to Varghese, the recession was a blessing in disguise for the retail industry. Though it slowed down the pace of growth, it helped retailers to introspect and revisit their business models. As a result , strong business fundamentals took over ambitious expansion plans, which warranted restructuring exercises , relocation of stores and renegotiating rentals. These initiatives helped improve the profitability and viability of different retail formats and also enabled retailers to innovate , adopt best practices and bring in efficiencies in their operations. “I am confident that rich learning from the last couple of years will enable them to expand and build a sustainable business,” said Varghese.
For more info- http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/global-retail-majors-expected-to-enter-into-indian-retail-sector-in-2011.html#more-4826

Real Estate's Smart Phone Revolution

Smart phones are getting smarter. They help us find out where we are, and guide us to where we’re going. For so many people, the smart phone serves as a calendar, alarm clock, Internet browser, communications device, radio, jukebox, television, movie theater, map, camera, photo album, office assistant, arcade, lifeline and window to the world.

Mobile technology is empowering real estate professionals to do more while out in the field, and Inman News launched a survey to find out which mobile technologies are making an impact on the industry.

The Inman News smart phone survey revealed which smart phone operating systems, devices, and mobile apps real estate professionals are using the most for business purposes, and this report details the survey’s findings. The survey was conducted from July 28-Aug. 6, 2010, and collected 313 responses.

Among the highlights of the report:

Almost one-third of respondents said they are using their smart phones three to four hours per day for work-related purposes, and nearly 17 percent are spending five hours or more on their smart phones each day for work-related purposes.

About 42 percent of respondents said they own an iPhone, while 26.1 percent own a BlackBerry and 19.4 percent use smart phones equipped with Google’s Android operating system.

Nearly half of respondents (48.6 percent) had between one to five work-related mobile apps installed on their smart phones, while about 10 percent said they had zero work-related apps, 21.5 percent had six to 10 work-related apps installed, and about 19 percent had 11 or more work-related apps installed.

Collected from- http://www.inman.com/products/downloads/real-estates-smart-phone-revolution

Tips in Buying A Waterfront Property

Everybody does not buy a water front property. Hence it is quite possible that you may not be aware of what to look for while buying a water front property. As it will be a home on water, you have to obviously check out the quality of water, the soil bed on which it is built, the approach as well as the space for docking your boat etc.

The price of the property is directly dependent upon the water frontage that it has. Higher the water frontage, higher would be the price. This means the higher the availability of land fronting the water, higher would be the price.

Let us help you with the guidelines so that you are able to select the best property, negotiate a good deal and own your waterfront home.

First and foremost, check out the access to your home through the water. Also check out the local rules that are allowed by the county offices to build boathouses and ensure that boating as well as owning boat is permitted. Once you have information on the rules applicable and the licensing requirement, physically check out the site and ensure the approach.

The next area that is required to be checked out is to see if there are any watering holes or approaches used by the animals. In many places animals do come down and use the water for drinking, fishing etc. Hence it is important to check out the animal life pattern as well as rules that are enforced by the Department of wildlife.

You would need to do a thorough check on the quality of water, shoreline availability, the plumbing and sewer system, soil bed composition as well as availability of sweet water etc.

Ensure that the shorelines are safe for children and the water levels are not dangerous around the shoreline. Rocky shoreline poses dangers to young children. You should get a sample of water tested at the lab to ensure the water is of good quality and not contaminated with waste being dumped into it.

It might be worthwhile checking out the nature of industries functioning around the area from local country registry.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Heather_Matthews

Helpful Tips on How to Improve your Homes Curb Appeal

Everyone knows that selling a house is a difficult job. With the kind of real estate market condition right now, competition is so stiff and thus home sellers are having a hard time disposing their property. But this did not stop some of the sellers to dispose their homes. In fact, this became their motivation to sell more and think of new ways on how to attract potential buyers. One of the effective marketing strategies is to improve a home’s curb appeal.

A home’s curb appeal is the first thing that is seen by the buyers. It is the overall appearance of the house and thus, it should always look good. This will leave the initial impression to people who will be passing by or checking out your home. This is also another basis for them to compare to other properties. So, if you are sharing the same sentiments with other home sellers, then you might want to learn some helpful tips on how to improve your curb appeal for a more attractive house.

When you talk of curb appeal improvement it does not really have to be lavish and expensive. There are so many ways on how to enhance it without having to spend millions of bucks. You simply have to make the most of your creativity and resourcefulness. And you will surely get an excellent outcome.

Initially, you have to think of how you wanted your house to look like. Come up with a plan on what you want to do with the garden or plants. Plan the things which you will be using in the said improvement activity. Jot them down so you do not miss anything. This is one way of making things organized and in order. Always stick to your goal and that is to have a nice and lovely curb appeal.

As you are on the process of selling your house, make sure to emphasize those best features. This is one way of making your home stand out from the rest of the houses. Remember that the market has stiff competition going on. So you should keep up to it and do not allow them to step on your property. Home buyers would always look for new and interesting houses. Become one of their prospects.

After all the planning and taking down of notes, it is high time for you to implement what you have written down. Purchase the materials which you will need. Make sure to canvass first so you will know which shop sells the cheapest of the materials. Choose plants and flowers which would properly coordinate with the theme of your house.

The surroundings should be clean all the time. Get rid of the outgrown weeds, fallen leaves and other garbage. Nothing beats the beauty of a clean and organized home. Arrange the plants in such a way that they would not disturb the pathways. Guests would very much appreciate your work if it looks tidy.

Improving your home’s curb appeal plays an important role in the home selling process. Never disregard this or take this for granted. This can greatly help in giving impressions to the potential buyers.

Article From Real Estate Pro Articles

Make your Dream Home a reality with Internet Home loans

Every individual plans to buy a home once in his or her lifetime. And for buying a home, almost everyone needs guidance for availing home loans. It requires expert handling and advice so that the customers are explained the intricacies of loan and leasing procedure.
                 The company Internet Home loans, is known for its advisory services on various mortgage and home loan options. The company runs with a motive to get you the dream home or property of yours. Whether it is a legal document, or credit issue, the company has years of experience in offering home loan service. The firm has its 100% free service policy and exempts any advisory fees and commissions from its clients. Any issue regarding home loans australia and mortgages are handled by the senior advisors of the company and they make it a point that your dream of owning your dream home in Australia is made a reality.
                 There is no doubt on that statement that buying a property is a tedious task and the process involves series of issue handling jobs which are beyond the ability of amateur buyer.
Therefore, the company assigns a mortgage broker to every customer so that the whole process remains hassle free while the customer sits relaxed while choosing the best home loan. The advisor guides the customer through all the procedural tasks involved in searching the suitable loan to unknown task which come along with it.
The company offers a plethora of loan services and are available at competitive prices available in the market. There are many loan programs run by the company which includes First Home Owners Loan, Fixed Rate Loan, and Fixed Rate Loan.
First Home Owners Loan is for those who are buying their first home. The company arranges for securing a pre-approved loan and that too which requires less of documentation work. Another internet home loan program offered by the company is Fixed Rate Loan. It is for those who get troubled with fluctuating rates of interest. The company arranges a fixed loan rate for such customers and there are no varying interests at the cost of minimal extra payments.
                  One more option that can be availed is Investment Loans. This is for those customers who had earlier faced problems with buying investment properties. The company makes hassle free way for such customers who have to do without any documents or any kind of lender fees. You can avail the investment home loans easily without any extra paper work.
Another kind of popular package is Business Loans. The company unlocks equity share of your property and arranges finance for your business project. The process is very popular and liked by the business sector organizations.
For those customers who have poor credit history and credit defaults, they can try Bad Credit Loans option. The company offers financial advice to such customers.
This article taken from- http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/make-your-dream-home-a-reality-with-internet-home-loans-3607313.html