Author: Buy2Greece

Hello,

34% of Chinese high net worth individuals have invested overseas in 2013. 70% of Chinese buyers pay cash.

China’s leading luxury property show, LPS Shanghai 2014 will once again welcome over 5,000 elite property buyers and investors in the heart of downtown Shanghai.

The world’s most prestigious property firms will once again advertise their properties at LPS Shanghai 2014: Sotheby’s International Realty, Knight Frank, Savills, Christie’s International Real Estate, Douglas Elliman, Keller Williams, Alain Pinel, Keppel Land, Raimon Land, Cushman, Re/Max, and many more.

To be held on December 12-14 at the glamorous 5-star Marriott Shanghai City Centre, LPS Shanghai will present luxury properties from over 30 countries to Chinese elites: USA, Canada, China, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Cyprus, Greece, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia… and many more.

To stay in a vacation home it is imperative to pay a security deposit. This is an amount that most vacation home owners charge from the occupants as a compensation for any damages that may occur during their stay. The security deposits are not cheap. This is because when somebody is entrusting you with their major financial asset to which they are emotionally attached and financially dependent there has to be a cost for it.

So, you may be asked to deposit about $200 to $500 depending on the type of vacation home you choose. And, unfortunately, most of the time, it is not an easy task to retrieve the security deposit from the owners. This is because there are certain laws that the occupants must follow and sometimes in the urge to enjoy vacations these rules are ignored. But if you by abide the rules, getting the security deposit back should not be such a big challenge.

To help you safeguard the security deposit, mentioned below are some vital tips that you must keep in mind when renting a vacation home.

1. Know everything about the rental’s fees and deposits

It is good idea to understand the deposit and rental fee in detail before hiring a rental. Bringing clarity in the deal can help you in avoiding unexpected expenses and save you from paying more money than you expected. Most of the owners of the vacation rentals charge a non-refundable fee for pets and cleaning, etc. So, it is good to know about the guidelines and structure of the fee from the vacation rental owner before moving into it.

1. Check for any issues in the property on arrival

   Instead of directly unpacking the suitcase upon arrival to the vacation home, you should take a few moments to inspect the property. Make notes and take pictures about any issues or complaints regarding the property. Let the owner know of it immediately by making a call so that you are not held responsible for the damages. It is also a good idea to email the owner so that you have a documented proof of the situation.

2. Familiarize yourself about your rights regarding rental security deposits

   It is good to know about few laws about rental security deposits and rights of the occupants. It can help you stay guarded in case the owner tries to play some tricks. In general, the property owners must not hold the security deposit more than the given time period, which can range from 14 to 30 days. If they hold the amount in case of any alleged damages, they must give a detailed list of it and the amount they wish to withhold for its repair. In some countries the owner may have to submit the receipts of the spending, which were used from the security deposit for covering the damages. For usual wear and tear or already existing damages, the owners do not have any rights to charge the fee from the occupants.

3. Keep any breakable things in a safe place

   At vacation homes if you find any decorative pieces or items which are delicate and potentially damageable, store them in a safe place. By doing so you can protect yourself from unnecessary damages and the fees associated with it. This step is especially applicable in case you are with vacationing with children and pets as the chances of destruction are more.

4. Abide with the rules stated in the contract

   It is important to follow the rules stated in the contract to ensure you get back the security deposit without any issues. It means when the agreement specifies any specific number for guest or doesn’t allow pets then it is good to follow it. Because some rental contracts allow owners to hold the deposit if the occupant violates rules, even when there aren’t any damages on the property.

5. Disclose any damages done

   Damages are normal, so if they occur be bold enough to accept them. Show willingness to replace or resolve them by contacting the property owner or company. It is not a big deal to manage small replacements and by doing so you can ensure getting back your security deposit.

6. Keep the property tidy while checking out

   Though most of the vacation homes have housekeepers, and they state that housekeeping will be done after your check out, it is good to tidy up things in the property before leaving. This helps you to avoid facing problems like extra cleaning fees. Besides, it prevents owners from looking for reasons to deduct your security deposit.

7. Opt for insurance policies

   It is good to go for travel insurances that consists of Security Deposit Protection and Accidental Rental Damage. This can help in managing the damages with a small fixed fee rather than huge repair bills.

According to FIABCI’s latest research, here are nine current trends:

2. Five years ago, Asians were parking their money in Asia. Today, they have shifted to moving their investment dollars to the U.S.

3. Canada is still the No. 1 source of international U.S. investment.

4. The Canadian government recently closed down its equivalent of the U.S. EB-5 visa program. (The U.S. EB-5 visa program allows visas to be issued to those who invest at least $500,000 in the U.S. and use that money to create or preserve at least 10 American jobs.) Canada’s decision drastically reduced Chinese investment in Canada and has driven more U.S. investment by the Chinese.

5. High tax rates in France and the relative weakness of the euro are driving European investment outside of Europe.

6. Instability in other nations is also driving U.S. investment. Ukrainians are purchasing in Florida, Atlanta, Houston and Jacksonville. Brazilians and Venezuelans are driving the Miami economic recovery as Venezuela undergoes a systematic collapse. Puerto Ricans are exiting Puerto Rico and virtually no one is returning.

7. The current Arab influx in the investment market is huge. People from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon tend to purchase multi-unit buildings of between six and 12 units. They normally don’t purchase hotels and restaurants because of Sharia law prohibiting alcohol sales.

8. Getting money legally into the U.S. continues to be a major issue.

9. Middle Eastern clients tend to prefer more ostentatious properties, while Asians normally prefer new, with top-of-the-line quality.

Only days after Storm Fay disrupted the quiet stretch in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Gonzalo formed Sunday afternoon just east of the Leeward Islands.

“Pouring rain will lash the northern Lesser Antilles Monday,” said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Andy Mussoline.

Torrential rain and locally damaging winds will blast the northern Leeward Islands Monday as Gonzalo tracks over them before moving toward Puerto Rico Monday night.

Gonzalo is expected to bring many dangers with it as it tracks westward. “Life-threatening flash floods and mudslides will threaten the region,” said Mussoline.

Gonzalo will likely reach the Virgin Islands Monday night before passing Puerto Rico just to the northeast by early Tuesday morning.

Warm water and low wind shear will allow the system to strengthen over the next few days and Gonzalo very well could be a Category 1 hurricane when it nears Puerto Rico.

A cold front will steer Gonzalo on a more northerly path by midweek. Folks in the Bahamas should be on alert once again as the northerly turn will take Gonzalo toward them late this week or weekend, perhaps as a hurricane.

During October, on average, areas most likely for tropical development in the Atlantic Basin tend to shift closer to the nearshore waters of North and Central America.

The Atlantic is behind the curve for the average number of named tropical systems. After about a three week lull, Fay and Gonzalo recently brought the number of named storms to seven. Every year, on an average, there are nine named systems over the Atlantic by the middle of October.

With 18 named systems this season, the eastern Pacific is running ahead of the average. By the middle of October, the average number of named systems is 15.

As a source of inspiration and information for holidaymakers travel blogs are becoming more and more popular. For a number of years ITB has held several events for international travel bloggers, providing opportunities to exchange knowledge and enabling them to meet with trade visitors and exhibitors. Next year, in cooperation with TransitMedia and visitBerlin, for the first time ITB Berlin will be organising a Blog Camp. On 1 and 2 March 2015 Sebastian Canaves and Conni Biesalski will be among those giving fascinating workshops and creative sessions aimed at teaching participants how to improve their blogs in order to reach more readers and showing them how they can earn money with their reports and trips.

From 13 to 26 October 2014 anyone interested can sign up for the ITB Blog Camp at https://www.blog-camp.de/itb-blog-camp-2015/, where detailed information is available about the camp and on how to apply. Applicants should be passionate about blogging and travelling, have a minimum blogging experience of two years and post blogs at least four times a month. Twenty bloggers will be selected from the applications. The first five successful applicants will receive free overnight accommodation from Saturday to Sunday in a hip Berlin design hotel and take part in a bicycle tour, both sponsored by visitBerlin. In general, participants must pay their travel and overnight expenses themselves. Anyone arriving on Saturday, 28 February 2015, can join the networking evening. visitBerlin also organizes a rallye to the Teufelsberg on 3 March 2015. Application details to be announced soon.

Participation in the ITB Blog Camp is the ideal way to prepare for a visit to the world’s leading travel trade show. The event will take place on the weekend before ITB Berlin, which opens its doors on 4 March.

What if you could capture the dimensions of your home simply by walking around with your phone before you went furniture shopping? It’s one of several big questions Google is asking as part of Project Tango, an effort by the company’s new Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group to expand the reach of space and motion for mobile devices to a “human scale.”

The technology is “still in the very early stages,” said Iska Hain, global communications and public affairs manager at Google, in an e-mail interview, but the implications for Real Estate and home improvement are huge.

The new prototype – a 5-inch Android smartphone armed with custom-built sensors and software designed to track the full motion of the device – can create a real-time 3D model of the space around you.

“These sensors make over a quarter-million 3D measurements every single second, updating the position and location of the phone, fusing this information into a single 3D model of the environment,” said Johnny Chung Lee, project lead at ATAP, in a YouTube video introducing Project Tango, where an example of its capabilities included the mapping and placement of furniture in a home. It is an effort that has spanned a year of work with universities, research labs and industrial partners around the world, aiming to concentrate the robotics and computer vision technologies of the last decade into a mobile phone, according to the Project Tango website and YouTube video.

Google is shipping a limited number of prototypes to professional developers by mid-March, and, according to Hain, is challenging them to think about questions that could change the way Real Estate agents do business:

What if directions to a new location didn’t stop at the street address?
What if you never again found yourself lost in a new building?
What if the visually impaired could navigate unassisted in unfamiliar indoor places?

“There are so many possibilities,” she said. “As we get further along, there is potential for the technology to be used by many verticals (retail, art, Real Estate, etc.).”

It all began after a fellow passenger sneezed and then allegedly said: “I have Ebola. You’re all screwed.” The man sneezed on an airplane and then allegedly joked to seatmates that he had Ebola caused a scare on a US Airways flight Wednesday.

US Airways Flight 845 from Philadelphia was greeted with a hazmat team and inspected by local health officials when it arrived in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, according to reports. A spokesman for American Airlines, which now includes merger partner US Airways, acknowledged the plane was inspected on arrival “due to a possible health issue on board.”

Another passenger notified a flight attendant, who alerted the captain. The carrier then followed protocol for such a situation, which – in this case – forced the plane to be halted on the tarmac so that a four-person hazmat crew could inspect the plane.

A passenger’s video captured the fallout that ensued from the joke.

“It’s going to look worse than it is,” a flight attendant can be heard telling passengers via the aircraft’s PA system. “I’ve done this for 36 years. I think the man that has said this is an idiot, and I’ll say that straight out. If you hear me that’s fine.”

The hazmat crew climbed on board, moving down the aisle in plastic suits with breathing apparatuses hiding their faces. People pulled out cellphones to capture the scene. A child squealed in the background.

As the health crews got to the joking passenger, he can be heard on the video saying: “I was just kidding. I ain’t from Africa.”

Passengers were booing when the man was eventually escorted off the flight.

A 110 metre long temporary road bridge weighing 350 tonnes has been launched over the Great Western Main Line as part of Crossrail improvement works in the area.

The temporary structure has been installed at Thorney Lane, in Iver, ahead of the demolition of the existing bridge at Christmas.

Both Thorney Lane Bridge and Stoke Poges Bridge in Slough will be demolished at Christmas and replaced with permanent bridges to allow enough room for overhead electric cables to be installed over the tracks on the Great Western Main Line. Crossrail’s new electric trains will be quieter, smoother and more reliable than the existing diesel suburban trains.

Stoke Poges Lane Bridge in Slough will be closed between late November 2014 and April 2015 with traffic redirected along Farnham Road or Stoke Road and William Street.

Matthew White, Surface Director at Crossrail said: “Crossrail will provide a major improvement in public transport for people in the area – better stations, new trains and more comfortable journeys. Passengers will be able to travel right through central London without having to change trains, making it easier and more convenient to get to a range of destinations across the capital and the South East”.

Matthew Steele, Programme Director for Crossrail at Network Rail said: “Crossrail is one of the most important projects that Network Rail is working on and promises to deliver huge improvements to rail transport in Slough, South Buckinghamshire and across the route. The project team are committed to delivering these important works efficiently and in partnership with the local authorities.”

Source:- Cross Rail

As Super Storm Hudud lashes the Indian east coast, tropical Storm Fay headed toward a close brush with Bermuda before dawn Sunday, and the British island territory off the U.S. coast prepared itself for heavy rains, high winds and rough surf.

A tropical storm warning was already in effect on Bermuda. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Fay was not expected to gain any more strength, but warned that hurricane conditions were still a possibility and islanders should stay alert.

Fay was centered about 45 miles (65 kilometers) south of Bermuda early Sunday and moving north-northeast at 17 mph (28 kph). The storm had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 Fay was expected to pass just southeast of Bermuda before dawn, dumping up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain in some areas. Bermuda’s government weather service warned that the storm would cause hazardous surf throughout Sunday.

As a ray of hope forecasters said a cold front was likely to absorb Fay on Monday.

The outbreak of Ebola forced many major airlines to suspend their services to West Africa. Emirates, British Airways are two of the major airlines who have stopped their services immediately after Ebola outbreak became a travel alert worldwide. However, there are two airlines that are still continuing their services to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Brussels Airlines and the Royal Air Maroc the largest airline of Morocco are taking this as a part of their social and humanitarian responsibility. Brussels Airlines says it has no plans to stop flying into Guinea, Sierra Leone or Liberia in the immediate future.

The vice president of Brussels Airlines, Mr. Geert Sciot said, “Without our flights it would become almost impossible for the medical team to reach the country.”

Sciot, who said that the airline has made flights to Africa a focus of their service for decades, said that the World Health Organization and other health groups had directly asked senior airline leadership to continue service to West Africa. Health groups also partnered with Brussels Airlines to implement measures to ensure safety for the passengers and crew.

All passengers leaving the region have their temperatures taken and are screened with a questionnaire; patients with Ebola symptoms are not allowed to fly. Airline crew are not permitted to spend the night in at-risk locations, so they travel on a Brussels flight to Senegal when they need to stay overnight in West Africa.