How to buy an island – and truly work remotely
Krolow is talking about islands such as Motu Teta Rangiroa in French Polynesia, which is on the market for just over £1.5m. If you told a child to crayon a picture of a private island, this palm-tree studded paradise is what they’d draw. Thanks to Starlink, owners can live on coconuts while trading shares on […]
Is your suburb ripe for gentrification? How to tell if higher property prices and high-rises are on the horizon
Shiny cafes, designer “doodle” dogs, micro breweries. There goes the neighbourhood. Gentrification is a decades-old global phenomenon that can lead to a suburb being completely transformed. British sociologist Ruth Glass first coined the term in 1964 to describe the displacement of London’s working-class residents by wealthier newcomers. “Once this process of gentrification starts in a […]
How to choose the perfect property investment strategy
The UAE attracts different kinds of property investors, and the availability of diverse options means home buyers can choose a unit that is best suited for either a short-term or long-term lease. This decision is usually based on various factors such as rental yields, capital appreciation, location, market conditions, supply and demand and individual investment […]
Buying a house? How to check if it’s at risk from sinking, flooding or dirty air from climate change
Don’t make the biggest purchase of your life without checking these risks first. ADVERTISEMENT For most people, buying a home is the biggest investment of their life. So it makes sense to take every risk into account. Increasingly, climate change is taking its toll on the property market, damaging and devaluing homes, and driving up […]
How to deter burglars from your home – by an ex-housebreaker
What locks should I use? For a traditional front door to a house, Lloyd Morgan, a master locksmith at London Locks Limited, recommends the combination of a lever mortice deadlock with a high quality night latch. Night latches are fitted on the internal side of a door with a handle, and unlocked from the outside […]
How to build a lot of housing that isn’t ugly
Open this photo in gallery: Two women peer into a construction site on Broadway street in Vancouver on Feb. 16.Jennifer Gauthier /The Globe and Mail At first glance, the three new buildings that developer Adrian Lai is promoting – among the first proposals in Vancouver’s effort to turbocharge densification along its extensive east-west Broadway corridor […]
Car insurance is up 43% since 2022. Here’s how to lower your premiums.
Feeling burned by sharp increases in your car-insurance rates over the last year? Buckle up: Insurance is only going to get more expensive. Car-insurance premiums will continue to climb this year after rising more than 43% since January 2022, according to new research from Bankrate. “While we hope to see rates stabilize soon, that likely […]
How to calculate tax on inherited property?
There are 14 legal heirs to my grandfather’s residential property. Twelve of them will waive their rights to the property. Instead, those rights will be passed on the son of my late uncle and me. To facilitate this transfer, we will each make a payment to the other heirs and then sell the property. We […]
The dangers of buying property for your children – and how to avoid them
We were contacted by an Australian entrepreneur who had allocated a significant £9m budget to his daughter in her twenties. He wanted us to ensure she had gained access to and picked from the very best properties and that the negotiations were expertly handled. Beyond that, the decision was entirely hers. We are currently working […]
How to get a bigger home in an unforgiving market
While the number of home purchases has fallen – mortgage approvals in October were a third below their five-year average – many people have still managed to move to bigger homes this year. Increasing numbers have bought in cash, meaning that Savills estate agency expects cash purchasers to make up 43pc of transactions in 2023, […]