NEW trend of American celebrities wanting to buy property in Cape Town is emerging.

Alan Long, president of Sotheby’s International Realty in California, was recently in Cape Town looking for upmarket suburbs for luxurious properties on behalf of some of his group’s most high-profile California celebrity clients.

Long, who operates in the Malibu area, says it is not uncommon for such clients to buy international properties without having seen them...

Most people do not have the slightest idea of how to price their property correctly. It will always be a dilemma for anyone who is at any time involved in real estate and is so significant that it can make or break many a good deal.

Peter Redgard owns a house in Bloemfontein with a market value of R1.15mil. He decides to put it on the market at R1.3mil, justifying his decision by: “The house just around the corner has recently been sold for R1.1mil, therefore I might be lucky and get at least R1.3mil” ...

London - She's seen owners come and go, but the tortoise in the garden of a five-bedroom Victorian terrace house on sale in Exeter, southwest England, should not be changing address any time soon.

Eliza has been living at the Prospect Park property, near the local university, since at least World War 2 - and whoever buys the house from current owners Andrew and Helen Proctor will inherit her.

"I do feel that this is her home as she has been here for such a long time and is safe here," said Mrs Proctor, 43, whose family - including two young children - has lived in the house for the past six years.

The three-storey house is listed at £354 950 pounds (about R4-million) and local real estate agents Palmer Collins has thoughtfully added a photo of Eliza on its website.

"We have never known a property with a tortoise as a sitting tenant before," a spokesperson for the firm said. - Sapa-AFP

Article from: www.palmer-collins.co.uk

If you don't know that 'honeypot' is a real estate term, you better get yourself down to the annual Sapoa Convention.

It’s the key meeting-place for players in the South African commercial and industrial property marketplace and is being held at the International Durban Convention Centre in Durban on 17 May 2006

Delegates who haven't visited Durban in a while should...

For nearly 400 years, Robben Island, about 12 kilometers from Cape Town, was a place of exile and imprisonment where rulers sent those they regarded as outcasts and troublemakers.

Since 1997 Robben Island has been a museum acting as a focal point of South African heritage. Daily tours of about 4 hours long, including the two half-hour ferry rides are offered (weather permitting) from the V & A Waterfront in Cape Town. In 1999 the island was declared a World Heritage Site...

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Camp Revival of Fifties Era Domestic Bliss

Meet Brini Maxwell. With her big blonde wig and clean-cut outfits, she’ll remind you of the perfect domesticity of The Stepford Wives.

“But behind her 1950s domestic goddess façade, Brini has something up her very elegant sleeve,” says Jill de Villiers, Executive Producer of The Home Channel. “A few years ago Brini would only have appealed to a small section of the South African viewing public. Now we’re ready for her. I trust our viewers will like her as much as we do.”...

A restored wooden floor adds to the appeal and value of a well-established property today, older houses with wooden floors are highly sought after so if you already have wooden flooring, consider removing the carpet and revealing what’s hidden...

The hidden costs to purchasing a property

Are you prepared for the expenses involved when buying a property? Do you think R500 000.00 is the only expense when you sign on the dotted line? Think again! Buyers should exercise caution and be aware of the "hidden costs", which may come as a shock to especially first time buyers. Herewith a short breakdown of costs you might have forgotten about...

South Africa’s leading computer software system for effective Real Estate Agency management appears to be heading for an international award for innovation!

Willie van Schalkwyk and Pat Jewell, directors of USP Designs, developers and owners of the CyberAgent and CyberProp brands, are enormously excited about the nomination of their CyberAgent Mobile application for the Computer World Honours Program.

Each year, members of the Computer World Chairmen's Committee identify the organizations whose use of information technology has been especially noteworthy for the originality of its conception, the breadth of its vision and the significance of its benefit to society. These identified organizations are asked to contribute a case study to the program's collection, and the donation of these case studies is celebrated with a formal medal ceremony where a case study Laureate from each organization is publicly recognized.

From the Laureates in each of 10 categories, a distinguished panel of judges selects finalists in each category. In June, the program honours these finalists with a special ceremony. At this ceremony, the Chairmen's Committee presents the 21st Century Achievement Awards to the 10 organizations selected by the judges as first among their peers within the Finalists.

As an absolute first in Southern Africa, CyberAgent offers its users the future of real estate business management, through the CyberAgent Mobile application. This exciting new technology platform provides an innovative listing and management tool from which properties can be listed in just six minutes, anywhere, anytime!

Since the introduction of CyberAgent Mobile to the property community earlier this year, the application has literally taken off like a rocket. But what’s even more gratifying is the way its user’s real estate businesses are taking off as a result of improved profits and productivity through modern technology.

USP Designs, who developed the software as a complete Real Estate Agency management system, originally launched CyberAgent in 1999. Today it is still based on cutting edge technology, which is the result of constant refinement and improvement, with free programme updates being provided on a regular basis. As an all-inclusive office management tool consisting of 10 modules, CyberAgent effectively eliminates the need for multiple programs, and time consuming double capturing. Currently over 1000 Real Estate Agencies make use of CyberAgent software, which also operates as an off-line system, resulting in further savings of time and money.

“CyberAgent delivers a real competitive edge, allowing agencies of all sizes to benefit from the highest levels of Internet marketing and exposure.” Says Pat Jewell, Director Operations and Marketing.

CyberAgent Mobile, this innovative management tool provides real estate agents with a complete end to end solution, that allows them to administer, catalogue and publish properties online without being anywhere near the office. Combined with a CyberAgent real estate business management system on your desktop computer, as well as comprehensive and cost efficient web site development and hosting facilities, CyberAgent Mobile is delivering effective technology that simplifies the property business for the better.

The directors and staff of USP Designs agree that this achievement would not have been possible without the support and assistance of key suppliers and strategic partners who were involved in turning the CyberAgent Mobile concept into a working reality.

In particular, we would like to mention Sybase South Africa and Hewlett Packard South Africa, who played vital roles in the project

If you would like to know more about the above features and benefits that CyberAgent offer, visit: www.cyberagent.co.za or email: sales@cyberprop.com

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