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Property prices in London grew by a record rate last month, it has been suggested.

In Knight Frank’s prime central London index, house prices in the capital rose by some 3.1 per cent over the course of June, which in turn drove the annual rate of inflation to 34.5 per cent. Consequently, the company reported that the month’s growth resulted in the highest year-on-year increase noted for some 28 years.

According to the figures, “super-prime” property was reported to have particularly caused the price rises, with those homes worth more than 4 million pounds said to have seen a 43 per cent increase over the course of the year. Meanwhile, housing under the 1 million pounds price bracket was reported to have decreased by 1.6 per cent.

Overall, the average property in the capital is reported to cost more than 330,000 pounds. However, Knight Frank suggested that the housing market could be starting to cool down as the effect of five interest rates by the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC) impacts upon consumers’ ability to make secured loan repayments.

Liam Bailey, head of residential research for Knight Frank, said: “Over the past three months price growth in the sub 1 million pounds price category has eased, possibly reflecting the recent interest rate rise and the sensitivity of this part of the market to general economic trends”. He added: “We expect to see price growth in prime central London settle at 25 per cent by the year end”.

Mr Bailey also noted that over the course of June, the proportion of those looking to buy a home compared to the number of properties available decreased by some 5.5 per cent. The expert suggested that this figure could be “implying an improvement in relative supply”.

At the beginning of this week, research carried out by Nationwide reported that although properties across the country have risen in price between April and June the growth has been at a slower pace. Over the second quarter of 2007, the average house increased by some 2.1 per cent to stand at 181,810 pounds.

Although every region of Britain has been said to have seen growth of at least five per cent during the past 12 months, chief economist Fionnuala Earley suggested that “even London and Northern Ireland - the two most buoyant regional markets - saw the quarterly pace of house price inflation slow”. However, with these areas seeing growth of 15.7 and 54 per cent respectively, Ms Earley suggested “unsustainable” price rises may still cause difficulties for those making secured homeowner loan repayments.

Meanwhile, speaking on Channel 4’s News at Noon programme, Michael Taylor, senior economist for Lombard Street Research, suggested that the effect of recent MPC increases could soon cause an end to the recent “period of strong house price inflation”. He suggested: “House price inflation could be zero, there could be no house price gains whatsoever and in one or two regions even the possibility of falling house prices”. The economist suggested that such a move could happen by next year and may take place “possibly quite abruptly”.

Abbi Rouse writes for 1 stop finance shop where visitors can apply for UK secured loans and also focuses on personal loans for UK residents. Visit Today: http://news.1stopfinanceshopuk.biz

The first thing that you will notice when you set out to look for foreclosed homes for sale is that the price of such properties is lower than the actual market value. Many of them are priced at least 5% - 50% below their market value. Some properties are sold for approximately full market price and others sell at more than half off it.

There are various factors that contribute to this variation in prices. When foreclosed homes come into the market for sale they are priced and appraised fairly. This is a certain percentage of the home market value that has been assessed. This value is based a lot on the condition of the house, nearby school, neighborhood and various other factors in addition to the general housing demand. However due to the haste in selling off the foreclosed properties sometimes appraisals are made in such a rush that the house remains undervalued.

As a buyer it is up to you to do some research and determine whether the property is priced low because in some way they are not very desirable or because during appraisal they were undervalued. This can be very helpful in ensuring that you will not land up buying a bad property. You can also do some investigation of the selling prices of homes that are similar to the foreclosed homes in the same locality so that the approximate market value is determined.

It always helps to conduct a through inspection and make an estimate of how much the renovations and repairs will be costing if you buy a particular foreclosed property. After making an estimate, add these costs to the asking price of the house and see whether the house is still being sold below the value it hold in the market. At first, this process will seem to be intimidating and difficult but if you keep practicing it you will be able to identify the gems in the real estate market fro foreclosures.

You need to remember that the closing cost for the foreclosed property is generally low as compared to those for traditional real estate transaction. Be on the lookout for opportunities to reduce the closing cost. If you are planning to purchase a foreclosure house from a government agency there are chances that the closing costs will be paid by the agency for you. This will be done in order to encourage you to buy the property fast.

If you are a beginner in this field then it can be a tough issue of making the decision to buy or not to buy a foreclosure because it can have complications. However, if you come across a very good deal then do not let it go from your hands. There are some homes that are in a great shape and you can buy them at a price that is less than the market value it holds. So do not let it pass without doing any research.

Keep looking for foreclosure home listings for better options. Auction sales also take place that offer homes to the highest bidder. But, no matter what you do, never forget to familiarize yourself with the real estate conditions in the area. This will again help you determine the spread between the future price and the average sales price of the foreclosure.

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You might have come across instances where you find an attractive foreclosed house and instantly buy it below the market value. You will surely feel proud about yourself for getting such a good deal. But wait! Did you inspect the house?

Whenever you are buying foreclosed homes, an essential aspect you ought to keep in mind is to ensure that you inspect the home before placing a bid. Or else, you would be regretting when you realize that all the money you saved is being used up in renovation and repairs. Thus, killing all hopes of reselling the property

These days, you would find many foreclosed properties that have been neglected and vacated, bearing marks of the previous owners financial upheaval. As a result, you ought to have an eye for knowing the deals from the duds. However, if you lack the necessary knowledge or time to conduct an extensive inspection, hire a professional inspector or assessor for checking the property carefully. Try to look for wood rot, mold, termites and pests. Incase of the structural problems look for sagging roofs, cracked foundations and leaning walls, as they need very expensive repair work. Take a walk through the house and be on the look out for minor repair jobs that should be done. Even a small fixing job of a broken doorknob or leaky faucet could add up to your expenses.

To gauge how much a home requires renovation or repair is directly related to your readiness to revamp the house. Identify your comfort level to repair. Are you more interested in a house that needs minimal fix ups and you can enjoy your stay without much ado? Bear in mind that homes with more repair work are put up for sale at the lowest prices. Repair expenses and the time duration needed for the same are major decisive factors to be considered before buying these houses. For novice buyers, buying a home that needs minimum repair is the best alternative.

After purchasing a house that requires some revamping and repair, you might have to deal with the problems immediately. This could be because you want to enjoy staying in that house as soon as possible or you want to resell it at a profitable rate.

Following are some handy tips and tricks for sprucing up the house without losing out on time:

If you are planning to live in the house, concentrate on the comfort and structure to begin with. On the other hand, if you are thinking of reselling the house immediately, concentrate on renovations and repairs that would make the house more appealing as the decision of the buyer mainly depend on their first impressions.

Consult contractors and investors to know more about the buying process and the problem areas. The more knowledge you acquire, the better are your possibilities of getting a good offer for all the revamping needed.

Acquaint yourself with the local discount stores and sources for second-hand building materials, as it would reduce your material costs. Moreover, you can also do the repair works yourself to save considerable amount of money on labor.

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While much of Europe edges towards a property recession, the tax haven of Andorra appears to be bucking the trend.

Signs early this year were not good, with few buyers around.

Andorra is a ski country as well as a tax haven, and traditionally the year gets off to a flying start with many serious skiers looking for a holiday home buying an apartment or house.

But this year proved to be different, with the worst snow falls for twenty years and a distinct lack of tourists who would normally be considering whether to buy a ski apartment.

Andorra has invested heavily in new infrastructure and facilities for the ski tourist in recent years, which would make a second successive poor season particularly hard to bear for the country’s ski tourist industry if there is a lack of snow for the 2007-8 season as well.

This year Andorra opened a new family friendly ski park in Arinsal, moving away from her old image of a cheap and cheerful ski holiday for 18-30 year olds to one that caters well for all.

The snow park includes a conveyor belt and a game zone, designed to give children confidence before they ski and use the chair lifts.

With the first quarter of 2007 having no impact on property prices, the year overall looked gloomy for estate agents in Andorra for the year overall. But the second quarter proved to be dramatically better.

Rather than the season being delayed, what saved the second quarter was high net worth individuals looking for residency and taking advantage of Andorra’s tax haven status that has reignited the property market.

Buyers from the UK in particular were out in force during April, May and June, with many spending twice as much as the average ski apartment buyer.

One UK company who specialises in tax haven properties sees a direct link between the high prices of property in the other European tax haven of Monaco, and the high spenders moving into Andorra.

Monaco property prices have risen in recent years to the extent where it challenges London for having the most expensive real estate in the world. Andorra has consistently seen double digit property inflation, but is still considerably less expensive than Monaco.

A studio apartment with 43m2 of living space has just come on the market in Monaco at 1,150,000 Euros, while a 2 bedroom apartment with 100m2 can be bought in Andorra for under 400,000 Euros.

With similar tax benefits, the UK company says that some buyers who initially consider Monaco end up buying in Andorra. The buyers have often budgeted a million Euros for a 2 bedroom apartment for Monaco, and are happy to pay half that price for a much larger apartment in a good area of Andorra, with top end apartments in Andorra turning over quickly to foreign buyers. Some Monaco property buyers who buy in Andorra also buy a four or five bedroom chalet with its own gardens, which start at just under a million Euros in Andorra.

The property buyers tend to head for different areas of Andorra, with the ski apartment buyers tending to purchase in the key ski resorts of Soldeu and Arinsal.

Those looking for residency go more for the year round villages and towns which have a resident community.

Outside of the capital (la Vella) these tend to be La Massana and the upcoming village of Anyos, Ordino and Arinsal, although Arinsal’s nightlife during the ski season early December to late April tends to steer many newcomers to La Massana and Ordino.

Tribune Properties offer to send details of currently available property for sale in Andorra, and offer buyers interested in taking residency in Andorra advice about residency applications.

Their travel guide, YourAndorra.com, offers ski reports and ski holiday in Andorra deals, plus for the non skier, other Andorra holidays information.

Foreclosed houses are houses that have been closed by an individual or a group of individuals before another person owns them. Such situations arise when mortgagers either dont bother to take their house back or are unable to release it because of financial adversities. As a result mortgaging companies takes over the charge of the house and offers to resale it.

You might have come across property news and newspaper advertisements, local magazines or even the Internet having information about foreclosed homes. Even the real estate agents have foreclosed homes offers in plenty. To know more about foreclosed homes you can talk to the real estate agents or even the assessors. Plan a visit to the local courthouse would give you a rough idea about the various deals and how their dealing process. Similarly, you can also attend the foreclosure home auctions to know more about the auction options and the risks involved.

Planning to buy a foreclosed home is one of the most significant financial decisions an individual has to take. Purchasing foreclosed homes includes bargaining the foreclosed sale, acquiring mortgage, getting the title insurance and finishing the home purchase.

Before buying a foreclosed house you should be well informed about the various options available. This applies especially to the first time foreclosed homebuyers who are new to the foreclosed property transactions. As mentioned before, consult a reputable title agent or attorney before buying a home.

Many people harbor wrong notions that foreclosed homes are basically shabby homes in rundown neighborhoods. However, its only people who are actually investing in foreclosed properties that know that this notion is incorrect. Foreclosed homes come in a variety of size and shapes, consisting of large, beautiful new homes in the most sought after neighborhoods.

You are in for a terrific amount of savings, if you are buying a foreclosed house. Strange as it sounds, this is true. By buying homes at 10% to 60% below the original market value simplifies making monthly payments and generates huge savings on the whole. In some circumstances, individuals can buy homes with very less or no deposits, even if they have a bad credit history. Foreclosure pricing is also known for building equity instantly.

Today, you might find more opportunities for buying foreclosures than ever before. To some extent this is because of the high debt rates getting more people into financial trouble, and partially because lenders are giving mortgages to higher-risk borrowers. However, the good news is that together these factors are increasing loan default rates. People who plan to buy foreclosed homes can pick and choose the home they want at a great price. Many of these homes are not advertised, as they are not profitable for the real estate agents.

Foreclosed homes can prove to be of good value for the right person who is willing to consider all the options available. If you are a buyer of foreclosed homes, keep in mind that these houses are not necessarily vacant. Till mortgage companies hand over the house to the buyer, the original residents still own it. Basically, it depends on the buyer decision to keep the original owners as tenants or ask them to vacate the house. Furthermore, furnishing or renovation of the house is not the responsibility of the original buyers.

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One of the cardinal rules of Power Negotiating is that you should ask the other side for more than you expect to get. Henry Kissinger went so far as to say, “Effectiveness at the conference table depends upon overstating one’s demands.”

Think of some reasons why you should do this:
Why should you ask the store for a bigger discount than you think you have a chance of getting? Why should you ask your boss for an executive suite although you think you’ll be lucky to get a private office?

If you’re applying for a job, why should you ask for more money and benefits than you think they’ll give you? If you’re dissatisfied with a meal in a restaurant, why should you ask the captain to cancel the entire bill, even though you think they will take off only the charge for the offending item?

If you’re a salesperson: Why, if you are convinced that the buyer wants to spread the business around, should you still ask for it all? Why should you ask for full list price even if you know it’s higher than the buyer is paying now?

Why should you ask the other person to invest in the top of the line even when you’re convinced they’re so budget conscious that they’ll never spend that much?
Why should you assume that they’d want to buy your extended service warranty even though you know they’ve never done that in the past?

If you thought about this, you probably came up with a few good reasons to ask for more than you expect to get. The obvious answer is that it gives you some negotiating room. If you’re selling, you can always come down, but you can never go up on price. If you’re buying, you can always go up, but you can never come down. What you should be asking for is your MPP-your maximum plausible position. This is the most that you can ask for and still have the other side see some plausibility in your position.

The less you know about the other side, the higher your initial position should be, for two reasons:

1. You may be off in your assumptions. If you don’t know the other person or his needs well, he may be willing to pay more than you think. If he’s selling, he may be willing to take far less than you think.

2. If this is a new relationship, you will appear much more cooperative if you’re able to make larger concessions. The better you know the other person and his needs, the more you can modify your position. Conversely, if the other side doesn’t know you, their initial demands may be more outrageous.

If you’re asking for far more than your maximum plausible position, imply some flexibility. If your initial position seems outrageous to the other person and your attitude is take it or leave it, you may not even get the negotiations started. The other person’s response may simply be, “Then we don’t have anything to talk about.” You can get away with an outrageous opening position if you imply some flexibility.

If you’re buying real estate directly from the seller, you might say, I realize that you’re asking $200,000 for the property and based on everything you know that may seem like a fair price to you. So perhaps you know something that I don’t know, but based on all the research that I’ve done, it seems to me that we should be talking something closer to $160,000.

At that the seller may be thinking, “That’s ridiculous. I’ll never sell it for that, but he does seem to be sincere, so what do I have to lose if I spend some time negotiating with him, just to see how high I can get him to go?”

If you’re a salesperson you might say to the buyer, “We may be able to modify this position once we know your needs more precisely, but based on what we know so far about the quantities you’d be ordering, the quality of the packaging and not needing just-in-time inventory, our best price would be in the region of $2.25 per widget.” At that the other person will probably be thinking, “That’s outrageous, but there does seem to be some flexibility there, so I think I’ll invest some time negotiating with her and see how low I can get her to go.”

Unless you’re already an experienced negotiator, here’s the problem you will have with this. Your real MPP is probably much higher than you think it is. We all fear being ridiculed by the other. So, we’re all reluctant to take a position that will cause the other person to laugh at us or put us down. Because of this intimidation, you will probably feel like modifying your MPP to the point where you’re asking for less than the maximum amount that the other person would think is plausible.

Another reason for asking for more than you expect to get will be obvious to you if you’re a positive thinker: You might just get it. You don’t know how the universe is aligned that day. Perhaps your patron saint is leaning over a cloud looking down at you and thinking, “Wow, look at that nice person. She’s been working so hard for so long now, let’s just give her a break.” So you might just get what you ask for and the only way you’ll find out is to ask for it.

In addition, asking for more than you expect to get increases the perceived value of what you are offering. If you’re applying for a job and asking for more money than you expect to get, you implant in the personnel director’s mind the thought that you are worth that much. If you’re selling a car and asking for more than you expect to get, it positions the buyer into believing that the car is worth more. Another advantage of asking for more than you expect to get is that it prevents the negotiation from deadlocking. Take a look at the Persian Gulf War. What were we asking Saddam Hussein to do? (Perhaps asking is not exactly the right word.)

President George Bush, in his state of the Union address used a beautiful piece of alliteration, probably written by Peggy Noonan, to describe our opening negotiating position. He said, “I’m not bragging, I’m not bluffing and I’m not bullying. There are three things this man has to do. He has to get out of Kuwait.

He has to restore the legitimate government of Kuwait (don’t do what the Soviets did in Afghanistan and install a puppet government). And he has to make reparations for the damage that he’s done.” That was a very clear and precise opening negotiating position. The problem was that this was also our bottom line. It was also the least for which we were prepared to settle. No wonder the situation deadlocked. It had to deadlock because we didn’t give Saddam Hussein room to have a win.

If we’d have said, “Okay. We want you and all your cronies exiled. We want a non-Arab neutral government installed in Baghdad. We want United Nations supervision of the removal of all military equipment. In addition, we want you out of Kuwait, the legitimate Kuwaiti government restored and reparation for the damages that you did.” Then we could have gotten what we wanted and still given Saddam Hussein a win.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Richard, Saddam Hussein was not on my Christmas card list last year. He’s not the kind of guy I want to give a win to.” I agree with that. However, it creates a problem in negotiation. It creates deadlocks.

From the Persian Gulf scenario, you could draw one of two conclusions. The first (and this is what Ross Perot might say) is that our State Department negotiators are complete, blithering idiots. What’s the second possibility? Right. That this was a situation where we wanted to create a deadlock, because it served our purpose. We had absolutely no intention of settling for just the three things that George Bush demanded in his state of the Union address.

General Schwarzkopf in his biography It Doesn’t Take a Hero said, “The minute we got there, we understood that anything less than a military victory was a defeat for the United States.” We couldn’t let Saddam Hussein pull 600,000 troops back across the border, leaving us wondering when he would choose to do it again. We had to have a reason to go in and take care of him militarily.

So, that was a situation where it served our purpose to create a deadlock. What concerns me is that when you’re involved in a negotiation, you are inadvertently creating deadlocks, because you don’t have the courage to ask for more than you expect to get.

A final reason, and it’s the reason Power Negotiators say that you should ask for more than you expect to get is that it’s the only way you can create a climate where the other person feels that he or she won. If you go in with your best offer up front, there’s no way that you can negotiate with the other side and leave them feeling that they won.

These are the inexperienced negotiators always wanting to start with their best offer.
This is the job applicant who is thinking, “This is a tight job market and if I ask for too much money, they won’t even consider me.”
This is the person who’s selling a house or a car and thinking, “If I ask too much, they’ll just laugh at me.”

This is the salesperson who is saying to her sales manager, “I’m going out on this big proposal today, and I know that it’s going to be competitive. I know that they’re getting bids from people all over town. Let me cut the price up front or we won’t stand a chance of getting the order.”

Power Negotiators know the value of asking for more than you expect to get. It’s the only way that you can create a climate in which the other side feels that he or she won. Let’s recap the five reasons for asking for more than you expect to get:

1. You might just get it.

2. It gives you some negotiating room.

3. It raises the perceived value of what you’re offering.

4. It prevents the negotiation from deadlocking.

5. It creates a climate in which the other side feels that he or she won.

In highly publicized negotiations, such as when the football players or airline pilots go on strike, the initial demands that both sides make are absolutely outlandish. I remember being involved in a union negotiation where the initial demands were unbelievably outrageous. The union’s demand was to triple the employees’ wages. The company’s opening was to make it an open shop-in other words, a voluntary union that would effectively destroy the union’s power at that location.

Power Negotiators know that the initial demands in these types of negotiations are always extreme, however, so they don’t let it bother them. Power Negotiators know that as the negotiations progress, they will work their way toward the middle where they will find a solution that both sides can accept. Then they can both call a press conference and announce that they won in the negotiations.

An attorney friend of mine, John Broadfoot from Amarillo, Texas, tested this theory for me. He was representing a buyer of a piece of real estate, and even though he had a good deal worked out, he thought, “I’ll see how Roger’s rule of ‘Asking for More Than You Expect to Get,’ works.” So, he dreamt up 23 paragraphs of requests to make of the seller. Some of them were absolutely ridiculous. He felt sure that at least half of them would be thrown out right away. To his amazement, he found that the seller of the property took strong objection to only one of the sentences in one of the paragraphs.

Even then John, as I had taught him, didn’t give in right away. He held out for a couple of days before he finally and reluctantly conceded. Although he had given away only one sentence in 23 paragraphs of requests, the seller still felt that he had won in the negotiation. So always leave some room to let the other person have a win. Power Negotiators always ask for more than they expect to get.

Richard Reichmann is internationally known as a millionaire maker. He’s a leading consultant in real estate and internet marketing strategies that are profit proven.

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Property price growth slowed over the course of last month, a new survey indicates.

According to research carried out by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), house price inflation in June fell from the previous month as borrowers were said to struggle to make secured loan repayments. Despite the value of homes being reported to have risen for the 20th consecutive month, this growth was half of that recorded in May. The study indicated that 10.6 per cent more chartered surveyors reported a rise rather than a fall in house prices, down from 22.5 per cent in the previous month. Meanwhile, this figure was said to be below the long run average of 21.6 per cent.

Across Britain, Northern Ireland was reported to be driving housing costs the most “as the peace premium remains a boost to price growth”. Meanwhile, Scotland and London were both said to have shown “buoyant” increases. Despite the rises, first-time buyer enquiries fell at their fastest rate since February as the effect of interest rates impacts upon consumers’ affordability to make secured loan repayments. Some 15 per cent of chartered surveyors reported a fall rather than a rise in buyer enquiries in June, compared to a two per cent increase in May. New buyer enquiries were also said to have decreased all regions with the exception of Scotland, the West Midlands and Wales.

Spokesperson for Rics Ian Perry said: “House prices have finally started to cool significantly for the first time since the recent mini boom in the housing market got underway in 2006. Interest rate hikes have begun to affect the psychology of the market with potential new buyers starting to think twice before buying a home”. Mr Perry added that the Bank’s interest rate rise in July may not be the last as the effects of recent increases are yet to be fully felt by consumers. The Rics representative also claimed that the housing sector is set for a “softer landing” over the coming months as autumn approaches.

Figures from the financial services company also reported that confidence among surveyors about the outlook of property prices has reached a three-year low due to five interest rate rises by the Bank of England in the past year and “the prospect of more to come”.

Meanwhile, a study conducted by Halifax earlier this month revealed a fall in house price growth during the second quarter of 2007. According to the firm, property values increased by two per cent during the three-month period, compared to a rise of three per cent recorded between January and March. As with the Rics study, figures from the Yorkshire-based lender also indicated that the Greater London region and Northern Ireland had help to propel the increasing value of homes.

In addition, rising immigration and demand for property from buy-to-let investors was said to have driven costs, with the average home now reported to be worth 228,790 pounds. Although chief economist Martin Ellis claimed that a shortfall in supply is set to continue to push housing prices for the remainder of 2007, he pointed out that this is set to be a lower rate than that witnessed earlier this year.

Abbi Rouse writes for Loan-Arrangers .co.uk where visitors can compare loans online. Then apply for the best secured loans and bad credit loans available.