Online Real Estate Investment

The luxury Shoreline apartments on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah

Shoreline tenants are moving to stage a boycott of a planned roll out of access cards by Nakheel, as the Palm Jumeirah developer presses ahead with plans to privatise the building’s beach clubs.

The state-owned firm has asked residents to submit paperwork to receive temporary passes to access the building’s pool and beach facilities, and said it will charge guests a fee to enter.

“This is outrageous, and I would think illegal,” said one resident, who asked not to be named.

“I have spoken to many residents and none of us are going to comply with this, even if it means we never use the beach again.”

Nakheel plans to charge residents AED5,000 a year to access Shoreline’s facilities, and to open up membership to non-tenants at a cost of AED12,000.

The move has enraged tenants on the palm-shaped island who argue that they bought their properties on the premise they would have access to the pools, gyms and private beach, and have lobbied Dubai’s real estate watchdog, RERA, to rule on who owns the rights to the facilities.

“By moving ahead with this, Nakheel isn’t even waiting for a decision from RERA,” the tenant said. “It is basically disr

Full Post…

Is Britain’s rental market out of control? We all know that millions of would-be first-time buyers have been priced out of home ownership, but a wealth of recent data shows that with rental costs hitting all-time highs, many are now finding that this supposedly cheaper alternative is becoming increasingly unaffordable.

Lettings agent Countrywide says soaring demand for rental property means homes are being let in record time. It has five prospective tenants for every available home, despite a marginal increase in the number of properties available. And this is not just an issue in London and the south-east, or a problem confined to urban areas.

Figures produced for Guardian Money by Halifax show the average monthly rent across the UK has risen to £722.

Full Post…

A 17-year-old Enfield mother faces a host of charges, including first-degree sexual assault and promoting a minor in an obscene performance, after she allegedly sexually assaulted a newborn baby boy.

Kelsey Albertson was initially charged as a juvenile because of her age, but on Thursday Hartford Superior Court Judge Joan K. Alexander moved Albertson’s case to adult court because of the severity of the charges.

According to the warrant for Albertson’s arrest, prepared by Enfield police Det. David Thomas, Albertson sexually assaulted the infant, took cellphone photos of herself assaulting the child, then sent the images to her then-boyfriend.

Full Post…

Walnut Creek-based PMI Group said Monday it has hired three companies that are experts in restructuring or bankruptcy efforts following the seizure of its main mortgage insurance unit.

The company also warned it faces hundreds of millions of dollars in debts it can’t repay.

“Time is up for PMI,” said Matthew Howlett, an analyst with Macquarie Group, an investment firm. “This may be the end of an era for PMI as a leading mortgage insurance company.”

The moribund housing market has savaged PMI, which is one of the nation’s largest providers of mortgage insurance to cover lenders should borrowers default on their home loans.

PMI Group said it has retained Evercore Partners, which advised General Motors on its restructuring, according to a PMI regulatory filing on Monday.

Full Post…