tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23096307997644957392023-11-15T09:12:31.022-08:00greekdrivingthrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972061655980869465noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2309630799764495739.post-4646083335583299722013-06-25T04:47:00.001-07:002013-06-25T04:47:54.957-07:00greekdriving test post content<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
greekdriving test post content</div>
thrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972061655980869465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2309630799764495739.post-9001812348522413102013-01-09T23:39:00.002-08:002013-01-09T23:39:47.018-08:00Diary of an estate agent: Pimlico and Westminster<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<strong>Monday</strong><br />It’s pitch-black when I wake up to rush in
for our weekly early morning meeting. A quick cup of tea with toast and
Marmite gets me going and I’m hopeful of a great 2013. We had some
excellent weeks last month, with 15 properties let in one week and four
coming under offer at the weekend.<br /><br />We go through our figures and
current listings so that everyone is filled in on what’s happening, and
with 175 properties there is a lot to know. Not bad either when you
think we only opened last spring.<br /><br />I have five valuations booked
in today. The variety of people and properties is one of the reasons I
love this job. My first valuation is a stunning house on Queen Anne’s
Gate and I know I have just the right tenants. <br /><br /><strong>Tuesday</strong><br />My
first appointment today is a five-storey house on St James’s Park,
where near neighbours include the Queen. I know that the property will
almost certainly be the owners’ largest asset so the decision to
instruct me is an important one for them, but I feel confident it has
gone well. <br /><br />My next appointment is one of the oddest I’ve ever
had. Driving up to a flat on Churchill Gardens, I’m looking forward to
meeting the owner, who booked the appointment. However, when I walk into
the studio room I am confronted by 20 people. <br /><br />It would appear
that the flat is a multi-generational family investment and they all
want to be involved in choosing an agent. Talk about pressure to
impress! <br /><br />This evening I have to speak at the short let
negotiator meeting in front of the entire company. Luckily I quite enjoy
public speaking, but that doesn’t mean that my living room mirror has
not witnessed a quick preview. All goes well and there are no
embarrassing slip-ups.<br /><br /><strong>Wednesday</strong><br />We’re not
even halfway through the week and we already have six properties under
offer, with two agreed over the asking price, plus we’ve just taken on
another four listings from yesterday’s valuations. With more valuations
booked in, today is going to be busy. <br /><br />One is a lovely property
our sales team sold a couple of years ago. It appears, judging by the
giant Bob the Builder toy I trip over walking through the door, they now
have a family and are upsizing but have decided to keep the flat as a
rental investment. <br /><br />My afternoon is spent with the team doing paperwork and checking that everything is in order — the list is endless. <br />Today
is also the birthday of one of my negotiators, so cake is on the menu
with our afternoon tea. Great timing as I need a sugar rush.<br /><br /><strong>Thursday</strong><br />We
have five move-ins today. My daily 8am team meeting focuses on just
this: as hard as we work for our landlords, it is vital our tenants get
the same high level of service. <br /><br />Making sure that everything is
in order, I head off to have some new sets of keys cut, then pop over to
check the properties have been cleaned properly, and turn on the
heating. As an office in a prime location we see a huge amount of
international tenants, and among our move-ins today we have a corporate
tenant relocating from Geneva, and a Greek family from Athens.<br /><br /><strong>Friday</strong><br />Deal
day. We want to exchange everything today as it’s the last banking day
of the week. We have been working on a corporate deal with a large
management consultancy in the City and a landlord who lives in
Australia. <br /><br />By 7.30am I am already in the office on the phone to
the landlord. Being so far away, her main objective is to get a
high-calibre tenant, with a quick move in and a long tenancy. <br /><br />The
company is signing for two years and wants to move in this evening. I
call our property management team and by the time the tenants arrive to
collect their keys the place is clean, the inventory is complete, safety
checks are done and all contracts are signed and monies paid — thank
heaven for our online e-deals. It looks like this is set to be another
busy month.</div>
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Source <a href="http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property_news/news/diary20130109.html">http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property_news/news/diary20130109.html</a></div>
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thrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972061655980869465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2309630799764495739.post-52385461039018927992012-08-27T23:57:00.000-07:002012-08-27T23:57:00.053-07:00As Greece seeks more help, Ireland and Portugal press ahead<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As Greece appeals for more time to meet conditions for international
aid, the country’s political fumbling and economic failures are being
judged, at least in part, against the performance of other struggling
European governments.<br /><br />The euro zone’s other two crisis countries,
Ireland and Portugal, have adhered closely to the promises made in
their rescue programs and seen flickers of life return to their
economies.<br /><br />In Ireland’s case that has meant a jump in employment
late last year, a smidgen of new growth, and success in persuading
global investors to buy several billion dollars of long-term government
bonds in July. Portugal has not done as well, but its exports are
growing, budget targets are being met, and growth is expected to resume
next year.<br /><br />That progress stands in contrast to Greece, which has
negotiated two rescue programs with Europe and the International
Monetary Fund in as many years and is now appealing to lenders for yet
another chance to make good on promised concessions. The debate could
prove critical to the survival of the euro currency union in its present
form, and in a sense boils down to a comparative judgment: Are Greece’s
problems so different and so much worse that it legitimately needs more
time to fix itself? Or is it simply unwilling to do the heavy lifting
accomplished by politicians in Ireland and Portugal?<br /><br />“From a
purely political dynamic, governments that are reluctant to give more
money to Greece have a justification in Ireland and Portugal,” said
Marie Diron, an Ernst and Young economist who follows the euro zone.
Both Ireland and Portugal aim to end their three-year rescue programs on
schedule and begin standing on their own again.<br /><br />Greek Prime
Minister Antonis Samaras opened talks Friday in Berlin with German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, seeking perhaps an extra two years for Greece
to meet spending and other targets accepted by previous Greek leaders
less than six months ago. Greece’s combative politics have delayed
progress. Other European nations again confront a choice of giving
Greece extra help or leaving the nation stranded without the means to
pay its lenders, employees and pensioners. That could force Greece to
exit the euro zone.<br /><br />After nearly three years of negotiating over the country’s troubles, patience is thin.<br /><br />The
rescue program negotiated last spring “went to the limits of what is
economically feasible,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said
Thursday on German radio, according to wire service reports from the
country. “More time means more money.”<br /><br />Greece is considered the
most likely candidate to leave the currency union. Ireland, by contrast,
is a study in how an open economy and effective trade strategy can help
a country take advantage of the euro’s strengths. Portugal is somewhere
in the middle, perhaps destined to muddle through with slow growth.<br /><br />Studies
have found that Greece is hobbled by extremely weak administration. The
government is unable to collect taxes or enforce laws, and bringing it
up to par could take years. So much of the economy is in state hands
that measures meant to control public deficits have exacted a heavy toll
in employment and income with little offsetting benefit. Greek exports
are comparatively small and thus offer little immediate hope of driving
the economy. The banking system, through little fault of its own, is
broke.<br /><br />Greece remains far from the point where citizens and politicians can expect a return from the sacrifices they are making.<br /><br />“When
you impose deflation on an economy that cannot benefit because it is
not that open to world markets, you just create more deflation,” said
Carlo Bastasin, an Italian economist and analyst at the Brookings
Institution.<br /><br />Ireland and Portugal arguably had relative strengths
that have made their tasks easier — particularly Ireland. Ireland’s
trade ties with the United States, for example, provided support as the
U.S. economy continued growing while Europe foundered. Ireland’s
exports, open investment environment and strong tech sector also have
continued to attract foreign investment, particularly as wages have
dropped.<br /><br />But many of the same sorts of measures called for in
Greece were demanded of Ireland and Portugal: spending cuts that hacked
into social programs, the sale of state assets, changes to long-standing
labor protections, and a host of efforts intended to push down living
standards to make the country more competitive.<br /><br />In both cases,
political leaders followed through, largely met the goals outlined by
the IMF, and kept even, at least, with the tidal forces that have pushed
the euro zone toward recession.<br /><br />In its most recent reviews of
the Portuguese and Irish economies, the IMF said that although neither
country’s success is assured, the major risks involve issues that are
increasingly out of their control.<br /><br />Portugal, for example, needs
Spain to succeed, because its much larger neighbor accounts for more
than 20 percent of its exports. Both Ireland and Portugal need the euro
zone as a whole to rekindle faith that it can remain intact. Investing,
lending and spending patterns won’t return to normal in the region until
that is assured.</div>
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Source <a href="http://www.cbonds.info/cis/eng/news/index.phtml/params/id/592557" target="_blank">http://www.cbonds.info/cis/eng/news/index.phtml/params/id/592557 </a></div>
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thrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03972061655980869465noreply@blogger.com0