The Cat Piano

The Cat Piano


This strange music instrument was featured today at Régine's blog.

“In order to raise the spirits of an Italian prince burdened by the cares of his position, a musician created for him a cat piano. The musician selected cats whose natural voices were at different pitches and arranged them in cages side by side, so that when a key on the piano was depressed, a mechanism drove a sharp spike into the appropriate cat’s tail. The result was a melody of meows that became more vigorous as the cats became more desperate. Who could not help but laugh at such music? Thus was the prince raised from his melancholy.”

Funny? I don’t think so! I sing without anyone stepping on my tail. Some humans are so mean.


Source: catscrunch.com

Properties For Sale in India

A fundamental real estate investment mantra in India is that emerging localities are preferable to established and often saturated ones. Expressing their views on real estate markets in the year ahead, property consultants say that established areas eventually reach a peak in terms of appreciation potential, after which the growth rate either slows down or stagnates, moreover, there is little scope for new market drivers such as malls to find a place in saturated localities-where, property prices remain high.

According to property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle, this is not the best of scenarios from an investment point of view, since optimal investment requires low entry levels and appreciable growth within a realistic time-frame. Therefore, as one or the other destination reaches its peak potential on all these counts, new ones come into the limelight. Here is an overview on some emerging Properties for sale in India:

. Chandigarh: Though there has been a lot of speculation on Punjab's real estate market, Chandigarh is among the emerging cities that are seeing very encouraging real estate trends. It is India's first planned city, and it conforms perfectly to the key parameters by which we judge a city's growth - property market, people, physical infrastructure, social infrastructure, and business environment. Areas where properties are available for sale include Panchkula (Rs. 2500-3000/sq.ft.), Mohali (Rs. 1500-2500/sq.ft, Dera Bassi (Rs. 1300-2000/sq.ft.) and Zirakpur (Rs. 2700-3200/sq.ft.).

. Indore: Indore's Real Estate star is fundamentally on the rise, and offers good investment opportunities in project with low entry cost that are located in an area with good appreciation potential. Areas where properties are available for sale : Vijay Nagar (Rs. 3000 - 10000/sq.ft.), Bypass, A B Road (Rs. 3000 - 10000/sq.ft.), Rau (Rs. 600 - 1200/sq.ft.), Gulmohar Colony (Rs. 3500 - 6500/sq.ft.), Green Park Colony (Rs. 800 - 3500/sq.ft.).

. Nashik: Nashik is displaying an increasingly buoyant industrial scenario, with considerable growth expected in the IT/ITES industry. Overall infrastructure and connectivity Mumbai and other regional towns is improving rapidly, lending increased credibility to Nashik's real estate market. It is a vertex of the Pune-Mumbai-Nashik Urban Golden Triangle.

George Gonigal provides you the best and latest information on Real Estate News India, if you want to Buy Apartments in India. He suggest you visit magicbricks.com

Source: emagicbricks.blogspot.com

Good News On Its Way For Realty Sector

Rakesh Pathak is an MBA and works in Tata Forum. He is planning to buy a house in the range of Rs 30 lakh to 40 lakh. When he calculated the EMI on a loan for the prospective property, he cancelled the plan.

A house that suits his requirements is way beyond his budget - he is waiting for the home loans interest rates to come down. Like Rakesh, many middle class salaried people would like to buy a property through home loan - while others put money in shares, rather than invest in property.

Dr Mamta Chaubey, reader in Delhi University, wishes to buy a house through home loan. Though she is of the opinion that for middle class people a home loan is affordable, she is nevertheless reluctant to take the plunge as high interest rates have put a dampener on everything.

Sakshi Malhotra, working in an MNC, has been planning to buy a house for a long time She used to wait for prices to come down every year and would keep deferring her plans each year. This year, she was determined to buy property but the thought of paying a hefty EMI dampened her spirit.

One wants property price or interest rates to go down because real estate market is uncertain. With the worldwide financial crisis showing no signs of ending, India too, is keeping its fingers crossed.

Tremors are being felt everywhere - from the volatile stock market to the unpredictable rupee, and from the spiralling inflation to rising home loan interest rates.

Property is of two kinds - movable and immovable property. While movable property, also called chattels , such as money, securities and goods, which can be moved from one place to the other, immovable property such as land and the objects permanently attached to it such as buildings, constitute immovable property.

There also exists another property called intellectual property, which refers to the right over artistic creations or inventions.

Immovable properties have the essential characteristic that only the title to the property changes by virtue of the transfer, whereas, the physical location of it does not change. Property investment is usually referred to as real estate investment or investment in immovable properties or assets.

The investment in property essentially depends on the risks associated with it, that is to say, even if the venture succeeds when the future stream of income will accrue to the investor and the alternative investment opportunities.

Real estate investment can be attractive if viewed as a business opportunity ; it can generate rental income, using it as collateral to secure a loan for a business venture, to offset otherwise taxable income through cash savings on tax-deductible interest rate losses, or simply from the profits garnered from its resale.

Investment in property is treated as a long-term gain and investment professionals argue that 5%-20 % of investment portfolio should be directed towards property or real estate . So, everyone in this sector is waiting for some good news, to pick up the threads from where they left, at the beginning of the year.

Source:Economics Times

Source: emagicbricks.blogspot.com

Tatas, Birlas to Invest in Real Estate

Two of India’s large business houses, the Birlas and the Tatas, are looking at real estate as a major investment area, albeit in different ways.

While the Birlas, through a financial services arm, are offering real estate as an alternative investment option to clients, the Tatas are planning to develop surplus land held by group companies. The Tatas may also invest in the sector part of funds raised through recent public offerings.

These moves come at a time when real estate prices are correcting and low demand for projects has prompted large developers to default on financial commitments and project deadlines.

Aditya Birla Management director Ajay Srinivasan, who also heads the financial services business, said the conglomerate is merely gearing up for the future. “We are now putting a team in place and want to be ready when the time is right, ” he told ET.

The financial services arm of the group is setting up a real estate and private equity arm for its wealth management units. To be headed by Sashi Kumar, the real estate business would be managed through Birla Sun Life Asset Management. The Birlas plan to subsequently launch two real estate funds, one offshore and the other local, for the sector.

Although funds will be raised overseas as well, the investment destinations will be in India and can include distressed real estate assets. Tata Housing Development, a real estate player, has already said that it plans to leverage its tie-ups with banks by developing properties on surplus land owned by other Tata group companies.

Tata Housing is now identifying excess landbanks owned by companies such as TCS, Voltas, Rallis India, Tata Motors, Tata Coffee and Tata Tea. Tata Capital, the financial services arm of the Tatas, is scheduled to close a largely successful non-convertible debenture issue on Tuesday; it has so far raised Rs 2, 300 crore against a targeted Rs 1, 500 crore. Although Tata Capital has said that it won’t lend to group companies, it has proposed to invest in most asset classes.

Anticipating a large value erosion in the realty space, Indian corporates are planning to float new funds to acquire assets in the domestic property market. Real estate funds such as Saffron Advisors have either floated or are in the process of floating funds with corpus ranging between Rs 500 crore and Rs 1, 000 crore.

“As far as Indian realty is concerned, for the right projects, funds are still available, ” said Saffron Advisors MD Ajoy Kapoor. “Conservative European investors, after conducting extensive due diligence and research, are more comfortable with investing in Indian real estate, provided they are able to align with right partners, ” he added.

A few months ago, Munich-based retail aggregator Deutsche Capital Management underwrote $20 million for Saffron India Real Estate Fund I, an India-focussed real estate fund. DCM is raising a specific fund for investing in Indian real estate through Saffron Advisors.

Tough lending norms, unfavourable primary market and global financial worries have affected fund flow into the Indian property market. Real estate deals have fallen and fancy valuations by developers are being corrected to a large extent.

Source: Economics Times

Source: emagicbricks.blogspot.com

Cats Plan For Perfection

I’ve found a site that shows the excellence in us… Cats! It’s from National Geographic:

“The cat is one animal nature pretty much got right the first time around… the story of cats is ultimately a story about design.”
-National Geographic, June 1997
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/cats/

Check it out! It’s pretty interesting for humans… prrr!

Source: catscrunch.com

New Or Resale Property - Making a Choice

Making a choice of buying a resale or a new house largely depends on individuals need and requirements beside other factors. There are plenty of options available in the resale as well as new property market. However, both types of properties have their set of pros and cons. There are many factors which guide an individual’s choice for a buying a resale or new house.

Location - New projects generally come up in suburban and peripheral areas while resale properties are available in the main city as well as the suburban areas. So, location preference is critical while finalizing an option. It will also be related to the security aspect. Since, resale properties are available in main city areas they are more safe than new projects in distant localities.

Infrastructure - Linked to location is the infrastructure facilities. Resale properties are available in the main city and also on the outskirts. So, those on a look out for a home in the main city opt for resale houses. Infrastructure facilities, connectivity and transportation network are well laid out in the main city areas. However, availability of these facilities could be a problem with new projects coming in developing localities.

Making your own home - One reason buyers opt for the new construction is that they have the freedom to customize the house according to their choice. As L K Mehta realtor says, “The younger segment of buyers take a lot of interest in the designing aspect of the house. They go for new constructions so that they can decide on the color scheme for their house, furnishing and fixture options, flooring, walls, tiles as per their wish.”

Wide range - A new home buyer have wide range of choices. There is an array of new projects by different developers. Each project offers an assortment of features and amenities. One can select a home basis what all features they want and how much they can pay for it.

Budget - A very important consideration is budget - how much one can spend. Resale properties generally are priced higher. This is because they are situated in a developed locality with well laid out infrastructure. New projects are priced comparatively low. Moreover, one has a varied range of new properties to choose from and can bargain as well.

Maintenance - The maintenance cost of new house is minimal. Depending on the age and quality of the building maintenance cost of resale property can vary.

Innovations - Developers today don’t hesitate to try on new concepts and technologies. With wi-fi, intercom and other such facilities new projects offer contemporary homes. Also, the concept of environment safeguard is increasing among the developers and buyers are also getting conscious of the same. So, new projects tend to be more eco-friendly. Green buildings, eco-friendly building material, eco-products - paints, furnishings are new concepts and many developers are incorporating then into their new launches.

The crux of the matter is that a buyer has to be vigilant and clear about his requirements while making a choice.

George Gonigal provides you the best and latest info on Real Estate India. He would also let you know about where to buy property in India and sell property in India.

Source: emagicbricks.blogspot.com

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