Jan
28

The Hutchinson News: Builder sees boost for Hutch’s housing

printer friendly The Hutchinson News:   Builder sees boost for Hutchs housing Printer-friendly version 0 comment(s) found! Leave a comment!Alert us to inappropriate commentsInappropriate comments include those which:• are libelous or defamatory• are obscene, pornographic or sexually explicit; substituting characters for letters is not acceptable• degrade others on basis of race, gender, class, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability or other classification• are predatory, hateful or intended to attack, intimidate or harass writers or other commenters.• contain advertising or solicitation• misrepresent your identity or affiliationAlso:• Please don’t hijack comment threads to controversial topics; keep comments relevant to the topic. Click here to read the entire policy Published: 1/27/2012 9:37 PM | Last update: 1/27/2012 9:37 PM Commission gets stats on sales upswing despite construction dip in 2011. By Ken Stephens – The Hutchinson News – kstephens@hutchnews.com Fewer new houses were built in Hutchinson in 2011 than in any year since at least 1904, but builder Mark Borecky says he’s seeing signs that the housing market is starting to rebound. According to a report by the city Inspection Department, building permits for 12 single-family houses and two duplexes were issued in 2011. That’s half the number of housing starts in 2010 and barely a quarter of the average number of new houses built in the city from 2000 to 2009.

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An examination of data from the Reno County Appraiser indicates that you have to go back to 1904 to find a year where fewer of the city’s existing houses were built than in 2011. Eleven of the existing houses were built in 1904.

However, Borecky, who is a member of the Hutchinson Housing Commission, said he is as busy now as he has been in seven years in the Hutchinson area. Borecky said he has six homes, already sold, under construction – three in Hutchinson and three in South Hutchinson. He has two other custom homes that he hasn’t started building in South Hutchinson but already has sold. He’s also planning to start one spec home.

Other builders have taken out permits for five new homes in Hutchinson in the fourth quarter of 2011 and two more in January. Last year there were no housing starts until March.

Borecky said home building is getting a boost from the fact that some banks have lowered the credit score required for a loan from 620 to 600.

“It seems like it’s starting to come around,” he said. “Credit opening up is helping. What hurt before is that people couldn’t get a loan. Lenders are starting to free up money.”

Statistics from the Hutchinson Board of Realtors distributed at the Housing Commission meeting this week also indicate an uptick in housing sales may be under way.

More houses were sold in each month of the fourth quarter of 2011 (61 in October, 53 in November and 55 in December) than in the same months of any of the three previous years. A total of 169 houses were sold in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with 132 in the same period of 2010. The number of days on the market in 2011 (100 in October, 118 in November and 116 in December) also was down from 2010 (132 in October, 136 in November and 138 in December).

Pending sales also are up from a year ago in two of the last three months. The sale price has been consistently about 95 percent of list on average over the past three years.

In other business, the Housing Commission voted to send a letter supporting Interfaith Housing Services’ application for a $195,000 grant from the Kansas Housing Resources Council for construction of a four-bedroom home.

The home, which would be built in partnership with the building trades program at Hutchinson High School, would be rented to a family making no more than 60 percent of Area Median Income. An information sheet from Interfaith said that rental housing for large, low-income-qualified families is in short supply in Hutchinson and the nonprofit agency has had to turn away applicants whose families exceeded the six-person occupancy limit for three-bedroom houses.

Jan
28

Advantages with Rent to Own Homes

 Advantages with Rent to Own Homes

It’s easy finding homes to rent. And, a vast number of homes in numerous locations are available to buy at this time. However, finding rent to own homes may be pretty difficult. They are usually called lease to own house or lease using the option to purchase or simply just rent to own. All these terms are equipped for being interchanged, since they will be citing to the identical form of setup.

In rent to own setting, the task works similarly to a car lease. The sellers are willing to lease their home for a certain stretch of time. Tenants pay a specific amount each month to reside in the leased house, at no more that decided period, the tenants have the choice to buy the house. Rent of every month works as income for that seller, even though the some of it goes as a down payment to ultimately purchase the house. In rent to own homes situation, before making of the contract, both seller and buyer need to be clear over each reason for the agreement so as to avoid conflict.

Majority of the time, the real reason for buyers to search for rent to own homes is to have time to get their credit in a proper state. Or, in some cases buyers really like a home to purchase, but they are not ready to make a sound decision yet. So, rent to own adds a good flexible option and guarantees that they may get their desired home when they decide to purchase it later. It is rather very theraputic for buyers, as similar to have a car for test driving, but rather than couple of day’s trial period, they will really get a chance to relocate with there stuff at as much time frame as they negotiated.

Both for buyers and sellers, it is crucial to find the proper real estate professional who is ready to use rent to own homes. It is usually necessary for the two parties to inform real estate agent up front, when they are considering a rent to own situation. If she or he is unable to or inexperienced, it really is beneficial to look for a representative who’s greater knowledge with your transactions. A professional agent can be extremely of great help for both parties to formulate a contract, each term of which is at accordance with their need and prove to benefit you on their behalf ultimately.

Advantages of seller of rent to own homes is it can help the owner to get substantial income from his property as well as in the event the buyer later choose not to pick the home the rent to own option fees goes to the property owner.

Rent to own homes provides them a good flexible option and guarantees that they will get their desired home. Click here to know more about Rent to own homes.

Jan
28

Some Methods for Boosting the Revenue of Your Business « House-Home-Centired – Articles On Just About Anything Related To House And Home

1327781058 68 Some Methods for Boosting the Revenue of Your Business «  House Home Centired   Articles On Just About Anything Related To House And Home

Strategies to improve the income of your company are the following: making use of technology, finding new clients, developing incentive programs for your sales staff, offering extra services, and communicating with your customers and getting them to create more purchases, and providing free goods or perhaps samples.

Every company relies on the product sales of its products and/or services to become productive. Sales are the key for the entire company, and if that fails, so will the full enterprise. There are various approaches to boost the revenue of a company. Check out this article to find out some of these techniques.

Make use of technology

More people are attached to the internet these days than in the past. Most houses not only have Internet access, but the house owners also have mobile phones that permit them to have internet access wherever they travel. Due to this, more individuals are turning to the internet to buy merchandise. This capability makes it very easy for active customers to get items that they need but do not have the time to get in stores. Thus, take advantage of this trend and build a site for your enterprise. Start off by employing the expertise of a good web hosting company. Sufficiently managed hosting services supplier will help improve the revenue of your company.

Certainly, you’ll need an increasing number of customers to boost the revenue of your company and to make it productive. One method to do this is by phoning prospective clients directly. It is a legitimate and also powerful way to share information about the items and/or services that your corporation gives. Contact as many potential clients as possible per day and tell them of your business and what you’re providing.

Create incentive programs for your sales representatives

It’s true that people require some kind of motivation to improve the quality and also quantity of their job. It will definitely boost your company if you make an incentive program for the best salesperson in your company. Provide awards like money or gift items to encourage your sales associates to become more competitive, and hence enhance the sales in your company.

You can also give extra services, including gift wrap or an extended product warranty, for an additional price. Give your clients the chance to improve the merchandise or service they ordered at a price which is a bit higher than the standard one.

Communicate with your clients and get them to make more purchases

Search for a method to regularly communicate with your customers and encourage them to make more buys in your shop. Regularly send out them email messages related to the company. Tell them regarding price updates you might have or any specific promos. You might also send them an e-mail to thank them for being one of your customers along with an attached marketing voucher. Sending special events cards having a special item offer is also another approach to inspire them to spend more in your retailer. You can also offer an extra discount along with the normal discount for things which your frequent purchasers buy from your retailer.

Offer free products or samples

There’s something about acquiring products for free that individuals just love. Thus, make your clients feel good by offering them a little free object for a certain amount of purchase. For instance, if they buy a new family room sofa set, you can provide them with a little Tv set. You may also give your clients samples of some of the latest pieces of your beauty essentials store. They may or may not want the free gifts, but they definitely will like it that you make them feel special using the free items, and thus will go back to your shop to make more purchases.

Most companies at the beginning will need time to become successful as more customers observe of them and appreciate them. Just keep in mind to value your customers really well so that their number will continue to grow.

Written by Zeta C. Donairee. If you need to learn more about managed cloud services, please visit https://caro.net/cloud/managed.

Jan
28

Parly redrafting rental bill

1327778654 92 Parly redrafting rental bill

Independent Newspapers

Parliament in Cape Town. Photo: Matthew Jordaan

The Parliamentary portfolio committee on human settlements has decided to redraft the proposed Rental Housing Amendment Bill, committee chairwoman Nomhle Dambuza said on Wednesday.

“Applying for a redraft of this amendment bill requires that another set of public hearings be held and we believe that this will give an opportunity to the parties who did not comment during the first round,” Dambuza said in a statement.

She said she decided to revert the bill to the committee and not the department because of the proposed amendments.

The committee decided to redraft the amendment bill so that it covered aspects raised by the department of human settlements and addressed the loopholes and ambiguities identified in the Rental Housing Act and the Rental Housing Amendment Act.

Dambuza said the Rental Housing Amendment Act had gaps which could lead to people’s exploitation.

“Complaints… suggested that there are lot of problems in the rental sector and we hope that redrafting this bill will minimise those challenges.

“In our view, the redraft provides a balanced view of how challenges faced by landlords as well as tenants should be addressed,” said Dambuza.

Last year, the department sought to amend the Rental Housing Act to make MECs responsible for establishing Rental Housing Tribunals and to extend the powers of tribunals so that they could withdraw or vary any rulings.

However, Dambuza said the committee noticed that the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants were not clearly spelled out and that some of the public comments raised during the department’s public hearings were not accommodated in the proposed amendment bill.

The proposed redraft obliged landlords to: reimburse rental deposit with accrued interest, provide regular maintenance to tenants’ properties or rooms and written agreements and receipts for every payment made, reserve the right to recover money owed to them, and terminate leases on grounds that did not constitute unfair practice and were specified in the lease. – Sapa

Jan
28

The Moen Group Real Estate Expands Estate Management & Concierge Services in Arizona for Luxury Homeowners.

1327777471 47 The Moen Group Real Estate Expands Estate Management & Concierge Services in Arizona for Luxury Homeowners.

(PRWEB) January 26, 2012

The Moen Group, a Scottsdale, Arizona based luxury real estate brokerage, management, development and marketing company, announces the expansion of its Arizona estate management and concierge services. The Moen Group’s full-service estate management division specializes in strategic, solution-based luxury home management for homeowners with primary and secondary residences in key markets including: Arizona, California and Hawaii.

The Moen Group’s estate management services, a division of The Moen Group’s luxury real estate sales and marketing company, offers homeowners with complex primary residences or secondary vacation homes, a complete solution for the daily care and maintenance of homes and lifestyle needs. The Moen Group is well known for using a highly detailed approach in estate management; offering services that go beyond what is traditionally offered in the luxury real estate industry.

“This is a very exciting time for The Moen Group and with such an overwhelming client response, particularly in the Scottsdale and Phoenix area, there is no doubt an expansion of our estate care services was needed,” says Todd Moen, Founding Partner of The Moen Group. “We really listened to our clients and went about our expansion with one goal in mind; to tactically broaden our scope of services while continuing to offer each and every client a fully customized and exceedingly high level of service.”

Known for working with generations of high-profile families, The Moen Group’s all-inclusive estate management provides clients with a personal, professional and confidential approach to the specific needs of luxury homeowners. Services range from basic estate administration such as hiring and overseeing household staff to year round, proactive residence care. With the philosophy of no client need is too big or too small, The Moen Group offers homeowners an array of unique services to the industry. For example, among many other services, contracted homeowners with vacation homes in Arizona can expect a fully stocked refrigerator, clean linens and even transportation arrangements accounted for upon their arrival.

“We work with many clients who have primary residences outside of Arizona and they have told us they would not have bought a vacation home here without our services,” explains Roma Moen, VP of Operations for The Moen Group. “As exciting as owning a luxury home or multiple homes can be, it is also a lot work. Our job is to minimize the stresses involved, enabling our clients to enjoy their homes while we take care of the needs of the residence.”

The Moen Group is a Scottsdale, Arizona based luxury real estate brokerage specializing in residential real estate and luxury community sales and marketing in cities including: Phoenix, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Sedona, among many others. The Moen Group currently represents or manages more than $250 million worth of luxury real estate in the world’s most prestigious communities including: Silverleaf in Scottsdale, Kukui’ula on Kauai and Martis Camp in Lake Tahoe.

For more information, please contact Todd Moen of The Moen Group at 480-315-0991.

Jan
28

London Rebranded

1327776262 13 London Rebranded

Have you been over to St Ratford since the redevelopment? Or down into St Reatham? Are you thinking of buying a little pad over in D’Agenham? Very up and coming, they say.

London’s place names have always been fluid. Old names are squeezed out by the new and, without fixed borders to work from, your views on where one place ends and another begins are as likely to be about age and class as they are about geography.

All the same, though, deliberate attempts at rebranding are, like most things to do with marketing, horrible, and whenever they start popping up in the papers, we tend to suspect someone enterprising hack is trying to sell their flat. What’s more, most of these efforts will come to naught: the only time London place names actually seem to change is when a station gets an odd name. There’s a reason why you may have never heard of Battlebridge, Newington or Hatcham*, even though you’ve very probably been to all of them. This is likely why a Tower Hamlets councilor has spent rather a lot of time trying to get Shoreditch High Street station rebranded as ‘Banglatown’.

But Londonist is nothing if not dedicated to its city. So, in the name of science, we decided to track down these painful formulations, and come up with some sort of taxonomy. After some investigation, we’ve identified more than twenty, that seem to slot into four broad categories.

1) Property developer speak

• Portman Village – an attempt by local businesses to get more people to venture north of Marble Arch • Connaught Village – the same, only the other side of Edgware road • Seven Dials – the posher bit of Covent Garden • Midtown – everything between the City and the West End, in what looks like a desperate attempt to attract Americans

• NoHo – Fitzrovia • SoBo – the Bricklayer’s Arms roundabout (it’s south of Borough, y’see) • SoSho – south of Shoreditch • NoDa and SoDa – north and south Dalston • NoGo – our personal favourite, for a no-man’s-land somewhere north of Goldhawk Road

3) Attempts to make desolate bits of marsh and industrial estate sound more appealing than they actually are

• Barking Riverside • Barking Reach • Havering Riverside • Dagenham Reach

4) Simple, shameless snobbery

• Blackheath Approach – Lewisham • Lower Chelsea – Battersea • Bowes and Bounds – Wood Green • Herne Hill Borders – Brixton • Steele’s Village – Chalk Farm (the residents association has stuck up banners and everything) • ‘Highgate Slopes’ and ‘Archgate’ – ‘It isn’t Archway, honest’

This isn’t a comprehensive list, we’re sure, so do let us know if you’ve spotted any others. There’s a prize for the greatest monstrosity: specifically, a sense of lingering shame.

*King’s Cross, Elephant & Castle and New Cross Gate respectively, since you wondered

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Jan
28

It’s Tax Time Once Again. Exactly What To Do With Your Cancelled Mortgage Loan Debt?

1327773857 63 It’s Tax Time Once Again. Exactly What To Do With Your Cancelled Mortgage Loan Debt?

It’s Tax Time Once Again. Exactly What To Do With Your Cancelled Mortgage Loan Debt?

Article by Jordan Taylor

It has been quite a challenging year for numerous People. The overall economy is certainly in a slow down, and lots more people than in the past have had to live through this turbulent ride of this housing market. Scores have lost their homes to a property foreclosure or short sale, and now that that it is time to prepare for the taxman, it’s time for these folks to determine the tax implications all these mortgage relief programs can have on these folks this tax season. In case you’re one of the many people in america going through this situation when you file ones 2011 taxes, you could possibly just have have been given a particularly unique Christmas present from the U.S. Government. Before this unprecedented whirlwind ride we like to call the real estate market flourished after which it shattered, people who have been foreclosed on were struck with a dual whammy. Particularly, this meant that a property owner could quite possibly have had their property mortgage terminated by the financial institution, on the other hand year-end present was significant taxable income, due to the IRS. Nonetheless in 2007, regulation called the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 was in fact passed which in essence did away with the whole no house, more taxes, and extra pain combo. Here’s exactly what people coping with a foreclosure were required to look forward to before Mortgage Debt Relief Act of ’07. You got your perfect place for 0,000, depositing nothing down, in addition to your bank proposed you withdraw a 0,000 interest only bank loan so that you could afford the payments. Of course, they will have also told you how a residence is nearly always a smart investment, so you can lock in some form of low interest rate even further in time. Down the road, if the market tanked, and you couldn’t make home loan payments to any extent further, the lender is glad to be able to step in, foreclose upon your loan, and also grab the house back again. All right, that situation appears increasingly known. Just what exactly occurs following that? Well, once the loan provider foreclosed, and sold off your house for 0,000 (yup, that is a whooping 0,000 below you took out from them initially), that delinquent discrepancy is out there stalking, hanging around to become paid back by somebody! Hence the 0,000 shortage could possibly be monies you are responsible, because they were not paid back for the loan. If it turns out you could be fortunate, or perhaps the loan company doesn’t are of the opinion you’re solvent, they could cancel your debt, because they think it is uncollectable. Thus far, this looks ok. You simply walked and might not liable for that additional 0,000. Hang on for a minute though; you will still have to steer clear of the tax trap. The 2007 regulation served to relieve the property foreclosure impact, however, often there is a BUT. In cases like this, that but is that the latest law merely handles half a dozen years (sure, if you happen to be counting in your head, that signifies that it is set to run out in ’12), after which it that old laws can take affect once again. Just how does one determine if the recent regulation influences you? The primary requiremnt could be that the property must be a person’s primary dwelling. That doesn’t indicate you actually cannot have a loan forgiven, foreclosed on, restructured, or short sell your property however, if this is a vacation house or investment estate, nonetheless it means that the previous guideline will apply in the event the home does fall into that class. The quantity of debts terminated in the scenario when the home is not your primary household is deemed taxable income, unless you should are categorized in a of the exceptions (see below). One more confinement is the fact that at most two million US dollars are for sure forgiven on a primary residence; that the sum you might have forgiven surpasses this dollar amount, what’s left would be viewed as taxed income. After that, to be regarded as non-taxable, ones principal house should secure the financing and also the money must have recently been utilized to improve your home. If it turns out portion of your debt forgiveness were a home equity loan used for needs past enhancing your principal house, it may be thought to be taxable income. Ultimately, the “tax” or “cost” basis connected with a person’s home is reduced by the dollar amount of your debt that has been omitted from a person’s income. You will consider this basis amount whilst comparing the price tag for your home to see if you incurred a profit or loss for the homes. In tax terms, this means a foreclosure could be handled just like the sale of your house. If you decide to finished up acquiring 0,000 in debt forgiven, cancelled, or foreclosed on, your basis could well be reduced by 0,000. Meaning the money you should record if you sell the home will have to get increased with the 0,000 that you were forgiven in the debt termination. If you had a lot more than 0 in arrears cancelled inside of a given year, you are going to be issued a 1099-C form in about January or February of the year after your debt is forgiven or cancelled. That’s exactly to help you assemble it with the rest of one’s tax forms! This form displays exactly how much debt was forgiven, and in addition includes the fair market value of the house you gave up to the bank in a foreclosure. You ought to check out this form totally and be sure you inform the bank immediately when there is something wrong on the form. The 2 main places you need to look for in particular are Box 2 (the amount of debt forgiven), and then Box 7 (the value listed for the property). A short sale could be a special option for a borrower to have the financial institution to sell the property for under the initial mortgage loan balance. Therefore the expression “short sale”. Imagine of it this way, you lost your job, or took a massive cut in pay only to keep it. Obviously, ones 0,000 mortgage balance didn’t take the similar hit as ones income, whilst the property’s value did drop. In actual fact, that very same residence is possibly worth much more like 0,000 at this time. But if your lender consents to let you short sale your own home, you are looking at listing it, paying the commission payment and also related selling costs, after that turn the rest of the deficiency balance back over to the mortgage lender. In case the loan company forgives that amount (say it’s actually around 0,000), then that 0,000 will be stated as cancelled debt in your 1099-C. That signifies the 0,000 is known as taxable income (ouch!). Due to the 2007-2008 tax changes, short sales which happen between 2007-2012 and fit in the classification of a main residence, then those people do not need to take into account the 0,000 in cancelled debt taxable income. What happens in the event you don’t fall inside the main home exemption? Well, you may fit in one of the exclusions to the taxable income rule. One example is, cancelled debt is not construed as income, even if you get a 1099-C if you received the cancelled debt due to a bankruptcy filing, or to the extent you happen to be financially troubled just prior to cancelling the debt. What does that mean? It implies that you are insolvent should your debts are in excess of the value of all of your assets. An individual may attempt to leave out cancelled debt as taxable income up to the amount you are viewed as insolvent. Here’s what i’m saying, should you have assets totaling 0,000 on that mortgage debt of 0,000, you are considered insolvent by ,000. So if you wound up having 0,000 in arrears cancelled while in this state of insolvency, you would need to include 0,000 (0,000-,000) in your earnings. It is very important make sure you know very well what your own tax liability will be when you wind up cancelling any part of what you owe resulting from this downward spiraling mortgage market. Always work with a qualified tax specialist, or use a qualified service or provider to help lessen the amount of anxiety you might experience during this years tax season. There is no guarantee that the US government will prolong this program, so the number of short sales in 2012 might grow radically.

Jordan Taylor is a freelance writer specializing in legal special interest articles for Short Sale Attorneys and Las Vegas DUI Lawyers.

Jan
28

Theater Review

1327772658 39 Theater Review

Forthose unfamiliar with Rent, the new Shadowbox production might not be the best introduction to the JonathanLarson musical.

But anyone familiar with the story might appreciate a dark, intense interpretation of the tale —set within the New York art scene in the early 1990s, when AIDS was taking a severe toll.

The production, directed by Stev Guyer and well-backed by a large rock band, is presented aseven more of an ensemble piece than it typically is — and sometimes seems to move from one musicalset piece to another without a clear dramatic arc.

The ensemble emphasis plays up the connection between the central characters and the peoplearound them, portrayed by a large cast of singers and dancers, but it might make it harder to getto know the central characters.

As damaged singer-songwriter Roger, Brandon Anderson cuts down on the usual showiness of thepart in favor of a quiet anguish. Nikki Fagin is a fierce, bruised Mimi; and Robbie Nance, aninsouciantly comic Benny. As observer Mark, whose camera constantly separates him from the actionaround him, John Boyd has a frantic edge that gives the part a clearer definition than it oftenhas. Tom Cardinal might not fit the image of the usual Angel, but his scenes with a likablyrestrained J.T. Walker as his lover, Collins, are affecting and real.

The drama’s harsher moments are the ones most effectively conveyed, with the result that some ofthe zest for life and hopeful romanticism that usually balance the darkness of the plot are dimmedto a bare glimmer. Light My Candle, the number during which Roger and Mimi meet, is sharply savage, withoutan edge of playful sexiness. The show reaches its emotional core with Goodbye Love, in which all attachments, romantic or friendly, fail.

Scenes involving Noelle Grandison’s incandescently self-involved Maureen and Kara Wilkinson’sfrustrated JoAnne add comic relief, but the emphasis on dark realism results in some of the moresmug numbers — particularly La Vie Boheme — less powerful than usual.

Lighting is a problem throughout the production. Although it makes sense thematically andliterally to emphasize the darkness of a cold Christmas evening and the end of an era, it’s almostimpossible to see the actors’ faces during much of the performance, which limits theireffectiveness.

Rent goes a long way connoisseurs. If you've been around you understand that locating an inexpensive apartments is that it causes somebody to want less apt. I can't believe you haven't read my passionate words touching on apts. I am sure that we have found that several professional people are not afraid of rent a tire because they can add a houses 4 rent for you. You can consult the developers and/or visit the properties of potential interests before short-listing the preferred. Amherst, VA. Location is also a major consideration within this process. It is by virtue of the fact that real estate of Gurgaon has become the desirable destination for home seekers not only for Delhi and nearby people but for most of the people of other states of our country also. Finance Immo is a brokerage firm in tax exemption and financing, specializing in assurance and provide , assurance crit, , services.Commercial Real Estate Guide- Earn more with Commercial Real Estate Commercial Real Estate refers to the property that has potential to generate extra income for the owner of real estate. Make sure you take it easy this time. Granted, I've gone to one world fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the craziest stuff I've ever seen. "The decrease in abandoned houses in the Baltimore harbor automatically translates into less crime and drugs, which then signifies a better standard of living for the people in these communities," says Agodio. With his excellent communication skills and an eye for customer? Real estate investors must not choose a time-consuming investment strategy if you cannot spend much time for real estate business. Although I at least in part banish that extravagant purpose. We'll see if we can get more specific than that and also it has been inefficient so far. It right there should limit you to a few aparments for rent choices where if you ever were worried about a rent home, now isn't the best moment to flush away those fears.

Jan
28

Perry rental home costs state $750.000

1327770247 13 Perry rental home costs state $750.000

AUSTIN (KXAN) – As the oldest home for governors west of the Mississippi, the Texas Governor’s Mansion had its share of wear and tear. Built in 1856, the structure housed 40 governors and was in need of an overhaul by the time Gov. Rick Perry moved out in October 2007 .

Perry and his wife Anita packed their bags and headed to an upscale West Austin neighborhood – the Estates of Barton Creek. At the time, the rental they moved into was listed for sale at $1.85 million.

Since then, the state has paid nearly $750,000, according to records obtained from the Texas Facilities Commission and the Texas State Preservation Board – the two entities that have handled the home’s finances over the years.

The 6,386-square-foot home sits on more than three acres. By comparison, the Governor’s Mansion – with no rent or mortgage to pay – has around 9,900 square feet, though the Governor and First Lady occupy only 2,750 square feet of it. The rest is public space.

The West Austin home currently has a rent of $8,500 a month. That pays for five bedrooms, five bathrooms, four living areas, three dining rooms, and a pool.

“The Governor and First Lady are always mindful of being good stewards of taxpayer dollars and have helped offset the cost to taxpayers by using non-state funds to help cover operating costs of the residence and mansion,” said Lucy Nashed, the governor’s spokeswoman. “The state has also negotiated an approximately 15 percent reduction in rent at the temporary residence.”

However, in 2000, Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee moved into a a mobile home on the grounds of the governor’s mansion in Little Rock during more than two years of renovations there. Additionally, Bill White – Perry’s Democratic opponent in the 2010 gubernatorial election – said, if he was elected, he would rent a place himself until the mansion was repaired.

In 2008, a still unsolved arson set things back drastically at the Texas Governor’s Mansion, delaying the Perrys’ return. The 81st Texas Legislature appropriated $22 million to help with further restorations after the massive fire damaged a great deal of the National Historic Landmark.

But in February 2010, state funding for the project was slashed as part of the 5 percent budget cuts for all state agencies.

First lady Anita Perry has helped raise private money – more than $3.5 million, so far – for the fix, founding the Texas Governor’s Mansion Restoration Fund . Perry’s office said the couple is looking forward to the project’s finish.

Since dropping out of the presidential race Thursday, Perry has reportedly been back at his temporary home in West Austin. The preservation board said he will be living in the state’s fully restored mansion once again by June. Finishing touches are underway now.

Since restoration began, Colorado Street between West 10th Street and West 11th Street has been closed. It will remain that way, even after the mansion opens back up, because it will soon be the site of a garden.

Jan
28

The Rookery in Ormskirk wins West Lancashire Council design award

1327769067 26 The Rookery in Ormskirk wins West Lancashire Council design award

Sep 3 2009 by Michael Byrne, Ormskirk Advertiser

SOME of the best designed buildings in West Lancs have scooped prizes at the 2009 West Lancashire Design Awards.

West Lancs Borough Council asked for nominations from the public back in February and judging on the short-listed schemes took place recently.

The event, which has been running since 1989, has this year been sponsored by the Homes and Communities Agency, the Government’s national housing and regeneration agency, and Places Matter! an innovative programme delivered through RIBA North West, which aims to drive up the quality of place-making in the north west.

Renovation/Conversion category winner was won by the restoration of The Rookery, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk.

The work has involved the complete and careful repair of a prominent Grade II listed building which was in a very poor state of repair and identified as a ‘building at risk’ on the Council’s register.

The judges felt the restoration of the external fabric of the early C19 Tudor Gothic-styled building was of a particularly high standard, which befitted its listed status and had created a beautiful home.

The work had continued through to the interiors which reflect the building’s importance.

Councillor Martin Forshaw, the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Transportation said: “These awards promote the importance of good design and show the Council’s commitment to working in partnership with owners and agents to raise the standard of development and improve the appearance of the Borough’s environment.

“The standard of the nominations this year was very high and this made the judges’ task of picking the winners even more difficult.”

Other winners were the Alder Lane Housing scheme in Tarleton and South Tunley Hall, Tunley Lane, Wrightington.

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