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April 2014

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Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s not just in clothing that fashion designers are ahead of the trends. Their property portfolios – and interior decorating skills – are pretty remarkable too. Today we take a look at the enviable real estate owned by some of the world’s top designers. Versace’s Miami mansion Gianni Versace’s former mansion, located in Miami, Florida, sold at auction last year for $41.5 million USD. Versace bought Casa Casuarina in 1992 and spent millions on renovations. Tragically, he was shot and killed on the mansion’s front steps in 1997. The property is now set to attract plenty of highflyers through its doors, with the mansion recently reopening as a boutique hotel. Guests can even stay in the master designer’s former bedroom. Valentino’s French château This is exactly the level of glamour you would expect of Valentino. Located about half an hour from Paris, the Château de Wideville was built by Louis…

Reading Time: 2 minutes Real estate projects are often financed through the deep pockets of wealthy investors. But what if there was a more democratic way, with a range of individual investors contributing small amounts to help get a project off the ground? This type of investment, known as crowdfunding, has long been used to raise funds in other industries, particularly arts. Film producers, theatre directors, musicians and more have all benefited from this revenue source, in which several small investors pool their funds together to finance a project. Now it seems this democratic form of investment has spread to the real estate sector. Within the tech industry, startups with a real estate crowdfunding focus are starting to appear on the scene. One of these new businesses, US-based Realty Mogul, recently announced that its 6000 members had invested $14.6 million in real estate projects worth more than $100 million during its first year in…

Reading Time: 2 minutes Sony is set to enter the property business. The company has announced plans to launch a real estate unit – including brokerage, consulting and property management services – in August this year. The new business, to be called Sony Real Estate Corp, will be based in the trendy Ginza area in Sony’s home town of Tokyo. The company is making an initial investment of 250 million yen ($2.4 million USD) to get its property unit off the ground, according to an official statement. So why is one of the world’s leading electronics companies diversifying into property? The answer lies in the current global tech climate. Once the go-to source for electronics, Sony’s popularity has been waning in recent years as consumers have embraced mobile products from tech giants Apple and Samsung. At the same time, consumer demand for some of Sony’s main revenue spinners – such as televisions and personal…

Reading Time: < 1 minute The prestigious Milan Design Week or ‘Salone’ as it is better known in Italy kicked off this month, displaying the next big trends in interior design from some of the world’s most talented designers. 1. Soft Shapes The London-based designer Faye Toogood has described how her 2014 collection has been inspired by her recently becoming a mother. Toogood used to produce simple geometric shaped furniture, but explains that having a baby in the house has inspired her to soften sharp corners and make everything “fall-off-able”. The rounded edges certainly bring a calming effect, don’t you think? 2. Natural Textures Textures from the natural world are finding their way on to wallpaper and onto furniture at this year’s Design Week. The luxury brand Hermès is bringing back floral for your walls with this retro flowery wallpaper. Florals in spring? Groundbreaking! Some really innovative work was displayed from Japanese firm Nendo –…

Reading Time: < 1 minute April is an exciting month in Asian real estate, as the global property consultancy firm Knight Frank publishes the first ever Prime Asia Development Land Index – a groundbreaking measurement of the development value of key real estate in Asia. The land prices in the Index are derived by looking at what a reasonable developer would be expected to pay for development land, given the development value of the potential scheme, costs, required profit, acquisition costs, and relevant taxes. There are some interesting results in Knight Frank’s first tracking of land prices in Asia. Since 2011, 24 of 26 Asian markets have witnessed an increasing land price. One of the fastest growers is the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The general trend is of rapidly appreciating the land value in emerging Asian economies, with the more established Asian economies having reached a land value sufficiently high that redevelopment of existing land is…

Reading Time: 3 minutes Late last year, Alek Lisefski and his partner downsized in a dramatic way. Inspired to simplify their lives, cut down on expenses and reconnect with nature, the couple moved into a tiny house built on the back of a 8×20 foot trailer. With less living and storage space, the pair believed they would be forced to own less, consume less and spend more time outdoors. The property – if you can call it that – has most of the comforts of your average home packed into its pint-size quarters. It was designed with the environment in mind, with features like a homemade composting toilet and fold-up roof overhangs to shade windows from the sun. A web designer by trade, US-based Alek has been documenting the Tiny Project online in the hope of inspiring others to build their own miniature home. Today he chats to Lamudi about how the project has…

Reading Time: 2 minutes Skyscrapers are about to reach the 1km mark, with work due to start on the world’s tallest building this weekend. Construction on the Kingdom Tower, located in the Red Sea city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, will start this Sunday, April 27. Reaching a kilometer into the sky, the super-tall tower will have 200 floors in total, of which 160 are inhabitable. The total cost of the project is estimated at US$1.2 billion. The tower will claim the title of world’s tallest building from Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which it will surpass in height by at least 173 meters (568 feet). The mixed-use building is at the center of the $20 billion Kingdom City development in Jeddah. It will feature a luxury hotel, office space, serviced apartments, luxury condominiums, and the world’s highest observatory. The building will reportedly need 5.7 million square feet of concrete and 80,000 tonnes of steel to…

Reading Time: 2 minutes The countdown is on. This week marks one month until the world is again gripped by football fever, as the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 12. More than 300,000 soccer fans are set to travel to Brazil for the big event. So it’s no surprise that most of the top hotels in the country’s major cities, especially Rio de Janeiro, are either fully booked or charging exorbitant prices. To help those who’ve left their trip planning to the last minute, we’ve put together a guide to the properties that are still available for World Cup visitors. Here are some of your best options for where to stay. Hotels At this late stage, your hotel options will be few and far between. Most luxury hotels are fully booked and what is left will cost you. The average cost of a hotel for the night of the grand final…

Reading Time: 2 minutes Imagine living in a house that was only half finished, with no walls or closed doors to come between you and the rest of your family. A thought-provoking new project from Japanese studio Yamazaki Kentaro Design Workshop asked one young family to do just that. Located in Kashiwa, in Chiba Prefecture, the unfinished house was designed to break down the walls within family life. The house’s layout is formed using four open timber boxes, with each box divided into two layers. The boxes face inwards to a central space which serves as the hub of the family home. Kentaro’s intention was to provide flexible living areas for a growing family, with multi-function spaces that can be adapted to their needs. The first layer of each box has set functions: there is a kitchen, bedroom, plumbing area, and workspace. The second layer has intentionally been left blank so that the family…

Reading Time: 2 minutes Has your home been on the market for months, with barely any interest from buyers? Then it’s time to take action. The very first step in getting your property sold is making sure it looks appealing to prospective new owners. Before they decide to inspect the property, the first thing buyers will see is the advertisement, either online or in print. Blurry, dark or just plain unappealing photos can completely discourage house-hunters from even getting to the inspection stage. To help you get buyers through the door, we’ve put together a list of the top 10 photography tips for sellers. Follow the guide below to make sure you capture your property’s best side – without having to hire a professional. Clean it up. This might seem like a no-brainer, but how many real estate listings have you seen where the property looks surprisingly messy? Store all toys, food and personal…