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Rod Donald: Time to stop sell-off of NZ land to the world's wealthy
New Zealand Herald - New Zealand
Shania Twain and her husband are probably very nice people and I would be more than happy if they made New Zealand their home. But I am concerned that they have been given Overseas Investment Commission approval to buy two high country stations near Wanaka.
New Zealand Herald

Call for clearer rules for lawyers
Straits Times - Singapore
A judge has urged the Law Society to consider whether clearer policies and rules are needed to avoid conflict of interest, especially in conveyancing and loan transactions.
Straits Times

Land ruling may curb minister's powers
Moneyweb - South Africa
The Democratic Alliance (DA) and the lobby group National Land Committee have welcomed the ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal last week that Land Claims Commissioners do not have the right to decide whether land claims are valid or not, and that this is the exclusive prerogative of the Land Claims Court.
Moneyweb

Push to reveal home faults: Law reformers want Tassie estate agents to disclose defects
NEWS.com.au - Australia
Real estate agents would be legally required to point out the worst aspects of the houses they sell under the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute's latest proposal.

In a move welcomed by the industry's peak group, agents would be required to disclose any defects in the home plus shoddy improvements, illegally built structures, site contamination and more.
News.com.au

Bright future for professionals behind the communal garden gate
Homeowners groups in need of managers, lawyers
San Francisco Chronicle - USA
Looking for a sure-fire way to make money over the next 10 to 20 years? Try homeowner association litigation. Or if you don't cotton to going back to school and cramming for the bar exam, become a professional property manager instead. No degree or certificate necessary; a business card will get you in the door.
San Francisco Chronicle

Manipulation runs rife in Lahore property market
Daily Times - Pakistan
Lahore: Property agent Haji Nasir of Makkan Estates, who has been in this trade for over three decades puts it like this: Yes, declining interest rates played a role, yes remittances from expatriates had a part, but what's really sent property prices in Lahore multiplying is pure and simple speculation.
Daily Times

Do you know who owns our country?
Daily Post - Wales
Wales is a country of rolling hills and mountains largely owned by farmers, now that the landowning aristocracy have been nudged aside by swingeing death duties. Right?

Well, actually it isn't, according to Britain's foremost researcher into land ownership. Sure, some 77% of the green, green grass of home might be taken up by agriculture, but that doesn't mean that the days of the huge estates are necessarily numbered.
Daily Post

Pricey home, dicey mortgage
The Christian Science Monitor - USA
San Diego - With the median home price in the Golden State nearing half a million dollars, it's no wonder that fewer than 1 in 5 Californians can afford to buy a home. But plenty of people are snapping up high-priced houses anyway, on both East and West coasts, thanks to a burgeoning number of non-traditional mortgage loans.
The Christian Science Monitor