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Advantages of DIY
Australian Financial Review - Australia
Whether selling or buying a property, virtually all Australians head straight for a real estate agent.
But by selling privately - or doing away with an agent altogether - property owners can not only save thousands in agents' fees and costs, but may also snare a higher sale price, says property writer Terry Ryder in his book, Real Estate Without Agents.
Australian Financial Review

Land is Sacred
AllAfrica.com
Land in communal areas needs to be managed and developed properly in order to improve the socio-economic and agricultural conditions of rural communities.

This was said by the Governor of Oshana, Clemens Kashuupulwa, at the first consultative meeting of the GEF Namibia Country Pilot Partnership for Sustainable Land Management at Ondangwa.
AllAfrica.com

Internet mortgage devices banned
The Australian - Australia
Loan calculators on more than 100 home lender websites have been shut down because they are deliberately misleading customers.

ASIC has ordered the calculators be pulled off the websites of all banks, credit unions and mortgage brokers because they falsely suggest these loans will help consumers pay off their home loans faster.

Line-of-credit loans with salary crediting are widely marketed by lenders and brokers as an easy way to pay off a home loan quickly or as a debt-reduction strategy.
The Australian

Bid to end flat repairs rows
Glasgow Evening Times - UK
Arguments among Glasgow neighbours over repairs to tenement buildings could soon be a thing of the past. The Scottish Executive wants to introduce new rules which will force homeowners to carry out essential repairs.
Glasgow Evening Times

Law would target unruly renters
Asbury Park Press - United States
In the wake of the largest summer-rental season in years, the council on Monday introduced an amended "animal house" ordinance. Under the new law, property owners whose tenants receive two or more complaints or summonses would be required to post a bond of between $500 and $5,000 to be used to pay fines for any future offences.
Asbury Park Press

Minority group gets title deeds
Business Day - South Africa
One of the smallest minority groups in South Africa, the Zanzibaris, will return to the land they were removed from under the Group Areas Act in 1961. The Zanzibaris are descendants of slaves from Zanzibar island in Tanzania and the Makua island in Mozambique. The land they have finally won back after starting a claims process in 1986 is in King's Rest on Durban's Bluff.
Business Day

Mortgage fraud near "epidemic"
CBS MarketWatch - USA
The US real-estate boom, coupled with low interest rates, has given mortgage companies a surge of new business. But it's also opened the door to complex and costly fraud schemes.
CBS MarketWatch