News Archive: quirky and amusing

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10, 2012 February:

Mormon house sold by lesbians

The birthplace of Mormon prophet Gordon B. Hinckley is being sold in Salt Lake City by a lesbian couple. The Utah home, owned by the former leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been listed by the couple for $369,900 in a move that may anger some followers of the religion. But it's not the only Mormon real estate transaction causing controversy...

Pisa’s Tower Straightened for Real

On the 1st of April 2006 we published an April Fool story entitled "Tourists in Pisa surprised to find tower straightened".

09, 2012 February:

'Robo-Camera' Goes 'RoboCop' on Some London Residents

"Stop! This is a restricted area!' The statement is the sort of warning you might expect to hear from a robot guarding a top-secret facility in your average B-grade sci-fi flick.

08, 2012 February:

BBC shuns glamour to report on Olympics from council block

The BBC's star-studded coverage of the Olympics will take place from the roof of a council block – which will be demolished soon after the last gold medal has been handed out.

07, 2012 February:

Robots may greet you at next open house

It will take at least a few years, but the whiz kids at M.I.T. are working on a robot that may guide you through a home that’s for sale.

06, 2012 February:

GDS architects to design world’s first invisible tower

International practice GDS Architects are setting out to build what will allegedly be the world’s first invisible tower, an observation ‘anti tower’ that will be the first design proposal for a landmark that earns its keep by essentially refusing to be a landmark.

03, 2012 February:

10 tips to be a bad landlord

With the London Olympics only months away, agents are seeing more enquiries from homeowners looking to rent their houses and take advantage of high tourist numbers. For those looking to invest in a buy-to-let property, there are many steps you should follow and pitfalls to avoid. To highlight the latter, here are 10 tips to be a bad landlord.

30, 2012 January:

Watch: The house that euros built

Ireland’s property may be suffering, but one man has shown that good things can come out of the European crisis: Frank Buckley built a home out of decommissioned euro notes worth €1.4bn as a comment on the deficit caused by the single currency. But according to some brokers, the declining euro could actually be good news for house hunters...

25, 2012 January:

Video - Stranger buys foreclosed house and gives it back to owner

A woman buys a stranger’s foreclosed home at an auction in America… and gives it back to her.

24, 2012 January:

Video - Hong Kong battles ‘pregnancy tourism’

It is considered good luck in China to have a baby in the Year of the Dragon. The benefits of a Hong Kong passport are highly prized by many mainland Chinese, and the high demand by pregnant women to cross the border has brought tough new regulations and restricted access to public hospitals.

20, 2012 January:

Barkingham Palaces: Why these pampered pets can't wait to be sent to the (£3,000) dog house

For most dogs, a kennel used to comprise a few planks of wood held together with rusty nails to form a rather rudimentary shelter from the wind and rain.

17, 2012 January:

Is this London’s sky-high housing solution?

100,000 people will need homes in London every year until 2016, experts predict. To meet growing housing demand, architects have dreamed up a sky-high solution: a 1,500 metre tower with room for 100,000 people, despite new research revealing an "unhealthy correlation" between skyscrapers and financial crashes...

13, 2012 January:

Watch: 30-storey building made in 15 days

China's property sales may be sluggish, but its construction has never been faster as a Chinese developer builds a 30-storey hotel in just 15 days. Broad Group impressed onlookers in 2011 by constructing a 15-storey property in one week, but has demolished its record with this prefabricated hotel, which boasts 316 rooms, a swimming pool and a helicopter pad.

06, 2012 January:

Ice church is snow joke for Bavarian village

A church made of ice? It's snow joke for a Bavarian village, where an entire building was created out of the white stuff to celebrate Christmas. The church, which is 65 feet high, consists of 49,000 cubic feet of snow, but it's not the first slippery structure to be created in Mitterfirmiansreut. A century ago, residents couldn't reach the neighbouring church in Mauth so they built one out of snow instead.

04, 2012 January:

People living in Denmark are the happiest, Europe wide study shows

People living in Denmark are the happiest in Europe while those living in Portugal are the least happy, according to a study from Cambridge University.

22, 2011 December:

Top 7 houses from Christmas movies

As Christmas arrives, house hunters start to think about the New Year and where to buy in 2012. But with the holiday season found to be the best time to sell your home, there is still some Christmas property magic to be found in 2011. To give you some festive inspiration, here are the top 7 houses from Christmas movies...

Video - Home made from salvaged car parts

When architect Karl Wanaselja built his home in Berkeley, California the junkyard became his urban forest for materials. For months he visited one of three local yards looking for car roofs and Dodge Caravan side windows. The windows became awnings and the roofs became siding for the top floor of his home.

19, 2011 December:

Is Italy the top cat for property?

Earlier this month, the widow of an Italian property mogul passed away, leaving all of her real estate and financial assets to her pet cat. Four year old Tommaso inherited €10 million and an empire of Rome flats and houses, but he is not the only happy homeowner in the country, as agents say the Italian property market is the busiest it has been for four years.

16, 2011 December:

Full-sized gingerbread house available to rent

For house hunters looking to get into the Christmas spirit, a festive treat is available to rent: a full-sized house made entirely of gingerbread. The building, which is 16 feet high, was created at a US resort and contains more than 1,000 pounds of sugar and has enough room for a dining table, a fireplace and a Christmas tree.

Breakfast at Tiffany's town house for sale

The familiar town house at 169 East 71st Street where Holly Golightly lived and hosted her wild cocktail parties has gone on the market for $5.85 million.

15, 2011 December:

Watch: Hampstead mansion’s ballroom transforms into swimming pool

Need a swimming pool as well as a ballroom? Not a problem for one home in Hampstead. The large, open dance room, overlooked by three chandeliers, transforms in 13 minutes into a 65ft swimming pool with water 1.5m deep.

14, 2011 December:

Detroit house swapped for car turns out to be Diana Ross' old home

Last month, there was news that a Detroit woman, Lawanda Flake, was offering to swap her house for a car. Now, it has been discovered that the four-bedroom house was once the home of Diana Ross and the Supremes.

13, 2011 December:

Squatters seize $8m in homes

Squatters seized over $8m worth of property in Texas this year. One claimed a house left by his dead neighbour. Another took over a $2.7m mansion, prompting authorities to ask the attorney general to intervene. Using legal loopholes, squatters are seizing more opportunities to "liberate" empty homes as a form of protest, social outreach or even buy-to-let investment.

09, 2011 December:

Top 10 most extravagant Christmas decorations

As Eurozone worries continue, Christmas cheer can easily depart from the property market. Houses across the continent have had their lights dimmed to cut costs, with Madrid using 600,000 fewer lightbulbs to decorate the city. But festive spirit can still be found as some countries rally from the global recession and homeowners invest in increasingly expensive displays.

A Place in the Sun TV series seeks buyers to appear on the show

The UK's favourite overseas property show A Place in the Sun will be back on Channel 4 in 2012 and Freeform Productions, the producers of the show, are currently looking for buyers planning to purchase a property in the Canaries to take part in the show.

08, 2011 December:

Pixar’s Up house sold to Disney fans

A house based on the Pixar movie Up has been sold to a Californian couple. The real-life property, inspired by the 2009 animated film and located in Utah, was bought by Clinton and Lynette Hamblin for $400,000. The pair purchased the 2,800 square foot property after searching for a home in California, but rushed to Utah when they found their dream house was more affordable.

Versailles gets a lick of paint: Restorers bring new life to 17th-century art at French palace

The paintings, which were last restored 35 years ago have seriously deteriorated

06, 2011 December:

Video - Origami apartment in Manhattan unfolds into 4 rooms

In 2005, third-grade-teacher Eric Schneider bought as big as an apartment as he could afford in Manhattan. He paid $235,000 for a 450-square-foot studio with a tiny kitchen. Then he let architects Michael Chen and Kari Anderson of Normal Projects design a way to pack more density into his small space.

02, 2011 December:

Nuclear missile silo for sale

A nuclear missile silo has exploded onto the property market in New York. The abandoned silo has been converted into a luxury residence for those looking to bunker down in a secure new home. The 1,800 square-foot property appears to be a simple mountain lodge, but underneath the floorboards lies a launch pad for an intercontinental ballistic missile built in the 1950s.

Own a piece of the Empire State Building?

Visitors to New York may soon be able to own a part of the Empire State Building, reports CNN. The famous skyscraper "may soon become part of a public company", according to documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission this week by Malkin Holdings LLC.

01, 2011 December:

Porsche car elevator gives US property a lift

A new apartment block designed by Porsche is giving US property a lift - with a robotic arm. The luxury car group is building a Florida complex with a lift that will carry residents' cars right to the top floor. Flats could cost up to $9m, but the Porsche project is accelerating just as mortgage rates hit the brakes, making US homes the most affordable in 15 years.

Deputies refuse to evict 103 year old from home

As the foreclosure machine rumbles on, many Americans continue to lose homes that they have lived in for decades. A 103-year-old and her 83-year-old daughter living in Atlanta looked poised to suffer that fate Tuesday when they were scheduled to be evicted from their home of 53 years. But an act of compassion has left them holding on.

28, 2011 November:

Denmark to get new overseas property TV show

Danish television will start a new series focused on buying homes abroad in the new year. At the beginning of 2012, the Danish television station TV3 will launch a new programme called “Two properties – one price”.

25, 2011 November:

Top 10 houses with moustaches

For overseas property, November means a lot of things. The start of the skiing season as resort homes fill up. The time to winter-proof your property before the pipes freeze. But for many, November means Movember, a month where people grow moustaches to raise funds for men's health. Unbeknown to some, real estate around the world is joining in too. Here are the top 10 houses with moustaches.

24, 2011 November:

Detroit mum swaps house for car

A mother in Detroit has offered to swap her house for a car. 36-year-old LaWanda Flake listed her four-bedroom property on Craigslist, proposing a straight swap for any drivers in search of a home. It sounds crazy, but it actually makes a lot of sense, as many US houses are now cheaper than cars in a market full of foreclosures.

21, 2011 November:

Scottish island with planning permission comes onto the market

A Scottish island with uninterrupted views across to the west coast and planning permission to build holiday accommodation has been put up for sale.

18, 2011 November:

Hitler's hideout hits the market

Hitler's secret hideout is now for sale, if you believe the conspiracy theorists. The Inalco villa, located on Argentina's coast, is thought by some to be the place where Adolf Hitler lived with Eva Braun after faking his death at the end of World War II. The property is surrounded by a web of suspicious coincidences...

14, 2011 November:

Couple sues airline after finding cockroaches hanging above their heads

A North Carolina couple is suing AirTran Airways, alleging they were sickened by cockroaches coming out of air vents and storage areas on a recent flight.

11, 2011 November:

Foreign Office reveals strangest requests

Staff at an embassy in Spain have been recently been asked to find out the size of the Prince of Wales's feet so the caller could send him some shoes “as a present”, while in Sofia, a Briton asked if the consulate could sell his house.

08, 2011 November:

Village for sale - yours for £6.5 million

Life for the residents of Askham Richard could soon change as much of the "chocolate-box" village has been put up for sale by its landlord.

04, 2011 November:

7 simple ways to house 7 billion

This week, the world population hit 7 billion. The number of people on the planet has doubled over the last 50 years and there are now 21 mega cities around the world housing 10 million or more. With 5 people born every second, and life expectancy on the up, the population is expected to reach 9 billion within 34 years. Where will they all live?

03, 2011 November:

UK property agent introduces smart sales boards with latest digital technology

Strutt & Parker is set to be the first UK national agent to roll out smartboards with QR code and NFC technology combined on all its sale boards.

02, 2011 November:

Google Maps lets you wander inside buildings

Google Maps are now apparently venturing into buildings, with a foray into businesses letting you nose around behind the front doors of high street shops.

01, 2011 November:

Yours for $28 million: Venice lagoon island complete with ruined convent

Santo Spirito, an island in Venice’s lagoon with a derelict convent, has been put up for sale by Italian real-estate investors for more than 20 million euros ($28 million).

31, 2011 October:

Ghosts can have a scary effect on selling a house

Unusual happenings, such as hauntings or reported crimes, can dramatically affect the saleability of a property, according to RICS.

How to ghost-proof your home

A new infographic this week teaches homeowners how to ghost-proof their homes ready for Halloween. From the height of a basement to the correct number of stairs, some overseas property is heavily influenced by the prevalence of supernatural superstition.

28, 2011 October:

Top 10 haunted houses in the world

With Halloween on the horizon, house hunters should be wary of the history of any property they find. A horrific past or regular haunting can change the value of a property investment. TheMoveChannel.com picks up its torch and looks into the dark recesses of international real estate to hunt for some truly terrifying overseas property.

14, 2011 October:

Euromillions jackpot winners go shopping for overseas property

Who could blame Euromillions lottery winners Dave and Angie Dawes when they say they plan to spend some of their winnings on at least one property overseas.

07, 2011 October:

Barking mad? Designer doghouses auctioned in Austin

Barking mad houses hit Texas this week, as Austin's annual Barkitecture show took place. The event, which raises money for charity, is a showcase for revolutionary modern designs of new homes - for dogs. Austin's best designers, architects and builders all submitted doghouses, which were then auctioned off to local property buyers.