Would You Buy A House Built on Top of a Shopping Mall?

When I was kid, I thought it would be awesome to live in a mall. My family and I stayed in a hotel built in or on top of one: We could go get Starbucks for breakfast in our PJs and if I ever needed something new and shiny to validate my existence, it was readily available. Of course, even I thought there were limits to what living above a mall could be like; for instance, I always assumed that living in a building like that meant you pretty much had to live in an apartment. I was a foolish child. You can both live in a house and live above a mall, thanks to the Chinese. You can have it all, people.

Zhuzhou Jiutian Real Estate, a developer in Zhuzhou, China, the second largest city in the Hunan province, has actually built a set of houses on top of a shopping mall. It’s a perfect solution, really, for someone who loves or needs to live in the city, but wants suburban comforts like a lawn and personal privacy.

According to China Daily, putting gardens and other community areas with vegetation on building rooftops is rapidly becoming a national trend in China. So it’s not that this thought hasn’t been had before. In Beijing, all new buildings under 12 stories are legally required to feature “green rooftops.”

The “neighborhood” has four houses, each with a pretty large amount of surrounding property. Zhuzhou Jiutian built the houses at the same time as the mall itself. I’m pretty sure that made the process a lot easier. There is only one problem. While the houses are fully functional with working electricity and plumbing, they’re technically commercial structures. The houses will function as office space for the mall’s staff. What a waste!

Still, even if the design isn’t reaching its maximum potential, the roof-house design does show an interesting new way to think about urban planning.

source: geekosystem.com

Some Important Points for Comparing Home Loans

Buying a house can be an exhilarating experience. Every home owner in NZ has felt the rush of surveying houses for sale, finding that perfect bargain and making the life changing decision to buy. The vast majority of us have then gone through the process of applying for a home loan to make that dream a reality. When deciding on a home loan, there are a number of factors that the savvy buyer should take into consideration before signing on the dotted line.

When finding a house, you will inevitably shop around until you locate the best fit for your needs. The same should always also be true for a home loan. Be sure to search far and wide for the most competitive terms and suitable structure for your financial situation. When buying a house, what you are really signing up for is a loan. It only makes sense then that you would apply the same level of care and reasoning to your choice of loan provider as you would to choosing your new address. Just as there are a plethora of houses for sale in NZ, so too are there an a number of reputable home loan providers who will be willing to talk you through anything you need to know and work with you to put you in your new home.

It is also important to take ownership of your own financial situation, and stay objective in deciding whether you can feasibly pay back the loan. Take any offer and work out what your monthly repayments would be, and be sure to include the possibility of interest rate increases if the terms include a floating rate. This will often seem cheaper in the short term, but you should also factor in the possibility of having to make larger repayments in the future. If you are sitting on the borderline of just barely being able to afford a loan then it is usually a good idea to take a step back and rethink whether you can actually afford this house.

Though you may be emotionally attached to a new property, there are plenty of lovely houses for sale within NZ and it is better to find one that you can definitely afford rather than signing up for an untenable loan. Your real estate agency can often help talk you through the home loan process, assisting you in drawing up a budget and facilitating a dialogue between you and your loan provider. So long as you stay smart and only sign up to what you can actually afford, you are bound to find long term happiness in the house of your dreams.

For New Zealand house rentals go to Century 21. Article Source: http://www.articlebiz.com/article/1051548536-1-some-important-points-for-comparing-home-loans/

Ideal Plants For The Lanai

MANILA, Philippines — It was one lazy Sunday afternoon when I was in my bedroom, feeling drowsy. I was about to doze off when I felt beads of sweat trickling down my nape. I tossed and turned, trying to assume a position that would ventilate the back of my body. But the more I moved, the more I generated heat. I started perspiring all over. This made me feel uneasy and I couldn’t sleep. I finally decided to take a shower.

I welcomed the refreshing coolness of the water. After the long bath, I made a pitcher of cold lemonade and gulped it all down. Still, I felt hot and I perspired again. The summer heat is inevitable now that it’s March. In fact, it is so all-year round even during the supposedly wet months of June and July.

I didn’t go back to the room. I went to that place in the house where the air and the atmosphere is generally cooler—the lanai.

I would have to say this is my favorite part of the house. The perfect venue to lounge and welcome guests, the lanai serves as an extension of the home’s interiors and the link to the beautiful gardens surrounding it. The lanai is not only aesthetically appealing; it is also very functional. On top of this, it is, for me, the coolest place to be at.

In my profession as a landscape artist, I have come to appreciate the trend of “bringing the outdoors in” and vice versa. The lanai is the perfect meeting place of home furniture and ornamental plants from the garden. Along with some garden accents, this part of the house makes for a lively, yet often relaxing spot. Depending on the client’s preferences, the plants used to create a landscape surrounding the lanai can greatly vary. Most of the time, they even complement the pieces of furniture installed in the lanai.

In many of my works, I have opted for palms and medium-height trees that are not fruit-bearing. They add shade to the area, although most lanai structures are already canopied or covered by a richly-decorated trellis. As much as possible, I like to keep the vines on the side, allowing them to crawl on the pillars that support the trellis above. This is to maintain the neat appearance of the lanai, which is supposedly a venue to relax and unwind. I can never feel comfortablewhenever I get entangled with some vine or plant creeper.

The Foxtail Palm and the Yucca Tree are good choices of plants for framing the lanai. Every now and then, potted plants serve as fabulous accents to this outdoor living room. You can use Bougainvilleas for Mediterranean-type houses, Bonsais for Zen types or whatever pleases the client. Of course, these plants must adjust to full shade or partial shade conditions, depending on the coverage of the trellis or the canopy.

Finally, we must not forget the view of the garden from the lanai. While one enjoys lounging at this very cool place, one must satisfy the sense of sight. A well-landscaped garden is just the right solution. Since the onlooker is situated from a very comfortable place, a more detailed inspection of the garden can be expected. Thus, symmetry, texture and color combination of the plants must be well taken into consideration. It’s like watching a garden show from this outdoor living room—that, along with drinking some cold lemonade and just lazing on the sofa—can make help beat the summer heat.

source: mb.com.ph