With only two grand design posts a month this property is definately worth a mention. 2 Albert Road Lower, Sandycove, Dublin is an amazing villa style period home which has been re-designed, refurbished and styled with a lavish interior and includes some of the latest and expensive gadgets in home technology and décor.

The house has the usual 'light filled and spacious interior'; hall, guest bathroom, living room, sitting room, dining room, kitchen/breakfast room, utility and three bedrooms – two of which are ensuite. But it’s the well thought of extras that add the wow factor and the nice price tag to this house i.e.

• under floor heating downstairs with remote controlled thermostats
• LED lighting system both inside and outside the house by Lightplan of London
• Top of the range audio visual system which cost in excess of €100,000
• Binova kitchen with integrated Miele appliances worth €60,000!
• Off street parking for three cars by remote controlled security gates and cctv to front and rear of the property

Out all the elements to the house, the main and best feature of the property has to be the fabulous glass box extension.

If you have just come to love the house you might be sad to learn that it has gone sale agreed! Nonetheless you can still have a look around…

• Take a closer look at 2 Albert Road Lower, Sandycove, Dublin

Buy of the week this week is a 4 bed semi detached located in Navan, Co. Meath for the reasonably priced and small sum of €209,500!

Not only does this super priced property include a high degree of insulation, comes fully alarmed and has gas fired central heating, but its location is definately an added bonus, just off the Dublin Road, beside Navan Tennis and Rugby Clubs. The house also has Homebond 10 year guarantee.

• Take a closer look 60 Oakleigh, Navan, Co. Meath

LOST, the final season with all its Lost mania is here. The last segment to the Lost saga is at last underway so hopefully we’ll all soon find out what is actually going on and how it’s all going to end… maybe?!

Well, whether we figure out what happens, follow the series or perhaps ‘lost’ interest along the way we can’t but admit that the island itself is gorgeous minus the whole parallel universe and mysterious happenings bit. Turns out, the island, with its white sandy beaches, lush tropical forest and mountains is not quite so hard to find or reach for that matter! Most of Lost was filmed on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu, in particular on the North Shore.

While I’m making out that the luxurious surroundings of the island are obtainable as you can buy property there, a home on the famous North Shore could set you back a million or two!

• Check out property at North Shore, Oahu Island (home of Lost!).

New measures contained in the Finance Bill will leave householders’ pockets even lighter.

The new bill proposes:

• An extension of the new carbon tax that will see a tank full of domestic heating oil rise by €43, domestic gas prices rise by an average of €41 a year and price rises for coal and peat
• The winding down of mortgage interest relief, although there is an extension until 2018 for its final abolition
• A rise in tolls by a fifth on the M50 and the Dublin Port Tunnel 
• Abolition of tax relief on bin collection charges worth €80 a year

Not only that but bin collections by local authorities will rise by 13.5pc from July as county councils will have to pay VAT for the first time. Car parking, swimming pools, the hiring of sports facilities and commercial water provision are also subject to the addition of VAT of between 13.5% and 21%.

The new measures were announced prior to the AGM dinner of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce last night where Brian Cowen said in his speech, “Sacrifices need to be made… as citizens we have an obligation to pull together in times of uncertainty… we should be prepared to look beyond our self-interest… We are going to come through it. Recessions end.”

Have your say:

• The New Finance Bill: Can we afford any more household charges just two months after a savage Budget cut public sector pay and reduced social welfare payments?

House and Home magazine; Ireland's beloved and best selling interiors magazine with an accessible mix of Irish ideas for Irish interiors, are carrying out a consumer survey this month and would love to hear your opinions and feedback on their mag.

In return for taking a few minutes to complete their questionnaire and to make it worth your while they will give you a FREE copy of the House and Home magazine in return!  How brilliant is that?!

It’ll only take you a few minutes, so why not complete the questionnaire and get your hands on a free copy of their mag (Oh and it'll be delivered straight to your door too!).

Start Questionnaire

February has arrived and so the yearly act of cleaning a house from top to bottom i.e. spring cleaning is soon to get underway. Spring cleaning time is a prime opportunity to get rid of unwanted and used items in the house. We all have items lying around the house, garden shed or workplace that we don’t need, be it a piece of furniture, a fridge, a bicycle, gardening tools or clothes. However, sometimes the task of parting with some items is not easy. The key though is to be ruthless. The following which are really ‘Excuses for keeping things’ should definitely be on the get-rid list.

• Stacks or old letters, magazines or books that you were going to read.
• Things people have given you that no longer fit into your life.
• Things you have been hanging onto in case you need them.
• Things you have kept because it would be a waste to let them go.

However what you should know and remember is that you do not need to throw out all the items you plan to get rid of. Most of the items are probable reusable. As they say “What you may no longer want could be someone else’s treasure”.

There are many companies and organisations that will take and /or swap your unwanted items such as the St. Vincent de Paul, Dublinwaste.ie, Jumbletown.ie.

Reusing your unwanted goods is better than simply throwing things away and helps protect the environment. It’s also a very simple, yet efficient way to relieve clutter and provide valuable items for those in need.

Santos Gonzalez Sanchez a mortgage lender and the president of the Spanish Mortgage Association revealed in a statement to the Spanish press this week that the country’s property market sector is 'bankrupt'. Sanchez who also speaks on behalf of the country’s mortgage lenders said that there is so much debt in the industry that finance for property development has effectively dried up. ‘The real estate sector is bankrupt… the viability of the property sector is in question and it is putting the financial sector in danger,’ he warned.

In summary, at the end of Q3 2009, Spanish developers had a combined debt of €324 billion in the Q3 of 2009. According to figures from the Bank of Spain this is the equivalent of around 30% of Spanish GDP. The interest bill alone is around €15 billion a year.

Some believe that Spain needs to create a ‘bad bank’ similar to NAMA where all the toxic real estate loans can be dumped, freeing the banks from their bad debts and enabling them to start lending again.

With stubborn gunk, 'burnty' bits and who knows what else, cleaning your oven isn't the most exciting or attractive job. However the job at hand isn't as difficult as it sounds and it is possible to restore your oven back to squeaky clean order pretty quickly.

They are many ways to clean the oven. My preference is the eco friendly and homemade way i.e. a mixture of ingredients from your kitchen. So where to start? What you need is:

• 5 tablespoons of baking soda
• 4 of white vinegar
• And 2 or 3 drops of washing up liquid

Mix all the ingredients together into a thick paste, then use a sponge to apply your new home oven cleaner remedy to the inside of your oven. When you have that done its time for some elbow grease i.e. scrub your oven with a ‘green scrubby’. Once you are happy you have scrubbed enough, make sure to rinse thoroughly and wipe the oven clean.

If you don’t have time or the ingredients you can buy oven cleaner! Check out the video to follow the steps on what to do (it’s not that hard, spray it on, clean it off!)

With all that in mind, now all you have to do is roll up the sleeves and get to it!

Renting? Tired of your dingy, dark, flat? Time to treat yourself? Well look no further than 114 Sycamore Rd, Glasnevin.

There is no doubt that you would surely be indulging yourself if you rented here. This unlikely property comes completely restored and extended, with no expense spared. It has no less than 5 large bedrooms with master en suites, the ground floor comprises of an open plan living space which extends to approximately 2,600sqft and all the furnishings are modern, up-to-date and pretty funky and quirky: a bit different from the norm. However the best part, I think, of the whole property has to be the back garden; an amenity both quite imaginative and slightly outrageous with the Irish climate in mind is the heated swimming pool!

The property is priced at €1695 per month, which from the offset might sound a bit expensive in the current times. BUT, this property boasts to be only a stones throw to DCU and town. So if I was a student with 5 friends, the sum would look like this: €1695 divided by 5 = €339 per month. Now, you have to admit €339 sounds fairly cheap and for what you get for that price, it sounds like a bargain. With a swimming pool out the back and a flat screen in the living room, it would be great house for a partae or two!

• Take a closer look at 114 Sycamore Rd, Glasnevin, Dublin 11

While we may have a year to prepare before a property tax and water charges are introduced and in full swing by the end of 2011, 2010 is not immune and householders will not escape the brunt of more charges.

The Revenue Commissioners have asked all local authorities for a list of all goods and services they provide to the public or to businesses at a cost, so they can be assessed for VAT at either 13.5 or 21%.

This means householders in all parts of the State who use local authority services for their waste collection are likely to face an increase in charges of up to 21%. Also included on the line up to face a hike are car parks, swimming pools, sports grounds and commercial water use.

The VAT changes are due to be included in the Finance Bill 2010 published next March or April and reports suggest that the changes are likely to be implemented by July.

Have your say

• More Household charges: Are these proposed VAT charges on local authority services fair? 

The Latest MyHome.ie Property Barometer shows that in 2009 asking prices fell by 14.6% nationally and by 18% in Dublin.  This year I do not expect asking prices to fall to the same extent and believe that overall 2010 will prove to be a better year for the market compared to last, although asking prices will still be down 10% on average over the course of the year, with the real potential for higher price decreases in some sectors and areas in 2010.

With the economy forecast to exit recession, combined with the creation and functioning of NAMA, plus the benefit of low interest rates and the best housing “affordability” in over two decades, do you think the latter part of 2010 will mark a turning point in the property cycle?

If you think 2010 will present greater challenges that 2009 what will they be? What do you think are the “risks” that face the market? - Rising interest rates for variable rate customers as banks increase rates to improve their balance sheets? Negative Equity? Repossessions? Emigration? Unemployment? 

Let us know your views on the outlook for residential market in 2010 here…

A pretty nifty and handy ‘gadget’ to have especially in the current water shortage is a water butt. What is it?  It is a barrel-like tank that can collect rainwater from your roof's drainpipes after rain. This rainwater can then be used for watering plants in your garden, for washing you car and at times, like now when water pressure is low it might be handy for filling up your cistern.

A small sized water butt has a capacity of about 190 litres and is made from 100% recycled plastic. It is designed to fit a standard plastic drainpipe (not recommended for cast iron pipes!) and are designed so that they will not overflow. When the water level reaches a certain level water will flow straight through the down pipe instead of into the water butt.

The price of water butts can vary depending on the size you want, small sized tanks can start at €40 and can be purchased from the many local county councils and some garden centres. 

Dublin City Council.ie provide a list of suppliers in the Dublin area.

As water supplies across the country remain at critically low levels, authorities last night warned that water supplies in some parts of the country may not be back to normal for several months.

It’s no secret that Ireland has one of the highest water availability rates in Europe and according to Met Éireann annual rainfall totals in 2009 were well above normal for the second successive year. However Irish rivers which are the source for much of the Irish water supply are just not able to keep up with the demand. 

The water shortages came as Chambers Ireland said the issue highlighted the need for water meters and charges for all users to be introduced as a matter of urgency. The body’s deputy chief executive Seán Murphy said "Water shortages simply would not happen if people were paying for these scarce resources."

However one TD said "The latest water shortage crisis was entirely predictable given the shambolic state of the country’s water network and the Government’s failure to fix it, especially when 43% of the supply was already leaking into the ground,"

Have your say:

• Would the introduction of water meters and charges prevent future water shortages and rationing?
• Or should there be better monitoring and reserving of our water use by authorities throughout the year and not just when supplies run low?

President of the IAVI Aine Myler and MyHome.ie Paul Murgatroyd discussed whether we are at the bottom of the property price market on TV3s Morning Ireland.

A recent IAVI survey reported that residential property values had fallen by 20% on average in 2009. It also suggested that the market has bottomed out and values would not fall any further. Paul Murgatroyd said while there is more value to had in the market now, asking prices are still falling. However, there are signs of stabilisation in certain areas and activity in the market has improved with the number of enquiries by potential buyers doubling in the months.

• Rock bottom property on Morning Ireland, TV3

It is said that the average person uses 148 litres of water a day; this is the equivalent of nearly two full baths of water! Minor adjustments in our daily activities at home and in the garden can help make a difference. It doesn't have to cost money; it just takes a little bit of time and effort.

1. Have a shower instead of a bath. A bath can use over 100 litres of water whereas a regular shower uses about 35 litres of water (in 5 minutes.)
2. Turn off the tap. Don't leave the tap running while brushing your teeth. Turning the tap off can save over 7,000 litres of water per year.
3. Fix Leaks. Mending your dripping tap washer could prevent the waste of up to 5,500 litres of water which is enough to fill a paddling pool every week for the whole summer.
4. Avoid half loads. When using your washing machine and dishwasher is better to only use them when they are full: A full load uses less water than two half loads; so, not only will you save water but you’ll also save money on energy too.
5. Toilets. Older toilets can use up to 9-11 litres in a single flush can! If you have a single flush toilet you can reduce this amount by inserting a water displacement device into your tank. You can purchase these or place a plastic bottle filled with water in the cistern (make sure it doesn’t obstruct the mechanism.) You can also get a plumber adjust the flush volume of your cistern.
6. Outside: Invest in a water butt. A water butt is a barrel-like tank that collects rainwater from your roof's drainpipes. This rainwater can then be used to water your garden, house plants or even wash your car.
7. Use a watering can instead of a hose. A hose can emit as much as 18 litres of water a minute. Using a watering can in your garden you can significantly reduce the amount of water wasted and if you must use a hose fit it with a trigger gun to control the flow.

Why get one? Draught excluders are a quick, easy and a cost effective method to reduce heat loss and help to retain heat in the rooms of your house. They stop the cold air from the outside creeping in and a help prevent those draughts circulating.

Draught excluders can also be considered eco friendly. By using draught excluders at the bottom of your doors they increase energy efficiency in the home by acting as an additional insulator. Excluding draughts will improve heat loss, lower your energy bill and reduce your CO2 footprint.

In the past draught excluders were sometimes drab and 'uncool' but with the cold weather sticking around draught excluders have made a huge comeback and with style. Not only add a touch of funky retro styling to your home, they also work hard at banishing cold draughts and help keep you nice and comfy during the winter months.

Our favourites:

• Snake Draught Excluders made from vintage fabric from Eco Outlet
• Sir Lily Pad the frog draught excluder from Ideal Moments

By now the Christmas decorations should be packed away back into their boxes but if you didn’t manage to get out of the house last week with all the snow, problem now is what to do with your old Christmas tree? Although it just might be a bit too big to fit in your green bin, Christmas Trees can be recycled and used for mulching and compost purposes.

So how and where can you recycle your tree? Most, if not, all County Councils around the country allow you to recycle your Christmas tree free of charge. All you have to do is bring your tree to a specified / selected drop off point or recycling centre. To find out where your nearest drop off location is check out your local County Council website.

There are also a number of “kerb side” collections. These are mainly provided by private companies for a small fee. Depending on your location and the company, prices can vary between €5 and €10. If you haven’t a Christmas tree collection point nearby, this service is great as your tree will be collected at your home; you don’t have to do anything except have the tree ready and stripped of it's decorations and they’ll do all the moving!

Two such companies are:

1. Christmas Tree Collection.ie who provide a kerb side collection for €9.99 in Urban areas of Cork City, namely Ballinlough, Douglas, Frankfield, Rochestown, Passage West, Carrigaline, Bishopstown and Ballincollig.
2. Garden Express Landscaping also provide a Christmas tree collection service in Dublin, again for only €9.

If you are unsure if you are in or within a collection area you can contact the company explaining where you live and they'll let you know!

Many reports have surfaced that taxis and buses will not travel into certain residential areas, estates or driveways due to the snow and icy conditions which make for unsafe driving; and who would blame them? No one wants to risk or endanger lives or their vehicle.

But surely it doesn’t take much to clear the roads and pathways but the question is; whose responsibility is it? Should residential management companies and local authorities clear away the snow and ice around residential complexes and estate footpaths and roadways? If not, is it our responsibility to go out with a shovel, sand and salt to clear the way?

In America, the rules are strict; it is your responsibility (and in most places the law) to remove snow from your property within 24 hours as if somebody slips outside your door, you might be held liable. If the pavements are not cleared, the local crews will do the job and the home owners will be sent the bill! However, they are given free “sidewalk sand” to do the job.

The New Year Snow: Who should be clearing the way?

• Has there been a lack of responsibility and flexible planning from management companies and authorities to clear the way and make footpaths and roads safe?

• Or should we take the onus and play our part to get our estates and pathways to a safe and useable order?

The United Arab Emirates kicked off the New Year with a great start this week with the impressive opening of it’s and the world’s tallest building, the Buri Khalifa in Dubai, standing at 828 m and built at a total cost of $1.5 billion US Dollars.

The exterior cladding of Burj Khalifa consists of 1,528,000 sq ft of reflective glazing, and aluminium and textured stainless steel spandrel panels. In total it has just over 26,000 glass panels in its exterior cladding with the spire of Burj Khalifa composed of more than 4,000 tonnes of structural steel. A cleaning system developed in Australia which consists of; specialist window cleaners and unmanned machines will be used to wash the 24,348 windows all at a cost of $8 million!

Inside, the Burj Khalifa can hold up to 25,000 people at any one time, has a total of 57 elevators and 8 escalators. There is an Armani Hotel which will occupy 15 of the lower 39 floors and of course will all decorated by Giorgio Armani himself. Floors through to 108 will have 900 private residential apartments and an outdoor zero-entry swimming pool will be located on the 76th floor of the tower. Corporate offices and suites fill most of the remaining floors, except for a 122nd, 123rd and 124th floor where the Atmosphere restaurant, sky lobby and an indoor and outdoor observation deck is located respectively. The outdoor observation deck, is also the highest in the world, at about 440 m.

Originally named Burj Dubai – the name was changed as a tribute to Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, head of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Abu Dhabi, which came to Dubai’s financial rescue in late 2009, was designed to be the centrepiece of a large-scale ($20 billion US dollar) mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels such as The Address Downtown Burj Khalifa, 7.4 acres of parkland, at least 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and the 30-acre man-made Burj Khalifa Lake.

The completion of the tower coincided with a worldwide economic slump and overbuilding, causing it to be described as "the latest in a string of monuments to architectural vacancies" However the optimistic have said “monumental buildings — such as the Empire State Building, which was completed at the start of the Great Depression — have sprung up during economic crisis and have survived to become treasured works of architecture. The Burj Khalifa will become such a structure. These monumental structures last well beyond the particular economics of the time that they were built… they are an engineering and architectural achievement”

Why not take a look for yourself? The world’s tallest building, Buri Khalifa.

Well, whether you like outdoor Christmas lights or not, you can’t not like the display given by the former Disney “Imagineer” and special effects expert Ric Turner. He has come up with a pretty creative way to display his outdoor Christmas lights by hooking up and syncing his 21,268-bulb-strong lights with the Wii’s Guitar Hero.

What am I talking about? In short Ric Turner has programmed his Christmas lights set-up to play Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover." The whole thing is played with a wireless guitar controller for the Wii. Pretty cool.

Turner does over the top displays every Christmas and even puts on displays at Halloween. Why not check out his You Tube page.

With the Christmas festive season well underway, the decoration process both inside and outside of the house is in full swing. With a massive range of lights on the market, from modest icicle sequences to 12ft illuminated sets of Santa and his reindeers, it’s fair to say that Christmas has gone all bling bling. Only a hand full of years ago it was hard to find outdoor lights without going to a specialist but now that they are available in every garden centre, hardware store and shop corner more and more people are catching the outdoor decorating bug.

Some go for a minimised reserved look of a few clear or coloured fairly lights that border part of the house or highlight a tree in the front garden while on the total extreme opposite some people go to extraordinary lengths to make sure their houses are the brightest lit, adorning their house with thousands of lights which nearly offer an alternative sun source.

Every year the debate arises as to whether outside Christmas lights are first-rate or just plain naff. Some houses could be compared to Clark Griswold’s in the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation while many believe they promote a great sense of Christmas spirit and celebration.

Outdoor Christmas Lights: Have your say

• Do you love them? Are they attractive, magical and an essential part of the festive season?
• Or are they cheap, tacky, distasteful and vulgar?

The news that the Mortgage Interest Relief scheme is to be extended for qualifying loans until 2017 is good for both existing home owners whose relief is due to expire and for new purchasers who will still be able to obtain mortgage interest relief for qualifying loans. The real benefit of this extension will be seen as and when interest rates start to climb late next year as the relief will climb in line with higher mortgage repayments thus cushioning some of the impact of higher rates.

However this continuation of the relief scheme is unlikely to be enough to encourage first time buyers to purchase in the coming years. In addition buyers might put buying intensions on hold due to the minister reaffirmed a commitment to introducing a property tax at a future point in time but did not specify when that would be. With the property tax potential buyers could be reluctant to purchase and pay stamp duty now given that stamp duty will likely be eradicated or substantially reduced upon introduction of the tax.

Have your say

• Would buyers remain reluctant to purchase and pay stamp duty now given that stamp duty will likely be eradicated or reduced as a property tax is introduced?
• Or would the continuation of the relief scheme be enough to encourage first time buyers to purchase?

We have scoured the internet, magazines and newspapers to find the perfect gifts this Christmas for you and your home… here’s our favourite top five.

At number 5 is the considerate radio alarm clock. If you or someone you know finds rolling out of bed a little bit of a struggle especially on the cold dark winter mornings then the Sunrise Nature Sounds Alarm Clock is a great gift solution. This little gem starts to light up gradually, 30 minutes before alarm time, to simulate sunrise in your room. Then instead of a deafening alarm, you can choose from a range of nature sounds to calmly wake you from your deep sleep. How nice.

At number 4, which would defiantly be a conversation starter at the Christmas table, is the Rain Main Decanter. If you are entertaining this year and looking to impress your guests then look no further than this funky decanter which pours wine from eight small holes on the side of the vessel, producing a showerhead-like effect. Wacky, but it gets our vote!

At number 3 are rugs with a difference. Rugs to Love turn pictures / drawings into a real rug! So if you are thinking of buying a new rug and have a budding young artist in the house, why not turn one of their pieces into a new mat or rug for the hall or sitting room? Pretty nifty, check out Rugs to Love:

Number two is the Glass Pool table! If you are looking for the ultimate boys toy for the house then this glass top pool table would only be ideal!

And a number one is the brilliant HiCan bed! If you need a new bed this Christmas then you look no further than the HiCan bed which combines luxury with technology to the extreme i.e. a fancy wide screen flat TV integrated into the bed frame. I want one of these.

MyHome.ie has welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Finance that mortgage interest relief will continue to be applicable for seven years for all qualifying loans taken out before 1st July 2010, and that transitional arrangements will be put in place for qualifying loans taken out  between 1st  July 2011 and the end of 2013. In addition, those people whose entitlement to Mortgage Interest Relief is due to expire in 2010 or after will now continue to receive relief up to the end of 2017.

However MyHome.ie has expressed disappointment at the “missed opportunity” that the Minister for Finance did not revise downwards the current rates of stamp duty for residential and non-residential property transactions in order to provide some small stimulus to trading in the property market at the current time.

Commenting on the Budget today, Paul Murgatroyd, economic consultant to MyHome.ie said…

Read full press release of the MyHome.ie response to the 2010 Budget

5 days and counting, Budget 2010 is nearly here and like other sectors the property market will not escape.

While it is reported that a property tax for all home owners is unlikely to be introduced this year, rumours are rife that an increase in the €200 property tax on second homes is on the cards.

The tax has made many newspaper headlines and has been the subject of much debate since its introduction in July of this year.  Less than two weeks ago the tax was again criticised after it was announced that the tax payment date for next year would be brought forward by 5 months from October to May as it fitted in better with the financial cycle of local authorities. Many homeowners say they have already paid enough on the purchase of a second property and that the government has also received its fair share from all properties purchased.

So far made the tax has made €48.3 million in local authority revenue.

Have your say:

• Should the €200 property tax on second home be increased in next week’s budget?
• Or should there be any property tax at all?