FOR time immemorial, a house always has memories. Thus choosing a house anywhere in the planet must be decided with utmost care. After all, this is where one’s family will live for the rest of their lives including one’s kids. The kids may get married one day and separate elsewhere but in the meantime during their school years, their house will be of great value to them.

That’s why kids must have a say when choosing a house. If one is scouting for a house, then don’t hesitate to bring your kids in tow. These kids will evaluate on whether they like the size of a pool or not. The interiors of the house too must be very beautiful too. So when one has just purchased a house, always hire the opinion of an interior designer to have second views of things. The exteriors of the house must also be perfect too as the hosts of Extreme Makeover always emphasize. And pay extra care to withering plants as this is a symptom that the wooden columns in your house have been invaded by termites and other vermin. The lawn must be taken care appropriately.

Other common parts of a house in the modern world include the atrium, attic, alcove, basement, bathroom, bedroom, conservatory, family room, foyer, garage, hallway, hearth, kitchen, larder, laundry room, library, living room, lounge, nook, office, pantry, parlor, recreation room, shrines, stairwell, sunroom, storage room and workshop. A typical house class in the modern world consists of the following: single family-detached, duplex, terraced house, apartments, flats and condominiums. Amenities found in a home usually are a game console, a home entertainment system, an LCD television, a subwoofer system, cable television, a high definition DVD player, a heater, a wired and wireless high speed Internet connection, a fireplace, a dishwasher, an air conditioner, a clothes iron and a clothes dryer, among others.

Let’s take Japan as an example. A typical Japanese house is built on wooden columns. That is why wood is a prized catch in Japan and wood is not only very sturdy there, it is also very expensive as well. Some even import wood from as far as the United States across the Pacific. And a Japanese house which is erected in Tokyo is very expensive too because Tokyo and other cities in Japan are very congested and because of the immense development of the place, the price of real estate there is very steep.
To avoid moisture from the ground, the floor of a typical Japanese house is elevated from the ground at ten centimeters. Another common feature is that all of the doors are sliding. There are sliding doors as the main door, in the living room, in the kitchen, in individual rooms and in the main toilet. Sometimes individual rooms are just separated with wooden partitions.

Now let’s go to the Philippines. The Philippines has a lot of real property investments. Most of them are vacant lots though located in high end subdivisions. The subdivision developer dictates on the quality of the house to be constructed.

BECAUSE of the property crunch in the United States, let’s look elsewhere. Let’s go to Canada for example. In Calgary for example, the Oxford Group is still planning to go ahead with their realty development project. The project has long been in the works before the housing crisis to its southern neighbor but yet, they are bullish. Even the common people in Canada are not afraid of the ongoing crisis just a few miles south. They said that the United States economy is different from the Canadian economy. And so must be the rest of the world.

Now, let’s go to Mexico. Mexico is definitely a Third World country with peculiar proximity to the wealthiest country in the world. Look, Ciudad Juarez is literally just a stone’s throw away from El Paso and yet its economy is still struggling. But beneath the poverty that is painted in the movie Bordertown, Ciudad Juarez has its own share of affluence. If only people can appreciate the goodness in each place in the world, the tourism and the real estate industries will definitely prosper. They say that the best tourism assets in the world are its people. Well, Ciudad Juarez has lots of beautiful people and if the rest of the world appreciates that, then this city can transform itself into an economically booming city that can rival its northern neighbor, El Paso. In fact, there are now two developments that are happening in Ciudad Juarez simultaneously which can definitely up its ante in terms of economic progress. The first one is the erection of an electronics assembly plant by Flextronics, a United States company. This piece of news has big significance. It means that the United States trusts its investment to Ciudad Juarez. I don’t believe that the presence of NAFTA alone is the contributing factor for the decision of the Flextronics management. Another company that is signifying its interest to invest in Ciudad Juarez is Genpact, an Indian-owned company. See, it is not just the United States which has seen Ciudad Juarez bloom into a blossoming city.

Now let’s go to India at the other side of the world. London Mayor Ken Livingstone has just praised India as one of the world’s greatest cultures in a recent visit. This pronouncement is significant in the sense that Livingstone is representing 7.5 million constituents and his official word is reflective of the views of his constituents. Let’s take a current look at Indian statistics. India has just replaced the United States as the number one destination for prime investments which involve huge real estate chunks. In 2006 alone, it has attracted $14 billion of foreign investments. Most of the investments here are for outsourced technical needs of multinational companies and naturally, these investments entail space for offices and factories used by these companies.

From Canada to Mexico and to India, let’s go back north and take a look at the real estate industry in Europe. Let’s dwell on Spain in particular. Spain as we know is a summer destination yet in these times when winter is already approaching, the country continues to attract foreign property buyers. That is a strong indication that the real estate market in the world is bullish after all.

THE housing and the mortgage industry in the United States are a sorry mess this week. But the United States is not the world and everywhere else across the Atlantic and across the Pacific from Greenland to Australia and even in Africa; the real estate industry is alive and booming.

In Spain and in Portugal alone, developments are continuing even though it’s the end of summer already. In fact, people from the rest of Western and Northern Europe are now seeing their sights on winter holiday destinations such as the Alps in Europe while their counterparts from North America are now heading to such places as Lake Tahoe somewhere in the Nevada and California area. In places such as Lake Tahoe, beautiful lakeside cabins and manors are up for sale and despite their steep prices, many North Americans still love to buy them and turn them into retreat homes. Some opt to lease these properties to other vacationers in the area.

As everybody knows, Lake Tahoe is home to all winter sports such as skiing plus an array of supplemental sports like hiking, lake cruising and others. On the other hand, properties in such resorts as Palma de Mallorca right in the middle of the Mediterranean are being prepped this early to accommodate the surge of tourists for the next summer.

In other urban seaside resorts in Spain and Portugal such as Valencia, properties along the route of the 2008 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix are beginning to rise in value. Even in obscure cities like Cagayan de Oro in the Philippines, property developers are continuing to invest. There are two high-end subdivisions currently on the rise in the area owned by Fil-Spanish investors Zobel de Ayala and Brown. Elsewhere in the world particularly in India, UBS Global Asset Management has set its eyes on a $1 billion real estate investment in the mini-continent. It has tied up with Mumbai’s very own K Raheja Corporation for the purpose. Many real estate properties in India are not for individual ownership though. India has since become the information technology hub of the Far East and technological companies such as Microsoft and GE have joined the bandwagon in outsourcing their jobs in India because of its cheap labor. That brings good news to all stakeholders – the Fortune 500 companies, India’s own economy and the people themselves, including the unsung real estate agents who rake in good fortunes for closing deals especially involving multinational clients.

As the real estate industry in the world is continuing to develop, being a real estate agent itself is evolving. There are now universities and colleges across the planet offering complete four-academic year programs in real estate marketing leading to a bachelor’s degree. One of the most pioneering one is located in Australia, particularly the Real Estate Institute in Queensland. In fact, this college is solely dedicated for the real estate industry. It not only offers a bachelor’s degree in real estate marketing but also certificates for three-week refresher courses for existing real estate professionals.