Getting the best deal from an estate agent

It's common knowledge that the UK property market is tough at the moment.  Agents are as keen as ever for your business so here's a quick guide on how to negotiate the best deal:

1.  Don't give an agent any signals that tell them you want to use their services.

2. Ask the agent for their fee at the valuation.  Never comit to give them the business at the valuation.

3. Call the agent back at a later stage, the next day for instance.

4. Decide in your own mind how much you are happy to pay.

5. Say to the agent "IF we can agree on a fee of £X or X% I would be happy to place my house on the market with you".

6.  If the agent says No or tries to negotiate you up, be firm and say "well that's all I can afford to pay" and signal that you may go somewhere else.

7. Always be firm - more often than not the agent will give in - remember they want your business.

Alternativly you can always use a low cost fixed price agent like http://www.imovecornwall.org/ :)  imove cornwall gives you a platform to sell any property in Cornwall for just £399

How to create Apple style effects using Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10

It's somewhat an out of date software product now, actually MS have discontinued Digital Image Suite altogether.  However it is possible to replicate some of the amazing designs Apple have given us over the past few years, from the fab iphone icons to the stunning drop shadows on their products.  Like this:



This is a brief tutorial on how to accomplish Apple stlye mirror shadows in Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10:

1. Start a new project with a blank page.

2. Paste in your desired image.

3. Now copy that image and paste it in to the same document.

4. You should now have two images exactly the same.

5. Drag one of the images underneath the other and line it up.  Leave a small gamp between the two images, say no more then 1mm.

6.  Now with the bottom picture selected, on the top menu click on the 'Flip Vertically' button.  If you are not sure which one that is, hover your mouse over each icon until you get 'Flip Vertically'.

7.  It will flip the bottom image upside down.  You should now have two images, the one on top the right way around and the underneath it upside down, but perfectly lined up.

8.  Now with the bottom image still selected go to the drop down menus at the very top of the software and look for 'EFFECTS'.  Now look for TRANSPARENCY.  In this menu select EVEN and move the slider to 60%.

9. With the bottom image still selected go back to the TRANSPARENCY menu at the top (under the EFFECTS menu) and select GRADUAL.

10.  You are presented with several directions for which you want the transparency to fade to.  Select fade down.  Dark at the top, white at the bottom.

11.  Do this 3 times.  With image selected, go to EFFECTS > TRANSPARENCY > GRADUAL and select fade down.

12. You will now have an Apple inspired mirror shadow effect like this:



Microsoft Digital Image Suite 10 was used for all our graphics on the imove estate agents website at http://www.imovecornwall.org/

It just goes to show, you don't HAVE to be a photoshop genius to create great looking graphics!!

We are almost ready to launch

It has been months in planning and now our social enterprise project in Cornwall is almost ready to launch.  The imove cornwall website (http://www.imovecornwall.org/) has now been completed, with just some tweaking here and there over the next few days, any comments on the site is welcome from anyone who has an opinion.

Homelessness in Cornwall 'is often hidden'

About 240 people will be sleeping rough in Cornwall each night over Christmas, according to a local charity.

Steve Ellis, from the St Petroc's Society, said many people were unaware of the extent of the problem of homelessness in the county.
He said the figure was difficult to work out as homeless people there often slept in fields or woodlands.
Meanwhile, the charity said it would work to ensure a breakfast club kept running despite concerns over its base.
Remote places
Mr Ellis homelessness in Cornwall was a "real difficulty" because people who were homeless were "not easily visible".
He said: "If you think of the stereotypical view in cities of people in shop doorways, that just doesn't happen in Cornwall.
"People are sleeping in fields, or in woodland areas. They're sleeping in all kinds of remote places."
Meanwhile, the charity's breakfast club for the homeless is facing having to find new accommodation.
The daily facility is currently run at St Paul's Church Hall in Truro.
The charity said it had been told that it was possible that the building would have to be sold.
Mr Ellis said: "We will be doing all we can to endure that the service continues throughout 2011."

Taken from BBC Website