RTE News: 1st March 2012, Allsop Space auction

At the auction last week we were asked if we thought that they were fundamentally a good or bad thing; the inclination (given the protests) may be that it’s selling houses out from under people.

Given that these are properties where the owners (virtually all of them were investment properties) cannot pay for them in the foreseeable future it can’t be forgotten that a speedy sale that reduces the build up of arrears and which sells a property where there are live buyers bidding against each other is probably the fairest way to do it.

Nobody likes the idea of anybody ‘losing’ their property (I can’t say ‘home’ because these were not family homes), but if they must then a fair and transparent solution is the best you can hope for.

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Allsops Auctions are back – This March

We spoke to Brian O’Donovan from TV3 News about the upcoming Allsop/Space auction in March. One property is listed at €7,500. Even if you priced the land at zero or used construction costs this property is undervalued because the actual materials that go into building it would cost more to purchase.

Obviously the idea of ‘value’ isn’t just about materials, it’s also about utility and for that reason the materials assembled (construction) in a certain location may make them somewhat worthless, but it is an interesting development to note.

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RTE News: Personal Insolvency Bill, January 2012

Paul Colgan from RTE covered this story about the proposed Personal Insolvency Bill which will update Ireland’s dated debt legislation. This is a more humane approach to dealing with debt issues and we are pleased to see it coming to fruition. Any legislation will have teething issues and will not be perfect, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.

Our foremost concern (as echoed in the clip) is about the regulation and oversight of any plan.

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