After we sold our home we needed to hire some Movers to help pack up our belongings and ship them off to our new place. We had researched a few different Moving Companies and even received a couple Moving Quotes based on the different Moving Services that we needed for our specific move. It is important to shop around and find local reputable companies. Reading reviews from customers who have had actual experience with the moving company is a great advantage you have as the client.

For our experience the movers we hired were great and we wrote a great recommendation and review on Angie’s List. The review was not only written to benefit the moving company, but to help future customers decide which company to go with as well as hold moving companies to higher standards.

Now that we are all moved into our new home we are finally settled in and could not have been happier with the move. Having a reputable moving company deliver your stuff in a timely and efficient manner really takes a lot of the stress of moving out. Although we wont be moving again any time soon we are definitely going to recommend our movers to our friends and family.

This year The Economist Intelligence Unit announced that Melbourne edged ahead of Vienna and Vancouver for the Most Livable City 2011 Award. An award based on economic stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. These are perfect conditions for business to strive and a lot of companies around the world have been sending project managers and teams to Melbourne for business opportunities and partnerships.

So if you are looking to relocate your home or business to Melbourne anytime soon I would recommend start looking at homes or apartments in melbourne today. There are some really beautiful melbourne apartments available with views that are absolutely breath taking. They also cater to business trips as far as accommodations that are perfect for any project team needing short term lodging while in Melbourne including free daily return express shuttle service to city, valet dry cleaning service on site, 24 hour room service and the Sauna Chill restaurant and bar for business lunches and dinners.

Even if you are not ready to pack up and move across the globe, planning a trip might not be such a bad idea. I would recommend looking at these short stay apartments while planning your accommodation in melbourne and you will have the Manhattan style experience while in Melbourne Australia.

Guest post by Gerard Mcdaniel

Although I’ve been stuck in my small New York apartment for the past five years, I’ve been waiting for the day that I could finally afford to move in to a place with a full size bedroom, bathroom, and a kitchen. It seems like it should be a standard living situation, but if you’ve ever lived in New York, than you understand that this is a novelty to be achieved only by the crème de la crème of NYC. Living in the city is wonderful, but only if you have enough money to afford a place with the above three: kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. A studio apartmentdoes not qualify as these things, and I finally have to worry about things like looking for an energy service provider. I went to NEWYORKenergyrates.com/ to do some research some different service providers, and I’m so thankful that I have to do things like that. That’s what living in a real place is like! Next up I have to look up water and gas providers. It feels good to be a ‘grown up!’

Zillow, the real estate website that seems to be revolutionizing the way people find homes online, debuted on the stock market and, well, things went good.

The initial IPO for Zillow was $20, but the stock went nearly three times as high throughout the day, then settled around $40 per share. For real estate professionals, this is great news – this means that Zillow is not necessarily just a nice housing website but instead, could shape the future of real estate and home buying in general.

The website offers a fresh business model that allows more accessibility and flexibility into the housing market. A few years ago, you would’ve had to have direct contact with a real estate agent to find most of your information. Today, with Zillow, you can find just about anything you need to – though a real estate agent should be used once your home buying or selling becomes serious.

This year has been full of Internet IPOs – LinkedIn came in with great demand and its stock price increased accordingly. Although it didn’t see as much of a soar, Pandora also entered the marketplace to positive expectations.

We’ll see how Zillow does in the coming months and if it takes any new approaches  now that it is a public company. Without a doubt, they will continue to be an online leader and inspiration for the real estate market and all its professionals.

Although there have been a few signs of economic relief for housing professionals, a newly released report found that home sales are still in decline and the market has a lot to improve before it can start heading north again.

The report found that two of the biggest factors affecting home sales and trends is unemployment and the number of foreclosures that are still happening.

Although foreclosed homes don’t get as much attention as they were getting previously, they are still a major contributor to the falling home sales and unemployment is related to this because many foreclosures are direct results of unexpected unemployment.

To learn more, view this video. Where do you think the housing market is headed?

Earlier this week, the large bookstore chain Borders announced that it would be shutting down its doors for good and closing up shop. Unfortunately, a deal couldn’t be made to save the business, which competed against Barnes & Noble and Amazon for their market share. In the end, they faced obstacles that couldn’t have been overcome.

But the closing of Borders is representative of a bigger problem, and one that deals directly with real estate, specifically, the commercial side of things. When a big business goes under, it puts a strain on the local commercial real estate markets and with a business as big as Borders, this means hundreds of empty stores and thousands of unused square footage across the country.

Over the last few years, a lot of attention has gone to the residential real estate market, but the commercial aspect of the industry has suffered just as much, if not more. In some cities, there is so much vacant and unused business space that it has hurt the local economy. With fewer small businesses, that’s less employee opportunities and the cycle of economic despair continues.

As the Internet and global marketplace become more of a factor for small businesses, it will be interesting to see how this affects commercial real estate on a national and local level. In some hot spots, there will always be premium office space in high demand – cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco and Chicago. But in smaller areas, this is where things could really turn south.

For commercial real estate professionals, it’s important to see how the local economy is doing and factor this into the supply and demand cycle of commercial space.

If there is too much supply and not enough demand, this will begin to affect the overall price trends of space and though it could result in cheaper rent for business owners, it could also have negative affects in the long run. Overall, it remains to be seen how the commercial real estate market will react to the past few years of financial turmoil.

Here’s an interesting video about the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and its attempts to change some of its numbers to get a better image. Interesting, and definitely indicative of a greater problem we are facing in the housing market: transparency and honesty.

If this is going on with just one organization, chances are, it’s going on everywhere. And without proper regulation, there’s no way to be sure that it isn’t happening on a much larger level, too.

We consider this a must-have for anyone who is seriously interested in purchasing a used home. If you’re a homeowner, chances are you already know most, if not all, of these tips, but for those who haven’t had the experience of purchasing a home, this is a greater starter list so that you know what to look for.

You can read the whole checklist here. Although it’s a good starting point, you definitely want to delve deeper into these areas as you become more interested in a home. That’s where your real estate agent can become particularly helpful, too. They have tons of experience in the area and that’s why they are there: to facilitate the process.

So check out the list, and let us know if you have anything to add! Buying a home is a huge process and commitment, so you want to exercise caution, patience and good judgment, and this checklist is a great place to start.