A young Michael Jackson sang, “I'm going back to Indiana. Indiana here I come. I'm going back to Indiana. That is where my baby's from.”

If you are a Jackson fan, it’s no longer just Neverland that is a must for a visit. Now, there are guided tours on offer in his hometown of Gary, near to the City of Chicago.

Ever since Jacko died, two women have started running The King of Pop Hometown Tour taking busloads of tourists on a four-hour trek through Jackson family landmarks in northwest Indiana.

The highlight is 2300 Jackson St, a small white-sided house as big as a two-and-a-half car garage where the Jackson family lived – with nine children – nearly four decades ago.

The tour has all the extras you would expect, including some of his most famous songs as a background track.

One of the tour guides, Denise Jordan Walker, said, “This is a tour of motivation and inspiration.”

Fans can get closer to the action in Gary than they can at the gated estate of Neverland in the hills above Santa Barbara, California, where Jackson lived as an adult.

“It hasn't changed that much since the Jacksons lived here. It's pretty much like time stood still.

“We want to paint a picture and let people really feel what the Jacksons went through on a day-to-day basis,” Ms Jordan Walker added.

Whilst you can’t actually enter the house, you can look around the identical home opposite to get a feel for the Jackson household, as well as visiting the steel mill where father Joe Jackson worked and Mr Lucky's Lounge, where the Jackson Five first performed.

Check out www.thekingofpoptours.com for more information and to book a seat on the tour bus.

For more information on properties in the USA and the market in general, please visit http://usa.themovechannel.com/

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Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson
Managing Director
www.themovechannel.com
0207 952 7650

The new system, which was introduced by the NYC mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has already seen hundreds of homeless families being given plane, rail or bus tickets, petrol vouchers or even free passports in a bid to get them to leave the city.

This may not sound like a particularly cost effective way of solving the homelessness problem blighting the city’s streets, but the Mayor insists it is a cheaper alternative to putting families up in a shelter long-term.

If homeless families have a relative in another country, or even in another part of America who would be willing to house them, they can qualify for the expenses to travel there.

The scheme has been running since 2007 and has so far paid for 500 families to leave the city. No one has yet returned.

Visas have been paid for, letters of recommendation have been written and passports have been arranged in order to assist the families to leave.

This may seem like it is just shifting the problem onto another city, and in essence, that’s exactly what it is doing. Critics are up in arms over it, saying that this isn’t solving the problem, as the family is still homeless, they are just on the streets of another city rather than New York.

But this isn’t enough to stop the scheme, which in the eyes of New York authorities has been a success, helping to keep the streets clearer of homeless families and the shelters less crowded.

“We want to divert as many families as we can that need assistance,” Vida Chavez-Downes, a city official said.

For more information on properties in the USA and the market in general, please visit http://usa.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

Ever since Michael Jackson's untimely death, fans have been making the pilgrimage to his former home, Neverland, in the Santa Ynez Mountains above Santa Barbara – but now, Neverland's neighbours are determined to stop the home becoming a tourist trap, and have launched a group called 'Never' in order to protect the area's tranquility…

Residents of the rural Santa Ynez Valley in which Neverland sits are set to oppose any attempts to convert the remote ranch into a commercial venue, which could attract thousands of tourists each year.

Whilst property co-owner Thomas Barack hasn't proposed developing the site as yet, the 'Never' group, led by activist Bob Field, wants assurances that this will never happen.

Field says the area doesn't have the roads, police or other infrastructure to support crowds drawn to a large tourist attraction, which he said would disrupt the enclave's tranquility.

Jackson’s ranch is located about five miles north of the tiny wine country hamlet of Los Olivos. It’s one of the most beautiful spots in the country, blessed with rolling hills, vineyards and cool, damp air from the nearby ocean.

The residents are scared that the sprawling 2,800 acre Neverland could potentially be turned into a Graceland style destination, with die-hard Jacko fans making the pilgrimage year after year, just as Elvis fans do to Graceland in Memphis. (I'm ashamed to say I've made that trip and touched that green shag-pile carpet).

The estate agency firm overseeing the Neverland ranch has already received bids from several billionaires and apparently has even turned down a £65 million offer to develop the property.

In stark contrast to the Santa Barbara 'never' attitude, residents of Jackson’s hometown of Gary, Indiana, are hugely keen to have the star’s remains buried there, in the hope it would attract hoards of visitors.

New guidelines introduced in May require lenders to order valuations through third-party vendors called appraisal management companies that increase costs to prospective home buyers have led to more conservative valuations by many appraisers and a slowdown in lending, according to John Brennan, research director at the Appraisal Foundation, a Washington-based trade group. A low appraisal is one that comes in under the price a prospective buyer has agreed to pay for a property.

Appraisal management companies hire valuators who use automated systems and work at a discount, instead of experienced appraisers who have knowledge of neighborhoods and include factors that can increase a property's value, such as home improvements or proximity to schools.

Many real estate brokers are reporting in increase in deals falling through. Universal Mortgage Incorporation in Brooklyn, New York said that at least 15 sales fell apart due to appraisals that came in below the agreed upon price.

But appraiser say that lower valuations reflect what is happening in the market. 'When home values come in below the sales price, that's not the appraiser's fault, it's a reflection of the market,' said the Appraisal Institute, a Chicago-based professional group that represents more than 25,000 appraisers.

For more information on properties in America and the market in general, please visit http://usa.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

The bright lights and buzz of New York attract millions of tourists from all over the world to sample a bite of the Big Apple each year – and everyone knows a city is so much more fun when you have a local to show you around – so, bearing that in mind, what could be better than having a celebrity local act as your personal tour guide? Tempted? Then read on…

Celeb spotting is a mainstay of any New York City break. I can lay claim to Cameron Diaz, at the entrance to Central Park near MOMA. At least I think it was her – it was raining hard and I didn’t have my glasses on….but, I’m sticking to that sighting. Piers Morgan in the Central Park boathouse restaurant was a less thrilling spot.

Anyway, the fact is, tourists love a bit of celebrity glamour and now, thanks to a volunteer tour organization called Big Apple Greeters, you can be guided around the city by a bona fide big name.

Big Apple Greeters is a non-profit founded in 1992 with a mission to ‘enhance New York City’s worldwide image and enrich the New York experience by connecting visitors with knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers.’

The ‘greeters’ connect visitors with New Yorkers of all ages, conversant in over 20 languages and they accompany visitors on two to four hour informal visits to New York City’s neighborhoods in all five boroughs.

Now, Big Apple Greeters has just started offering free personalised tours led by celebrities, all of whom ‘just want to show visitors the best the city has to offer and have a good time.’

Big names that have signed up so far include former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber and ‘Sopranos’ star Dominic Chianese, both of whom have been advertising their services at City Hall in the centre of NYC.

Chianese says he loves New York and wants to show visitors a good time and recently showed a Colorado couple around town and had lunch with them at one of his favourite spots.

But before you get too excited, you can’t select which celebrity acts as your guide. Celeb hosts will be randomly assigned.

Check out www.bigapplegreeter.org to find out more.

For more information on properties in America and the market in general, please visit http://usa.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to be reprising his role as the Terminator – terminating entry to 220 of California’s stunning state parks in a bid to protect the beleaguered state from suffering further in the recession…

Arnie has decided that state of California can no longer afford to run its parks. The state, one of the worst hit by the global economic downturn, is now facing a £16 billion budget shortfall and its Governor Mr Schwarzenegger is being forced to come up with new ways to economise.

Closing up the great outdoors would be taking away one of the great perks of Californian life. These proposed shutdowns would affect 80 per cent of the state’s nature reserves, historic sites and recreation areas as well as restricting access to 30 per cent of the state's coastline.

Affected areas would stretch from the mountains of the Sierra Nevadas to the beaches and wetlands of Big Sur, to the deserts of San Diego. All of the parks in the stunning Lake Tahoe are also earmarked for closure.

These national parks and sites cost a huge amount of money to maintain each year and California sees this as a way to start making up the huge economic shortfall.

Unsurprisingly, there is much opposition to the proposals, especially from conservationists who argue that closing the parks for a period of time could lead to irreparable damage and cutting down the number of rangers on duty could lead to an increase in vandalism.

Tourist bods argue that the planned closures may cause tourists to think again if planning a trip to the Golden State.

The Federal Government is also anti the plans and have threatened to seize control of the parks if Arnie insists on pushing ahead with his plans.

It seems California is not alone in these drastic proposals, though few other states are working on such a huge scale. Pennsylvania presented a budget proposal last month that would shut 35 of its 117 state parks.

“We really are just looking for ways we can keep those places open,” said David Siegenthaler, the National Parks Service's Manager for the state of California.

“In these economic times it is probably even more important that people have access to good places,” he added.

Critics also fear the closures could be irreversible. “Once those places are closed it becomes very difficult to re-open them,” said Traci Verardo Torres, of the California State Parks Foundation, which is protesting against the proposal.

For more information on property in the USA and the market in general, please visit http://usa.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

From July 4^th this year, one of the most famous landmarks in the world will reopen fully to visitors – the first time the Statue of Liberty’s crown has opened since the 9/11 terrorist attacks…

These will be some of the hottest tickets around – the opening weekend of the famous Lady Liberty’s crown will no doubt entice hoards of visitors eager to welcome the tourist hotspot back.

The statue was closed to the public because of security concerns after 9/11. The base, pedestal and outdoor observation deck reopened in 2004, but the crown remained off-limits.

Come July 4^th, tourists will now be able to view the breathtaking New York skyline from the top of the harbour once more.

It is a particularly appropriate reopening date as July 4^th is American Independence Day and the status is a symbol for hope, freedom and opportunity.

Tickets are already being sold both online and on the phone and more than 50,000 visitors are expected to make the 168-step climb to the crown before it closes again in two years for permanent safety renovations.

The staircase, signage, exit and public address system will be improved in order to enable the park service to double the number of visitors climbing to the crown each day.

Tiffany Townsend, a Spokeswoman for the New York City Visitors and Convention Bureau said, “The Statue of Liberty is not only an iconic New York City attraction but an American symbol, and we expect there will be significant demand for tickets by locals and outside visitors alike.”

Visitor numbers will be limited to ten at a time and all groups will be guided by a park ranger. Three trips will take place each hour and places will be allocated on a first-come, first served basis – but booking must be done over the phone or online as there will be no walk up tickets.

Crown reservations may be made through the park’s ferry concession, Statue Cruises, at www.statuecruises.com or by phone at 877-LADY-TIX (877-523-9849). Tickets may be reserved in advance up to one year prior to the day of the visit.

The tickets will add £1.80 to the cost of reserved ferry fares, which are £7 for adults, £6 for seniors and £3 for children.

For more information on properties in America and the market in general, please visit http://usa.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

One of the most successful publicity campaigns of recent years – Tourism Queensland’s World’s Best Job – has sparked numerous copycats – TheMoveChannel checks out the latest, a chance to babysit a Californian winery…

Whoever thought up the concept behind Tourism Queensland’s World’s Best Job deserves a pay rise – it was one of the highest profile and most successful and original publicity campaigns ever.

The lucky winner, UK’s Ben Southall, is being paid £94,000 to be caretaker of and promote Hamilton Island in Queensland through a series of video-blogs and podcasts. Now, a Californian winery has cottoned onto the idea.

David Ready Jr, Head of the Murphy-Goode Winery in California’s stunning Sonoma County, is offering his own take on the ‘World’s Best Job.’

Mr Ready said he was inspired by the Queensland campaign, which attracted 34,000 applicants and generated worldwide headlines worth an estimated £70 million in free publicity.

“We thought, ‘Wow, can we apply this to the wine industry?’ I guess we can,” said Mr Ready.

The ‘Really Goode Job’ will pay a ‘social media whiz’ £40,000 for six months worth of tweeting and blogging all about the ‘cool lifestyle of Sonoma County Wine Country and winemaking.’

If that already sounds a pretty good offer, did I mention the beautiful home in picturesque Healdsburg thrown in for good measure?

The ‘Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent’ will also enjoy flexible working hours and the job spec is easy; ‘all you have to do is experience wine and good living, and then tell people about it.’

Applicants must be least 21 years old and eligible to work in the USA and should be an excellent communicator, imaginative and inquisitive.

Check out the website and apply here: www.areallygoodejob.com/application.aspx – applications close on June 19^th 2009.

For more information on property in the USA and the market in general, please visit http://usa.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information as well as images and interview possibilities, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

Now the naked cowboy really has something to sing about. The famous Times Square busker, who wears a guitar, a cowboy hat and not much else, has become as much a part of the New York scenery as the neon lights above Broadway.

Now, tourists will be able to get a better view of him and move more easily around Times Square after cars were banned from the area in a bid to make the city more liveable.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken vehicles off the roads between 42nd and 47th Streets at Times Square and 33rd and 35th Streets at Herald Square, near the flagship Macy’s department store, to ease traffic at the ‘crossroads of the world.’

Tourists and shoppers will now be able to relax in special pedestrian plazas as part of the ‘Green Light for Midtown’ project. New pedestrian malls are also being created in both squares, providing more than three acres of new public space.

The city has scheduled events for the new areas throughout the summer, including a simulcast of the Tony Awards on June 7th in Times Square.

Barriers along parts of Broadway were put in place late on Sunday and on Monday parts of Times Square were like a street festival with street theatre and beach chairs.

“It’s good for traffic, it’s good for businesses and we think it is going to be great deal of fun,” city Transport Commissioner Janet Sadik-Khan said.

The area has long been notorious for its traffic jams and Ms Khan has announced plans to carefully monitor the situation until people became used to it. It will also help to ease traffic congestion in the surrounding areas.

The Transportation Department also said that Seventh Avenue will be expanded to four lanes through Times Square, which should improve travel times by about 17 per cent, and northbound vehicles on Sixth Avenue will move about 37 per cent faster through Herald Square.

For more information on American properties and the property market in general, please visit http://usa.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

Following the same pattern as last month, the USA reigned supreme on the TheMoveChannel.com’s April Top of the Props chart. Europe also features strongly in the chart, suggesting that investors are less willing to take risks on far flung destinations and instead want to put their money into tried and tested markets…

Our Top of the Props chart provides a monthly pop chart snapshot of the most popular countries on the site and last month, the USA triumphed, attracting the most interest from visitors to the site.

Take advantage of USA’s GO Zone

Now that the United States is entering the lowest point in its property market cycle and people are getting more and more serious about selling off their real estate stock no matter how cheaply, there are more opportunities than ever for investors.

Savvy buyers will be able to snap up an American property deal at well below market value that could have strong rental potential and, if you go into it with a long term view, could net you a healthy return.

If you are looking for a real bargain, America’s GO Zone could still be well worth considering. The Gulf Opportunity (GO) Zone covers the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina – including the states of Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana – and offers Government incentives for property investors to purchase buy-to-let housing stock.

The incentives are for a limited period only and some end this year. As you will be buying property on land subsidised by the US Government, you will be getting excellent value for money.

Go Zone Investment Incentives allow you to write off 50 per cent of the property's assessed value in the first year. As an active investor, you can write off the deductions against ordinary income and capital gains, but this may well run out on December 31st this year.

There is also strong rental demand in the Biloxi area, with a shortage of 64,000 homes so rental potential will be very strong.

Pick up a Portuguese property

Portugal grabbed second place in April’s chart. Buying property in Portugal is no longer an exotic pursuit – especially for Brits and Europeans and areas such as the Algarve, the country’s southernmost region, have seen an explosion of resorts.

Portugal has been one of the countries most affected by the global economic crisis, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate solutions company.

Where there is crisis, there is opportunity and bargain hungry buyers have been sniffing around Portugal’s tourist hotspots, hoping to snap up a great deal with strong rental potential.

Tourism is likely to remain strong in Portugal long term and thus rental potential looks strong. Development of a solid, upscale tourism sector is part of the Portuguese Government's economic growth strategy.

The sector's GDP contribution is expected to climb from 15.6 per cent in 2009 to 18 per cent by 2019, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Currently, some 975,000 jobs in the country are tourism related. This number is expected to grow to 1,153,000 jobs, accounting for 22.1 per cent of the country's total employment by 2019.

Other movers and shakers

The land of la dolce vita look the bronze medal in Aprils chart, leaving the United Arab Emirates – long the poster child of property booms – trailing in fourth place.

Turkey and Spain took fifth and sixth places respectively, showing that, despite media scaremongering about the pain in Spain, it still proves popular with overseas investors and will likely never fall truly out of favour.

Old favourite France took seventh place, with Egypt yapping at its heels at number eight. Surprise entry Thailand, in a rare appearance in the top ten, took ninth place and Greece rounded off April’s Top of the Props chart at number ten.

For more information on properties in America and the property market in general, please visit http://usa.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650

If you thought you were standing in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico at the same time, think again. The famous Four Corners Monument, which was said to mark the intersection of the four states, turns out to be located 3.2 kilometres west of the actual spot.

One of the most unique tourist destinations in the country, the monument has been a lucrative tourist trap since it was built 140 years ago. The current four corners monument is on land owned by the Navajo Nation and the native American tribe has even built a visitor centre at the site –so this news will come as something of a blow to them.

Scientists from the National Geodetic Survey uncovered the mistake this week and revealed that the man employed to carry out the US Government’s original survey of the intersection, in 1868, may have deliberately planted his marker at the wrong spot in order to avoid a tough walk through the desert.

Surveyors used satellite maps and GPS units to track down the right location. The monument, which should have been located at 37 degrees north latitude and 109 degrees west longitude is actually located at 36 59 56.31532 degrees north latitude and 109 02 42.62019 degrees west longitude. A steep, rocky hill nearby is the correct location.

But all is not lost for the famous state boundary attraction – experts have said that, since the monument was approved by the Government, it is legally the state boundary – regardless of geographic protocol.

Bill Case of the Utah Geological Survey said, “What is legal is political, not scientific, and it doesn’t matter if you make a mistake.

“If all the states and the US Congress say the current Four Corners is the actual Four Corners, then that's that,” added Mr Case.

I can’t help feeling this may be a tough case (sorry) to win with the millions of tourists that haven’t actually been standing in all four states at one time.

Federal officials say it’s up to the Navajo Nation and the Ute Mountain Indian Tribe to decide if they want to move the monument to the correct spot.

For more information on properties in the USA and the property market in general, please visit http://usa.themovechannel.com/

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

TheMoveChannel.com is a property website that was founded in 1999 as an online resource for buying, selling and learning about property. It now receives as many as 300,000 visits per month and advertises over 50,000 properties in nearly 90 countries, which are listed by over 500 partner organisations.

For further information, please contact:

Dan Johnson

Managing Director

www.themovechannel.com

0207 952 7650