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The majority of SA CEOs who took part in a survey say a weaker rand would be better for business.

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Brussels, Belgium (AHN) – Despite Ireland’s insistence that Dublin still has sufficient cash and does not need an international bailout now, British Chancellor George Osborne pledged Wednesday to provide Ireland with $10.5 billion (GBP7 billion) in assistance.

Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom, but Britain has other reasons to extend a helping hand to Dublin. The biggest reason is the $210 billion (GBP140 billion) exposure of British banks to Ireland. Data from the Bank for International Settlements showed that Britain stands to lose the most if the Irish economy went down because British financial institutions have the largest exposure to the Irish government, residents and businesses.

The Royal Bank of Scotland alone has a minimum $75 billion (GBP50 billion) in outstanding loans to Ireland.

Notwithstanding Ireland’s intransigence for fear of losing economic sovereignty and being forced to increase its 12.5 percent corporate tax rate, financial experts from the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund were arriving in Dublin Thursday to start discussions for a bailout. The arrival of the experts has somewhat calmed global stock markets.

Osborne admitted that aside from Ireland being Britain’s closest neighbor, it is in the interest of the British financial industry that stability be brought back to the region. Opposition MPs, however, criticized London’s bailout offer.

The extent of Irish banks’ financial hemorrhage will be known Friday when the Allied Irish Bank discloses the level of its losses and size of withdrawals from individual and corporate depositors.

Beleaguered Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan also acknowledged for the first time that as a small nation and part of the 16-nation eurozone, Ireland’s banking problems are too large and Europe has extended a helping hand to Dublin to resolve the financial crisis before it becomes too late.

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Thousands of people will be employed as part of a new scheme in Gauteng, but government has warned that “decent” jobs won’t be on offer.

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When people call me, typically one of the first requests they make is for a house in a “nice” neighborhood. And this makes sense to want a neighborhood that is safe and enjoyable. But there are some benefits to buying real estate in the rough part of town or on the wrong side of the tracks. This article highlights some of them.

- There is less worry of your neighborhood going downhill because it is already downhill. Good neighborhoods can get bad and bad neighborhoods can get better. Since the price usually reflects the current condition, buying in a neighborhood that has room for improvement might be a good idea.

- If you are buying a rental, you usually get better cash flow in rough neighborhoods. If you are renting your property, there are more renters and they are more long term. It’s difficult to rent in good neighborhoods because fewer people are looking to rent and those who do are generally there short term while they look for a house to buy.

- You can look better in comparison to other landlords. Landlords in rough areas frequently don’t maintain their properties as well as people in nice areas. Therefore, if you maintain your properties, you can blow away your competition, and charge more for it.

- If you are in a rough neighborhood, you can propose that your property change will improve the neighborhood and you have a better chance of getting a different zoning. Conversely, if you are in a good neighborhood, it’s hard to make the same argument.

- You can buy more property. If you want to spend 500k, you can either buy one house in an upscale neighborhood or six or seven houses in a rougher neighborhood.

- They’re more recession proof. When the economy goes south, real estate in rough neighborhoods is less affected.

In summary, I am not saying you have to buy in a bad neighborhood. But simply that if you are looking for long term investments sometimes its a good idea to wander over the tracks and look around a bit.