Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover!

Real estate agents have for a long time been known for their ruthlessness. Some of many names include; sharks, dodgy, money hungry, liars, and the list goes on. The problem is that this thought from Purchasers and Vendors can permit us from doing our job. Purchasers rarely tell us when they’re interested in a property and play their cards close to their chest and in reverse Vendors can inflate the price they will actually accept and keep this information from us which can be detrimental to the sale of a home when our job is already to achieve the highest price for the Vendor. This game hasn’t been created by the real estate agents it has actually been created by the vendors and purchasers. A real estate agent is no different to a sales assistant (some purchasers may ask for a discount however the sales assistant is not authorised to do this without the owners permission). Facing this prejudice everyday is one of the biggest struggles I find in Real Estate – gaining back the trust (that was never lost) which leads me to my experience in Darwin.

I was strolling the streets of Darwin and came across a lovely shop front full of Pearls. The company name was Paspaley. Paspaley is now a name I will never forget. It’s one of the shops that as soon as you walk into you feel like you’re out of place as everything you see looks well above anything you can afford. In an attempt to escape the scorching heat we planned on popping in for a quick look to cool down & then hit the pavement again. I do have a love of Pearls ever since I sited Audrey Hepburn wearing them in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I was briskly looking around the shop admiring the pieces of jewellery. However what happened after that wasn’t something I was expecting.

The sales assistant of the store started talking to us asking if we needed any help and of course we just answered with the usual response “Just looking” – then she started asking us where we were from (with sweat dripping from us it wasn’t hard to pigeon hole us as tourists) she then followed on to ask what brought us up to Darwin and took a keen interest in what we were doing while we were in town. After the pleasantries she then asked if we had heard of Paspaley before. Both of us hadn’t heard of these exquisite pearls. The shop assistant then went right through the history of Paspaley pearls and explained the process on how they are made.

I asked what price the Jewellery ranged from and she replied, “This piece I have around my neck is $30,000”. She then said, “Our jewellery is priced from $700.00 to $250,000.00”. I asked if I could see the most expensive piece in the store (out of interest sake) and she pulled out a piece worth $100,000 and offered to put it around my neck (I politely declined, not feeling very comfortable with $100,000 hanging from neck). She was well aware I did not have $100,000 to spend however didn’t fob us off or not spend time on us even though she knew the chances of us buying something that day was minimal.

She explained that with the jewellery you get a lifetime guarantee and they will restring the pearls for you if need be. The Paspaley pearl is determined by a small diamond placed into one of the pearls – which is their trademark signature. I was extremely impressed with not only the Pearl and Guarantee but mostly the Service that was offered to us when we walked in to the store. The pearls were a rarity and I felt that level of customer service I received was also. The pearls weren’t what sold me on the product it was the Sales Assistant willing to spend time with us and actually explain the rarity of the pearl.

The company might not have received a sale out of us that day – but what they weren’t aware of is that the Sales Assistant that took time and interest in her customers will most certainly receive a sale out of me one day in the future. The service we received was second to none and never once made us feel like we didn’t belong in the store.
What did I learn from the experience? Everything I already knew however it’s always nice to have a refresher. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Never ever make assumptions of people by the way they dress, talk or walk. Treat everyone equally!

Outback Adventure!

I have just got back from what I would classify an experience of a lifetime. A friend and I were fortunate enough to travel to Daly River, South West of Darwin in the Northern Territory to visit a community and help out with students at St Francis Xavier School. The reason we are so fortunate is that this opportunity is not presented to everyone – it was only that my brother is teaching students aged between 9-14 at this school that we were able to attend and appreciate and learn so much from these children.

Upon arriving in Daly River you understand the challenge that teachers heading out into these communities immediately face. The small community of Nauiyu has a population of 510 people 86% of which being indigenous. In the wet season the Daly River floods – leaving it’s residence no choice but to boat to their homes leaving their car 5-10km’s out of town. The medical centre has a doctor fly in once a week and has a small convenience store (only supplying the essentials). 33 degrees all year round and no escape from the heat to swimming spots like you can in Victoria as the waters of Daly River are infested with Crocodiles. I remember one day when I was there I finally felt comfortable with the weather and the same day some of the children turned up at school with jumpers and jeans. It’s something that you apparently eventually get used to. It is a dry community and the local pub out of town consists of a cabin at the caravan park and picnic tables. The residents speak their own tribal languages and whilst English is not the prominent language spoken, their English is quite good. What these teachers face is the residents of Nauiyu’s way of life.

The first day in class I was trying to get Jarrod (my brother’s attention). I was helping a young boy at the time with his school work when he intervened and said you don’t call him Jarrod, you call him brother. Later Melissa one of the teachers aid explained to me that it’s part of their culture that you don’t call your brothers, sisters or cousins by their first name or if I also knew someone by the name of Jarrod I was not able to speak his name also. My response was how do you then get their attention? Melissa said you come up with a nickname for them. I then understood that one of the boys in the class name was Chris however most of the children called him Toomba (I wondered if this was the reason why).

On the second day at the school, gifts were given out to the students that Priceline and Sportspower in Echuca had kindly donated. The boy’s receiving footy socks and the girls receiving make up. Two local chemists also donated beauty cases for the girls make up.  They were extremely grateful. What impressed me the most is the majority of the boys remembered their footy socks to play against their rival school Woolianna on the Friday.

The kids loved Art, Sport, Computer’s and Dancing and were also outstanding at these things. One of the boys from Jarrod’s class at the age of 11 has paintings in the Merripen arts festival coming up on the first weekend in June. One of the girls added me on Skype in her IT class and they would play their favourite song off Take40: Baby by Justin Bieber – by the end of the week I was singing it in my sleep.

The kids were so happy go lucky and full of confidence and reiterated to me that even though they were less fortunate in my mind they were still extremely happy. I thought of how many people back home that have everything they ever wanted but still can’t be satisfied and I have even been a culprit of this. The children’s spirit and survival skills are something I will continue to carry on with me as I eagerly await my return to visit these young kids again in August.

Finally I would also like to commend all teachers who leave their families to go teach these children in remote areas to offer them the same education that we had when growing up. For something that is extremely challenging they all do an amazing job.

Ps. If you have anything you wish to donate please contact me on 0400 106 663.

Criticism!

I met a contentious celebrity last year; who after a while started listening to his criticism & doubting his message. From the public perception he was a strong confident person however to gain a following of readers he needed to be brutally honest and this put him up as a target to be ridiculed. His conviction then became weak – he wouldn’t back what he was saying and would constantly sit on the fence. He was getting paid fantastic money to do what he did (however it still didn’t stop it from affecting him personally). Even the best of us don’t take criticism well.

Time again I see people looking at buying properties who choose to have a friend a father, a mother go through the property with them. In many cases it is always nice to have support from those close to you but you also have to identify whether the criticism they provide is constructive & notable or whether it is just their personal opinion. It is the same people that generally have the advice that it’s never the right time to buy (and if you’re living in Melbourne and procrastinated buying you would’ve seen a 28% increase in your property over the last year). You have to be able to identify these people and decipher their message – they probably don’t even realise they are doing it. I say this as my family can do the same thing. Their support means a lot however they will project their personal opinions on to my decision and often argue the opposite side to any point. They mean well and clearly don’t realise that they do it.

On the reverse I have been doing it to my mother recently – she is going through the process of building a home & picking out colours. I couldn’t count the number of times I have disagreed with her choice because it was different from my personal opinion – however the things that I explained to her for example “avoid dark flooring because it can make the house look smaller” she listened to. She was able to decipher the things that she should actually change compared to the things that was just my personal taste or opinion.

Criticism is hard to take if you don’t really know the person, but can also at times be harder from the person you do know. Everyone can take a leaf out of this blog & think about these two things before you criticise.

Number 1. Is it constructive? – is the bearer of the information going to benefit from this criticism?

Number 2. In reverse, as the person receiving the criticism, we also need to be able to decipher – is this criticism worth taking on? Can I better myself in any way from this criticism or is it just useless information?

Trying not to take criticism personally is one thing I don’t think anyone will master as everyone is built to want endorsement or to be agreeable – it’s human nature.

Just remember ‘Criticism’ isn’t really criticism if it is articulated properly! Articulated properly it can be accepted as Wisdom.

Dare to be different

For those of you who didn’t get to see Ita Buttrose on Wednesday night at the Moama Bowling Club, I am going to touch on what she spoke about at the Murray Business Network Evening. Her talk profoundly covered off on the concept of “Daring to Be Different”; about pushing the boundaries and also about loving what you do as this contributes to the enthusiasm of being the best you could possibly be. She asked the audience to ask themselves if they were going to die in 6 months would this be what they want to be doing. Some of the fundamentals that she touched on I have seen on a smaller scale.

Beginning with my grandmother – who I will now be emailing this blog to as she has only just decided after mastering text messaging and mobile phones at the ripe old age of 70 that she would like to learn how to use a computer and the internet. Talk about pushing the boundaries. Her passion for wanting to learn will not let the computer beat her. Her memory isn’t quite as sharp as it was however by simply writing everything down for her she is now teaching herself how to use the computer. She will also be starting lessons in a month to hone in on those skills.

Also my ex school teacher & friend, the talented Tamara Cadd introduced the concept of “Trash the Dress” to Echuca/Moama. Tamara has been photographing weddings for years and after getting married herself she realised that the wedding dress that you pay so much for hangs in the cupboard with no further use. After a friend of hers told her about this new craze she decided to jump on board. She understood as a photographer & a bride herself there are certain shots on the day that you just can’t get as it may ruin the dress before the reception. So Tam stepped out herself in her wedding dress and began encouraging other women to do the same - those crazy things in their wedding dress to get amazing photos that they just couldn’t do on their wedding day. It’s a fantastic idea and has started a tail spin of women trashing their dress around the local area. Check out this website for further information http://www.tamaracaddphotography.com.au/

BYL espresso is another place that provides a unique experience when you walk in the door. They have made it their job to remember what you order if you are a regular customer. It’s the extra bit of service that keeps people coming back. It is a simple service that they can offer which stemmed from being in touch with what their customers want.

When beginning to write this blog there were differing opinions about whether or not it was a good idea to pursue. My opinion always was and has been that everything especially with the younger generation is changing & that people like to receive information & news now over the email or over the internet. With this thought in mind, I decided to give it a go, thus providing a service to my clients, friends and family. In the end though the real reason I decided to pursue it was because I enjoyed doing it. I actually didn’t care if only 5 people read what I wrote. I had faith eventually more people would read it.

It’s a little bit like a section of the Alps called the Semmering between Austria and Italy. It is an impossibly steep, very high part of the mountains. They built a train track over these Alps to connect Vienna and Venice. They built these tracks even before there was a train in existence that could make the trip. They built it because they knew some day, the train would come. It’s about having a little faith in what you do & having the passion to make it successful.

How much is too much?

The debate in the office at the moment has been stemmed from a comment in last Saturday’s paper talking about what people regret they didn’t do in their 20’s. The comment that sparked the debate was that a finance writer said they wish they bought a property or two in their 20’s and about buying the "right stuff”. This debate then continued on to the age old question of how much can you put yourself into debt without restricting or putting to much pressure on yourself financially?

It’s the same as parents wondering if they should purchase that investment property in Melbourne now for when their kids go to university or relocate there. The other plunge that people talk about is extending themselves to a bigger family home when their kids are younger and they can actually utilise this bigger home.

I’ve been researching into buying a property recently and I have had the same debate with my father. I believe and have always been told that Blue chip real estate is always more expensive but also the safer investment to see you gain capital growth which would mean extending myself a bit more at the age of 24. What would I have to give up to be able to do this? and looking at the worse case scenario – interest rate rise and a property without a tenant for a period of time it would put me under a lot more financial pressure then probably necessary as a 24yr old. We all have heard about the well known fact about 'buying right' but the trick is to be able to hold on to it for 10yrs. Banks never run through the worse case scenario with you and have insurance to cover them if you default on your payments and the residential market plummets.

My father’s argument is that is doesn’t matter how much you outlay as long as you are careful about where you buy, you should always see growth over a period of time. I understood his argument a little better recently when I came across two people selling a home in the same area. The perception of spending more to make more didn’t really ring true.

Family number 1. outlayed $240,000 for their home and Family number 2. outlayed $320,000 for their home. Both parties saw roughly a 25% increase on their investment over 4 years. Say for example these two families were both in the same financial situation putting $120,000 towards their loan – Family 1 would’ve paid around $37,000 in interest in 4 years, however family 2 would’ve paid $62,000 in interest. This means family number 1’s profit is $23,000 and family number 2’s profit is only $18,000. On top of that the monthly repayments for Family 1. were only around $800 a month in comparison to Family number 2. at $1300.00 giving family number 1. more of an opportunity to pay off principal. (I’ve calculated this estimate on the current interest rates – these figures aren’t true and correct - only a guide).

The one thing everyone agreed upon was that you should only do what’s comfortable for you. Whatever path you choose can steer you in completely different directions. To go even deeper you can even ask yourself what’s more important – life without financial pressure or money – setting yourself up for later on in life. Those family holiday’s with the kids or having a bigger home so your children have more independence. No answer is the right one as such. Life’s pleasures can be scaled back – but how much do you scale in before you start putting yourself under too much financial pressure.

At the end of all this it’s what you feel comfortable doing. It’s quite easy to sit back and say in your 30’s I wish I bought a property or two in my 20’s but make sure you look at the entire picture and look at what you would’ve given up also. Or if in your 30’s you are financially stable due to the purchase you made in your 20’s but wish you had of lived your life a little more when you were younger as you have other stresses now – eg: Job, Children. It’s a decision you can only make but think carefully before jumping into anything and once you decide don't look back.

Hitting your property for a six at Auction!

While the rest of the world were gearing up for Christmas & New Year – the graduation students of 2003 in Echuca were gearing up for a different kind of event.

It all started back when we were in Yr 12 at school & instead of studying & preparing for exams we were out and about & in most cases frequenting the Dock & the American (The Yank) & there it all began a community of young kids – a matter of fact the “Hot” Community! I still can’t quite pinpoint who the founder of this Hot Community was & where the name actually came from however if you were out at the Dock that year listening to Mick & Ollie play it was quite likely you were part of this Hot Community.

Once school finished and everyone went off in their own directions – the inaugural event the "Hotman Cup" was born. The “Event” that everyone would make an effort to come home to - to continue on the Hot Community spirit.

The Hotman Cup is an annual cricket match between Echuca High and St Joe’s. It isn’t your average cricket match and by no means is it anything like professional cricket. It’s more a game of stamina; last man standing type of game.

The word of the event is becoming more and more widespread with a list of over 60 people attending this year. The tradition has been carried on since 2004 & the event keeps growing every year. The beginning of the festivities starts Friday lunch time, this continues onto the Gala Dinner at the Dock (where it all started), presentation of the team members and then into the much anticipated cricket match on the Saturday. The celebration continues into the wee hours of Sunday Morning and then is usually followed up with a celebratory dinner for the winning team. I don’t know how much bigger this event can get…maybe a street parade next?

In thinking about this Cricket event I have noticed some similarities with Vendors Auctioning their home. The difference between hitting it for a six or going out for a duck…there are some rules that apply to creating a successful auction.

Play to your strengths. Any good cricketing side knows their strength: for the St Joe’s cricket team their strength isn’t so much in their cricketing skills more their drinking skills however they use this to their advantage by hurting the High School boys on Friday night so they are a little seedy going out to play on the Saturday. Pinpoint what it is that is going to make your home appealing to a range of buyers. Is it the location? Is it unique? Is it the price? Make sure you use this within your marketing.

Know your weaknesses - Be prepared for what the bowler is going to throw at the batsman. Buyers are very aware of other properties on the market & will compare your home to others, make sure it’s competitively priced otherwise comments from the buyers will be “I can buy the one around the corner for a lot less”, Or maybe your home isn’t very big - minimise furniture to avoid the comment “it’s too small” – know what it is that they will pick the eyes out of – see if you can try and rectify these issues before it hits the market. Try and eliminate as many strikes as possible as this is what they buyers look for. Get a pest inspection report before you hit the market so that is one less thing the buyer has to worry about.

Set a low reserve – this is a gamble as any game is – it’s like a batsman trying to make that extra run (with the possibility of being run out). If this is done at the start of the campaign the typical progression is that buyers should be everywhere which leads to a more competitive environment and gives you a situation where the buyers can become emotionally involved resulting in a higher price then expected.

If this doesn’t happen the worse case scenario is that your property is sold on the day for the price that you set the reserve at – SOLD is better then it sitting on the market for months and months and you eventually taking the reserve price you set or in many cases lower then the reserve.

If you follow these simple tactics you can hopefully be certain of a century, your property sold or even a St Joseph’s College Victory. Good luck to all Vendors auctioning their property & to the cricketers this Saturday.

Let’s bring home this Hotman cup boys! St Joseph’s 2010