Well I know for a fact that I am not the only one that has been suffering from a cold over the last couple of weeks. I believe nearly every second person I have spoken to has fallen victim to the dreaded wintery blues. On the upside Spring is only around the corner where hopefully things will start warming up along with my Body temperature.
I regard a cold or the flu as long, painful & unnecessary. There is a process that you have to go through that makes it feel like it hangs around forever. First it’s the sore throat, then it’s the body aches, then a fever, then a runny nose, then a dry cough then a chesty cough. Lucky for me this time I got to skip to the dry cough however this didn’t come without pain believe me. I was taking manuka honey, vitamin C & green tea (all natural remedies) with Coldeze, Panadol, Cough Lollies, Vicks, 3 Dooners & sleeping with a scarf around my neck which for the record is as uncomfortable as it sounds. In the midst of feeling sorry for myself – my mother made me realise that all this could’ve been avoided if I hadn’t had so many late nights. You only have to read my last few blogs to realise I’ve been enjoying a bit of a social life of late.
A similar thing could be said for properties that have been on the market well past their expiry date – Long, Painful & unnecessary. Like my cold there is some precautions that can be taken so you can be certain your property isn’t sitting on the market for long.
First rule is Presentation:
It’s starting to become more common for people to request our opinion on furniture & presentation of a home. We simply find it’s the little things that make the most difference: ie unclutter your fridge door, minimise furniture to make the room look bigger or more open. Anything you don’t need stick it in the shed or storage. Check which lights best show off your home – make sure these are turned on before an inspection. Tidy up things that are visible to the eye, as much as the children’s finger paintings are great it’s probably best to stow them away through the first couple of weeks of the campaign & also tidy bookshelves. Fix any little problems that you can clearly see. ie: Hole in the wall.
Second rule is Pricing.
The stories that you hear where a vendor gets a price well above the odds is the exception not the rule (so keep this in mind). By putting an unrealistic figure on your home hoping to get the ultimate price can do one of two things – you may fluke someone walking through & paying close to the figure or you risk your property sitting on the market for 6 months where buyers will immediately discount it – as there is a buyers belief that if it hasn’t sold there has to be a reason. There are 3 things to do which help you determine an accurate pricing on your home without feeling like you are short changing yourself. It’s about working out what you think it’s worth, you can organise to have a registered valuation done & an Agent’s opinion – the pricing of your home is usually somewhere in the middle. I understand agents can be wrong at times so sourcing an independent valuer is always a great way to get another opinion. It must be kept in mind however that valuer’s don’t determine what the market’s doing. Also from an owners perspective it is important to be active in the market place, seeing what’s on the market, what similar properties are selling for and also making your property competitive compared to what else is already on the market. Listen to you agent & put a realistic price on your property as soon as it hit’s the market.
Third rule is access to your home.
There are some investors out there that try and sell their homes with tenants still in the property & you can’t get through when a buyer requests an inspection. I have had one situation where I had to write to tenants giving them 7 days notice because I couldn’t get on to them with the numbers they provided. By the time I turned up to do the inspection I still had not heard from them. They were home when I did the inspection however they had failed to return my calls or reply to my letter. Don’t be fussy about cleanliness, obviously keep your home tidy however if the agent says the buyer really needs to get through it today as they are going back to Melbourne tomorrow – just go with it.
Following these simple rules will prevent your property from sitting on the market too long. As for the common cold the main solution to making sure it doesn't hang around to long is to rest up, don’t overdo it, eat healthy & take your vitamins.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
City V's Country
I took a 4 hour trip to Flinders on the weekend with 8 girls that I went to school with. For those of you who have never heard of Flinders it’s a sleepy little town along the coast of the Mornington Peninsula and on a beautiful sunny day you can see Phillip Island from the shore.
It’s the first time all of us had been away since we made a break to schoolies at the end of our time spent in the class room. I was amazed how much our actions & conversation had changed over the 6 years since we have been out of school. We weren’t as brazen as we used to be, now preferring a nice glass of white or red wine over cheap red bears and cruisers we were drinking at schoolies but that wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Our conversations had turned from talking about exams and TER scores to private health insurance, purchasing homes & mortgage & car repayments.
We had an even split with City v’s Country if you exclude me from the bunch. There were 4 city girls & 4 country girls.
The main difference I saw between the girls from the city & the country is that their conversations were slightly different. The country girls seemed to have either bought or were talking about buying their first home & discussing mortgage repayments whilst this wasn’t a thought on the radar for the city girls. It made me ponder the idea - if this is the case, is living in the country more beneficial to you financially when starting out? A significant factor for this is Real Estate prices in the country compared to those in the city. Will the country girls be more financially stable as they are able to break in to the real estate market a lot earlier then those who are living in Melbourne?
The girls in the country are repaying mortgages instead of paying rent & hopefully getting some capital growth along the way – all this is formed around the affordability of living & buying in Echuca over living & contemplating the dream of buying a house or apartment in inner Melbourne.
The start of my compulsive saving went hand in hand with my first purchase of Real Estate. It gave me something to aspire to and save towards. I have since sold the house that I built with my brother which has left me in a far better financial position than I was before my first real estate purchase.
I see some obvious benefits of living in Melbourne. They have the major events ie: sporting, entertainment, however all of this costs money.
I did have a short stint in Melbourne and the pinnacle reason for my return was because I was able to save and make a life in Echuca & could therefore do more of the things I wanted to do because I was more financially stable. It hasn’t always been easy with friends living it up in the city – having extremely exciting social lives. However, I can now afford to go away for weekends to Flinders or go to Melbourne to catch up with my friends & also do what I am most passionate about, which is travel.
Starting out and getting your foot into the real estate door is always a tough decision. It’s an even harder decision when the First Home Buyer range is between $400,000 - $500,000 in inner city Melbourne. Echuca is a great place to call home and helps me with my journey to financial stability. I don’t feel like I have missed out on what my other city friends have because everything they have done I have experienced it with them.
It’s the first time all of us had been away since we made a break to schoolies at the end of our time spent in the class room. I was amazed how much our actions & conversation had changed over the 6 years since we have been out of school. We weren’t as brazen as we used to be, now preferring a nice glass of white or red wine over cheap red bears and cruisers we were drinking at schoolies but that wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Our conversations had turned from talking about exams and TER scores to private health insurance, purchasing homes & mortgage & car repayments.
We had an even split with City v’s Country if you exclude me from the bunch. There were 4 city girls & 4 country girls.
The main difference I saw between the girls from the city & the country is that their conversations were slightly different. The country girls seemed to have either bought or were talking about buying their first home & discussing mortgage repayments whilst this wasn’t a thought on the radar for the city girls. It made me ponder the idea - if this is the case, is living in the country more beneficial to you financially when starting out? A significant factor for this is Real Estate prices in the country compared to those in the city. Will the country girls be more financially stable as they are able to break in to the real estate market a lot earlier then those who are living in Melbourne?
The girls in the country are repaying mortgages instead of paying rent & hopefully getting some capital growth along the way – all this is formed around the affordability of living & buying in Echuca over living & contemplating the dream of buying a house or apartment in inner Melbourne.
The start of my compulsive saving went hand in hand with my first purchase of Real Estate. It gave me something to aspire to and save towards. I have since sold the house that I built with my brother which has left me in a far better financial position than I was before my first real estate purchase.
I see some obvious benefits of living in Melbourne. They have the major events ie: sporting, entertainment, however all of this costs money.
I did have a short stint in Melbourne and the pinnacle reason for my return was because I was able to save and make a life in Echuca & could therefore do more of the things I wanted to do because I was more financially stable. It hasn’t always been easy with friends living it up in the city – having extremely exciting social lives. However, I can now afford to go away for weekends to Flinders or go to Melbourne to catch up with my friends & also do what I am most passionate about, which is travel.
Starting out and getting your foot into the real estate door is always a tough decision. It’s an even harder decision when the First Home Buyer range is between $400,000 - $500,000 in inner city Melbourne. Echuca is a great place to call home and helps me with my journey to financial stability. I don’t feel like I have missed out on what my other city friends have because everything they have done I have experienced it with them.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Gen Z keeps this Gen Y on her toes!
Last week, a young work experience student – Harry – came in to the office to learn the ropes about Real Estate. It was refreshing to have Harry in the office with his vibrant attitude and a strong eagerness to learn.
It made me remember the first time I decided that selling real estate was going to be my chosen profession. I was 16 and had arranged to do a week of work experience at a Graphic Design firm in the heart of Melbourne. I was staying with my uncle who was the manager of a boutique real estate office in South Yarra along Toorak road. I would go to work with him in the mornings and make my way down to St Kilda road for my week of work experience. After the first few days I realised the best part of my day had been going to work with my uncle in the mornings and chatting to the staff before they started their day. They were lively, fun, vibrant and I felt like it would be a great industry to work in. Little did I know that same office would be where I would start my real estate career 3 years later.
Harry probably felt like he was here to learn from us (technically he was), however I felt it was the other way around. His skills & positive attitude with the feeling that the world is his oyster was something that rubbed off when I was working with Harry.
It made me first of all appreciate that life is short because it felt like only yesterday that I was doing work experience myself with the pressures of finding a suitable career. Harry also made me realise that the younger generation have a lot to offer. Their ideas are fresh, their minds are eager & they pick up on things so quickly. It is easy to get into the every day grind and forget to be inspired or to give yourself time to grow your ideas or how important it is to work in an environment where your ideas are appreciated and respected.
I spoke to Harry about his thoughts on going into schools and chatting to Year 12 students about Housing and everything that awaits them when they leave school. We discussed how difficult it is to find a home when you have never rented and how difficult it is to save money when you have nothing to save towards. He gave me some great ideas on what would work and what wouldn’t.
One thing Harry made me realise is; as I grow older and wiser (I hope), I will make a commitment to keep learning & to continue to develop new ideas, new ways of doing things end evolve with the use of technology. It will be essential for me to continue practising & honing my skills as everything in life has an expiry date and there is always a newer model.
It’s like my grandmother at the ripe old age of 69 – asking me to teach her how to text 6 months ago. I commend her on continuing to learn as it’s too easy not to.
Last but not least I would like to write a note to my ex school teacher who has subscribed to my blog – thank you for your support & words of wisdom last week. You continue to teach & inspire me long after I have left the classroom.
It made me remember the first time I decided that selling real estate was going to be my chosen profession. I was 16 and had arranged to do a week of work experience at a Graphic Design firm in the heart of Melbourne. I was staying with my uncle who was the manager of a boutique real estate office in South Yarra along Toorak road. I would go to work with him in the mornings and make my way down to St Kilda road for my week of work experience. After the first few days I realised the best part of my day had been going to work with my uncle in the mornings and chatting to the staff before they started their day. They were lively, fun, vibrant and I felt like it would be a great industry to work in. Little did I know that same office would be where I would start my real estate career 3 years later.
Harry probably felt like he was here to learn from us (technically he was), however I felt it was the other way around. His skills & positive attitude with the feeling that the world is his oyster was something that rubbed off when I was working with Harry.
It made me first of all appreciate that life is short because it felt like only yesterday that I was doing work experience myself with the pressures of finding a suitable career. Harry also made me realise that the younger generation have a lot to offer. Their ideas are fresh, their minds are eager & they pick up on things so quickly. It is easy to get into the every day grind and forget to be inspired or to give yourself time to grow your ideas or how important it is to work in an environment where your ideas are appreciated and respected.
I spoke to Harry about his thoughts on going into schools and chatting to Year 12 students about Housing and everything that awaits them when they leave school. We discussed how difficult it is to find a home when you have never rented and how difficult it is to save money when you have nothing to save towards. He gave me some great ideas on what would work and what wouldn’t.
One thing Harry made me realise is; as I grow older and wiser (I hope), I will make a commitment to keep learning & to continue to develop new ideas, new ways of doing things end evolve with the use of technology. It will be essential for me to continue practising & honing my skills as everything in life has an expiry date and there is always a newer model.
It’s like my grandmother at the ripe old age of 69 – asking me to teach her how to text 6 months ago. I commend her on continuing to learn as it’s too easy not to.
Last but not least I would like to write a note to my ex school teacher who has subscribed to my blog – thank you for your support & words of wisdom last week. You continue to teach & inspire me long after I have left the classroom.
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