http://www.spmg.com.au/ spmg.com.au Blog en Mon, 21 May 2012 10:33:39 +1000 http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/property-management-gold-coast http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/property-management-gold-coast The latest RPData research shows that there has been a massive increase in Queensland rental properties listed in March 2011 as compared with March 2010.  The properties listed for rent this March are 28,331compared with 23,139 last year.  While it is harder to sell properties on the Coast at the moment and there is more on the market being sold, the supply of rental properties is also on the increase, especially on the Gold Coast.  The high Aussie dollar and high unemployment is starting to have a detrimental impact on property.  The good news is that properties are... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/the-great-australian-housing-bubble http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/the-great-australian-housing-bubble Do we have a housing bubble in Australia and if so, will it crash and cause big problems for everyone? There are so many contradicting views in the news that it makes you wonder if anyone really knows what the reality is.  If you look into the background of some of the commentators though, you can get an idea that some opinions are weighted depending on the business interest.   I had to laugh yesterday, I got an email from a financial advisor saying the property market was doomed and to get out quick.  He then went on to list some great stocks to buy into on the... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/where-have-all-the-good-property-managers-gone- http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/where-have-all-the-good-property-managers-gone- On the week end I read an article in the real estate section of the local paper. the Gold Coast Bulletin. In brief, the article was about an accountant-cum-real estate agent who has opened an office and to attract clients immediately is offering an extremely low commission (to the point of ridiculous!). I never really take the time to respond but I am so passionate about improving the image of our industry that I just had to take a moment (compose myself) and write to the Property Editor to let her know why property management fees should not be negotiated. Let me know what you think... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/rental-tip-4---create-a-solid-budget http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/rental-tip-4---create-a-solid-budget Many property investors use negative gearing to get a nice tax refund but should remember they don’t get all their expenses back. With rental income yields below home loan interest rates (although yields have been increasing with the latest reductions in interest rates), investors need to ensure they have the spare cash to cover not only the interest cost differential but also such expenses as council rates, land tax, water rates, maintenance costs and management fees. A well planned annual budget on the property investment is the best way to ensure that you don’t fall short... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/opportunistic-buyers-will-be-rewarded http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/opportunistic-buyers-will-be-rewarded I attended a very interesting seminar last night. The speaker was Gold Coast Valuer, Tod Gillespie, from Herron Todd White Valuers. They are the largest Valuers in Australia and he gave the group some good insite into property prices and hot spots to buy on the Gold Coast. Many Sellers are still holding out for a better sale price on their property. Some are even saying "The market is starting to move in my area". While there may be some "sold" signs around there is generally extenuating circumstances. In some instances Sellers have had to take a considerable drop in the original... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/field-agent-in-action http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/field-agent-in-action For those of you out there who have not yet seen or were wondering what the new Apmashere iPhone application, Field Agent, is all about, take a look at this and discover how this application may change the way agents conduct their routine inspections. As an example I have conducted a quick inspection of our office just to show what this application can do. Something which I liked a lot with this app is the ability to email your report complete with pictures directly to any email address right after you have finished inspecting the property, stating whether to... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/handyman--v--contractor http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/handyman--v--contractor I have just finished reading a very long article about a tenant being injured at a rental property. To save repeating the whole case here, in summary, the tenant lost his footing when coming up the front stairs, tripped and put his arm out to protect himself when falling. As a result his arm went through the pane glass causing nerve damage, lacerations and a broken hand. The glass was not “safety glass” and there were major costs for damages involved. There are a number of issues here that were debated in a very lengthy court case however with regard to the Agent’s Duty... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/rental-tip-3---cover-your-a http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/rental-tip-3---cover-your-a Landlord Insurance - Make Sure You Cover Your Asset A Landlord insurance policy eliminates unnecessary risk and potentially expensive payouts. It can provide a safety net and peace of mind. Malicious and accidental damage to your property by tenants is covered but be very careful when lodging a claim. It is the wording and how you go about filling in your claim form that will maximise your refund. Also review the wording on the tradies invoice. It can also protect you from loss of rental income as a result of a tenant absconding or damaging a property and leaving it unable to be rented... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/rental-tip-2---late-rent-payments http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/rental-tip-2---late-rent-payments Tenants from hell aren’t always those who trash your property. Those who don’t pay the rent or continually slip behind in payments can be just as painful for landlords. If a tenant is late in paying rent, it is important to take immediate action. This serves two purposes. First, it ensures that the outstanding rent is followed up and hopefully collected as soon as possible. It also communicates to the tenant that if they are late in paying, there will be immediate action taken. The short-term problems that can plague landlords can be avoided or at least reduced with planning... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/rental-tip-1---tenant-selection-criteria http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/rental-tip-1---tenant-selection-criteria Poor tenant selection can be a major trap in renting out your investment property. Signing up a bad tenant can lead to a series of problems that is proven to be time consuming and expensive to fix. You must screen prospective tenants carefully. A professional property manager will be able to help with this. They have access to default registers that lists tenants who have caused past problems. It is important to check and phone all of their referees, past property managers and all details provided by the application. Will this guarantee you NEVER get a bad tenant - No, sorry! It... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/80-20-rule-in-a-different-light http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/80-20-rule-in-a-different-light I read a great article this morning from Kirsty Dunphy - A retired real estate agent at the age of 23! It was a different spin on the 80/20 rule. I am well aware of this rule but I quite often forget to apply it to every day life in business. It was about the fact that faster is not always better but then again, in my opinion too, slow perfectionism doesn't overly benefit the workplace either. The challenge is to find a happy medium between perfection and speed. So 80% of the time I can get it right and then work on making the adjustments and tweaking something as I go. A prime... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/the-history-of-australian-homes http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/the-history-of-australian-homes Last night the ABC ran a show on the history of Australian homes.  It certainly brought back memories of the struggles our parents and grandparents went through.  But I think it is well worthwhile for the younger generation to have a look at.  With property the way it is at the moment, this will give the bigger picture of real estate and what it means to the Australian way of life.  Progress is great, but there are certain fundamentals in life we can sometimes take for granted and looking back and beyond helps give clarity to where we are now and even perhaps... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/reality-check http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/reality-check I read an article recently from the REIQ journal about the stabilising of the property market. While I have tried to stay as positive as I can about the sales market because there are still people out there buying it is NOT as the media (or even REIQ) promote it to be. The buyers know the market well. They look at a large number of properties, short list them, then throw offers at the Seller and whoever will take their crazy price - consider the place sold. There are many people hurting so much that they have to get rid of the place before the bank will do it for... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/masterchef-has-nothing-on-sutherlands http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/masterchef-has-nothing-on-sutherlands So this isn't the usual style post we do, but I just love cooking and wanted to share this recipe with you. I absolutely love this! baked chocolate pudding dessert recipes | serves 6 What you will need to make this little masterpiece is • 455g best-quality cooking chocolate (70% cocoa solids) • 50ml hot espresso or good strong instant coffee • 125g butter, plus extra for greasing • 6 eggs, free-range or organic, separated • 200g caster sugar • 100g ground almonds • 100g rice flour • 1 small handful chopped hazelnuts, toasted Now that we... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/shake-your-groove-thing- http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/shake-your-groove-thing- Recently, the Sutherlands team took to Surfers Paradise beach to join in the festivities of trying to bring Ellen down under. Even an early friday morning couldnt stop all of the team attending this event and getting on the beach to dance and shake their tail feathers! The team getting into it! Go Bobby! Sutherlands team with Paul from Sea FM who has helped greatly to make this event become a reality All in all a great morning with not even the rain being able to scare off the eager dancers! Here is what a few members of the Sutherlands team had to say. Therese - Despite an early morning... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/the-seed http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/the-seed A good friend of mine sent me this. Through all the weariness of the growth over the past 12 months this bears great significance. I hope you enjoy it too. The Seed Once upon a time, there was a seed and because it was only a seed, nobody cared to notice it. Thus, gripped by a sense of inferiority, the seed gave no importance to his existence. Then one day, a wind picked him up - randomly or otherwise he didn't know - and threw him mercilessly on an open field under the sweltering sun. He was confused. Why would anything do such a thing? But instead of any answers, he was provided with... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/the--wooly--budget-for-2010 http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/the--wooly--budget-for-2010 My husband, Tony, recently won a local radio competition by filling in the blanks of a headline in the newspaper. It read something like "Swan's <BLANK> Budget ?" Tony, being the ever witty accountant came up with "Swan's Wooly Budget". When queried by the Morning Crew he explained that this year's budget would be a "wooly" one because the government will be pulling the wool over our eyes and next year's budget would be the "Roger" budget because by then we will be all .... well you can fill in the rest! I know listening to this budget and reading about it the next day in the... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/walking-for-breast-cancer http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/walking-for-breast-cancer Our office entered a team into the "Mothers Day Classic Walk For Breast Cancer" last Sunday.  Not realising how popular it was on the Gold Coast. There were just on 3,000 people this year up 50% from last year. What a great morning! After dragging my kids up Mount Warning the previous week end we all walked another 8 klm for charity (and fitness). Our fitness guru assistant Therese left us all behind from the outset. My oldest son Lachlan decided walking was too slow so ran most of the way. Bob, Maria, Frank and I walked together for a couple of k's then we peeled off one by one... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/mother http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/mother I just registered for the event: Mother's Day Classic - Gold Coast https://s.eventarc.com/349 @eventarc Join our team Sutherlands Property Power On and get a free hat! http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/that-thing-called-the-internet http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/that-thing-called-the-internet Hold onto your hats ladies and gents, Sutherlands Property Management Group is now on Facebook & Twitter! Have a Facebook or Twitter account? Why not follow us! Simply click the links below and you are on your way Sutherlands Property Management Facebook Page - Click Here!www.facebook.com/home.php Sutherlands Property Management Twitter Page - Click Here!twitter.com/Sutherlandspmg Until next time, stay fabulous! http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life------part-3- http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life------part-3- Next Installment ... 21. Burn the candles, use the nices sheets, and wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special. 22. Over prepare then go with the flow 23. Be eccentric now, don't wait for old age to wear purple 24. Minds are like parachutes - they only function when open 25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you 26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?" 27. Always choose life 28. Forgive everyone of everything 29. What other people think of you is none of your business 30. Time heals almost... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/life-moves---- http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/life-moves---- Making a change in one's life is always a major decision and one most of us don't take lightly. At times it brings uncertainty to a very comfortable life. Should I? Shouldn't I? There are lot of "what if's", right decision, wrong decision but at the end of the day you go with "gut instinct". What's right for me? With this, we are saying good-bye to Sarah who has been a larger than life personality in our office and we are very sad to see her go. We have worked hard to create an office culture, that because it can be of high pressure and demand, we like to break out every now... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/st-patricks-day http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/st-patricks-day As usual the team here at Sutherlands is always hard at work looking out for the best interests of our Landlords & Tenants.       But even we get a little silly on St Patrick’s Day!       Now back to saving the day! http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/queenslands-smartcard http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/queenslands-smartcard I have heard about the new driver's license in Queensland but here is more information on it. Apparently it is starting this year (some time!). No picture of it is is available yet but from what I understand it will look like a credit card with a chip in it. It won't have a photo on it so I don't know what we are going to show for photo id because it will be too much to carry your passport around with you. http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/Home/Licensing/Queensland_smartcards/ http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/back-in-the-old-days---- http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/back-in-the-old-days---- I've just done a week in the property management department as the property manager (extraordinaire) was on holiday! All I can say is "Wow, haven't times changes!!" I started property management over 20 years ago in the day where we had a little carbon paper receipt book and a card index file box where every entry had to be manually moved from one area to another. We upgraded to a Kalamazoo system of bookkeeping where we did the receipt and cashbook as one - what a time saving device that was. We typed the statements on a golf-ball typewriter (again with a piece of carbon... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life------part-2- http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life------part-2- The next 10 .... 11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present 12. Attitudes are contagious. Is your worth catching? 13. Don't compare your life to others, you have no idea what their journey is all about 14. If a relationship is a secret you shouldn't be in it 15. Everything can change in a blink of an eye. Live life like you won't blink 16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living 17. Work to live .. don't live to work 18. If you can't annoy somebody by writing, there's little point in writing. 19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood but the... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life------part-1- http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life------part-1- On a lighter side of blogging one of our co-workers sent me 50 of her little sister's simple quotes she has on her bathroom wall. (Must be a big wall!) Enjoy the first 10 .... 1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good 2. When in doubt, just take the small step 3. Life to too short to waste time hating anyone 4. Don't take yourself too seriously. No one else does 5. Pay off your credit card every month 6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree 7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone 8. It's okay to get angry with God. He can take it 9. Save for... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/lead-by-them- http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/lead-by-them- “Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.” ~ Albert Schweitzer http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/doctors-without-borders http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/doctors-without-borders I have been a long term supporter of Medecins Sans Frontieres and have just received their update on their excellent work in Haiti. I wanted to share it with you too. http://tweet.bz/medecinssansfrontieres http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/password-to-your-goals http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/password-to-your-goals I have been following Greg Vincent for a couple of months now on twitter and he has some very basic but helpful tips for real estate agents. Some of his tips however are good all-rounders. Here's one he sent me recently still on goal setting but how to keep it in the forefront of your mind every day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf23KwtEWNI http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/importance-of-having-goals http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/importance-of-having-goals I have seen this excerpt a couple of times this month so thought I would share it with you too. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don't much care where ..." said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go", said the Cat. Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland If you don't have your goals written down somewhere you don't know where you want to go or what you want to achieve, then you could end up like Alice, drifting around aimlessly. Start with realistic and achievable goals so you can... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/budget-for-the-buffer-zone http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/budget-for-the-buffer-zone Last week saw a human error in the Public Service cost both the Police and, in turn, tax payers many thousands of dollars. Not realising banks would be closed on a public holiday like Australia Day the payroll clerk did not allow for the delay in pays being transferred to thousands of police officers right across Queensland. Why should this be an expense to tax payers? The State has taken it upon themselves to pay for late fees e.g. credit card and mortgage fees on the Qld Police Officer’s behalf to make up for this error. While I don’t think this should be the case of tax... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/take-a-minute-for-breast-cancer http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/take-a-minute-for-breast-cancer A favour to ask, it only takes a minute.... Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free (pink window in the middle). This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/free-advice-on-anti-scamming http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/free-advice-on-anti-scamming Here is some free advice from our IT people, Novix Systems. Very easy to read and understand. As an IT person I make a good Real Estate Agent but I understand this piece of advice. http://www.novix.com.au/antiscam.htm Contact Bryan from Novix Systems for more details. If in doubt - hit the DELETE button http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/water-wars-in-tenancies http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/water-wars-in-tenancies An article I read in the Gold Coast Bulletin on 18.01.2010 indicates "Landlords are dumping their water bills on to tenants, thanks to new legislation". This legislation came into effect on 1st April 2008 and is not a recent change in legislation. So I refute their statement saying "Until now ..." As of 1st April 2008 water charges were able to be passed onto tenants ONLY if the property is "water wise". This means the property has to pass particular guidelines. One of these guidelines being the property must be separately metred. If the property is not separately metered then it is... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/gold-coast http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/gold-coast Christmas on the Gold Coast was a wet one. Not cold but wet. We had some very heavy downpours. No complaints from me - it filled my huge water tanks. During wet periods we, as real estate agents, can expect calls from distressed tenants saying their roof is leaking. However, this year we were very lucky to say the least. Only one call from a ground floor unit of all things! We do expect houses. My real reason for writing today is to say I read an article in the Gold Coast Bulletin on 30th December 2009 about just how wet we were. Before I start I am a strong supporter of the SES. They do a... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/free-sustainability-assessment http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/free-sustainability-assessment Find out about a Free Sustainability Assessment Report on your Home. The Federal Government are offering 360,000 Home Owners Australia wide the opportunity to assess their property for free. Then if there are areas that may require further attention then there is also an interest free loan of up to $10,000 over 4 years to have your property meet the new sustainability requirements. Either your home or your investment property or both can be assessed. This will then meet the new Sustainability Requirements being introduced to all properties for sale from 1st January 2010. Be Quick... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/thanks-for-the-memories-09 http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/thanks-for-the-memories-09 As always, at the end of the working year, we tend to reflect on the year that was. In writing this I have taken stock of what Sutherlands has achieved this year and I am very proud to say that we have had a better than expected year. It is rewarding to see the results of targets and goals set throughout the year. This year has been so much more than "collecting rent and fixing leaking toilets". It's been about forming new relationships and saying good-bye to old ones, overcoming obstacles & moving forward, recognising strengths & weaknesses, and nurturing the personal growth and... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/url-links http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/url-links I've just worked out how to shorten a URL and to link it. Let me know if it works. Directions to the new office: http://bit.ly/52ymBH http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/-loving-the-gen-y http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/-loving-the-gen-y A couple of months ago I was approached by a young man working in a Bakery. He asked if I could help him out with some work experience in real estate for his university studies. "Sure I would. Even if it were for the guts to ask me out of the blue". Over the past couple of months Alex has worked in our office one day a week doing all sorts of odd jobs. He has proven himself to be most professional, polite, well presented and extremely eager to work in the real estate industy. Circumstances have changed in our office recently and I was able to offer him paid part-time... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/marketing-hype http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/marketing-hype I heard an interview on the radio the other day from REIQ saying that prices and property demand are on the rise. While I don't necessarily disagree with this comment I think it is too soon to start talking it up large! I agree that investors are coming out of the wood work now that the first home buyer's intereste is waning however, they are far more savy with their offer that first home buyers. It is all about the return on their money as in Purchase Price -v- Rental Return. http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/now-hiring http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/now-hiring Specialised Agency Opportunity to Make a Difference Great Team Spirit Our agency requires a full time career focused person with sales experience and office & computer experience. Prefer 2 years real estate experience. Must have current QLD registration and a drivers license. Quality industry and in-house training provided, assistance and support with our systemised office. Main duties to grow the business, work within a team of like-minded people and to manage a small portfolio (opt). Must have organisational and time management skills. Work to KPI's and target and goal... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/watch-out-for-rogues- http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/watch-out-for-rogues- The level of expertise required to maximise income and minimise expenses is a daily task. If the right tenant hasn't been chosen in the first place the hard work has just begun. We have just had the unfortunate experience of a private landlord giving us an absolute glowing reference on a set of tenants we have put into a property. Been in the property 2 years, never a problem with rent, great inspection even though they had only been twice! Paid cash but gave no receipts. This landlord called us back the day after we placed the tenants in the property to tell us her conscience had got... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/window-of-opportunity http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/window-of-opportunity As the confidence returns to the residential property market it will see this stable sale price slowly increase over the coming months as more properties are sold the demand will start to overtake the stock. Now the First Home Buyers Grant is coming to an end this will allow the investor market to take control of the sale prices. The First Home Buyer has had the advantage over the investor as they are looking at the property for themselves and have been able to pay the higher price. When this comes to an end in December the First Home Buyer will not be so prominent in the market and sale... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/budgeting-for-vacancy-periods http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/budgeting-for-vacancy-periods If a property is vacant at any time, and not just during the GFC, it is always wise to keep an extra mortgage payment up your sleeve in the bank where the monthly payment is deducted. This will cover for the period of time a tenant may not have got his rent in on time or where the tenant themselves are having difficulty for whatever reason. Time restraints do not allow for notices to be issues until the 8th day. No agent can guarantee a tenant will pay their rent. Therefore. if not enough money is deposited to your account to cover the monthly payment you have the safe guard there until... http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/patience http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/patience “If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.” Winnie the Pooh http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/new-website http://www.spmg.com.au/blog/new-website It has been a few months in the making and running a little late but it is now live. Sutherlands is now a force to be reckoned with - we can't be stopped. Let me know what you think!