What is the Sustainabilty Declaration and what does it mean?

From 1 January 2010, a sustainability declaration must be completed when a house, townhouse or unit is marketed or offered for sale.  


What is a sustainability declaration? 


A sustainability declaration is a compulsory checklist that must be completed by the seller when selling a house, 

townhouse (class 1a building) or unit (class 2 building) from 1 January 2010. The declaration will inform buyers about 

the sustainability features of a property and increase community awareness of the value of such features. The declaration

identifies the dwelling’s sustainability features in four key areas:    

• energy 

• water 

• access        

• safety. 

Why is the sustainability declaration being introduced? 

There is growing concern about the impacts of climate change and the need to improve the sustainability performance of existing housing in Queensland. Encouraging prospective buyers to make informed choices about the sustainability performance of residential buildings is becoming increasingly important. Properties with a greater number of sustainability features potentially have lower energy costs and use less water. They can also be more comfortable to live in and generate fewer greenhouse gas emissions. 

Homes with access and safety features may be more liveable for occupants during their various life stages and can reduce potential  risks around the home such as trips and falls. The declaration aims to increase awareness of sustainable housing features when a property is marketed for sale. It also promotes possible ongoing financial and specific features. It is anticipated that the declaration will help promote the sustainability of a home and become a key marketing tool for real estate agents and private sellers. 


Click here to view the full factsheet

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Why Some Houses Have It

What makes some houses sell faster and for a better price than others that are to all intents and purposes pretty similar in size and features? Many of the differences between properties are hard to pinpoint and don’t come down to plain old bricks and mortar and land value. What are these elusive features that make all the difference?

There are several factors that contribute to a home’s appeal that aren’t always immediately quantifiable – orientation, design that maximises natural light, pleasing proportions and other factors that contribute to market appeal.

What if, for example, there are two identical homes, but the living area of one home faces north and the other south? Given that more buyers write ‘north-facing’ on their wish list, the north-facing property is surely more saleable (therefore worth more) than the south-facing one. All the same, the owners of the south-facing one probably think that their home has the same features and of course value as the one that buyers prefer.

The kind of appeal that makes buyers go ‘wow’ can also come simply from regular maintenance and attention to detail in the presentation of the property. A house that looks loved and cared for is shown to its best advantage, yet it may be identical in most other respects to a less popular property in the neighbourhood.

Elusive appeal is also likely to be a function of the original design concept of the house. After all, it is not uncommon for homeowners to “save” money at the planning stage of building or extensions. They achieve the measurable features they were after but not the elusive ‘wow’ factor. Good design, especially the skilful use of natural light, window placement and correct orientation on the land adds something you can recognise but can’t always define. Many people add on, or make minor changes as the need arises without taking a holistic view of their property. They think in terms of immediate solutions to particular problems (need large fourth bedroom with ensuite to become master bedroom) rather than conceptualising the impact of the house as a whole (small living area and kitchen means scale of property is out of balance).

Extending without reference to the scale of the home, for example, creates an floorplan that is not balanced and harmonious. Such a house is likely to lack the aesthetic pull of more cohesive designs even though the number of features looks the same when listed.

Home owners who want to save money should be aware that skimping on planning and design could mean that the house never reaches it’s full potential in terms of re-sale value, no matter how impressive its many ‘features’.


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R & R – balancing your life!

Not even a month into the new year and we can clearly see that it will be a busy one. With all the holidays and special occasions coming up it’s a great time to think about how important rest and relaxation is and keeping a balance between your work and home.


Recently I went to the Big Day Out music festival on the gold coast and spent the weekend with friends relaxing and having a great time. It was a wonderful experience and the atmosphere was amazing. We try to achieve a great working environment here as well and ensure that our staff have a great time and enjoy themselves while still knuckling down and achieving great results.

It is so very important to have that balance. Without one the other would not be successful. Think about this next time you have an opportunity to clear your head and enjoy yourself. Make the most of every moment.

Chantel Lewis
Senior Property Manager


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Saving for your children's education

From Money Magazine

Educating your children is a major expense — the sooner you start saving for it the better. Susan Hely explains how to go about it.

Parents like Stephen and Desma Jones say private schools are worth it. Sure, the financial burden is heavy, but Stephen says he values the quality of the teaching, the strong social network that will last his two children Stefanie, 18, and Andrew, 14, a lifetime, and the multicultural student population that has helped them become more worldly.

Many parents nevertheless go faint when they see the cost of school and university fees — just how much depends on the schools and universities they choose. According to a report by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling for AMP, Australian parents spend, on average, $50,000 on education and childcare for each child.

Many parents pay school fees, as with most household bills, on an ad hoc basis when they arrive in the mail. About half of all parents use their general savings to pay school fees, according to a survey by Newspoll for the Commonwealth Bank. Of the other half, around a third use savings from a special education saving account, 28 percent tap income from specific investments, while 21 percent take a part-time job to pay the fees and 14 percent use a personal loan or draw down on their flexible mortgage to meet the cost.

Only 40 percent of parents and grandparents are saving for education in advance but almost all admit that their savings fall short, with half of the savers putting aside less than $100 a month or $1200 a year.

Having the money available when children start school is a better option than borrowing to pay school fees. Paying interest on the borrowings can sometimes double the amount you would pay if you had saved the money.

To work out how much you need for your child's education, visit the AMP's cost of education calculator at www.amp.com.au. Also expect private school fees to go up as schools spend more on technology and building projects. Over the past 15 years, school fees have increased at two-and-a-half times the inflation rate. You will find that even a government school has significant costs, from uniforms, excursions and sporting equipment to textbooks, travel expenses and music lessons. The key to funding your child's education is to start early and save regularly. But there is a catch to saving for your children. It is not as straightforward as opening an account and contributing regular savings. For a start there are steep tax rates on children's investment earnings.

High taxes were introduced to discourage parents from splitting their income and diverting it to their children's accounts in order to avoid paying tax on their earnings. So a high tax rate regime applies to income other than "excepted" income, allowed by the tax office.


If a minor has income from employment, for example, it is regarded as excepted income. But if they simply have income from family trust distributions, that income is taxed at special higher rates.

But if you put the investment in the child's name and the income creeps over the tax-free limit, the earnings will be slugged with the high tax rate. The other problem with putting the investment in the child's name is that if you intend the investment to be used to fund a tertiary education, once the child turns 18 they might have a different idea and spend it on an overseas trip or new car.

Most parents or grandparents are better off holding their children's or grandchildren's investment in their name in trust. If the parent or grandparent holds the investments in their own name in trust, they will incur tax at their own marginal tax rate.

So if the parent or grandparent has a spouse on a lower marginal tax bracket, it is best that they become the trustee for the child's savings. And when declaring the income, they may be able to use the franking credits from the education investment to offset tax from their other income. There are a number of different ways to save for education that include specific education saving plans and managed funds. Using your flexible mortgage and paying off the mortgage when you have the cash and then drawing from it to pay the school fees has benefits too.

Education saving plans
A tax-effective way to save that encourages the discipline of regular saving and not spending. The downside is that education saving plans have relatively high fees, particularly for conservative investment options. Also, you must find out what happens to your investment earnings if you withdraw your investment early. Some plans will not pay you any gains.

Education saving plans offer a rare tax advantage. The government does not like to give tax concessions unless it is going to encourage people to save for retirement through superannuation or a child's education through an education saving plan.

Two friendly societies that the tax office allows to rebate all the tax paid on investment earnings at the maturity of the "scholarship plan" are Lifeplan and the Australian Scholarship Group (ASG). The tax benefits vary from plan to plan and are complicated.

Five years ago, education saving plans were inflexible investments that tended to lock people in. This can be a rude shock for some families who need to withdraw their savings earlier for emergencies.

Many of the ASG's investors still belong to the older-style tertiary plans that will only pay out the original contributions — and no investment income — if the child does not attend university or an approved TAFE.

The fees for ASG's education plans vary. James says that ASG keeps fees low and offers many free services to parents, such as vocational guidance and educational material.

Managed funds
If you like regular saving plans, why not try other plans with lower fees? Exchange Traded Funds are listed index funds with fees around 0.28 percent, or Vanguard's diversified balanced funds charge a fee of 0.9 percent. After all, they invest in similar sorts of investments to education plans.

If you choose a diversified fund with investments in fixed interest, cash, property and shares, you can spread your risk and take advantage of long-term growth investments such as property and shares.

Most managed funds do not allow investments to be held in a child's name, but generally they will accept applications if an adult acts as trustee for the child and the trustee provides their own tax file number. Direct shares are also attractive investments for children but, again, the investment may need to be held in the name of a trustee.

Biti is enthusiastic about using flexible mortgages with a redraw facility to meet education bills. "You are going to save paying seven percent interest on your money and there are no fees. It is tax free," she explains.

The downside of drawing down off your mortgage is that most people love to see their home loan balance going down, rather than up. "They have to accept that the balance is going to go up," says Biti. She suggests you keep records on how much you have spent on education and also how much you have saved.

Prepay your school fees
Some private schools allow you to pre-pay your school fees up to 10 years in advance, through a plan from Macquarie Bank. With school fees typically increasing at seven percent per annum over the past 15 years, the ability to save money by prepaying fees a number of years ahead becomes significant.

It works like this: the schools allow you to earn a credit against future tuition fees for early payment of fees. And the credits are not assessable for tax purposes as they meet the tax determinations of the plan. You are told how much the credits will save when you make contributions.

You can make regular payments or one-off payments. If you leave the school the contributions are refundable.

Schools find the prepayment option attractive because it can reduce the risk of bad debts and bring their cash flow forward. Check with your school to find out if pre-paying is an option.

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The cold, hard truth about interest rates

(via http://money.ninemsn.com.au)

Interest rates are arguably the most important issue facing Australian homeowners.  However there is much confusion about who controls interest rates, what factors influence rates and how this affects mortgage repayments.
So controls interest rates?
The cash interest rate is decided by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The RBA are an ndependent government department with the mandate to control monetary policy. The RBA's board meets 11 times a year to discuss and make announcements on monetary policy and the cash interest rate.

What is monetary policy?

Monetary policy is the process by which central banks (like the RBA) control the stability of a country’s economy. They have various levers that they can pull, that can speed up or slow down the economy, one of the major levers is interest rates.
The speed of the economy can be measured in a number of ways, one of the key measures is the prices that we pay for goods and services. This is measured four times a year in something called the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI is the key measure of inflation.
When the price of goods in the CPI goes up, inflation goes up, and wages are then increased as people demand more money from their employers to pay for the things they need, like food and petrol.
To make up for the increased wages, companies often increase their prices and this creates further upward pressure on inflation. If inflation is not controlled the value of money becomes lower and lower as prices become higher and higher until eventually people can no longer afford to buy anything and economic activity grinds to a halt.
The aim of monetary policy is to control inflation, to keep the economy growing slowly but steadily. If inflation is too high, the RBA increases rates, to deter consumer spending and slow inflation. The Australian economy grew strongly from 2002 up until late last year, and the RBA increased rates throughout this time to control this growth.

But what about when the economy slows down?

Good question. The global financial crisis has impacted world markets on a scale not seen since the Great Depression in the 1930’s. There are strong signs that the world’s major economies will be hurt as a result. The United States is in a recession, and Europe is following.
While the US and Europe may find themselves in recession, Australia is in better shape , however there are indicators that the local economy is slowing down. This has prompted the RBA to cut rates strongly. The RBA cut its cash rates multiple times this year, with the aim of stimulating spending and therefore protecting the economy from a sharp downturn. There is debate whether interest rates may increase soon, due to the recovering economy.
How does that affect my mortgage repayments?
The RBA cash rate is based on the rates paid by banks in the wholesale market. So while credit is available to banks at a rate of, say, 6.5 percent in the wholesale market, they will add a premium before applying the rate to retail loans and mortgages. The concept is the same as a supermarket buying produce in bulk at a lower rate than offered to shoppers.
If the RBA cuts rates, then the banks follow, reducing the interest rates they charge their customers. However this situation is complicated by the fact that Australian banks have to go offshore to seek funding for their (or your) debts. This is because there are not enough savings in Australia to finance the debts.
In the past few months this pattern has been out-of-whack as wholesale market credit costs have been increased by the global credit crisis. This was because banks became fearful of lending money to each other, so the costs of borrowing skyrocketed. The government expects that as the credit crisis abates, banks will pass on all the rate cuts to their customers.
How can I tell if rates will rise or fall in the future?
Unless you've got a fully-functional crystal ball, it's hard to know absolutely which direction rates are headed.  However, the interest rate futures market can give some hints. Investors buy interest rate futures to protect themselves against rate movements in the future. As a result, if 90 day interest rate futures (usually described as "dealers bill rates") is at seven percent and today's cash rate is 6.5 percent, the futures market thinks rates will be around seven percent in three months.
So who controls interest rates?
No one person or organisation is in sole charge the direction of interest rates. Indeed, while the RBA sets the rate, the factors that influence it are spread far and wide.

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WHO LOVES MANGOES - THE PERFECT RECIPE

Grandma Watters' Mango Chutney
Ingredients:

25 mangoes (preferably firm) - peeled, deseeded and chopped

500 grams of chopped dates or sultanas

500 grams of chopped crystalized ginger

1 kilo sugar - preferably brown

1.5 litres of vinegar - preferably brown

1 bulb garlic - crushed

1 tablespoon salt

chillies to taste (chopped and placed in a muslin bag) - 12 small chillies will be mild

Method:

1. Add vinegar and sugar to a large pot and bring to the boil.

2. Add all other ingredients and boil for 2-3 hours or until mangoes are soft. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

3. Remove muslin bag and chillies.

4. Bottle in sterilised jars while chutney is still warm (but not boiling).

A perfect recipe with key ingredients is always important for success ..........a bit like Real Estate.  Our key ingredients are our people and our committment to have the result perfect. 

Everyone loves them!

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Is Your Agents Website Selling Your Property?

Listing your property on an agent’s website is an inexpensive way of getting wide exposure. Research shows that some real estate agents generate more than 60% of their business from their website.

But buyers need to feel confident that purchasers wanting to purchase in their area will be using the site as a source of property information. How can the layperson determine whether an agent’s website will direct inspections to the property?

Put the agent’s site to the test yourself. Is it user-friendly or can it only be accessed through a slow portal site? Is the information on it up-to-date? Purchasers clicking onto your property want to get there fast (does their home page download within ten seconds?) and they want plenty of information: price, full description, lots of photographs. Early virtual tours were slow and unpopular but with the rapid uptake of broadband, they are so much easier to explore and buyers really love them. They also expect to get the complete address of advertised properties and the sales consultant’s 24-hour contact details online.

Don’t forget to evaluate their email communication: buyers these days expect a reply to their emails within four business hours.

The website should also have a list of properties open for inspection – after all, Opens change weekly and purchasers will have to keep coming back to the site to see what they can look at this weekend. If the information is out-of-date, purchasers are unlikely to visit on a regular basis. The Open for Inspection list should also provide a direct hyperlink to each property listing so that the full details of any property they are interested in are just a click away.

Purchasers using the internet also want anonymity until they are ready to make contact with the agent and carry out inspections. The time for purchasers to make their details known to the agent is when they want to start inspecting real bricks and mortar. Websites requiring purchasers to give their details before providing information are unlikely to get repeat visits. 


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MUNDINE STILL #1

THREE-TIME world champion Anthony Mundine continued his five-year unbeaten run with a comfortable victory over Rob Medley in their non-world title fight at the Sydney Entertainment Centre last night.

Like Anthony Mundine, David Deane Real Estate is committed and determined to remain Number 1 in 2010.  You have to admire his drive!

Mundine's next fight will be against another former rugby league player in Garth Wood, who earned a shot by beating Kariz Kariuki in the final of reality television show The Contender.

Love him or hate him?
Let us know what you think!  We'd love to hear from you.  

Belinda Johnston

Company Director/LicenseeLet us  know what you think

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Why Give The Agent Your Contact Details?

These days it is almost impossible to conduct an inspection of a property for sale without giving your details to the agent. Many purchasers are reluctant to hand over their phone number or email address, feeling that their privacy is about to be invaded.

But is this in fact the case?

Purchasers who keep in touch with professional, well-informed sales agents,  say they enjoy the advantage of being amongst the first to be contacted when new properties come on the market. This is especially important when there is a shortage of properties for sale or the property type the purchaser requires is particularly sought after. Many sought after properties are sold before the first advertisement to buyers who are on the agent’s books.

Purchasers who keep in touch with agents say it helps them get to know what is selling for what price. They get to know the market faster – a crucial advantage if it stops them missing out on a property they like simply because they are not ready to make an offer.

Agents provide information to vendors too. Vendors want to know what purchasers think of their property. How did it compare with others in the price range? Did it represent value for money? Is there anything they need to do to attract offers? Vendors can use this feedback to make informed decisions about the validity of marketing strategies, including price. This benefits purchasers too as it often encourages vendors to be aware of unrealistic expectations.

In most locations there are several agents to choose from and property consumers can exercise their discretion when giving out their contact details, selecting only those who have a reputation for professionalism and service.



Scott Deaves
Director of Sales


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