CHILD SAFETY

With Christmas just around the corner and school holidays about to start now is a good time to touch on child safety particularly when we talk about the combination of young children in rental properties such as units, townhouse and two storey homes.

Preventing falls is particularly relevant today with many families choosing to rent in medium to high rise developments where unsupervised or unsecured windows and balconies could be dangerous to curious children. There are a few simple and straightforward steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of a fall or injury to children within your rental property.

1. Fix windows so they can be opened at no more than 10cm and ensure that they can only be adjusted to open further by adults

2. Secure window guards

3. Cover low windows with shatter resistant film if safety glass is not installed

4. DO NOT under any circumstances rely on flyscreens to keep children safe

5. Ensure that there is a lock on the balcony door that can only be opened by an adult

6. To prevent climbing ensure that there are no areas on the balcony that a child can use as a foot hold

7. Ensure that when installing new railings to balconies that they meet the required standard i.e. at least 1m high, with no gaps wider than 12.5cm

8. If you have any further questions regarding window and balcony safety then please contact our property management team.

Have a great Christmas!
Kerrie Walker

THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR THIS CHRISTMAS

As 2011 draws to a close, now is a great time to reflect on the past year and to appreciate that we really do live in the “lucky country”.

There really has never been a better time than now to be proud to be an Australian because:

1. We own our own homes. Australia is equal 12th on the list of home ownership globally with 69% of the country owning or paying off our own residence.

2. We don’t owe too much. Our “government debt per person” is significantly less than other countries. According to the global debt clock on “The Economist” magazine’s website we owe about a third of what they do in the UK or USA.

3. We are paying off our loans. Our Government is one of the few in the world talking about returning to a budget surplus in the next few years. Cuts to spending, lower welfare costs and higher tax revenue are leading us there.

4. Our loans are getting cheaper. The Reserve Bank has cut rates twice already and things seem set to continue on this trend for 2012. The US, European Union and Japan already have cash rates close to zero with nowhere to go.

5. Our property values are solid. We have a basic under supply of property and low vacancy rates (1.4%) in Sydney, and particularly in the Shire.

6. We have good neighbours. We have one of the lowest unemployment rates ( 5.3% ) in the Western world and our local neighbours like Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and even Japan have lower unemployment. Most people who can and want to work are finding a position and paying taxes in the process.

7. We have a great customer base. The strong demand from China and India for our natural resources is well established and continuing to serve our nation well.

8. Our shops are busy. Retail sales increased for the fourth month in a row in October which is amazing considering the rise of unmeasurable internet sales.

9. Our dollar is strong. Above parity with the US dollar and buys well against the Euro so our imports are cheaper.

10. We’ve got a great view! Just stop for a second look out the nearest window and appreciate the beautiful country we live in. Go on do it now. Like what you see? Great, be happy and appreciate life. Don’t like what you see? Call the team at Newton Real Estate as we can change that view for you!

Next year is going to be a big year for us all and especially here at Newton Real Estate with some very special events and projects planned. So stay tuned, rest up over the holiday period and look out 2012 here we come!

Wishing you and your family all the good things that life in The Shire has to offer this Christmas.

For a professional and honest opinion when buying or selling your property, please do not hesitate to contact our Sales Team 7 Days on 9524 0777.

David Newton

URGENT REPAIRS

The following is a list of the most common “urgent or emergency ” repairs which landlords need to be aware that tenants have new rights to act upon themselves:

- A burst hot water service

- A blocked or broken toilet

- A serious roof leak

- A gas leak

- A dangerous electrical fault

- Flooding or serious flood damage

- Serious storm or fire damage

- A failure or breakdown of the gas, electricity or water supply to the premises

- A failure or break down of any essential service on the premises for hot water, cooking, heating or laundering.

- Any fault or damage that causes the premises to be unsafe or not secure

Landlords are obliged to organise any urgent repair, as soon as reasonably possible, after having been notified by the tenant of the fault or damage.

NOTE – Under the Residential Tenancy Agreement the tenant can spend up to $1,000 on urgent repairs, if the Landlord fails to act, and should be reimbursed within 14 days by the landlord.

Kerrie Walker

PERCEPTION IS REALITY…

There is no truer statement in the business of Real Estate. If enough people believe in something it can shift the market in either a positive or negative direction.

Take for instance Interest Rate fluctuations and how they influence market sentiment and ultimately values. If you think back just 6 months ago, about the time they caught up with Osama bin Laden, there was a general perception that interest rates would increase. This perception, combined with the continuing uncertainty of the European and US economies, was making buyers hesitant and sellers nervous.

Fast forward to today and we have just had our first interest rate cut in over 30 months and the general consensus is that we have a few more to come. A move Westpac Chief economist Dr Bill Evans predicted back in July this year.

Dr Evans believes that we will shave another 0.75% off the Cash Rate during the course of 2012, which is sure to bring a smile to the face of all mortgage holders, and this is giving particularly First Home Buyers more confidence to act now and take advantage of the last remaining rebates available to them up until the end of the year.

If rates do fall another 0.75%, and the banks pass this onto the rest of us, effectively your borrowings will be about 10% cheaper or you can borrow 10% more.

The perception that Rates will continue to fall not only gives buyers confidence but the reality is that it allows them to borrow and spend more.

For a professional and honest opinion when buying or selling your investment property, please do not hesitate to contact our Sales Team 7 Days on 9524 0777.

SMOKE ALARMS IN RENTED PREMISES

Is pushing the button enough when it comes to testing your smoke alarm?

The experts say NO!!!

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act require you to regularly test and maintain the smoke alarms in your property. Removable batteries are to be regularly tested, maintained and replaced as required. In addition, smoke detectors are required to be replaced at no later than 10 years.

The smoke alarm Regulations specify the type of buildings which need smoke alarms installed, the type of alarm and where they are to be located. So type of alarm and location are two important items to be decided upon when installing a smoke alarm.

The new Residential Tenancy Agreement states that the landlord must ensure that smoke alarms are installed and maintained in the premises and that the tenant will not interfere with the operation of a smoke alarm. The onus on the tenant to maintain the smoke alarm is no longer the case.

If checking an alarm all the above requirements need to be taken into consideration. The easiest option is to appoint an expert, such as a specialist smoke alarm company.

An expert will carry out functional testing more substantial than a mere “button” test. The goal of a smoke detector is to pick up that which it is designed to which is to detect smoke.

Therefore, to know that the detectors work, you need to physically and functionally test detectors for at least smoke detection to ensure their correct operation.

It is wise to ensure that you have proof that the alarm has been installed and tested. It is therefore important to appoint a smoke alarm company to maintain your smoke alarm or make sure you keep all records including receipts relating to installation and maintenance.

If you would like to know more about the smoke alarm requirement for rented premises, please feel free to call me on 9524 0777.

Kerrie Walker

Time to get some perspective

There’s been lots of chatter in the media recently about house prices (for a change, we hear you say?). All kinds of sentiments have been raised – from conservative ‘corrections’, ‘stabilising’, ‘plateauing’ right through to ‘opportunistic’ and even ‘falling’. A little bit of flak also about the real estate industry and their supposed ‘rose-coloured glasses’.

Well, from the ground level in The Shire (no rose-coloured glasses in sight, just plain facts), we are finding no shortage of buyers. The team at Newton Real Estate are receiving consistently over 120 buyer enquiry every week via phone and emails plus the team have conducted over 1,000 inspections over the last 6 weeks. And at the end of the day, that’s the best measure of whether a property has found it’s ‘Value Level’ – the price where buyers respond favourably. Which if you’re trying to sell a property that’s what you want to measure.

Over the past three months, our team have sold over 50 properties, consistently delivering on our promise to our owners. And in our industry, consistency is a valuable measure of success.

Yes, over the last 12 months, prices have stabilised in most sectors and buyers are being very selective – so we’re bound to see some adjustments here in the short term. However property is a long term investment and despite the peaks and troughs it always produces the results. The key is not to get caught up in the media merry-go-round that focuses on short term issues, your home is worth only what someone will pay for it when you sell.

The critical numbers to consider are repayments, equity and the change over between properties (if applicable of course!). Value is only relevant if you are cashing it in and want to take your chances on the Stock Market or perhaps trade in Foreign Exchange?

David Newton

BREAKING A LEASE EARLY

What happens if your tenant wants to break a lease early i.e. before the end of the fixed term.

If this happens the landlord or agent must take all reasonable steps to find a replacement tenant as soon as possible.

The tenant is still responsible to pay rent until a new tenant is found and may also be held liable to contribute to the cost of finding another tenant. An example of the costs that they may have to contribute to would be the agents letting fee, lease preparation fee and advertising.

There is however an additional clause in the lease which outlines the penalty that must be paid by the tenant if the tenant moves out before the end of the fixed term. If this an optional clause and if left in the lease then the following would apply

If the fixed term of the agreement is 3 years or less the fee is:

· – 6 weeks rent if the tenant moves out in the first half of the fixed term or

· – 4 weeks rent if the tenant moves out in the second half of the fixed term

If this additional clause is in the agreement then this is all the tenant is required to pay and if a new tenant is not found, in time, then the property may be left vacant with no rent coming in.

ENDING THE LEASE EARLY WITHOUT PENALTY

If you are the landlord and you do not comply with the terms of the lease, for example, fail to keep the premises in reasonable repair or any other beach that is of a serious nature, then the tenant can give you 14 days written notice to terminate the tenancy.

BREAKING THE LEASE AGREEMENT WITHOUT PENALTY

– In limited circumstances your tenant can break the agreement early and some examples of this would be:

– By accepting an offer from Housing NSW

– Needing to moving into an Aged Care Facility, Nursing home or similar

– If the tenant has obtained a final apprehended violence order against somebody they are living with that excludes them from the property.

– If the landlord has put the property on the market for sale and failed to advise the tenant before they signed the lease that a contract for sale had been prepared.

If you have any question about what you can and can’t do under any of these circumstance, please give me a call or email me at kerrie@newtonrealestate.com.au.

Will your property get found on the Internet?

How quickly have we all adopted the internet as our “go to” place to find things? Just ten years ago phrases like “Google it”, “I’ll do a search”, “it’s on the site” or “I’ve posted it on Facebook” just didn’t exist. The Real Estate industry has been one of the fastest to upload much of their data to the web but with so much information it’s getting harder to have your property stand out from the crowd. It seems the Information Super Highway is getting congested and has lots of real estate signage along the side of the road!

How people search online has become somewhat of a science to some and a mystery to others and with the world wide web still in its formative years there is much speculation as to what works and what doesn’t.

Making buyer’s, and prospective tenant’s, job of finding your property easily is the key, as it has always been, so making sure you have your property listed on a variety of internet sites is essential.

Buyer and tenant preferences for their favourite web sites are many and varied so coverage across several platforms is essential so that when browsing they will have a chance of finding your property where it suits them.

Having your property on multiple websites also increases your chances of being found on a search engine like Google, Bing or Yahoo as these sites like to “collect” links to “pages” that have new information and have multiple links to them from other sites.

As with searches on Google, people very rarely look past the first or second page of a search on a real estate website so it is important to make sure your property is at least on the first two pages of a relevant search. Most property sites are well aware of this fact and charge higher rates for a “Feature” or “Priority” listings but this can be a worthwhile investment if it means the right buyer, or the best tenant, will find your property.

For more information on how to get your property found fast on the internet ask the team at Newton Real Estate today.

What landlords should do if rent is not paid?

The tenant not paying rent is one of the most serious issues you may face. It is important that your Agent deals with it as early as possible.

When the tenant is a few days late in paying the rent it is good practice to send them a reminder letter of the overdue payment or pick up the phone and call them. They may have just forgotten to pay the rent on that particular day. If the tenant is a regular late payer of the rent your agent may wish to discuss with them their method of payment. There are many options available but the most efficient is Direct Debit so make sure your Managing Agent has this facility available.

One of the terms of the tenancy agreement is that the tenant agrees to pay rent on time. If the tenant falls more than 14 days behind with the rent you can serve them with a termination notice, giving them 14 days to vacate the property. Included in this notice must be a statement informing the tenant that they do not have to vacate if the tenant pays all the rent owing or enter into, and fully complies with, a repayment plan agreed with the landlord.

A repayment plan is a plan you may agree on with the tenant for the outstanding rent to be paid over a period of time, on top of the normal rent payments. You and the tenant would both need to agree on the plan, including the frequency and amounts to be repaid.

The arrangement should be put in writing and signed by both parties to avoid any misunderstanding or disputes over what was agreed. If you cannot agree on a repayment plan the Tribunal may help to set one up as part of the conciliation process

If the rent is not paid in full or a payment plan entered into, then your agent will need to apply to the Consumer Trader and Tenancy Tribunal, if they have not done so already. A Tribunal hearing can be applied for at the same time that the Termination Notice is issued, however the hearing date will not be set until after the date that the tenant is required to vacate.

At the hearing the Tribunal Member may order a termination of the tenancy. However, unless there has been frequent rent arrears it is unlikely that this will happen, The tribunal member may however issue an Order for Specific Performance i.e. that the tenant pay rent on time. A breach of this order may then result in a termination of their tenancy at a later hearing.

If you have any questions relating to rent arrears or the procedure at C.T.T.T please give me a call or email me at kerrie@newtonrealestate.com.au, or should you have any questions in relation to Property Management please feel free to contact the Rental Department on 9524 0777 or email rentals

Who’s IN and who’s OUT in this market?

Who are the buyers in the current market? The Newton Sales team have sold over 50 properties in the last 12 weeks so let’s look at the trends of Who’s IN and Who’s OUT…

OUT:
Foreign Investors: Our high Aussie dollar is great if we want to buy something, like a big screen TV, from overseas but the opposite is true if you are a foreign currency holder and want to convert your money into our currency to buy a property in Australia. From a foreign investor’s point of view they have seen our property values rise 20% through currency change alone and as such are not likely to buy right now. Conversely if they held Australian property when our dollar was at 85cents to the US dollar they can sell and make a tidy profit on conversion back to their currency even though the property may not have moved in value at all.

First Home Buyers: Sure they will always be there but extra incentives to buy a few years ago in the form of government grants served to bring forward the decision to buy for many and as such they are no longer in the market as a First Home Buyer. Add to this the fact that the Y generation have a different attitude to wealth accumulation, and in particular property, many in their early 20s are delaying their first purchase.

Businesses doing it tough: Times are changing and so those involved in industries suffering adverse change do not have the confidence to invest in property or the funds to change to an alternative property. Many retailers and local manufacturer’s profits and turnover are down due to the influences of the internet and our strong currency.

IN:
Local Investors: There is a ground swell of people setting up Self Managed Super Funds and with the ability now for your Super fund to borrow money to buy property this is a growth market for property investors. While not for everyone this can be a very tax effective way to accumulate wealth.

Local Families: While the average number of people living in a household may be decreasing it seems we need more and more space to accommodate everyone. The increase in the divorce rate over the last decade has created the need for two dwellings where previously there was one. And we do need somewhere to put those big TVs too!

Downsizers: While it may not be everyone’s dream to sell up and travel the countryside in a caravan many more people are questioning the great Australian dream of the “quarter acre block” and moving into lower maintenance, smaller properties to either free up their time or their level of debt.

Strong Businesses: There is a definite trend of strong buyer interest from several industries that are less negatively affected by our current economic conditions. Those involved in Medical, Mining, IT or technology and even some local Real Estate Agents.

The market is not tough, it’s just changing.