Viewing by month: December 2010
Buying & Selling Property over the Christmas Holiday Period
As it seems to do every year, Christmas has once again snuck up on me. The years do not appear to be slowing down and it seems that everybody in CENTURY 21 offices around Australia are busier than ever. An enquiry I get from many people around this time of year surrounds buying and/or selling property in the lead-up to, during and directly after Christmas and whether or not they should do it. In my experience, Christmas can make things tricky, simply because you may not have as...Read complete post
Banking reforms see Home Loan exit fees abolished
In a package announced last week which included a variety of different banking reforms, the Treasurer Wayne Swan revealed the Government’s proposal to abolish home loan exit fees. This package in its entirety was put together to afford Australian consumers greater flexibility and choice when it comes to their banking. Under the reforms proposed by the Treasurer, home loan exit fees will be abolished on all mortgages taken out from July 1, 2011. In many ways, the package...Read complete post
Ways to cool your home without spending a fortune
For most parts of our country, the Australian summer is usually a hot one. And while many of us spend our days (if we’re lucky enough to have some time off work) enjoying the warmer weather at the beach or in the pool, remaining cool at home can often be a challenge. With the price of electricity on the rise, using air conditioning to combat the heat can often result in significant expense. So what can you do to lower your costs while staying cool at the same time? For...Read complete post
Interest rates on hold over Christmas
I think we all breathed a sigh of relief last Tuesday when the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to leave interest rates unchanged for the month of December after raising them to 4.75 per cent from 4.5 per cent last month. In his statement after the announcement, RBA governor Glenn Stevens commented that the board saw the current monetary policy setting as appropriate for the economic outlook. He also noted inflation is expected to see little change over the next few quarters,...Read complete post
CENTURY 21 sponsors The Australian Open
Apologies in advance for taking a sidestep from the topic of real estate in this blog, however we had an exciting internal development last week as Century 21 committed to be the presenting sponsor of this year’s Australian Open, which was played at The Lakes in Sydney from December 2 to 5. With prize money of US$1.3 million, The Australian Open lived up to all expectations and was an exciting week of golf despite the rain. Defending champion Adam Scott competed against Stuart...Read complete post
Ensuring your home is safe for Children
As parents and responsible home owners, we do everything we can to make sure our homes are safe for our children. Even if you do not have kids, it remains important to ensure that your property will not pose a threat to any young visitors. After all, there is nothing worse than having an accident occur in your home (whether life threatening or not) that could have been easily prevented. The Australian Institute of Architects and Kidsafe have a safety checklist that is quite...Read complete post