“They’re baaack”!! We get a minimal interest rate increase (0.25 percentage points) and out ‘they’ come! Those predictions of doom and gloom. There are no queues at ‘The Gap’, nobody phoned us wanting to sell as a direct result of the announcement (which was probably Australia’s worst kept secret). As for what effect it will have on our market, I would think very little. If you have a mortgage of $1,000,000 it will cost you an extra $154.16 a month based on a standard 25-year variable rate mortgage. With concerns that borrowings have exploded by forty per cent, to a record $333 billion, once again this excuse is all ‘huff and puff’. You only have to look at the rental market to see where the answers are. It is that simple. The First Home Buyers Grant of which the younger generation have taken full advantage means that they own real estate and have ceased renting. This is why, when you look in the paper, there is an abundance of rental property and the vacancy rates are at a record high. That market, being the first home buyers, is the one that needs to be closely monitored as their margins are much tighter. If this does happen, look for an increase of private sales by owners, because once you add on Stamp Duty and legals, they can’t afford the agent’s commission so they will try to minimise their costs.

Many will monitor the market and use the rate increase as the excuse that halted the market, however I believe that there are a couple of other factors that will play a more dominant role. The agents are valuing in many instances, to get the business, so at the end of the campaign we are already seeing our clearance rates reducing. With some properties in our market at ‘Waterhouse odds’ to achieve the advised price expectations, there are more than a few houses in Mosman at the moment, that won’t be seeing removalists for quite some time to come. The only thing being removed is the agent !!

Last weekend was a most interesting one. In some cases the numbers at open for inspections dropped dramatically. I spoke to one agent, and in the first week after two open for inspections, they had not hit double figures and they had spent $7,000 advertising. I have always said… look at the numbers in the home to get a feel for the market, if there are not many in attendance, then the agent is not exactly getting knocked over in the rush! We are nearing Winter, however in the past this has had little or no effect on the market. Real estate is a business now, so for some, ‘opportunity knocks’, because some vendors have already purchased. I wrote a few weeks ago that one of the problems with stock levels is that vendors are waiting to buy before they sell. This reversal in past practice could prove in this market to be a stroke of genius, or a most costly mistake.

Our IT Manager is always on our backs to install our weekly virus definition updates… my current protection is for a staggering, 61,007 viruses! Over the last two weeks we received 78 copies of the “W32.Klez” virus! Here is some great information about it to help you all:

This is a must read virus warning.

It is estimated that the latest fast-spreading versions of the Klez worm have so far infected more than 7 percent of PCs worldwide, surpassing totals chalked up by previous threats such as SirCam and Nimda. A worm of many subjects “The Klez” worm arrives in an e-mail message with one of 120 possible subject lines. There are 18 different standard subject headings,including “let’s be friends,” “meeting notice,” “some questions,” and “honey.” On top of those, seven other patterns exist, such as “a x game” and “a xpatch,” where x can be one of 16 different words, including “new,” “WinXP,” and the name of any of six major antivirus companies. What’s alarming is that in many circumstances the worm doesn’t need the victim to open it in order to run. Instead, it takes advantage of a 12-month-old vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook, known as the Automatic Execution of Embedded MIME Type bug, to open itself automatically on un-patched versions of Outlook. The malicious program will find any network storage available on the infected PC and copy itself to the remote disk drives using a random file name and a .EXE, .PIF, .COM, .BAT, .SCR or .RAR extension. Occasionally, the file name will include a double extension. The program will also cull e-mail addresses by searching a host of different file types on the infected PC. Using its own mail program, the worm will send itself off to those e-mail addresses. In addition, it will use the addresses to create a fake “From:” field in the e-mail message, disguising the actual source of the e-mail. Finally, the worm attempts to disable antivirus software by deleting registry keys, stopping running processes and removing virus-definition files.

Email spoofing… Some variants of this worm use a technique known as “spoofing.” If it does this, it chooses at random an address that it finds on an infected computer as the “From:” address that it uses when it performs its mass-mailing routine. Numerous cases have been reported in which users of uninfected computers receive complaints that they have sent an infected message to someone else. For example, Linda Anderson is using a computer that is infected with W32.Klez.E@mm; Linda is not using a antivirus program or does not have current virus definitions. When W32.Klez.gen@mm performs its emailing routine, it finds the email address of Harold Logan. It inserts Harold’s email address into the “From:” line of an infected email that it then sends to Janet Bishop. Janet then contacts Harold and complains that he sent her infected email, but when Harold scans his computer, Norton AntiVirus does not find anything–as would be expected–because his computer is not infected. If you are using a current version of Norton AntiVirus, have the most recent virus definitions, and a full system scan with Norton AntiVirus set to scan all files does not find anything, you can be confident that your computer is not infected with this worm.

More Information can be found online @ Symantec’s Web Site.

That is why we don’t use Outlook for our e-mails, the people creating these viruses target the masses and the programme itself has so many security issues.

It would be remiss of me not to give my twin brother Richard a big pat on the back. Steve and I were observing him work the floor at this week’s ‘First 8′ auctions and yes, another above the reserve result! His results to date have been nothing short of sensational. Steve commented to me “He is good that brother of yours, you had better watch yourself”… I responded “if he is this good with sleep deprivation imagine how good he will be when the triplets start sleeping through”. Richard has 10 month old triplets and a 3 year old son. Which probably explains why he works so hard!!

Well back to the grind-stone. We have some fantastic properties coming to market soon, and yes they are on the money, so stay tuned!! Have a great week… Cheers…^_^

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Some were calling it extra terrestrial… Others thought it might be due to the new look Richardson & Wrench property booklet… Some even suggested that it was caused by people wanting to help the Government coffers with Stamp Duty contributions and further assist Bob’s ‘blue gropers’! I personally had no idea what was happening! So I called for back up… then later for oxygen! The amount of people at last week’s Open for Inspections was amazing! When you have around 700 people turn up for your first two open for inspections, the memories of the 1988 bull market start to spring to mind. Real estate is all about embracing change. The market moves in mysterious ways and the present conundrum has inspired many to keep a close eye on the up coming auction events.

The market is offering some very attractive property at the moment, so it is not unusual for the buyers to become emotionally involved in the buying process. This in all probability delivers bullish prices because in simple terms, demand is far exceeding supply. This could change quicker than a well known agent’s back flip on a property price estimate! We are about to release another $15,000,000 to the market over the next week or so, so put the valium away, sanity will prevail!! Yes, the April “First 8″ auction is about to launch, and this time we will be submitting nine properties on April 9! The reason why we have one more than eight… you must remember that all eights have a coxswain… got ya!! And on it goes, the May 7 list is already half full, so there is good news on the horizon, for some of us anyway.

I am pretty sure that those who lack integrity (that is the principal requirement of doing business in our industry) will raise their ugly heads again. The market is in a bit of a frenzy and yet again, we see first hand these ‘bleeps and bloopers’ coming back. Yes, I am pretty sure that the ‘underquote/overquote’ will become a problem for the market once again this year. Whist Bob was quick to act on his beloved ‘blue gropers’, the cries from within the industry for the much awaited legislation introduction appears to be looking somewhat anaemic! A property market like the current one draws on the experience of the agent. You can’t, as an agent, read a book on being streetwise. Whilst many of the ‘new kids on the block’ will do their fair share of huffing and puffing, there will be some vendor casualties with regard to price expectations, and there will be plenty of property selling for a lower price than the pre-auction bid. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. One thing the 2002 property market has, is a record number of inexperienced agents not displaying ‘P Plates’! We play with very large amounts of money as agents and wisdom and experience should be our essential attributes.

This Saturday will see the official launch of the ‘ButtsOut’ anti-littering campaign at Balmoral Beach! For those who want more information about the campaign, have a look at this website. Steve and I will be there to hand over the sponsorship cheque and we could not be happier. It all starts at 1.30pm at the Rotunda, Balmoral Beach. It is a great campaign and we jumped at the opportunity to put something this important back into the community.

The top end is moving along very nicely. 13 Carrington Avenue, Mosman sold for $2,600,000 and 1 Illawarra Street Mosman which made the briefest ‘stage entry and exit’, sold it in just a few hours for $3,350,000! More happy announcements are only editions away. I must admit that my ribs are still a little sore when last Sunday, I read a report on the real estate market for all of the suburbs of Sydney. Apparently it is predicted that Mosman will have an upwards trend in houses of 11-15%, and in home units of 10-14%. There was very little substance to this prediction, it was nothing more than a ‘pin the tail on the donkey’ theory. Some might argue that it is a ‘heads or tails’ market. We are not sure at this early stage of the year, but we have some very new shiny front door keys! Watch your inbox… ^_^

P.S. Late Breaking News… Last night we smashed a new highest price record!!! I’ll tell you about that next week! Well Done Stephen Patrick.

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Thought we’d start off with some staggering statistics that really amazed us this week… One in six people has no superannuation. The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently released a report called “Superannuation: Coverage and Financial Characteristics, Australia” which revealed that approximately one in six people between the age of 25 – 54 who have not yet retired have no superannuation. Of those with superannuation 54% currently had employer or business contributions only. 23% currently had both employer or business contributions and personal or spouse contributions. 5% currently had personal or spouse contributions and 18% had superannuation to which no contributions were currently being made.

As we have discussed before, many people are using their homes as their superannuation. The principal place of residence is tax free and many are reaping the rewards. This was further evidenced by the State Government collecting a staggering $1.8 billion from Land Tax and Stamp Duty last year alone. Whilst on that dirty Land Tax subject, were you aware that Land Tax will be abolished from 1 July 2002 – for investors holding properties with unimproved land value of (wait for it…) of less than $50,000! Such a generous announcement. The ‘principal place of residence’ exemption will be removed in respect of properties owned by companies and trusts after 1 July 2002. And now for the big one – (the Government just can’t help themselves!) up goes the rate, yes from 1 January 2002 a new Premium Property Tax will be applicable to any principal place of residence with an unimproved land value in excess of $1 million. The tax being levied at a flat rate of 1.7% on a threshold to $1,414,000 on such excess. Thanks Bob you are doing a great job!! I am sure the Land Tax rate will be like the bridge toll up, up and away.

More interesting statistics… Are you aware how many cigarette butts are thrown away to pollute the environment each year in Australia? Take a moment to guess the number in N.S.W. alone, then think how long it would take for a single butt to biodegrade. In Australia it is one of the, if not the biggest, environmental issues of concern. Now that you have your thinking caps on, what industry in Mosman employs more people than any other? (excluding the Navy) Yes, the real estate industry!! In Mosman alone look at all the agencies then look at the number of staff employed – you are talking very big numbers, so we decided to literally ‘kick some butt!!’

In N.S.W. annually there are around 9 billion butts thrown away that are polluting our environment! With the recent anti-smoking laws, the smokers are going outdoors to smoke. It can take up to fifteen years for a single butt to biodegrade, an amazing statistic. So when “BUTTsOUT” approached us asking us to sponsor their great cause, we jumped at the chance! The official launch will be at Balmoral Beach very soon. Basically, this new campaign is all about making containers to hand out to smokers for them to deposit their cigarette butts into. On the beach, most smokers use the sand as their ashtray and their butts end up in the harbour, where you swim. This sponsorship represents the largest ever individual financial contribution for our local community and we could not be happier about it! Later launches will happen at Manly and Bondi Beaches. We love our beaches, especially our beloved Balmoral, Clifton Gardens and Chinamans Beaches and this is our opportunity to put something back. Over the years we have sponsored Little Athletics, art prizes and most of the schools. Many agencies put nothing back into the community. Whilst a few do offer sponsorships, it was only when we looked at who sponsored what, that we were amazed to find out that a few agencies out there spend nothing on helping our community.

Those waiting for the first auctions last week were left shaking their heads in disbelief! A home in Brightmore Street, situated on approximately 360 square metres of land, sold for a record price of $1,410,000!!! Auctioned by Richardson & Wrench of course. We commence our auction run this coming Tuesday night with the launch of the ‘First Eight’ and have already sold a few properties. It is shaping up very well. If you are in the area please drop in. When our Chief Auctioneer inspected the venue at Mosman Rowing Club, he commented “without doubt the finest auction venue in Sydney”. We start at 6.30pm and all the way through the auctions we will be serving hors-d’oeuvres, and I will say this, the food at Rowers Restaurant is sensational. Once again we will be breaking new ground in property auctions and no doubt will see a few red faces from our competitors, when they see how it really should be done. After all, it is all about service for the vendors and purchasers, not about what is best for the agency. The days of the big auction lists could well become a thing of the past.

So much to do and not enough time, onto the menu at The Rowers. I think we will start with asparagus lightly steamed and wrapped in prosciutto, with a 1996 Howard Park chardonnay hmmmm, no wonder we are seen as the ‘smart choice’ agency…. bon appetit!! ^_^.

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