Conventional wisdom and maybe even your property manager’s advice suggests you might want to think twice about that. Obviously there’s the potential for damaged carpet as a result of small accidents, marked walls or garden damage. But is that really any different from the normal wear and tear of renting to people without pets?

New research suggests perhaps not.

Responsible pet owners typically work hard to ensure their pets don’t annoy neighbours and don’t do damage to their rental property. They know that one black mark against their name means it may be much more difficult to rent in future, or worse, they may have to surrender their pet to be euthanised, if they can’t find a suitable property.

The research also shows that tenants with pets pay and average $25 to $35 dollars more per week for their property.

Naturally, as with all rental applicants, good pet references are essential. Your property manager may also ask that your tenants sign an annexure to their lease, clearly spelling out expectations and requirements such as having carpets steam cleaned when the property is vacated.

As a landlord, the choice remains yours but allowing your property manager to consider applications from prospective tenants with good references expands your pool of potential customers. Anecdotal evidence also suggests tenants with pets rent for longer periods, reducing the wear and tear that occurs when people move in and out, and, lifting your annual net return.

First National Real Estate offers a ‘Pet Friendly Rental Search’ on its national and member websites. Prospective tenants simply tick the ‘Pet Friendly’ box when searching for property to instantly separate properties that are an option for them.

Even though vacancy rates are at very low levels and many landlords experience no difficulty finding good tenants for their properties, renting to a responsible tenant with a pet may see your investment leased for a longer period, at a higher rate, and that’s well worth thinking twice about!

Example buyer registration eCard

Technology has been firmly embedded in real estate marketing for many years but First National Real Estate is leading the charge when it comes to regular customer communication about homes suited to their needs.

Buyer alerts issued from First National’s Utopia cross matching system surged by 50% in 2011 with some 375,000 customers receiving SMS alerts, telling them that a property matching their wish list had just been put on the market. More than 11.8 million email alerts and property market updates were also issued.

The system is used equally by buyers and tenants and customers love the regular, instant updates.

‘Our customers tell us we are the only real estate brand that gets back to them when they take the time to tell us about their property hopes and dreams;’ says National Communications Manager, Stewart Bunn.

Customers register their details by visiting First National member websites and following the links for priority alerts.

‘It’s simple to update search criteria, as your wish list changes, and also to choose to receive market updates or not’ says Mr Bunn.

‘Plus, once you’ve bought or rented a new home, it’s easy to remove yourself from our database so we don’t bother you with updates you no longer need. Our customers just love the convenience and our members have reduced the number of days it takes to sell a home or rent a vacant investment property.’

Find out more about First National’s Utopia system by talking to a local First National member today.

Norm Abbey, A First National Real Estate founding member

A founding member of the First National Real Estate network, Mr Norm Abbey was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) at the 2012 Australia Day honours. Norm Abbey received his citation for service to people with disabilities, particularly through Shannon Park Foundation.

As the founding and inaugural president of the parents and friends committee, Norm Abbey was instrumental in buying land to build Shannon Park Centre.

He was also an active fundraising auxiliary member, twice heading campaigns for $150,000.

Mr Abbey became involved after son Peter was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 18 months.

“I always felt I had to put something back into the community. We received a lot of support with Peter and wanted to repay that.”

First National Real Estate N.H Abbey was established by Norm Abbey in early 1973. The office has provided a first class and professional Real Estate service to the townships of Portarlington, Indented Head, St Leonards & the Bellarine Peninsula over this period.

Norm retired in late 2004 and handed the business over to his son Craig who has maintained the integrity and honest professionalism that N.H. Abbey First National Real Estate has become known for along with brother Dennis Abbey Leesa Scorgie (Norm’s daughter) and Tracey Abbey (Craig’s wife) the Portarlington office is a family affair.

Surge in Buyers at Gunnedah Open Homes

First National Real Estate Gunnedah has reported a renewed interest in property with an influx of potential buyers to open homes displays last weekend.

“What a positive way to start the New Year” said First National principal Mike Brady.

“Brand new, great valued, fresh listings have attracted significantly improved level of genuine interest with buyers, who came out in force last weekend.” Mike Brady said the sales team had reported as many as 23 groups going through the open homes.

Rebecca Mannix, Dot Hamilton & Kara Watts at the Sausage Sizzle

Media Release – 24 January 2012

Four staff from First National Palm Beach (QLD) are planning to throw themselves from a perfectly safe aircraft, along with some corporate support from First National Real Estate’s management in a couple of weeks.

The team will participate in the Jump to Cure Diabetes at the Sunshine Coast Airport in an effort to raise and contribute $5,000 towards finding a cure. The jump is being organised by Team Cure Diabetes who arrange fundraising events throughout the year to support their mission to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

First National Palm Beach’s senior property manager, Dorothy Hamilton, said her fellow jumpers simply want to support Diabetes sufferers as well as their colleague, Cara Watts, who’s 8 year old daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when she was 5.

‘The disease has a huge impact on the lives of entire families, not just the person who has been diagnosed’ said Mrs Hamilton.

‘Simply daily matters for healthy children that we as adults take for granted, such as a treat after school, birthday parties and sleepovers, are fundamental things that every child should be able to enjoy’.

First National Palm Beach has asked for community support in its efforts to raise at least $5,000. A sausage sizzle was held last Friday which raised over $871.00.

Mrs Hamilton said that education and support for families is the most important aspect of managing the disease. Funds raised go towards research for a cure but also the support families need to help their children live a full, healthy, normal life.

MacKenzie Watts give the First National Swash a hug!

Those wishing to make a donation in support of their fundraising effort should visit:

www.teamcurediabetes.org.au/divas_against_diabetes

- Copy ends -

Issued by: First National Real Estate Palm Beach

For further information contact Dorothy Hamilton, senior property manager – (07) 5559 9800

First National wishes you a Happy, Prosperous and Lucky New Year

First National Real Estate’s Phil Clark and new Centrelink building owner Vic Murray, who purchased the property for a price in excess of $1 million

BY SAM SHALDERS, The Ararat Advertiser

ARARAT – Despite many investors taking a negative attitude towards real estate following the global financial crisis, Ararat’s property market appears alive and well.

First National Real Estate Ararat has just recorded the highest selling property in the firm’s history, and perhaps one of the highest Ararat’s CBD has seen.

The property, located on the corner of King and High streets, houses the Centrelink offices and was purchased by private Melbourne investor Vic Murray and his son-in-law for more than $1 million.

Mr Murray would not disclose the exact amount of the purchase but said he hoped the big investment would be long term.

“We were happy with the price we got it for, we offered less than what they were asking (reserve price of $1.75 million), this is a fairly big investment for us, I do have some other property in Melbourne, factories and shops and stuff like that, and hopefully this is going to be another long term asset,” he said.

Mr Murray became interested in buying in the area after seeing a story about the town on the ABC.

“We’ve been looking around for an investment together and I saw a story on the 7.30 Report where they were talking about Ararat and the issues going on with the council, and they mentioned the jail being extended and that an extra 100 jobs would be created,” Mr Murray said.

“I’d seen what happened in Wonthaggi with the desalination plant, and that town just grew. With around 100 new jobs at the prison, if you extrapolate that out to included wives and kids it means more schools and more services of every kind, then Ararat is going to grow too.

“I came up here and had a look around and saw that Aldi had just built a new store and I thought well they’re not going to invest in a town unless they think that something is happening around the place.

“Just driving down the main street, all the car parks are full, there are people everywhere, and I thought yeah the town’s humming along, the new police station, the hospital has been extended it looks like a great place to invest.”

Mr Murray contacted First National Real Estate’s Ararat director Phil Clark, who showed the investors available properties around the region.

“Vic felt that it was a good return, and that’s why people from the city are investing in regional areas of Victoria and in Ararat, because they feel like they get a good return,” Mr Clark said.

“They’ve got a good tenant in Centrelink, a government tenant, and a fairly new building.”

Construction of the building was completed in early 2009, after being purpose built to house Centrelink offices. The same Mildura developer also constructed a Centrelink building in Stawell three years ago, which is yet to be sold.

Mr Murray said if Centrelink decided not to renew their lease in 2015 the property’s modern facilities and prime location made it a great attraction for any business.

“If they (Centrelink) were to move out in four years’ time a building like that could become a major retail outlet for a Harvey Norman or something like that, but we want Centrelink to stay here, absolutely,” he said.

“We are planning a few improvements for the building already, we are going to try and make it a bit more energy efficient and coat the roof in a reflective paint that reduces the energy of the air conditioning by about 20 percent, and I am about to investigate putting solar power in, I’ve got a few things in mind because it is a long term investment.”

Mr Clark said from a real estate perspective it is a good sign that Melbourne investors can see the town is growing and that they are supporting the community by purchasing property.

“It shows that the property market in Ararat is strong, and people are investing here which is good. It’s very positive and there are a lot of job prospects with the prison development, and I guess that is another good reason to invest in the town now,” he said.

An example of Australia’s vast, undeveloped interior…

Is it just luck that only 4.9% of Australian homes are worth less than their purchase price?

First National Real Estate would argue that luck has nothing to do with it.

The latest figures from RP Data emphasise the resilience of the Australian housing market, despite the ongoing concerns of international market commentators.

According to the organisation, strong growth in home values over the recent growth cycle is why most regions have seen significant levels of equity accumulation. In fact, over the five years to September 2011, capital city home values increased by around 28%.

Although there have been recent declines, as outlined in First National’s 2012 Property Market Outlook, approximately 43% of homes are worth more than twice their original purchase price.

Capital city home values are down 3.3% from their October 2010 peak to September 2011, but taking a longer term view, that’s hardly something for Australians to fret about, especially given the dire circumstances faced by our European and US home owning colleagues who are facing losses in equity well exceeding 40%.

Australia’s property market circumstances are almost entirely unique and largely misunderstood by foreign analysts.

Firstly, the great majority of Australians dwell on the coastline, leaving our vast interior mostly ‘undeveloped’. This makes demand for available land and housing on the coastline unusually strong. This combines with a population which grows at more than 300,000 per year, while we continue to build less than 150,000 homes per year – the opposite of what was occurring in Europe and the USA prior to the GFC. In the USA, a building boom created an oversupply, financed largely through non-recourse lending.

What’s non-recourse lending?

It’s a type of finance you couldn’t dream of acquiring in Australia. Here, before a bank will lend you the necessary finances to buy a property, you must prove you have the ability to pay it back. That starts with at least having a job, unlike some of the lending practices that were prevalent in the States, prior to the GFC, that didn’t require such fundamentals of a borrower. Non-recourse lending also allows the homeowner to walk away if their home becomes worth less than they paid for it, and it then becomes the bank’s problem. Walk away in Australia and the bank will reposess your home, sell it for the best price they can, then sue you for any shortfall. So, in other words, there’s no walking or running away and the investment remains your problem. This provides a strong incentive to ‘hold on’ in times when the market isn’t rising.

The flood of property for sale in the USA is largely the result of homeowners simply handing back the keys and walking off. The cascading oversupply combines with almost zero demand, apart from the occasional foreign bargain hunter looking to take advantage, to further suppress house prices.

So, with an entirely different approach to lending, record immigration, almost zero unemployment, an under-supplied housing market, and a culture that embraces home ownership rather than renting, there’s scant chance of any form of major correction in the Australian housing market despite its current, cyclical softness.

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Goulburn Post, 11 January 2012

Last year was the year of accomplishment in Goulburn, and the trickle down effects on the local economy are starting to be felt.

With the dams full, the Highland Source Pipeline complete, and big retail chains like Target, Bunnings and Big W all moving in, real estate investors from across the country are looking this way and snapping up bargains.

New data has shown the local real estate sales market is booming, with the median house price up 20.5 per cent over the last three years to $265,000, and up 8pc in the last 12 months.

Demand from out-of-town investors and local buyers has been generating strong sales in the region, and is slowly driving up the median price, local real estate agents have said.

First National Real Estate one of Goulburn’s biggest residential sellers – stayed open between the Christmas Eve and New Year period to keep up with sales demand from investors and owner/occupiers alike.

First National principal Barry McEntee said there was demand for properties “right across the board,” from one-bedroom units up to three and four bedroom houses and small acreages.

December was the busiest month of the year at First National for sales, the first time this holiday month has topped the list in seven years of trading.

Mr McEntee puts part of the demand down to the fact that stamp duty concession for first home buyers expired on December 31, and the subsequent rush to snap up properties before the expiry date.

“We actually opened between Christmas and New Year, which is not something we’ve done in the past, but we felt the demand was there,” Mr McEntee said.

Barry McEntee

Mr McEntee felt the amount of Canberra buyers was starting to drop off.

“There’s been less Canberra buyers late last year in my opinion.

The Canberra market has softened a bit of late, so people who were forced to consider Goulburn in the past are now looking within Canberra.” “In 2010, about 25% of buyers were from Canberra, but now it’s more like 10-15%,” he said.

As for what’s driving the strong sales market, it all came down to affordability, Mr McEntee said.

“The big thing about Goulburn is that it’s so affordable. We were still selling houses at the end of last year from $200,000 right up to the $700,000 mark.”

The Goulburn property market has also been singled out by respected real estate analyst and owner of www.hotspotting.com.au Terry Ryder, who included Goulburn in his most recent national top 10 cheapies with prospects’ report. The only other NSW locations to make the top 10 were Dubbo, Broken Hill and the region surrounding Gunnedah.

This all bodes well for another strong year in 2012, Mr McEntee said.

“It’s been a very strong 2011 and there’s no indication that will slow down in 2012.