You could be forgiven for thinking that you have stepped back in time at the Spring Hill Baths (14 Torrington St, Spring Hill).
The baths are unique to this part of the world in terms of history and facilities. Not only is the pool heated (making it more attractive in the harsh Brisbane winter!), the facilities have also retained many of its original characteristics from when it was first opened in 1886 by mayor James Hipwood.
The facility today is the only surviving covered baths in Australia and offers patrons both a nostalgic charm like no other, as well as a healthy workout.
Spring Hill Baths circa 1910. Courtesy State Library
We know that from January 1st every seller of a property in Queensland will have to fill in a 2 page Sustainability checklist.
We attended a Department information session today and one thing’s become very clear: this is a Government rush job of mammoth proportions!
On 3 fairly significant issues the Department couldn’t provide an answer – they still haven’t fully digested their own legislation. For example, they couldn’t tell the meeting if you need to mention the body corp pool when you sell your apartment. House yes, apartment “we’ll have to get back to you”.
A building inspector spoke up to advise that his insurers can’t yet confirm if they’ll cover him for completing a Sus Dec. So his industry is not going to be an easy solution for completing the form, at least in the short term.
The Department did make one thing very clear though: if a seller is unsure about an item then they can leave it blank. When asked if that meant all boxes blank could still be a valid form the answer was yes.
There is to be no penalty relating to the form other than for failing to complete one prior to offering the property for sale. And even then we understand it will be up to local governments to enforce….
The Department say the form is to help buyers compare homes and weigh up their sustainability features. It’s an “education and marketing tool”.
And we agree with the sentiment behind that.
What a shame the government didn’t spend the time educating the marketplace and industry before rushing this in. The risk now is the Declaration will become a low-value sheet of process, most of them largely incomplete, and it will lose its real value.
I was thrilled to see the new Powderfinger music video on the weekend!
Talk about showing off Brisbane in all its glory. They guys from Powderfinger were rocking out their new single “All of the Dreamers” in all my favourite places and giving a great overview of some well known properties and locations around inner Brisbane.
They started under the Riverside Expressway. They went through most of Brisbane including the Botanic Gardens, up Alice Street including Restaurant Two, the Grosvenor, River Place and Felix Apartments. I saw Mincom and Central Station, the Sofitel and Anzac Square Residences looking up Adelaide Street.
I’m sure I saw a glimpse of Customs House in front of Aurora, Summitt at Spring Hill got a look in, Post Office Square and last but definitely not least Treasury Casino.
The last few moments they pulled the shot out to an amazing night time city skyline, including the Story Bridge and several reaches of the Brisbane River (which I myself have had the pleasure of viewing on occasion). It shows off some of our most impressive commercial towers too including Central Plaza One & Two.
To relive this magical cityscape I’d say dinner on a Petrie Point balcony might offer something like it, or for a more birds’ eye view try Riparian Plaza. I have a new listing there actually – does anyone need a 182sqm two bedder for $900 per week? Go on, live it up in Brisbane, best city in the world!
Spring Hill has so many old cottages and grand Queenslanders of every shape and size. The architecture is so charming that when they’re sold we often see spirited competition from buyers.
But here’s one local home owner who decided they didn’t want their place to look like another old timber house. This thoroughly European interpretation is fairly unique for the area. You can just see the tip of the house’s old tin roof that gives away its true heritage!
Bees Nees company chairman Boris this week helped out with the 2009 graduation at one of our local kindy’s – Mater Childcare in South Brisbane. Thanks to Julia and the Realscope Photography team we were able to give all the kids a complimentary photo of themselves with our sexy bee!
Boris loves to get out and about in our local patch. If you have a community event coming up we’d be happy to bring him along to entertain the kids.
Julia from Realscope Photography and Boris Bee, Chairman of Bees Nees City Realty
Okay so it’s nowhere near Brisbane but we think Burj Dubai is worthy of a mention here just for the sheer scale of this human achievement. And for the first time in history the planet’s tallest structure includes residential apartments. See some amazing pics below.
Due for its grand opening in 5 weeks time the tower is a record setter in so many ways. At 818m Burj has 160 storeys while the next tallest building is now Taipei 101 at 509m. In Brisbane our Aurora Tower is 67 storeys and 219m!
Burj Dubai has the world’s fastest elevators, traveling a zippy 64 kilometres per hour.
For the record the tower now has a floor area of 334,000m2 (almost 83 acres)! Construction started in September 2004 and has cost approx $4.5billion.
The tower will be home to an Armani Hotel and the good news is homes are still available – but at more than $40,000/m2 they’re not your typical apartment!
Photo taken November 2009. The tower can be seen 95km away!
Thankyou to one of our landlord clients who’s good enough to share some of her laughs with us – here’s this week’s best!:
A woman was walking down the street when she was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked her for a couple of pounds for dinner. She took out her purse, got out ten pounds and asked, ‘If I give you this money, will you buy wine with it instead of dinner?’
‘No, I had to stop drinking years ago’, the homeless woman told her. ‘Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?’ she asked. ‘No, I don’t waste time shopping,’ the homeless woman said. ‘I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.’
‘Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?’ she asked. ‘Are you NUTS!’ replied the homeless woman. I haven’t had my hair done in 20 years!’
‘Well, the woman said, ‘I’m not going to give you the money. Instead, I’m going to take you out for dinner with my husband and me tonight.’ The homeless woman was shocked. ‘Won’t your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I’m dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.’
She said, ‘That’s okay. It’s important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and wine.’
Whilst doing my rounds in beautiful Spring Hill today I stumbled across some real estate signage which I believe most residents, especially of Gregory Terrace, will find of interest.
At first I thought surely not, one of Brisbane’s most highly respected educational establishments up for sale!!? On further investigation it was simply Year 12 students having a bit of fun. All students past and present, parents of students and also teachers can breathe a huge sigh of relief as business I am assured will continue as normal.
Maybe real estate agents should be concerned as there appears to be some real estate talent from the Year 12 ready to start in the industry!
Putting your place up for sale is about to get harder and will probably cost you more money, thanks to a new state government requirement.
In an “innovative and nation-leading sustainable housing policy” our Minister for Infrastructure and Planning has introduced a mandatory Sustainability Declaration. From January 1st 2010 every seller of a residential dwelling in Queensland will have to fill in a 2 page checklist.
But don’t worry, the Minister says it’s “simple” and “user-friendly”…. Have a look at the draft Sustainability Declaration for yourself.
I had a go at doing one for my house and completed just 13 of 31 questions. I didn’t know if my shower heads were WELS 3 or WELS 4 rated. And I didn’t know what the “R-value” of my ceiling insulation would be either….
To be fair we agree there needs to be a bigger focus on energy use in existing housing. But these questions are going to take sellers some time and create another hurdle to selling.
You won’t be able to advertise your place for sale until you have a Sus Dec and your agents must display it at open homes and advertise to prospective buyers that it’s available. It looks like the penalty for not doing this will be $2000 for you and $10,000 for your agent…. so if you’re thinking of selling after Christmas you might need to read up on this.
We’re guessing that most sellers will pay a building inspector to complete the form, especially in Brisbane’s inner city where many homes are rented and their investor-owners barely know the property.
Will this create a new value and ‘point of difference’ for homes with extra features and bring a higher focus to sustainability? Maybe. But given the time/cost impost on sellers, and the very small percentage that will be fully completed, we’re not sure it’s a worthwhile change at all.
The government is not even going to collect the data. That might have been useful – they could target their campaigns/incentives at getting home owners to upgrade the items that really make a difference.
A woman was walking down the street when she was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked her for a couple of pounds for dinner. She took out her purse, got out ten pounds and asked, ‘If I give you this money, will you buy wine with it instead of dinner?’
Whilst doing my rounds in beautiful Spring Hill today I stumbled across some real estate signage which I believe most residents, especially of Gregory Terrace, will find of interest.
Putting your place up for sale is about to get harder and will probably cost you more money, thanks to a new state government requirement.
