Posted by admin on 19 June 2010
If you have surfed the Meet Our Team page of our website, www.beesnees.com.au – you may have read that our Operations Manager Clint has been known to compete in short course triathlons and other events requiring a certain level of fitness.
Well it has been a while since his last competition (two years in fact) and he felt a little embarrassed about his lack of activity. So in his wisdom, or a moment of craziness has just entered himself into the Half Marathon in this year’s Brisbane Running Festival to be held soon in Brisbane’s inner city. Not just content with putting just himself through weeks of training leading up to the event, he has managed to rope his wife Anita and best friend Sandra into entering as well.
Entrants into the Running Festival are encouraged to fund raise for a charity of their choice and we thought it a great opportunity to support one of favourite charities – ACT for kids.
ACT for Kids is an Australian charity that is dedicated to the treatment and prevention of child abuse. More than 60,000 individual children are affected by child abuse in Australia every single year. That’s a child every 10 minutes who is suffering a form of abuse. ACT for Kids not only provides care for the children but also helps support the family unit that is affected by domestic violence.
We have set a fund raising goal of $1000 and would like your help to smash this total. So please help with this great cause and click through the donation page.
Posted in Inner Brisbane events, just for fun! | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 18 June 2010
June 30th is almost here and property investors looking for a hand maximizing their refund cheque from Mr Swan might like to take a look at the ATO’s rental property info paper. It’s easy to leave the claims to your accountant but most of this info is easy to follow and one fresh idea might save you some serious dollars.
Many of us get embarrassed admitting we don’t know some of these rules. We say it’s better to ask than make an expensive mistake! Some errors we’ve seen clients make in past years: using the date of settlement of a sale when calculating CGT (it’s usually the date of the contract) or claiming travel expenses where the main purpose of the trip was a holiday (driving past the house on the way to the Port Douglas golf course mightn’t be enough!)
The ever-tricky one seems to be mistaking an improvement for a repair. There’s a ruling on the ATO website that’s worth a read if you love that kind of thing! It says works may go further than being a deductible repair if it “changes the character of the property or does more than restore the efficiency of function”.
And, as always, please talk to an accountant and don’t look to your real estate agent for tax advice!
Tags: Australian Taxation Office, Brisbane rental, capital gains tax, investment property deductions, repairs versus improvements
Posted in Brisbane landlords, property taxes and rates etc | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 18 June 2010
AUSTRALIA is the fourth-fastest-growing property market in the world after a 20 per cent price jump in the past year, according to a survey of 47 countries by the international estate agent Knight Frank.
Locally, we are seeing increasing demand for 1 and 2 bedroom apartments in SOUTH BRISBANE, with property priced around $450,000 attracting the most interest. Supply is still tight so, while it’s always difficult to forecast with complete accuracy, we do expect that prices will firm in the next 3 to 6 months as investors continue to value one of Brisbane’s hottest urban renewal precincts.
Tags: The Galleria South Bank
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, South Brisbane and South Bank, trends in Brisbane property | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 15 June 2010
pic courtesy OurBrisbane.com
It’s a big claim but that’s what Terry Ryder was expressing in his article for The Australian on the 10th of June. To justify his position Terry cites some of the factors that he believes will make Woolloongabba a suburb worth watching. These factors include the convenience offered by the Gabba to areas such as the city, South Bank, three Hospitals and four Universities. The Clem 7 has also added a degree of convenience and the plans to make the Gabba a major link in the South East Busway system. Then there’s the Council’ s Urban Renewal Programme, the Urban Land Development Authority taking control of the government owned Go-Print site and the building of the Mater Childrens Hospital and the CSIRO construction at the old Boggo Rd Jail, right on the suburb’s doorstep. It’s hard to deny that there is an enormous amount of money being spent in the area and whichever way you look at it there’s no doubt that in 5-10 years time the Gabba will be a very different place. To read the full article click here.
Tags: Boggo Road Busway, Clem 7, Mater Hospital, PA Hospital, Queensland Childrens Hospital, South Bank, Urban Land Development Authority, Woolloongabba Urban Renewal Programme
Posted in Woolloongabba | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 12 June 2010
Is someone censoring your mail? If you live in South Brisbane the answer may surprise you.
In the past couple of weeks, we’ve been approached by a number of local building managers asking us to stop distributing “for sale brochures” and “offers to help” to local letter boxes.
Don’t get me wrong, junk mail can be annoying. But recent, quite harsh threats by some local managers really do border on the ridiculous. Let’s leave it up to each South Brisbane local to decide which mail to refuse. That’s our right. We all must object to the view by the ignorant few who consider themselves the unofficial South Brisbane letterbox police.
PS: and of course if you don’t want to receive our info in your letterbox just email me with your address!
Posted in South Brisbane and South Bank, real estate marketing | No Comments »
Posted by Rob Honeycombe on 8 June 2010
It’s one of those rare times you see the soul of a community – the local school fete! Last Sunday was Queensland Day and West End State School marked the date with their annual “Fiesta”.
The crowds were great, soaking up the live music, international foods and plenty of games and rides for kids.
My kids voted the strawberry and marshmellow sticks (dipped in chocolate) the best they’d ever had!
You’ve got to take your hats off to the parents who volunteer to organise these sort of days. An enormous task!
Tags: West End State School
Posted in Highgate Hill, Inner Brisbane events, South Brisbane and South Bank, West End | 1 Comment »
Posted by admin on 4 June 2010
It’s a big question for families looking to buy in Brisbane’s inner south side suburbs and of course not so important for singles and couples without children. The chance of being able to send your child/children to a GPS school without it costing you thousands or even tens of thousands a year is enough motivation for families to move. While West End, Highgate Hill and South Brisbane exist entirely within the catchment, Woolloongabba only has about a third of its geographical area inside the BSHS boundaries but the suburb’s homes can often be a more affordable option. With a 2009 median average of $555,000 it was $100,000 cheaper than Highgate Hill and West End at that time.
The basic guideline for Woolloongabba is that anything west of the South East Freeway is in the catchment, while anything on the east side is out. Of course it couldn’t be quite that simple and there are three streets that are an exception to the rule. These are Carl St, Regent St and Cornwall St. Before making any house purchases we would recommend you check the BSHS web site.
Tags: Brisbane house prices, Brisbane State High School, BSHS, Buranda Brisbane, buying in woolloongabba, Carl Street Woolloongabba, Cornwall Street Woolloongabba, Gabba Central, Regent Street Woolloongabba, South East Freeway
Posted in Highgate Hill, South Brisbane and South Bank, West End, Woolloongabba | No Comments »
Posted by admin on 2 June 2010
Andrew Winter from "Selling Houses Australia"
Here’s a tip for real estate sales in 2010 and beyond: more and more places going up for sale will be “staged”, as the Americans call it. Sellers used to think a loaf of bread in the oven or a coffee pot bubbling would get buyers in the mood. Some clients used to put their favourite Enya CD on repeat (see the pain us agents endure!). But now we’re witnessing more and more furniture/décor makeovers ahead of our sale campaigns. And it can really work.
Our full sales team attended the recent Australasian Real Estate Conference in Sydney and Lifestyle Channel star Andrew Winter was a speaker. Andrew’s show, Selling Houses Australia, is a lot of fun with Andrew and a team of designers/handypeople helping turn real estate market ‘dogs’ into sought-after gems. Andrew talked about the value of that pre-sale spruice-up, removing your tired furniture and clutter and bringing in designer pieces that might best appeal to the target market.
Property developers and builders have been doing this for a long time, their soothingly light and open designs appealing to buyers’ senses with a bowl of red apples to match the fluffy red throw rug. There’s now a good choice of Brisbane furniture companies offering short term rentals for home sellers. You bring a storage container onto the front lawn (check this great idea), load your old couch, Slim Dusty CD’s, kids and anything else messing the place up, and ship it away for storage. An interior designer then oversees the transformation with a deft choice of modern furnishings, wall hangings, lamps and knick-knacks.
It won’t look at all like your own home and, sadly, in many cases that’s exactly what you need. This can be a tough medicine to take, as our homes can be so personal to us. But if a great sale price is what you’re after ask your agent (us!) about your options.
Tags: Australian Real Estate Convention, Brisbane home prices, Brisbane real estate agents, preparing a home for sale, Selling Houses Australia
Posted in Brisbane's sales market, architecture and renovation, real estate marketing, trends in Brisbane property | 1 Comment »
Posted by admin on 1 June 2010
We’re delighted to announce that three new real estate professionals have joined the ownership team of Bees Nees. Operations Manager Clint Dowdell-Smith, who has been with Bees Nees since its opening in 2006; and more recent addition Annie von Rudzinski, Manager of our Property Management team.
Rob and Keryn Honeycombe established the agency in 2006 and said they’re excited to have key staff members joining them in the ownership team. “Each of them has shown they understand great client service. They set a terrific example for their teams and we’re really pleased to welcome them as joint owners in the agency.”
L-R: Clint, Annie, salesperson Regan Lacey, Keryn and Rob
Posted in Inner Brisbane events | No Comments »
If you have surfed the Meet Our Team page of our website, www.beesnees.com.au – you may have read that our Operations Manager Clint has been known to compete in short course triathlons and other events requiring a certain level of fitness.
