News Archive
27 September 2008
When the hammer falls
Some see now as a great time to buy at auction. Follow these 12 golden rules. Why do normal, sensible people who are confident enough to be buying property, often for great sums of money, suddenly become like children who are scared of the dark? Auctioneer Kate Lumby goes further: "Why do they freeze up and their bodies look as though they've had a metal rod launched down their spine? &... read news item »
21 September 2008
Are you smarter than your house?
Flick a switch and everything works, but is it all too much? Most us still have to scrabble for our keys to get in the front door at home and turn lights on manually when we get inside. But increasingly houses and apartments are being designed with smart systems that respond automatically to the press of a button or to changes in climate and light levels - and can even be tailored to individ... read news item »
18 September 2008
They know where you live: big council is watching you
Tim Rahr was sitting in his backyard in Paddington "re-reading my tattered copy of Franz Kafka" when the phone rang. It was an officer from the City of Sydney council calling about his application for a resident parking permit. "She wanted to know why was I applying for a parking permit when she could clearly see on her computer satellite image of my backyard that I had off-... read news item »
17 September 2008
Green roofs growing in popularity
Whoever said it's a jungle out there had it all wrong. Modern cities are actually more like a giant, baking hot rock, a mass of flinty, impervious surfaces that radiate and multiply heat like a colossal concrete furnace. Slow growth ... one of the most prominent examples of green roofs is that of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. This phenomenon, sometimes called the Urban Heat Isla... read news item »
14 September 2008
This year's top home loans and credit cards
Your purse strings are stretched from petrol prices and market uncertainty. What better time to review your credit card or home loan provider? To help, our sister publication, the AFR's Smart Investor, has bestowed awards to products in three credit card categories and 11 lending categories, as judged by partner Infochoice. Plastic money This year's winner of the AFR Smart Investor low rate cr... read news item »
13 September 2008
Tiny home offers little steps to the future
Michael Janzen has all the trappings of a successful homeowner: a pool, maid service, a yard landscaped with Japanese black pine bonsai trees. His home in Fair Oaks, California is of a kind coveted by fans of modern design. So why has he spent the summer building a 7.5-square-metre "tiny house" out of free stuff he found online? Janzen realised that "I don't want this life &mdas... read news item »
10 September 2008
Stamp-duty lobbying begins
The State Government's mini-budget due in November is expected to address the steep fall in stamp duty revenues from property transactions in the residential and commercial property sectors. The property industry estimates it costs up to $120,000 more to buy a house and land package in suburban Sydney than to buy an equivalent property in Melbourne, due to the higher level of taxes and levies. ... read news item »
10 September 2008
Sustainability begins at home
When Joanne Mourney started researching how to improve her home using green principles, she contacted every kitchen renovation business on the lower North Shore but was unable to get help. One woman responded: "I have never been asked that question." But three years is a long time in sustainability and people embarking on the same journey today should find information more readily ava... read news item »
09 September 2008
Calculate the running costs of a property
ALTHOUGH interest rates are falling, high house prices mean many property investors are still sitting on the sidelines of the market. Buying a property costs more than the deposit and mortgage repayments and a new website set up by quantity surveyors Washington Brown aims to give would-be investors the tools to calculate how much a property will cost them on an ongoing basis. The website, 4sa... read news item »
02 September 2008
RBA, big banks cut interest rates
THE big four banks have moved quickly to cut variable home loan interests rates after the Reserve Bank lowered official rates. The banks made their decision today, heeding earlier calls by the Federal Government that they pass on any rates change by the Reserve Bank to borrowers. The RBA today said it would lower the official cash rate to 7 per cent, from 7.25 per cent. The cut is ... read news item »