Before electricity, family kitchens where large but simple. They featured a heat source for cooking and a built in sink without running water. It was where family members performed chores and socialised with each other.

Then, timesaving devices where introduced and fewer people were needed to prepare a meal. There was a loss in social importance of the kitchen. In many cases, the other rooms of the house had become popular, often because the kitchen was too small.

Builders have now changed their plans, as they have realised the importance of the kitchen. Plans have incorporated kitchens as a social room again. Consider how many times you enter your kitchen today. For most families, the kitchen serves as a central hub of the home. Everyone seems to gather around the kitchen!

The number of property renters in Australia is rising as homes become less affordable to buy. This is good news if you’re a property investor because maintaining a good occupancy rate is crucial to your investment success. During the property boom of the 1990’s, investment properties were all about capital gains; properties often jumped in value whatever you bought. That’s no longer the case. Now the boom has passed, investors need to be more selective about the properties they are buying. Here are a few steps to consider during the process.

Step 1: Location
For a successful investment, you must acquire the right property in the right location. Check for proximity to schools, transport, sports, entertainment and areas of future job growth. The property needs to be in a safe clean environment, with an established rental demand.

Step 2: Buy Quality
The building must be appropriate to the market. Eg: at least three bedrooms for families. It should be well built (brick and tile is desirable) and have low maintenance buildings and outside areas.

Read this blog next week for the 3rd and 4th steps to consider when buying investment property.

1. Unclutter and depersonalize: Buyers find it hard to imagine living in a house that is cluttered. Create a light, spacious and inviting house. Remove any bits of furniture that make a room feel crowded, and box up those items that are not essential. And think of this packing away process as a head start on what you will need to do before your move.
2. Remove dated window dressings: Old curtains and broken blinds will do nothing to help you sell. Wooden vertical blinds are cheap and easy to install. Use lighter woods for smaller rooms, and use darker woods for larger ones.
3. Redecorate: Give your walls a fresh coat of paint, especially if they are brightly painted. Choose a neutral shade, it makes it easier for the buyer to visualize how they would use each room.
4. Organize your storage: Put anything you do not need in storage and ensure your cupboards are neat and tidy. Stuffed cupboards make the home look like there isn’t enough storage.
5. Make a feature of your flooring: Get rid of worn and dirty carpet. If there is hardwood floorboards underneath , polish them. If not, give the carpet a good steam clean.
If you follow these five tips, with a little effort and at low cost your home will be much more desirable to buyers.

The Australian government has decided to introduce a price on carbon for the major polluting companies. Half of this amount will be given to homeowners through its Clean Energy Future Plan in the form of tax cuts and pension increases to help with the rising living costs. It is also working with home owners in an effort to lower their household pollution contribution by making savings in their energy usage. This is to be achieved through a mix of regulation, financial support, incentives, information and support. As a result there are planned changes to be made in the way new homes are built and older homes are renovated. A building’s energy performance is to be rated and changes are expected to be made in the way people generally use energy especially in the area of energy efficiency with regards to household appliances.

To meet the 2020 carbon reduction targets, the government is placing energy efficiency regulations on new homes being built. From 2012, all homes will be given an energy efficiency rating.

The reasoning behind adopting the energy efficiency star rating is that consumers will have a benchmark to enable them to make an informed decision on the energy requirement of the home they are thinking about buying or renting. If the home isn’t built to certain specifications it would be fair to assume that the home will have higher power costs and a lower market value, than one that is built to comply. All homeowners and future home builders on the Far South Coast need to be aware of this, and should read http://www.climatechange.gov.au/what-you-need-to-know/buildings/homes/nationwide-home-energy-rating-scheme.aspx

Hydronic heating involves heating water and then circulating it to every room that required heating. The heat is circulated through pipes set under the floor’s surface or through a series of radiators. In-slab hydronic heating is popular because of the penetrating and gentle warmth it offers. Discrete radiator units can be fitted to homes where under floor access is not feasible.

Dust and allergens are a big drawback with ducted heating systems, most radiators work on natural radiant heat where there is no forced air circulation. Meaning no dust and no allergies. All radiator panels are safe to touch with mild temperatures of water regulating at 65 Degrees Celsius. They are safe for children, the elderly and household pets. One characteristic of hydronic heating that is a clear advantage over many other forms of heating is the fact that it is silent. No noisy space heaters or wall heaters with the constant blowing of air, the radiant warmth heats your home in peace and quiet. It is effortless and reliable; simply set the thermostat upon installation and forget about it. Maintenance is seldom required; the only working parts are the hot water boiler and the pump kit.

All it takes is filling plant gaps, washing the windows, removing cobwebs, laying new gravel and re-seeding brown patches on the lawn. First impressions are lasting, and gardens can sometimes be just as important as the architecture of the house. A property has to stand out on the internet, or when buyers are doing drive-bys.

So start replacing dead plants with new ones, move the old plants around, remove leaves, trim those hedges and add annuals in pots. That’s if your garden is well-established. If not, have a look at http://www.realestate.com.au/home-ideas/ for some ideas on how to spruce up your garden.

More handy tips:
• Focus on the front of the property.
• Make sure the front door is visible.
• Delineate it with standards or strappy, architectural plants, coloured pots or an obvious path.
• Get rid of clutter.
• Make spaces functional.
• External paving must be flat.
• Open up pathways to link spaces and make them obvious.
• Don’t over-prune or plants will look too woody.
• Soft new growth looks fresh and bright green.
A typical garden makeover includes:
• Pruning
• Clipping hedges
• Weeding
• Fixing loose pavers
• Pressure washing paving
• Renewing turf/adding instant lawn
• Adding colour pots
• Mulching
• Cleaning windows

Generally, 10 percent (if not more) of household energy bills can be reduced by simple actions like avoiding standby power, awitching lights off and installing draght excluders under doors to keep roomers at a higher temperature. This can save home owners hundreds of dollars per year.

Solar PV power generation in residential buildings is another way that can help home owners future-proof their homes from rising electricity costs. These costs have risen by 47.5 per cent since April 2009 and are expected to increase by another 38 per cent in the coming years.

Rising energy costs are contributing to the cost of living, and are adding to the affordability crisis on the Far South Coast, and the rest of Australia. It would be ideal if real estate professionals could provide home buyers and tenants with information on simple and effective ways of ‘going green’. I believe that as industry professionals, we have a certain responsibility to promote and assist environmental sustainability around the home.

Think: paints, cupboard handles, tap fittings, wallpapers (yes, wallpapers going up, not coming down) and the polishing of timber floors. Also light fittings and window treatments. Anything that changes the feel and adds a bit of pizzazz without spending the big bucks.

If that sounds like the ’70s revisited, perhaps it is. Hopefully not with such garish results, though. And yes, if you are thinking, ‘hang on, hasn’t everyone been doing this all along?’ In part you are right. But the difference is the mini-makeover will be used by householders to make do for much longer than in recent years.

Why will we see this replace bigger aspirations – at least for now? It’s a meeting of several forces. First, the property market isn’t going anywhere in a hurry at the moment, so the belief that you can do a big reno and flip the property to make a good quid is quickly dissolving. Second, Australians are saving more than we have in years and there’s a propensity to pay down debt. That means making do with what we have and not taking on huge loans to expand our lifestyles. More broadly, employers continue to report that the biggest thing employees are chasing isn’t dollars but work-life balance. Money is still important, yes, but there’s a greater focus on living a life outside of the office, and people aren’t jumping ship for an extra $5,000 or $10,000 like they were a few years ago.

So if they are working less and aren’t prepared to move for a bit more cash, it’s a fairly reasonable conclusion that people will be looking to make their dollar stretch further by extending the life of their current home.

The Reserve Bank makes its announcement on the first Tuesday of every month and ANZ isn’t wheeling out its move until the second Friday, which means a wait of at least three days . So where does that leave borrowers? Slightly confused? Yes. Powerless? No.

If ever the banks were going to start breaking the cycle for rate rises, now isn’t necessarily a terrible time from a consumer perspective, thanks to the amount of information at borrowers’ fingertips about what rates are available in the market, and the relative ease for many to switch providers and make up the cost of doing so by negotiating a lower interest rate from their new lender.

The administrative pain of getting your documents together, filling in some forms and swapping some direct debits is very small when we are talking thousands of dollars saved over the life of the loan.
The very sweet part is that having switched now to loans that will attract no exit fee thanks to the Federal Government’s ban last year, it won’t be that hard – or expensive – to move again should there be a cheaper or better-suited offering elsewhere.

But anything that breaks the daily grind of washing, sweeping/vacuuming and doing the dishes is welcome. And as it turns out, robotic floor cleaners have come a long way in recent years. After doing some research online, I found out there’s a few leading brands that have decent warranties and a good reputation among forums on the web.

Sure, they may cost a little, but with the floor clean, your house will look a lot nicer (and bigger) 24/7.