Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Professionals Logan Lifestyles Welcomes Our New Sales Team Members





Marian Grimsey - Marsden Office
Maryanne Arici - Browns Plains Office
Rusy Rusydi - Springwood Office
Braddy Zakaria - Springwood Office

Friday, May 20, 2011

How to Make Your Property Secure

The following are tips to make your property more secure:
* Display the street number at the front of the property to assist emergency services to locate your property.
* Ensure all perimeter fences are in good order and that gates are kept closed and locked.
* Trim trees and shrubs from around doors and windows so as not to provide concealment to intruders and to increase visibility to and from the street.
* Install quality security lights around the perimeter of your home.
* The power board to your home should be housed with a secured metal cabinet.
* All perimeter doors to your home should be of solid construction and fitted with quality dead lock sets.
* All perimeter windows should be secured with key-operated locks to restrict unauthorised access.
* Glass within doors and windows should be reinforced by either adhering a shatter resistant film, replacing with laminated glass or having quality metal security grilles or shutters fitted to restrict unauthorised access.
* Consider having a monitored intruder alarm system installed.
* Garages should be locked to restrict access. Roller tilt and panel lift doors can be secured with additional lock sets in the form of hasp and staple or padlocks.
* Get a pet. A dog can be a deterrent to thieves.

If you have a question about real estate, or would like assistance in locating a property, feel free to phone me, Noel Thompson Principal Professionals Logan Lifestyles anytime on 0418 517 525.

Monday, May 16, 2011

How Stamp Duties Distort the Market

Stamp duties are the bane of the property industry. Not only are they inefficient, but they also make our country over-dependent on property revenue.

Our property taxes (stamp duty and land tax) account for nearly 9 percent of our revenues as opposed to an overseas average of 6 percent.

A major problem with stamp duties on property sales is that they create a “lock-in” effect by discouraging homeowners from moving which dampens market activity. This is particularly harsh on first homebuyers when fewer new properties are being constructed.

There is also an inflationary effect, because every time a homeowner wants to sell, they need to bump up their price just to recover stamp duties.

Because they don’t want to pay stamp duties twice, families will often buy larger homes than required, figuring their families will eventually expand in size. This creates extra financial pressure.

People wanting to upgrade their circumstances, which is natural when one’s income increases, are often discouraged from doing so by stamp duties and have to settle for renovating their existing property.

Worse yet, older people wanting to downsize are likewise prevented from doing so because of the necessity to sell for more money to pay off the stamp duties.

The Federal Government’s own Treasury department found 125 separate federal, state and local taxes a year. Ten of these raised 90 per cent of tax revenue which indicates that the remaining 115 may be inefficient and need to be rationalised.

If you have a question about real estate, or would like assistance in locating a property, feel free to phone me, Noel Thompson Principal Professionals Logan Lifestyles at either Browns Plains 3800 4000, Marsden 3200 4495 or Springwood 3808 5544.