How to Keep the Real Estate Profession Relevant in an Online DIY Society

How to Keep the Real Estate Profession Relevant in an Online DIY Society

So, how do real estate agents evolve with the times to prevent their services and therefore their livelihood from becoming obsolete?

At first the Internet was a useful tool for real estate agents. You can list houses, upload virtual tools and market, market, mass market. As people become more techno savvy and try to save a buck wherever they can, more and more people are trying to be their own real estate agents.

All of the information is out there and with the prospect of saving around 6% by taking matters into their own hands, a lot of home owners/buyers are cutting out the middleman. Read the full article »»»»

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Ahhh . . . B&B Italia

Ahhh . . . B&B Italia

Each and everyday I sit here and wait, patiently and with much anticipation. Sometime back in 2007 I signed up for a newsletter from B&B Italia, since, I’ve received a half dozen. Then in November 2008 they stopped, I’ve been waiting ever since. Today I received the first new catalogue in almost 4 years, ahhh . . .

Seems that since wrestling their baby back in early 2011 [see wiki below] the Busnelli family has focused more on making beautiful shapes, and less on the redundant art of PR, after all, we ALL know who B&B is, don’t we?

Being lucky enough to own a couple of these übercool pieces has been one of my everyday joys, no matter what the outside world has thrown at me, walking into a room with B&B instantly puts a relieved smile on my face. Read the full article »»»»

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http://www.renovationplanning.net.au/

READ A BOOK: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

READ A BOOK: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

It’s almost impossible to miss, spend 15 minutes on the internet and your sure to bump into some mention or other of Marissa Meyer’s Cinder, a new dystopian novel placing a pot of cyborgs, magical powers and evil stepmothers on the boil.

Cinder is the debut novel of New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer . The story is loosely based on the classic fairytale “Cinderella”. Though Cinder is aimed squarley at a young adult/scifi audience, it’s a surprising good read for those of us who have managed to grow facial hair. Cinder was selected as one of IndieBound’s Kids’ Next List for winter 2012. Read the full article »»»»

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http://www.technoid.com.au/

Favorite New Thought: Desile Folding Chair

Favorite New Thought: Desile Folding Chair

It’s a chair. It’s a wall hanging. It’s an environmentalist’s dream. The ultimate folding chair emerges from the simplicity of a drawing and the sustainability of bamboo and recycled PET from the sketch pad of French designer Christian Desile. What’s more, when the chair is closed, it’s pancake flat, taking up less room for shipping or storage (100 bamboo chairs=2 linear meters).

A self-learner, Christian figured out how to cut a single chair from a 20-mm slice of board. We love the way it looks, no matter how it folds. Open, it’s a sturdy seat for extra guests. Closed, it can be hung on the wall, providing graphic interest to a space.

At its launch – 2009 Maison&Objet show in Paris – Desile, produced by Belgium Vange, won the “Coup de Coeur” award by the press and was selected as the “Découverte Now” by a special jury.

ORDER ONLINE: http://aplusrstore.com/

©indeep media:

http://www.renovationplanning.net.au/

European Study Pours Cold Water on Australian Banks Cost Claims

European Study Pours Cold Water on Australian Banks Cost Claims

Elysse Morgan from ABC reports that new research by one of Europe’s biggest banks suggests that Australian banks are hiking interest rates to protect profit margins, not to cover higher funding costs as they have insisted. But the Australian Bankers’ Association has dismissed the study and says lenders may have to raise their rates again.

The study by Societe Generale shows nearly all funding costs for Australian lenders have fallen in the last six months. Societe Generale’s head of strategy in Asia, Christian Carrillo, says the banks’ claims about rising costs are dubious.

“Research suggests that effectively pretty much every source of funding that they use in terms of domestic deposits, short-term funding onshore, long-term funding onshore, has actually gone down,” Mr Carrillo said. ”There has been some widening in spreads between offshore funding rates and the rates that they use to hedge against, but if you take into account the overall rate they pay to fund overseas, even that has actually come down slightly.” Read the full article »»»»

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. . . blogging, it’s personal!

. . . blogging, it’s personal!

In today’s ultra-competitive world, online communities are fast becoming the preferred channel for organizations who seek unparalleled customer loyalty and engagement. Building online communities is much more than marketing, branding or product recognition. If it’s not personal your wasting your time, money and head-space.

Business blogging makes an effective search engine optimization strategy for generating traffic. Combined with a complimenting social media strategy, blogs talk directly to your customers and prospects without editorial filters. Blogs also are the cornerstone of social media – meaning they are the perfect hub for social media campaigns. Problem is, blogs take a lot of time to write, edit and promote.

That’s where we come in . . .

CONTACT: michael@indeepmedia.com.au orCHECK our about page: http://www.indeep-media.com/contact-about-advertise-blog/

There’s something BIG happening at St Kilda festival. Go see for yourself #MPhones

There’s something BIG happening at St Kilda festival. Go see for yourself #MPhones

Something BIG is happening at St Kilda festival!

Big M are building some BIG Monuments all over the country with the first right here in Melbourne at the St Kilda Festival this weekend and wants you to share the fun with your all friends using the hashtags #MPhones and #FreeBigM !!!

But what will this monument be??? Head on over to their Facebook page and get guessing!

There will also be free Big Ms given out at the monument all weekend long so be sure to get down to score your favourite Big M flavour!

The Big M monument will be located at Captain Cook gardens at the end of St Kilda pier (cnr Pier st and Jacka Blvd).

New Research Predicts Autism Much Earlier

New Research Predicts Autism Much Earlier

Autism, a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction, restricted and repetitive behavior. The signs of Autism all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not yet well understood.

Signs of ASD are diagnosed in the first three years of a child’s life, generally between the second and third year, the signs develop gradually, in some cases however, autistic children first develop more normally, and then regress.

New research has shown that children who develop autism may show signs of different brain responses in their first year of life, researchers say the study may in the future help doctors diagnose the disorder much earlier. Read the full article »»»»

REVIEW: Bitdefender Total Security 2012

REVIEW: Bitdefender Total Security 2012

Our lives are divided into two distinct realms, online and offline, and as we start taking up more online time, security becomes a serious issue, protecting our online lives from the malicious, dubious and nefarious is a pretty serious business.

Bitdefender Total Security 2012 - BTS2012 - was developed by Romania based software company SOFTWIN. Bitdefender has a great tradition of providing leading edge antivirus technology in a simple to use interface. Bitdefender was the first antivirus applications that allowed automatic software updates, the first to include a personal firewall, and the first to include behavioral detection – B-HAVE – to spot virus’s without a virus definition. SOFTWIN continues to push these boundaries of technology, staying one step ahead of the steadily evolving world of virus and antivirus.

There’s a bevvy of Antivirus/Protection software out there, so what seperates Bitdefender from the pack? First up, BTS2012 doesn’t require a reboot after install – we like this a heap, it’s also a clue at just how clever this suite is – the program is up-and-running In-Full, immediately. We downloaded BTS2012 which was pretty seamless, and were immediately struck byBTS2012′s ease of use, for such an outwardly simple application, BTS2012 certainly packs some serious tech-punch.

• Antivirus and Antispyware, Vulnerability Scanner, Social Networking Protection, Search Advisor, Personal Data Filter, Scan Dispatcher and Antiphishing
• Antispam, Parental Controls and Two-way Firewall
• File Shredder, Encryption, Tune-up and Online backup/file synchronization

REVIEW: Read the full article »»»»

Mortgage Uptake Bounce As New Buyers Jump Back In

Mortgage Uptake Bounce As New Buyers Jump Back In

Home loan commitments gathered pace in November 2011, the same month the Reserve Bank cut interest rates for the first time in almost three years. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the number of loans taken out for owner-occupied homes rose 1.4 per cent to 46,953 for the month, seasonally adjusted. It was the eighth consecutive monthly rise and the largest gain in six months. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a rise of 1 per cent. The number of mortgages for new homes rose 2 per cent in the month, while those for established homes rose by 1.6 per cent. But the number of loans to build new homes continued to fall for the third straight month, down 0.4 per cent to 4,828 in November. First-home buyers returned to the market, making up 20 per cent of loan commitments in the month, the highest proportion since February 2010 and in line with the long-term average. Read the full article »»»»

The Housing Crash That Wasn't

The Housing Crash That Wasn't

Andrew Harvey from Business Spectator has a superlative rundown on The Housing Crash That Wasn’t: Another year has passed with portents of doom and gloom regarding residential property prices yet again proving incorrect. The latest information available for 2011, RP Data-Rismark’s seasonally adjusted hedonic price series for November last year, shows that median dwelling prices returned to growth. Price gains, albeit extremely modest ones, were posted for capital city home values (up by 0.1 per cent) and for regional home prices (up by 0.3 per cent) in the month. While one data point does not a trend make, it does represent the first increase in dwelling prices since December 2010. As the November 2011 result follows a period of controlled price moderation that has been in place since the middle part of 2010, it provides some hope that the worst of the residential property market slump may now be behind us. Over the year to November 2011 house prices in the capital cities declined by 4.3 per cent (year on year) and unit prices in the capital cities fell by 1.1 per cent.

Planning Your Perfect Renovation

Planning Your Perfect Renovation

The last few of years have been turbulent ones in the real estate market – and the renovation world. Although Australia was widely acclaimed to have “dodged that bullet”, there’s no denying that many areas, including the renovation sector, were still affected by the GFC. 2009 and early 2010 saw huge drops in the rate of construction, toward the end of 2011 the light at the end of that tunnel still seemed distant, but getting a little closer. The upside was reflected in cheaper renovation costs as businesses vied for the work. Quotes website ServiceSeeking.com.au noted marked decreases in the cost of a number of renovation services including plumbing, tiling and painting. If your sat in your home wondering if now is a good time to renovate? The basis are covered below! Read the full article »»»»

When is a spam email not spam?

When is a spam email not spam?

If your a New York Times Subscriber internet user, you most likely received an email this morning begging you not to cancel your NYT subscription, quickly followed by another email asking you to ignore the first, confused? don’t be!

Initial reports said that the email was spam - those darned Nigerians - The New York Times appologised, asked recipients to disregard and admitted to it’s mistake.

Australia's Housing Shortage Worsened Despite Falling Property Prices

Australia's Housing Shortage Worsened Despite Falling Property Prices

Australia’s housing shortage has worsened despite falling property prices and is set to keep growing, an official report has found. The National Housing Supply Council says the gap between supply and underlying demand in Australia widened by 28,200 homes in the 2010 financial year. New South Wales and Queensland have the largest shortfalls.

The council says the total shortage stood at nearly 187,000 dwellings in 2010 and was expected to reach 215,000 for the 2011 financial year. Council chair Owen Donald says not enough homes are being built by either the private or the public sectors.

“We simply haven’t been producing as much new housing and we’ve had additions to the number of households over the years,” Dr Donald said. ”That’s been particularly the case since about 2005, when the rate of population growth exceeded the rate of additions to housing stock.” Read the rest of this entry »

Ikea Town

Ikea Town

According to reports, Swedish home furnishing chain IKEA is planning to build an entire district in Stratford, East London, near the location of Olympic Park, for the 2012 Olympics. It will boast 1,200 good-sized homes, 480,000 square feet of business and infrastructure, and a 131-foot sculpture. If our experience with IKEA products bears any weight here, the plans for the town take up two pages max, and they’ll be missing exactly one screw.

The neighborhood will be called Strand East, and it will take up approximately 26 acres, allowing residents to go do their shopping without having to drive. Unfortunately, the business development manager for Inter IKEA says there will be no retail tie-ins, so homes will not come pre-equipped with IKEA furniture. Not even a $5 table. They just wanted to turn the traditionally “empty and rubbish and ugly” area into an attractive hotspot. Construction will begin in 2013.

House Prices Slide as Affordability Bites Hard

House Prices Slide as Affordability Bites Hard

Australia: The average national house price fell by 4 per cent in the past year, making it one of the worst years for the residential property market, a leading report shows. Darwin home values outperformed the rest of the country, with home values down just 0.9 per cent and units performing slightly better.

The most precipitous falls were in Brisbane followed closely by Melbourne, and while prices fell in Perth, the mining boom is expected to bolster prices in the coming year. RP Data senior analyst Cameron Kusher does not expect the two consecutive interest rate cuts in November and December to significantly raise house or unit prices in 2012. Read the rest of this entry »