Thank you and Merry Christmas

As Christmas is just around the corner, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our valued clients for your tremendous support throughout 2013.

This year has been big one for our office, with the office rebranding from Dougmal to Harcourts earlier in the year.

This year has also been the year of the “Auction”! Since March this year, we have run ten in-room Auction events, with one more event to finish off 2013.

From March to November, we have submitted 59 properties to auction. We’ve sold 63% of these properties at the auction event, with the remaining properties selling on average 14 days after the auction.

This year alone we have successfully auctioned over 16 million dollars worth of local property. From the properties sold above reserve, our sellers have received an average of $24,000 over their expectations.

Looking to next year we will conduct our next Auction event on 12th February 2014.

Next year we also have many exciting things planned in both our sales and property management divisions that will greatly benefit our clients. Our focus will continue to be on delivering exceptional results in the dynamic and ever-changing real estate market. We will continue to stay ahead of our competitors through the effective use of technology and improving our award-winning systems and service.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year, and we look forward to working with you in 2014.

Protecting your home over the holiday season

We are fast approaching the holiday season when many of us travel to see our families or head to our favourite holiday spots, leaving our homes unattended.

Statistics show that home burglaries are highest over the holiday season.

If you are planning to go away, you should start thinking now about how to best protect your home and contents while you’re away. An unoccupied house advertises itself to potential thieves without you even realising it!

Here are some great ideas to give your house a “lived-in” look that’ll leave no clue to thieves that you’re away. Before you go away you should:-
 
Cancel any newspaper deliveries.

1. Ask the post office to hold your mail, or get a neighbour to collect and hold it for you.
2. Let a neighbour know you’re going away and ask them to keep an eye out for anyone around your home. Also ask them to collect your junk mail.
3. Give your neighbour your car keys and ask them to move your car out of the garage and leave in the driveway every couple of days. Alternatively you could ask them to park their car in the driveway.
4. If you are away for an extended period of time, perhaps organise for a teenager or lawn mowing service to do your lawns and tidy the gardens.
5. The garbage bin. If you don’t want to ask a neighbour to wheel it in and out every week, put it away altogether.
6. Install some electrical timers inside your home to turn selected lights on and off for a period every night.
7. Turn the volume of your phone down and don’t leave a message telling people you’re away.

You may also have some ideas of your own. Remember, the key is to make your home look “lived-in”.