Before I became software developer, I worked for several years in advertising. I was fortunate for the opportunity to work with the best advertising agencies in the country, playing a very small part in presenting some very large companies in Australia to market. Along the way, I learned a few lessons about marketing and advertising… one such lesson was imparted on me by a sagely old advertising photographer: Owning a camera doesn’t make you a photographer – it makes you a camera owner. The importance of photography cannot be emphasized enough – it’s a job that really ought to be left to a professional photographer ifRead More →

Contributed By: Short Punch & Greatorix on

A valid and current Caretaking Agreement and Letting Agreement (“Agreement”) with a healthy term remaining is one of the most valuable assets in a management rights business. This is recognised by anyone with an interest in the business, including banks and potential purchasers. It is therefore imperative that Service Contractors and Letting Agents (“Building Managers”) understand the process that is involved in both exercising an option and adding an option to the term of their current Agreement. Exercising an Option to Renew The effect of not exercising an option can be disastrous. If a Building Manager does not exercise an option within the required timeRead More →

Contributed By: TheOnsiteManager on

Our friends at Resort Brokers invited me along to their industry seminar last night. They had guest speakers from Urbis and Bambrick Media and plenty of managers were in attendance. Was a great night, highly informative. Urbis presented first and had some interesting information and data analysis in relation to development through the CBD. The short of it was: Yes, lots of buildings have been completed recently, yes, downward pressure had been placed on rentals… but vacancy rates on new stock are still only at 1.6%, and new projects being completed have fallen off sharply with the remaining to be completed representing a much smallerRead More →

Contributed By: Mike Phipps Finance on

  “When America sneezes the world catches cold”.  A cliché perhaps but with some truth behind it I suspect. Consider this : The United States is the world’s largest national economy in nominal terms and second largest according to purchasing power parity (PPP), representing 22% of nominal global GDP and 17% of gross world product (GWP). The United States’ GDP was estimated to be $17.914 trillion as of Q2 2015. Australia’s top 3 two way trading partners are China, Japan and The USA. China is the world’s largest export economy and the USA and Japan are two of China’s top 3 trading partners. Anyway, on to thisRead More →

Many residential property managers have told us they simply want a property management system that does all the things they need, without the expensive price tag. Why pay for things you never use, right? At HiRUM we value industry feedback, this is why we developed HiRUM Front Desk for Residential. This provides residential property managers, or those with a rent roll, with all the essential tools they need to manage their business. From full trust accounting, to comprehensive office tools including integrated RTA forms1, we definitely have your needs covered. With NO Monthly fees and a very low one-off fee for set-up & training youRead More →

Human ambition is an interesting thing. Even while confronting the terror and stress of a new role or business venture many of us are already thinking about the next step. I reckon it’s all part of our innate survival instinct ingrained into us as a species. I’ll bet that even while our distance Neanderthal cousins were dragging that Brontosaurus back to the cave they were already planning the next hunting expedition and perhaps some improved techniques and a more effective and efficient conquest. All the better to improve ones lifestyle and avoid the risk of becoming dinosaur poo! This thirst for improvement and the nextRead More →

Contributed By: Real Strategix on

I am going to touch on a subject that relates to everyone on a daily basis. As business owners, do we name and shame customers that cost us money? I don’t care what business you operate. I guarantee all of you have at least one customer who believes they are better than you and everyone else. That one customer will simply refuse to pay for services/products rendered. We have quite a few! It is very hard to sit back and watch while they keep trading with their big franchise name knowing that the smaller operators cannot afford the legal fees or resources to fight them. It isRead More →

Contributed By: Hynes Legal on

It’s over. The longest running (and most expensive) dispute over a deck in Australia has been decided by the High Court.  There are no appeals from there so we now have the definitive statement on what a body corporate’s decision making obligations are based on. Round one went to the deck owner (Commissioner’s Office) Round two went to the complaining owners (QCAT) Round three went to the deck owner (Qld Supreme Court) We wrote an article after the Supreme Court decision here. The opponents to the deck won. The smartest group of lawyers in the country (being the High Court) has decided that the oppositionRead More →

End of Month is called end of month for a reason ….to pay everyone at the end of the month. As a trust account trainer the most common question asked is “when do I do end of month?”. Some people are adamant that it should be done on the last day of the month as “that is the end of month” …others think it should be done on the first day of the month to include all of the transactions for the month prior; even if it is a weekend and others think that it needs to be done on the first business day ofRead More →

Contributed By: Archers Body Corporate Management on

Throughout the year, unit owners are issued with a number of body corporate meeting notices. These notices could include information related to committee meetings, voting outside of committee meetings (known as flying minutes), and the annual general meeting. Current legislation specifies these notices must be issued within certain timeframes, which range from 7 – 21 days (including postage) from the date of the meeting. This timing ensures that unit owners and committee members have enough time to consider the contents of the notice to make informed decisions. The information in the annual general meeting notice is essential to unit owners, as it contains details about body corporate levies forRead More →

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