Next Sunday, May 26, our very own Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium will host the round 11 clash between the Parramatta Eels and Gold Coast Titans.  While the Titans have looked a little stronger so far this season, the Eels’ win last weekend has helped cement this match-up as one not to be missed by anyone in or around Mudgee next weekend.

Tickets to the big game are on sale now.  You can either buy them online via www.ticketek.com.au or from Council Customer Service in Mudgee, Gulgong and Rylstone.  The general admission tickets are very affordable, at just $25/adult, $20/concession, $15 for under 16s (under 3 are admitted for free), and family tickets for just $55.  There are also corporate packages available which include grand stand seating, drinks, and three delicious courses.

If you’re keen to get along to a few games this year, there’s still time to become a member of the club by signing up for the Mudgee Eels Membership. Your Eels Membership includes the Mudgee game plus two of the big blockbuster games at ANZ Stadium, plus a few added extra member benefits. For more details about the Membership please click here, or to find out more about the corporate package available for the Eels V Titans next Sunday please contact (02) 8843 0300.

Our Professionals Mudgee Real Estate team would love to see our Mudgee community heading along to the game and creating a fantastic atmosphere by filling the stands.

Who’s your tip to win the game – the Parramatta Eels or Gold Coast Titans?

Whether you’re saving for a house deposit, rental bond or holiday, most of us don’t just have the spare cash lying around.  Instead we need to commit to a plan.  The government’s budget reveal last night has inspired us to consider our own personal finances and the direction we’re heading with our bank balances and savings (or lack of).

Building up a reserve of savings can prove to be an incredibly tricky juggling act for most.  It seems that the more money we make, the more expenses we find to spend it on.  As soon as a pay rise comes in we suddenly realise that we can now get that gym membership we’ve been talking about for months, or the Foxtel upgrade that we thought we couldn’t afford, and so on… until before we know it, we’re again spending more than our income.  This seems to be a fairly universal problem – no matter how much we make, we always seem to increase our spending until we’ve reached our limit.

So just how do our friends always seem to manage to have nice cars, go on great holidays and stay on top of current fashion trends?  With ‘budgets’ featuring in every headline and news story at the moment, now’s as good a time as any to take a closer look at your own spending habits and see where you can begin to cut costs to increase your savings each month.

With interest rates at an all time low, Mudgee home owners may want to look at re-financing their loans.  If your car guzzles petrol, try filling up when petrol prices are low and consider walking, riding or catching public transport when travelling short distances during the day – or organise a car pool to work or for school pick-ups and drop-offs.  If you’re drowning in credit card debt, pick the card with the highest interest and try to pay off a little more than required each month (this will become easier once the balance starts to drop down.  Make a list of all your income and expenditures and begin the process of prioritising what’s essential and what you can do without.

If you have discovered any new ways to increase your bank balance each month – perhaps you sell your un-used items on eBay or the Mudgee Buy Swap and Sell Facebook page – please share them here.

Last year water safety hit the headlines as Royal Life Saving Society Australia called for compulsory swimming lessons for all Australian primary school children.  It seems the NSW has gone one step further to ensure the safety of our children, and created new laws in the Swimming Pools Amendment Act 2012.

The new laws ask all NSW residents to register their swimming pool.  We know many of our Mudgee residents have fantastic backyard pools, so we want to make sure you’re all aware that now is the time to register yours.  In fact, you have until the 29^th of October to register, but we encourage you to get on the front foot and register yours today because if it slips your mind penalties will apply.

When registering your Mudgee pool you’ll need to indicate whether you believe (to the best of your knowledge) that your swimming pool complies with all safety standards.  If this is not the case we’d urge you to rectify any issues well before the due date for registration.

To make life easy, the NSW Government have created an online registration form, so you needn’t bother with phone calls or paperwork.  Simply click over to http://www.swimmingpoolregister.nsw.gov.au/ and register your swimming pool and/or spa today to avoid penalties and ensure your own peace of mind.

Each year the second Sunday in May brings the families of Mudgee together to celebrate, spoil and pamper the wonderful women in their lives.  Whether you’re celebrating you mum, grandmother, wife, sister or aunty, make sure you take the time to stop and really think about just how amazing she is, and put some thought into how you can show her your appreciation.

If your mum is a bit of a foodie, it may be as simple as cooking her a delicious meal or taking her to a favourite restaurant.  If you want to get her something special but can’t think of what to buy, a massage/facial voucher or pamper pack is likely to put a spring back in her step, most women would love to receive a bottle of their favourite perfume, and flowers are always a lovely way to say ‘thanks for everything’.  And if finances aren’t in your favour but you want to let her know how loved she is, a heart-felt card is always a winner!

However you choose to celebrate the day and show your appreciation for the beautiful women in your life, our Professionals Mudgee Real Estate team would like to wish everyone in and around Mudgee a wonderful Mother’s Day.

We’d love to hear your stories about the inspirational women of Mudgee.  Do you have a story that shows why your mother or wife is so amazing?  If you do, please share it here.

There was talk at the end of last year that we may see further interest rate cuts in 2013, but many Mudgee home owners wondered if the rumours were too good to be true… well it turns out, they weren’t!  Yesterday the RBA had their monthly meeting, and slashed a further 0.25 per cent from the already record low cash rate, while hinting at possible further cuts to come.  This brings the cash rate to just 2.75 per cent.

When the rates dropped to 3 per cent it took most of the major banks several days to weigh up their next move, and in the end partial cuts were passed on.  However, yesterday’s decision has already seen the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and Bank of Queensland rush to pass on the full interest rate cute, with the ANZ to make their decision at their regular monthly review this Friday.  We can only hope, for all Mudgee ANZ customers, that they make the same choice as their competitors have.

If you’re a Mudgee real estate owner on a variable mortgage, you have two options.  Use the rate cut as an opportunity to get yourself out of debt by reducing your monthly/fortnightly payment to the minimum required and paying off those bills that have been piling up with the leftover cash, or if you’ve been paying your mortgage off relatively easily each month, why not continue to pay off your mortgage at the old rate and build yourself up a little equity?

One thing we do know for sure is that the rate cut will be a welcome relief for many Mudgee home owners, and will hopefully help a lot of Mudgee families get back on top of their finances.

How do you view the latest interest rate cut?

Whether you’ve bought or rented real estate in Mudgee, the chances are you’ve chosen that home for a reason.  In the case of a Mudgee rental property it may be the lifestyle, surrounding schools, friendly neighbours, perfect floor plan for you/your family, or something else that has obviously drawn you in and moved you to sign a lease agreement.  And we all know, as much as we might like to pack lightly at each move, we commonly accumulate more and more possessions every year.

It’s probably safe to say, once you’ve gone to the effort of finding a rental home, submitted your application, moved in, and unpacked all your things to set up your new home, you don’t really want to have to move out again any time soon.   But we all know that lease agreements don’t last forever, and your landlord may terminate your lease for any number of reasons.  Some reasons you can’t help: they want to move in themselves; or perhaps they can’t afford to keep the property anymore and need to sell.  However, some landlords simply choose to re-list the home for rent when a lease agreement expires because of the actions of their current tenants.

If you’re happily living in a Mudgee rental home, and would like to do everything in your power to stay, here are a few tips:

• Don’t assume your landlord is any more wealthy than you – Pay your rent on time!  While there tends to be a common misconception that landlords are all wealthy, I can tell you for a fact this isn’t necessarily true.  I know several landlords who are young couples and young families who wanted to get their foot into the property market door, but struggle to pay their mortgage each month on top of all of their other expenses.  Many landlords sacrifice going away on holidays, allowing their children to do extra curricula activities, or take on extra jobs to help alleviate the financial burden. For such landlords, the fact that the rent is paid on time is not only important to their cash flow, it’s essential!  If you think paying your rent late will be okay every now and then, just remember that your landlord is unlikely to forget it, and it may help them to decide whether or not to renew your lease.
• Use common sense when it comes to maintenance requests.  This one’s tricky, because it’s every tenant’s right to live in a house that is safe and in good order.  Basically, use your common sense – If there is a very minor issue that doesn’t affect your safety or standard of living, consider reporting it at your next maintenance inspection rather than sending an email to your agent marked ‘URGENT’.  On the flip side, if there’s a major issue it needs to be reported immediately.  If major maintenance works are not carried out straight away it can lead to even more serious problems and can end up costing the owner a lot more, as well as being a potentially unsafe environment for you.
• Be good to your neighbours.  Whether you have a barking dog, screaming fights in the backyard, lawns up your waist or use your front yard as extra storage space, your agent is likely to receive a complaint from at least one neighbour.  Think of the impact you have on neighbours. If neighbours complain to the agent, landlord or (worst case scenario) police, it goes without saying that your lease renewal paperwork is far more likely to end up in the shredder than your letterbox.
• Agents will always give you notice before they come through for an inspection – so why not give the place a good clean and tidy up?  It doesn’t hurt to impress the agent by showing them how well you’re looking after the home, and their feedback can go a long way towards securing your future in the house.
• This should go without saying – but you’d be surprised.  If you plan to make any changes to the home – whether it’s nailing in a picture hook or creating a vegetable garden out the back – be sure to ask permission first.  Landlords will often surprise you by allowing good tenants to make small changes or changes they believe may add value to the home later.  But if it’s a change they don’t know about and/or don’t approve of, they’re unlikely to be overjoyed at finding out after you’ve made the changes.

If you’re unsure about tenants’ rights and responsibilities, please feel free to visit our Professionals Mudgee Real Estate office or contact our friendly and knowledgeable Property Managers; we’d be happy to provide you with the right advice.

The Property Council/ANZ Property Industry Confidence Survey from the last quarter has revealed a renewed optimism throughout much of the country.  The survey, which has been conducted quarterly since its inauguration in 2011, provides a forward-looking, sentiment-based outlook of the property industry’s confidence by gauging the responses of owners, developers, agents, managers, consultants and governments in all major industry sectors and regions.

Interestingly the forecast for the June quarter has just been published, and shows an increase in house price expectations right across the board.  In fact, between the forecast for the September 2012 quarter (published in July) and now, every state and territory has experienced a rise in optimism – some more sharply than others.  Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania have all moved from a prediction of falling house prices 12 months ago to a clear outlook of rising residential house prices over the next quarter.

While this may not be the greatest news for those preparing to buy in Mudgee in several months time, anyone looking to buy now will no doubt be happy to dive in before the rises hit.  While buying a property is obviously a big decision and one not to be taken lightly, we expect that many will take current low interest rates and positive forecast into account, and take advantage of today’s very welcoming conditions.

If you’re ready to take the plunge and buy Mudgee real estate please give us a call or visit us at Professionals Mudgee Real Estate.  We’d love to help you make the right move.

Welcome to May. We’re now 1/3rd of the way through 2013, how quickly the year is flying by. At Professionals we are regularly monitoring our progress to make sure we are on track to achieve our annual goals.  With 2/3rds of the year still to come, are you on track to achieving everything you want out of this year?

It’s a great question. What’s driving you? What’s incredibly important? What would make you happy? What does success look like to you?

The reason I ask, is that you’ll never be grateful for what’s happening to you if you don’t take stock. As we speed through life it’s possible to just think success happens all the time. Here’s a simple exercise:

What are your top 5 PERSONAL achievements so far this year?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Now the hard part, what are the top 5 personal goals that are driving you this year?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Why do I ask about the personal goals? Because it’s easy to get caught up in the work stuff, in the material advancement, but what I know is that the challenge in life is to want what you already have. To be truly appreciative of the people you have around you and the experiences you get to share.

I hope you’re winning in business and in life.

If you live in Mudgee or are planning a visit to the region this weekend, you may be wondering how to take in the sights, tastes and excitement of Mudgee in just two days.  Here’s our suggestion…

This Saturday at Gooree Park experience a Gooree Park Cup Weekend Stud and Wine Tour Package.   Enjoy a guided tour through Gooree Park for an hour and a half, beginning at either 9am or 11am, then put your feet up and relax with mouth watering wine tasting session, accompanied by cheese and crackers.  Group bookings are able to be arranged, or just pay $25 per head and enjoy a day out with a loved one.

Once you’ve filled your Saturday unwinding and tantalising your tastebuds, you’ll be ready to partake in all the excitement of the track on Sunday.  Gooree Mile Race Day starts at 1pm at Mudgee Racecourse, and it promises to be a day jam-packed with racing action and entertainment.  As huge supporters of the Mudgee Races, our Professionals Mudgee Real Estate team would love to see all Mudgee residents down at the track enjoying the fun and sensational atmosphere Mudgee racing always provides.

Who is heading down to the track this weekend?

I have good news.  If you’re thinking of selling your Mudgee home, but don’t know where to start, you’re not alone.  In fact, if you’re about to list your home for sale and feel one hundred percent prepared and on top of everything, you probably are on your own.  Most people we meet who are thinking of selling are full of nerves and worries – will the house sell; will we get the price we want; how long will it take?

We thought we’d put together a few basic ‘troubleshooting’ ideas to help get your preparation started.  Now it’s not brain surgery, but these may be things you simply haven’t thought about, or don’t realise the importance of.  As people who work in the industry and are speaking with buyers every day, let us tell you – they are vital!

• Get your price right from the start.  Yes, we understand the temptation is there to reach for the stars, it’s in our nature to be optimistic, and we ALWAYS believe our house is the best around.  But there’s a very simple pricing rule that unfortunately has absolutely nothing to do with you – a house (any house) is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay.  It is absolutely possible that 18 months ago you received a valuation that was $50,000 higher, and yes, if somebody is as attached to the house as you are they may be willing to spend more than market value.  Unfortunately none of that matters if the buyers viewing your home have done their research and are only prepared to pay what your house is worth in the current market, and only they can decide what that will be.
• Don’t fear technology.  When choosing a Mudgee real estate agent there are many considerations.  You may want to make sure they’re suitably qualified, experienced, use quality marketing practices, and are friendly and easy to chat to.  All of these are great reasons.  We just have one more thing to add to your agent checklist – make sure they’re tech-savvy!  Choosing an agent who does not use social media to engage with their community may put you at risk of missing those buyers who are building relationships with agents online.  Whatever your personal opinion is of Facebook, just remember that it reaches 97% of social network users.
• You need to make a big effort.  Your agent can bring through all the buyers in the world in one day, but if your home is a cluttered mess, chances are it’ll still be yours by the end of it.  You need to get your hands dirty; de-clutter, make repairs, paint, scrub, style and polish!   Every effort will result in a more positive inspection, and every inspection is crucial… the next one may just be the new owner of your home.

If you know of anyone selling in Mudgee or the surrounding area, please do them a favour and share this post.  At Professionals Mudgee Real Estate we’d love all Mudgee home owners to feel as confident as possible before their ‘For Sale’ sign goes up.