We are now living in a world of high communication, where the amount of information we generate and receive each day is at unprecedented levels. It is estimated that this is 5 times greater now than it was pre-Internet.
Given this phenomenon has occurred in such a short period, for many of us who remember not having the Internet, we have struggled to cope with this information overload. There is … Read the full post »

The 2017/18 financial year saw a very active coastal market once again and it is interesting to see the contrast in price and volume of house sales in each town in our service area from the previous financial year.

So let’s look at the performance of each of the towns during this period. As a reference, these sales are house sales, that is, a free standing dwelling on its own … Read the full post »

Disruption is a word that we see commonly in business these days and is usually used when an industry gets disrupted by a new technology. Think of Uber for the taxi industry and AirBNB for the motel industry.

But we see it in low levels all around us. All you have to do is go to the supermarket or Bunnings and see the automatic check outs. Or go to the … Read the full post »

We live in a world of constant distraction with our senses being bombarded with information most of our waking hours. As our smart phones have grown in capability so has the level of access by others to our available attention. So not only do we have to contend with our physical interactions with others on a daily basis, we also need to allow for constant electronic interactions such as texts, … Read the full post »

One of the most challenging parts of anyone’s working life when they work in customer or client service is being consistently positive and bright when often they just don’t feel that way. Some days life conspires against you and no matter how hard you try to duck and weave, those curve balls keep hitting you. It’s hard to smile at the customer, your boss, staff or generally anyone unfortunate enough … Read the full post »

Being January and the start of a new year, it is natural to be looking forward and trying to determine what may occur in the year ahead. Making forward predictions is fraught with danger, however in this Great Ocean Report we will help to identify some trends that will give us some likely indicators of what will occur in 2018 in the property markets.

We always say markets (plural) because, … Read the full post »

As 2017 draws to a close we start to look forward into 2018 we can safely say that it is looking like an interesting year, but as a I look back on my columns from the previous two years I said exactly the same thing each year. They all looked interesting when looking forward from January. What will happen in 2018? Two things are certain. The first is that … Read the full post »

When you are thinking about making a major financial decision like upgrading or downsizing your home, buying an investment property or even buying your first home, you will often do research as to whether the timing is right to make such a move.

You will soon realise when you start your research that there are so many conflicting views on what the future holds, often in the same publications, that … Read the full post »

As we move into the latter stages of 2017 there are some conflicting reports around the state of the property market and as usual, we will try and clearly explain what is happening.

It is an interesting market at present because we have seen media reports that auction clearance rates in Melbourne and Sydney (particularly Sydney) have dropped since the same time last year, hence this is seen as a … Read the full post »