Winter in Melbourne

I am sorry for the delay in postings. Work has gotten busier and I haven’t had the time or desire to blog. Work looks like it will be busy up till the end of September this year. In a time of economic upheaval it is best to enjoy these busy times, especially when you are a contractor.

I would like to take some time off and come home to Toronto. I was hoping I could come in August or September but it doesn’t look it may happen. It all depends on what happens with time lines on various projects at work. I am still hopeful I can visit sometime in the 3rd or 4th quarter of this year.


Winter Clothing

It’s officially winter time here in Melbourne. Back in May I bought a winter coat, at the time I thought I would not use it very much, as the temperatures in the morning would be cool but then warm up to 16-18 degrees during day and early evening. But now in June it is cooling down in the evening time and I’m glad I have a warm winter jacket.


A visit to the Symphony

A few weekends back Lauren took me out for a date to see the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform music of the Superheroes. Music that was played included the theme’s for Superman, Batman, Spiderman, James Bond and music from movies such as Indiana Jones, Gladiator, Robin Hood (1938),The Incredibles and Harry Potter. As well as classic music such as the William Tell overture, part of it is used in the 1950’s TV series the Lone Ranger, Khachaturian Spartacus: Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia and Wagner, The Valkyrie: The Ride of the Valkyries. It was great hearing such classic and well known music performed live by a 90 piece orchestra.


Enjoying time in Fairfield

With a hectic work schedule Lauren and I have enjoyed spending time in our own neighbourhood of Fairfield. We have used Saturday’s as a day to walk around our neighbourhood. To have an objective we decided to go to home inspections and house auctions. One weekend we went to about 5 home inspections. Another weekend we went to 2 auctions.

In Australia the majority of apartments and homes are sold via auction. At an auction you can have a crowd between 20-40 people looking on but only 3-5 people are really interested in buying a property. There will usually be 2-3 real estate agents and one will lead the auction by doing a pre-sell about the neighbourhood and the property and how great it is to be in the neighbourhood and there is no better time to put your money in real estate. They will discuss the rates and the rules of the contract and then start the bidding process.

Sometimes they will start with a starting price and other times just ask people to bid. At first no one wants to bid, but inevitably a brave soul will start the bidding. In my experience at auctions there are just 2-3 people really interested. Two parties will go back and forth and sometimes a 3rd will pipe in towards the end. Depending how determined an interested buyer is in buying the property it can usually go about 50K above the high end of the advertised asking price.
Most properties will list a price range that the seller is looking for. Usually the seller has a set price in mind that must be met before he sells. So if it is not met then the property will not be sold. But in Melbourne that rarely happens. If there is no bid, then is it open to private talks between the buyer and seller. This process can also happen before an auction occurs.

It is a very fascinating and entertaining way to buy and sell property. It also provides free entertainment for the neighbors and locals in the community.