Some recent sustainability trends

Transcript
“Australia is set to have its very own ‘Silicon Valley’.

Two towers just under 40 storeys in height will spearhead the project.

Run on 100% renewable energy and designed to target net zero emissions.

Hello and welcome back to weekly buying tips I’m Dean Berman from Berman Buys.

Inspired by the announcement of these two grande towers, I want to discuss sustainability with you today.

Do buildings have an affect on energy and emissions? In short yes.

Globally both residential and non-residential buildings account for 36% of global energy usage.

They also account for 39% of energy related greenhouse gas emissions annually.

These are significant figures on worldwide levels.

This is why green building credentials have become big business.

With environmental bodies such as LEED and Green Star to name a few.

We are seeing trends such as solar farms on the rise, accounting for 45% of the world’s new electricity production in 2019.

Largely driven by reductions in solar panel costs by upwards of 90% in the last 10 years.

We are seeing solar panels incorporated into many buildings worldwide such as the Crystal Building in England, BMW Welt in Germany and Apple Park in USA.

Environmental campaigns will become more prevalent such as CO2ts less in the UK encouraging more timber sourced from sustainable forests, due to its strong environmental credentials.

Businesses will start to re-think their practices such as ‘The Farm’ in Byron Bay focused on farm-to-plate concept.

Interestingly the site was purchased in 2013 for $2.7m and sold recently for $16m.

Innovative companies like BrewDog a multinational brewer are carbon neutral, meaning they remove more carbon than they emit though various practices, such as they generate their own power and own a forest which will have 1m trees.

A massive company like Amazon recently announced a deal to electrify 1,800 delivery cars in partnership with Mercedes Benz in Europe.

This is touted to save thousands of metric tonnes of carbon.

We can even start to see changes in the way clothes are made such as the CSIRO working out how to create coloured cotton.

Eliminating the need for dyes and chemicals.

Could this flow into more sustainable window coverings, sheets, bed linen and cushions?

In summary it seems we are beginning to see a greater adoption of sustainable practices, even if it’s just a start, with some of these practices and trends likely to flow into the property industry.”

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The different emotions on auction day

Transcript
“Hello and welcome back to weekly buying tips I’m Dean Berman from Berman Buys.

Today I’m gonna talk about an example of how an auction day can go.

Inevitably property is emotional because of 1) price and 2) physically living there or trying too make money.

The weeks before (title)

You will notice you are thinking about the property a lot, also talking about it a lot, you will also notice that you start dreaming about it.

You know your maximum budget.

The night before (title)

the auction night will likely be restless as the nerves start to build, like a piece of corn hitting 232deg celsius before it pops.

The morning (title)

you will likely feel some nerves and a general anxiety, just wanting the whole ordeal to be over, you don’t feel quit right.

The drive (title)

As you drive to the property and mentally psych yourself up for the auction you go through all the scenarios that could happen, both positive and negative, be careful of delusions of grandeur.

Arriving (title)

As you arrive at the property you realise, the nerves are in the air from all buyers walking around you, you can almost feel it, like steam transmitting off a fresh wonton.

The registration (title)

You might be slightly shaky when you register, but start to feel a little calmer when the agent asks you for your favourite number on your bidding card.

Last look (title)

You decide to have an aimless wonder around again, just in case you missed something, that the pest and building inspection, solicitor and various family members may have missed on previous inspections.

The auction (title)

The terms of the auction and key points about the property are outlined as if it was Hugh Jackman in some broadway production.

Your heart starts beating fairly fast.

The first bid (title)

you are holding onto your bidding card for dear life as you hear the eerie quietness after the agent waits for the first bid, you want to enter, but are a little scared too.

Someone calls out a figure…

Backwards and forwards (title)

Suddenly the auction starts to kick off as the 4 other registered bidders start going up in $50k, then $20k increments…

The realisation (title)

Suddenly your entire future drops as within a quick minute they have surpassed the top end of your budget.

But my lucky number!

The next one (title)

You stair aimlessly into the auctioneer and other bidders eyes, as you realise you will need to start the process again.

I feel like a coffee now. The coffee always seems to make things slightly better.

The process can have ups and downs, however, inevitably you will find and secure the right one.”

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The start of my environmental journey

Transcript
“I was using a plastic fork a few days ago for a 20 minute meal and realised after I threw it out, it will not have decomposed in 500+ years.

Hi I’m Dean Berman from Berman Buys and today I’m talking about the environment and what I’m trying to do to make a small difference.

Whether you buy or occupy a unit, townhouse, villa or house, you will have some relationship with the environment, be it positive, negative or indifferent.

Lately I’ve noticed more information about sustainability, the ‘zero waste movement’, greenhouse gases, consumption patters, minimalism, clean travel, recycling, reusing etc…

It seems as a society maybe we are becoming more conscious of what we can do to make a small difference, maybe not.

I feel like that simple plastic fork was a reminder that I should be more mindful of my choices.

Thus, I’ve decided to take some small initial steps.

Over the last few days I’ve started committing to zero food waste. I’ve classified this as scraps such as fruit and vegetable peelings and leftovers.

The purpose is to turn these scraps into compost which is meant to stop the decomposing food going into landfill and getting trapped under layers of garbage creating methane gas. Which isn’t meant to be great for the greenhouse effect.

I’ve also just purchased a small worm farm to enable these scraps to turn into compost quickly and at the same time provide 5 star accomodation to our little worm friends whilst they chew on the waste.

They can apparently eat half of their bodyweight in a day! So if you have 500g of worms they can eat through 250g of your waste a day. That’s like a full cup.

I feel like the future of property and the environment are intertwined. Like chocolate sauce on an ice cream sundae. Sustainable construction practices have and will continue to become more and more important as our cities densify. We’ll need more innovative and creative ways to connect to green space amongst a sea of buildings. How we occupy and live in our properties will need careful thought and planning as with greater technological advancement, I only hope we don’t lose our environmental sense.

Feel free to subscribe as I will continue to share my environmental journey and on topics of property and on homelessness.”

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Off Market Property

Transcript
“Hello and welcome back to weekly buying tips, I’m Dean Berman from Berman Buys.

Today we’re going to talk about what is an ‘off market property’.

I often hear buyers wanting off market property.

These are properties which aren’t listed on the traditional real estate platforms.

Such as realestate.com.au and domain.com.au.

They are properties that are usually ‘unlisted’ or ‘silently listed’.

i.e. they are generally in a sales agents arsenal in case a buyer may have such a requirement.

There are times when sellers will directly approach me as well.

I think for buyers off market property is attractive.

However, they doesn’t always come at the cheapest price.

Sometimes they do, due to various personal circumstances of the sellers.

Such as needing to transact the property as soon as possible.

Whilst keeping discretion and limited numbers through the property.

As some sellers don’t like big groups walking through their property.

Sometimes they can attract a premium price.

As it is usually before a sales campaign may start i.e. ‘pre-market’.

This can be a time when a seller has a higher price expectation.

i.e. it might be a very different story 2 months into the campaign.

When market feedback has indicated a lower level.

There are pros and cons for buying off market.

Pros being more options and sometimes less buyer competition in theory.

However, this can be a con as sellers can still have a certain price they may only accept.

This price might be above where you as the buyer is willing to purchase at.

At the end of the day, more buying options aren’t a bad thing.

Which is really what buying off market property is all about.”

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The 66W

Transcript
“Hello and welcome back to weekly buying tips I’m Dean Berman from Berman Buys.

Today we’re going to talk about the 66W.

I’m not a lawyer and can’t advise on the legal side of the 66W.

However, I can give you my thoughts on the importance of the 66W as a buyer.

This important piece of paper completed by your solicitor or conveyancer waives the cooling off period.

Like all of us, sellers like guarantees.

Which is why this document is so important.

The 66W or unconditional exchange gives the seller a guarantee.

It locks you as the buyer into the purchase.

Along with your 5% or 10% deposit.

Compare this to a 5 day cooling off period.

Which typically occurs during a normal private sale.

This cooling off period gives you 5 days to decide if you want to go ahead or not.

Think about those sellers.

5 nights of disturbed sleep, wondering if you will proceed or not.

Waiting for their sales agent to call them with any updates.

The unconditional exchange means this doesn’t need to happen.

You can also think of this unconditional exchange in the same way as an auction.

When you are the highest bidder in an auction, you purchase the property.

Same goes for the unconditional exchange.

Once the 66W has been completed along with the signed contracts.

Then the property goes ‘unconditional’.

Therefore it is important to get all your research and due diligence done beforehand to ensure you are 100% happy with the purchase.

From my experience the unconditional exchange can often be the difference between your purchase and yet another one you liked that didn’t quite come off.”

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