Residential Settlements

Resi's Won't Be Beaten

2008-10-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

Resi's will not be beaten on price.

We promise to match any written quote and refund 10% of the difference!

We offer our professional service specific to residential property settlements at the best price.

Settlements are all we do........

Residential Settlements were established over 20 years ago to specialise in this one area to service the community south of Perth. Residential Settlements utilises the best software in our industry (Settlements Plus), have great experienced staff and open on Saturday mornings for your convenience.

Check out our web site http://www.residentialsettlements.com.au/.

New marketing ideas

2008-01-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

It always amazes me when I start to work on a new marketing campaign how much time and effort goes into making something fresh and new. We live in a society that no longer really reads anything so we scan pages in a pattern and grasp a quick understanding of what is written and only if we are really interested do we stop to read properly. This has changed marketing techniques over the years because we are reading less and opting for a more visual approach.
There are so many great reasons why people should at least get Residential Settlements to quote on their settlement but how do we effectively let them know that we are in the business and to call us for a quote? Therein lies my dilemma, American marketing concepts and the Australian public do not always combine well so can we over market in a particular way or can we spend a great deal of money setting up a marketing campaign that completely misses the target audience that it is aimed at!
I have been pondering these things lately as I have been putting together some ideas for us to promote Residential Settlements to a wider audience.
Let me know what you think?

Kathryn

Jeans for Cerebral Palsy Charity

2008-01-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

Don't be concerned if you attend our office on a Friday that we're wearing jeans, it's for a good cause.

Here at Residential Settlements we are allowed to wear jeans on a Friday and make a gold coin donation our designated charity, this time the Cerebral Palsy Association.

All our staff can see others have it worse off than us and see the need to support organisations such as this.

Landgate aerial imagery

2007-12-26T22:16:00.000-08:00

Landgate now provide aerial imagery that covers the length and breath of Western Australia.
http://www.landgate.wa.gov.au/corporate.nsf/web/Aerial+Photography is where to go for your search and queries.

Get a birds eye view of a property or location. Landgates satellite imaging pin points your house, helps farming and mining purposes and every thing in between.

Want to send a unique present? take a look.

probate

2007-12-18T16:12:00.002-08:00

What is Probate?

Probate is the process of proving and registering in the Supreme Court the last will of a deceased. To obtain a grant of Probate, the executor named in the will must make application to the Probate Office of the Supreme Court. If the application is approved, the executor is given a grant of probate, which authorises the executor to administer the estate of the deceased according to the terms of the will. This allows the executor to finalise the estate of the deceased and authorises them to perform functions such as arranging payment of debts due to the estate, paying creditors of the estate and disbursing the remaining assets of the deceased as stipulated in the will.An applicant must provide an address for service within Western Australia.
http://www.supremecourt.wa.gov.au/content/faq/probate.aspx

probate

2007-12-18T16:12:00.001-08:00

Acknowledge your Clients

2007-12-11T23:51:00.000-08:00

This is the time of each year to acknowledge the people and businesses around you that have been part of the success you are. It's the time to say thanks.

We say thanks to the organisations in the CBD that enable us to settle properties. The banks, financial institutions, Landgate and State Revenue Department. We run around with chocolates for all with a personal thank you cards.

We must also say thanks to sales representatives, brokers and administration staff that all help us complete settlements on time.

Thank you guys, have a great Christmas break and fantastic new year.

Diploma of Financial Services (Conveyancing)

2007-12-05T16:56:00.000-08:00

Dave has now been signed off on the 14 modules it's taken to gain his Diploma of Financial Services in Conveyancing. 3 years part time study was hard work but worth the acknowledgement associated with the Diploma.

I started in this industry 3 years ago and thought I should know something about it. Tafe has been a great learning field even though it's tough studying after work two nights a week and completing many assignments in my spare time.

Residential Settlements encourages all our staff to participate in such courses and consequently most have completed or started this diploma.

We also have participated in traineeships. Tafe have a fantastic grounding Certificate iv in conveyancing which our newest employee will begin in January.

I look forward to the recognition in the form of a plaque on my office wall stating the successful completion of the Diploma of Financial Services in Conveyancing.

Christmas Function

2007-12-03T22:22:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas is here already. Our staff has worked hard all year so it's time to give something back.

Saturday we will travel by bus listening to Daves Ipod to Jimmy Deans in Midland where the theme is 70/80's with memorabilia and video clips. We will then go to the Woodbridge Tavern that is under new management and dance our shoes off to the band. Arrive back to the office by 12.45pm.

Cool

Christmas Rosters

2007-11-25T17:04:00.001-08:00

With Christmas rapidly approaching I have found it interesting to watch our Manager, Dave, work hard to discover the best way to place staff to cover all the business needs that may arise during the holdiay break and also accomodate staffing issues re holidays and families.
With the holiday season comes the great chance for people to relax and make great changes in their lives but along with that is the fact that Settlement agencies cannot fully close down because so many people are changing home during the only break they may have over the year, and as such we need to stay open to accomodate the fact that things may not all run smoothly.
If you are one of these people or if you are planning to relax over the break, all the best.

Be in it to win it

2007-11-25T16:54:00.000-08:00

Feel lucky? I do.

Positive people win, negative guys loose. I will always say that i will win the lotto, at the races or a with a ticket in a chook raffle.

Some may say your a toss for believing in rank outsiders or to win a car in a raffle but with a positive outlook I have a chance whereas with a negative one NONE.

I just won a copy of Knocked Up which I've heard is really funny but i haven't seen, well now I can all the time. I did mark all six numbers in lotto once, unfortunately two were supplementary numbers. I have not won a major prize yet but it's not far away.

Apply a positive thought in your lives daily and reap the rewards, even if you simply just feel better.

Regards Dave

Substitue Purchasers

2007-11-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

In certain circumstances, where the name of the purchaser was changed on or prior to settlement and no profit was made from the substitution. A nominal assessment of stamp duty will issue from State Revenue Department if certain conditions are met.

Only the direct line of ancestors or descendants of the original purchaser qualify as being related. E.g. direct line of relationship which may be traced between a grandparent to a grandchild.

Sorry aunties/uncles and nieces/nephews do not qualify as lineal ancestors or descendants of the original purchaser.

The Substituted Purchaser form incurs an extra $20 for stamp duty on the Transfer of Land document.

No more nominee clauses

2007-11-21T22:59:00.000-08:00

“Remember : NOT to be NOMINEE Clause from 1 October 2007

At the time of execution or preparation of the Offer and Acceptance contract the person buying the property needs to be clear OR evidence will be required to avoid double stamp duty being applied.

The people on the Offer and Acceptance contract and the Transfer of Land document must be identical.

If the names on the Transfer of Land document are different from the names on the Offer and Acceptance contract then double stamp duty may be applicable, this constitutes a “separate and distinct transaction”- extra stamp duty will be applied accordingly.

Why the change? You ask……

The Nominee clause is NOT in the Stamp Act.

The Nominee clause is NOT an “Agency Agreement”.

The Agency Agreement is a contract between the seller and the purchaser.

Therefore: “as agent for” OR “on behalf of” must be used in place of “&/or Nominee”

In an ideal world if you clearly specify the seller (as per the Certificate of Title) and the purchaser then there is no need to provide evidence and no double stamp duty will apply.”

Christmas and Settlements

2007-11-14T22:12:00.000-08:00

I was in the shop yesterday and saw a sign saying ot was 40 days til Christmas and I realised that while I love the socialising and the catching up with friends and family over the Festive season I didn't really want to put the effort into all the rest of the Christmas with stressing about food, gifts and racing around.
While all this was wandering through my mind I also suddenly thought about all the people who will try to use this time to move and set up home and realised that now would be a great time for them to call their agents and their conveyancers to make sure that the settlement is proceeding as expected because we all know that there is nothing worse than planning it all for a settlement to go through on the 24th December only to have a problem and then it would be delayed until the New Year. Cheers all, Kathryn (Marketing Manager)

AICWA Christmas Function

2007-11-08T23:31:00.000-08:00

The Australian Institute of Conveyancers WA http://www.aicwa.info/ are holding the 2007 Annual Awards night on 16 November 2007 at Bells Cafe at the Barrack Street Jetty.

Residential Settlements are proud to be nominated for the Betty Quelch Award. This award is presented for excellence in performance of a settlement agency.

Our staff will be on hand as we hope to do well with the award but this is the only time for our industry to gather and meet face to face.

Dave

Christmas is coming fast

2007-11-07T00:19:00.002-08:00

I cant believe we are already 3 quarters of the way through the year how time fly’s when we are having fun!

Xmas is coming sooner than we think and when we are writing up contracts take into consideration the very few BUSINESS DAYS we have in the silly season. This means there are not very many days for Banks to get organised and documents to be sent backward and forward so please allow extra time for settlement to occur.

Also remember to work out when the settlement date may fall. Most people may not realize that if they are signing a contract at the end of October that they are looking at settling and moving house on possibly Christmas day.

Remember the Xmas season there are a lot of Public Holidays and not so many business days

Cheers

The Melbourne Cup - Race That Stops The Nation

2007-11-04T22:56:00.000-08:00

The Melbourne Cup,

A race that doe's stop Australia. I am excited about it.

I recall when in retail the top buyer from Bunnings came in at the start. David W. I missed the whole race - not happy Dave.

Flexi betting on such a race is fantastic and our TAB after years of other states offering the service have come around. I love the opportunity to bet big, invest small and win a good amount. I have over the past cups picked up amounts around $1 000 by placing bets that are normally out of reach but now i can bet on a percentage of the win.

See http://www.ozbet.com.au.

Meeting with Dave and Peter

2007-11-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

Great Dave, loved it, enjoyed the meeting yesterday with Peter and looking at ways we can expand the services we offer to clients and agents so that we can all make the process involved in settlments easier for everyone.
If we continue to learn about all these things we might be able to view Marketing for Residential Settlements from a completely different angle than the norm, all forms of promotion works just in different degrees and I am sure that our comapny is up for the challenge of looking at things from a different angle in the future.
Just have to get some time to focus on learning about this blogging business so if anyone has any helpful tips please feel free to pass them on. Thanks, Kathryn

Peter Fletcher the Blogger

2007-10-31T23:56:00.000-07:00

You should check out Peter Fletcher's Blog Site http://peterfletcher.com.au/

He believes in blogging as a tool for the future.

It may be hard to see where it leads, to see where it takes a person or business or to see where it will finish but I will take his advise and bypass the black hole thought and just do it.

Pete's blog site is full of whats inside his heart and head.

Click on the link above and see, I urge you.

Pete's friend Dave

Settlement Agent - What do we do?

2007-10-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

We organize the documents, liase with banks, parties involved, adjust your rates to transfer your property from registered proprietor to new owner. - we also ensure the conditions on the contract have been met. We understand that buying or selling a house can be one of the most stressful times in a persons’ life. Therefore we focus on helping our clients through the settlement process as much as possible.

Specialties:

We are open Saturdays from 9am to 1pm because we understand that most people work and may require one on one attention when signing their paperwork. We understand that the paperwork can be daunting so are more than happy help. Please make an appointment at anytime if you would like one of friendly staff to go through the documents with you.”

REBA Home Buyers Assistance Scheme

2007-10-26T00:05:00.000-07:00

REBA is Western Australia's Real Estate and Business Agents Board.

If you are a first home buyer you may be able to obtain up to $2 000 in addition to the First Home Owners Grant from the Federal Government.

Their are certain conditions that must be met and information can be found on the REBA website www.reba.wa.gov.au, Buyers and Sellers then Home Buyers Assistance Account.

Regards

Residential Settlements

Residential Settlements Christmas Opening Times 2007

2007-10-24T00:35:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

In our industry the banks control to some degree what we do.

If, as in other industries, associated businesses such as banks were to close over the Christmas beak the whole industry could have time out too, but they don't.

Therefore - our opening times are -

Monday 24 December Open 9 - 12 noon
Tuesday 25 December Christmas Day Closed
Wednesday 26 December Boxing Day Closed
Thursday 27 December Open 9 - 5pm
Friday 28 December Open 9 - 5pm
Saturday 29 December Open 9 - 1pm
Monday 31 December Open 9 - 5pm
Tuesday 1 January New Years Day Closed
Wednesday 2 January Open 9 - 5pm
Thursday 3 January Open 9 - 5pm
Friday 4 January Open 9 - 5pm
Saturday 5 January Open 9 -1pm

Regards Dave

20 Steps to settling your property (step 3)

2007-10-21T23:23:00.000-07:00

The appointment to act on your behalf is sent out.

This is an initial document informing the client of parts of the dealing. It also states various authorities allowing the Settlement Agent to act on their behalf during the process of settlement.

When the authority is returned we are able to deal with the authorities, finance institutions and any others pertaining to the settlement allowing us to work on your behalf and minimise responses from you the client.

We will always encourage clients with discharges or new mortgages to follow up their finance institutions as they are one part of the process that we can not always encourage to perform a task.

Regards

Steve Irons, Federal Liberal for Swan

2007-10-18T01:29:00.000-07:00

I met Steve Irons at a luncheon the other week. He represents the Federal Liberal candidate for Swan in the upcoming election.

I found Steve to be a genuine person looking to do some good in his role. He has a normal life like all of us with kids, a business, interests eg. with the local footy club (Perth Demons) and like me separation from his wife.

We can all have a feel for a person or that gut feeling and mine towards Steve Irons is one of trust, sincerity and positiveness.

Unfortunately I am not within Steve's electorate but will encourage any person in that area of Swan to vote for this good bloke.

Dave Doven

Settlement Agent Open Saturday Morning

2007-10-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

Residential Settlements at Suite 6 123 Burslem Drive Maddington must be one of the very few settlement agencies in Perth that open their doors on Saturday mornings.

We started at the beginning of this year as we realize most clients work, most clients both work and most clients don't have lots of time.

Opening on Saturday mornings gives an opportunity to see a conveyancer regarding the many documents associated with completing a property settlement.

We open our doors between 9 and 1pm on Saturdays.

Regular business hours are Monday - Friday 8.30 -5pm.