The Block hammered by Coles proposal

Posted to The Age (19/10/2011) on 19/10/2011 at 1.00 PM (Not published by Newspaper)
Commenting on “The Block hammered by Coles proposal”
http://theage.domain.com.au/the-block-hammered-by-coles-proposal-20111018-1lyqo.html

The purchasers had probably failed to recognise the following critical golden rules:

1. Street appeal – a badly run down property is unlikely to be surrounded by well maintained, good looking properties.
2. Cheapest house in the best street – the expensive property pushes up the prices of the cheaper properties; but cheaper ones have a negative impact on the expensive one.
3. Chattels – many properties look good because of decorative items put in to jazz up before the sale. Once removed, the properties are no more than just empty shells. Many people have a lot junks or incompatible furniture, memorabilia which just wreck the wow effect completely.
4. Open rooms – how “green” are properties with rooms all open up without internal partition walls or doors? The extra money spent on energy bills can contribute towards the mortgage.
5. Gardens – no garden is maintenance free. Even plants grown in pots and vegetables in veggie plots need attention. Many people are winners of “almost anything goes” in gardening.
6. Life style – many people move from their previous suburbs totally different from the “new” one, like inner city. Change of life style can be stressful and destructive to marriage relationships, children behaviour, ways to get around, etc.
7. Building style – the outside should look as good as and last as long as the inside. Does the external match the internal in terms of design and feel?
8. Neighbourhood – One buys not a property, but also the neighbourhood!