Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro will be writing a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Merryn Schmidt has reviewed 'The Cup'. Director – Simon Wincer, Starring - Stephen Curry, Brendan Gleeson, Shaun Micallef & Daniel MacPherson.

'The Cup' is based on the true story of champion jockey Damien Oliver and his inspirational ride to win the 2002 Melbourne Cup. Damien (Stephen Curry) crosses the finish line onboard horse 'Media Puzzle', and salutes the heavens as a gesture to his older bother, Jason, who died tragically less then a week prior, in a track accident.

Unfortunately, ‘The Cup’ is not going to stop the nation as the actual race does, but it is certainly an entertaining and enjoyable flick. As the film is set in Melbourne, I appreciated the familiarity of locations such as the Yarra River and Flemington Race Course and the infusion of original photographs and film footage of the Melbourne Cup history over decades.

'The Cup' is a little slow ‘out of the gates’ and moves slowly to give an insight to the danger, the early starts, the half starving themselves, and the dedication jockeys, trainers, strappers and the like give to their careers, all so we can be enchanted by these majestic animals as the thunder down the track for our entertainment.

Released with perfect timing, during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, ‘The Cup’ may attract good odds, but I have to say it is not a must see on the big screen. When you do see this film be warned you will require a tissue or two.

- by Merryn Schmidt

Twilight Opens begin, the Excitement of the Home Buyer Show & the release of our iPhone App is Close!!

From the desk of Leah Calnan, Director of Metro Property Management...

So October has rolled around and with it has come Daylight Savings which we love. More time in the afternoon to do outdoor activities and enjoy the warm weather (when the warm weather decides to pop up) and for Metro it means the beginning of our Twilight Opens for Spring/Summer. During certain weeknight evenings we are now able to show potential tenants more properties during the week which is great news for both our Tenants and Owners. These times, we have been told, are often more convenient for 9-5 workers as it means their weekends are left free to enjoy the sunshine rather than searching for their new homes, if that is what they would prefer.

 

In other news we recently attended the Home Buyer and Property Investor Show where we had a fantastic stall dressed in our eye catching Metro colours and enjoyed interacting with all of the people that came to the show be they current owners, tenants or brand new contacts that were simply interested in how we could manage their properties better and how we differ from other agencies. We handed out 250 Metro show bags (which was up from last year) and had much fun engaging with new people with a keen interest in what we do. We felt it was a busier year this year than last but we have yet to receive the attendance numbers from the event co-ordinators, either way there are plenty of people out there seeking investment properties.

Speaking of the purchase of investment properties... we held our final Self Managed Super Fund seminar for 2011. Many attended and really enjoyed it and felt they learnt something new, which was great. If you missed out feel free to contact my assistant Melissa Venn on 03 9831 3006 or via email at melissav@metropm.com.au , she can pass your details on to Nicholas Don of Metro Wealth who hosted the evening. Nic can offer you an obligation free Personal Review in which he will run through the benefits of SMSF with you on an individual basis and assess other financial matters that perhaps could be improved.

Also this month we will see our MetroPM iPhone application be released onto the Apple iTunes store for our clients and friends to download. We are in the final stages of approval and we will advise you as soon as it is released via our website, Facebook and Twitter so that you can be the first to use it and rate it! We think you will really enjoy the features that will assist you whether you are a current tenant, owner, investor looking to lease their property or a tenant looking for a new home. We will keep you posted as always.

Until next time...

No 'Fence-Sitting' when it comes to Feedback

From the desk of Leah Calnan, Director of Metro Property Management...
Recently I came across an interesting Blog from a marketing guru I follow named Seth Godin, a really interesting guy with some interesting ideas on all things marketing. Seth believes in advertising with a conscience and that businesses need to earn buzz by being remarkable, which is a principal I agree with entirely.

Below is his latest blog:

"Please complain"

Acquiring and processing user feedback is a choice. There are good reasons to hide from it:

• You might believe that inviting disgruntled customers to call or write to someone who will actually take action will encourage them to become more disgruntled. If no one is listening, the thinking goes, then perhaps the annoyed will quietly go away.
• You might believe that it's expensive to listen to squeaky wheels, particularly if you have someone in authority (as opposed to a low-paid clerk) actually listening and responding.
• You might believe that the noisy minority don't share the objectives of the rest of your audience, particularly the higher-paying and silent majority.

On the other hand, you might believe:

• That direct feedback in real time is a competitive advantage which will help you grow.
• That assuaging an unhappy customer now is worth way more than negative word of mouth later.

Whichever strategy you choose, you should choose. It's the middle way that vexes... the pretending, the grudging acceptance, the insertion of many levels of filters - when you do this, you get none of the benefits of either plan.

If you want people to speak up, be clear and mean it. If you don't, don't pretend.

(If you'd like to follow Seth's blog visit http://sethgodin.typepad.com/)

And out of the cold we come...

From the desk of Leah Calnan, Director of Metro Property Management...

So here we are in September & SPRING! and goodness hasn’t the year flown already! Lots happening at the office this month, to begin with I decided to surprise the team with a Team Appreciation Day which we were all very excited about (myself included). At the recent REIV Property Management Conference we heard from many innovative and inspirational speakers one of which had the idea to surprise your dedicated team, not just at Christmas or the End of Financial Year but unexpectedly throughout the year. So we had a lovely lunch and a movie as a way of saying thank you for all of the hard work they put in, day in and day out. It has been a big couple of months which is great and this was a lovely treat, we had lots of laughs.

The end of August saw my assistant Melissa and I attend a very interesting conference on Social Media, we had heard a few speakers talk on Social Media over the past few years however this seminar was a little different. The speakers were from America and seemed to have a broader insight into what was working and what was not and how people use social media today to not only to talk to friends and family but to investigate property, review their experiences and interact daily with their favourite companies.

We will be implementing a few new programs to assist our clients and tenants with regards to Social Media (although as most of you know we have a Facebook & Twitter account along with a Blog, the links are on the home page of the website), we see this as a way of the future, not just a fad and we love to embrace new technology here at Metro. In fact, we are very close to the release of our iPhone application which you will find has great functionality for both tenants and owners alike...exciting stuff.

In other news we are beginning to get organised for our Home Buyers & Investors Show stand on the 7th, 8th & 9th of October. Last year was a great experience and we met many new and current owners there at the show so why not come and say ‘Hi’ again this year. We have a limited number of free tickets this year so please contact Melissa at melissav@metropm.com.au if you would like a couple posted out to you in the coming month so that you may attend.

Until next time...

Spring is Nearly Upon Us!

From the desk of Leah Calnan, Director of Metro Property Management...

Before & After Pics of Reception Area

Wow so it is August and isn’t it a little warmer? And with the sun setting a little later in the day it feels like Spring is just around the corner. Spring cleaning is already happening at our office, to be exact a freshening up/renovation of our reception is starting to come together. Gone is the pink and purple carpet and we are loving our beautiful new tiles and the repositioning of the reception desk means more room for our new client couch and chairs which we will have very shortly. We have had some lovely comments so far and we will continue with carpet replacement throughout the office in the coming months.

In other news at Metro as mentioned last month myself and Samantha Taylor of our office will be attending the ARPM Conference in Sydney this month. Speakers include professionals like Fiona Blayney, Director of her own real estate business development and recruitment firms and highly sought after speaker who’s energy and passion never cease to amaze me, Paul Tonich who will speak on Social Media and it’s impact, Jonathon Handford - Managing Director of Newman Estate Agents who will speak on the UK’s approach on property management and then there’s James Castrission & Justin Jones who became famous for crossing the Tasman Sea in a kayak who will speak on their challenges and how to overcome adversity. These are just a few of the speakers and their topics so as you can see it will be a real mix of ideas which is really very exciting and we hope to get a lot out of our time there.

A couple of months ago now I gave an interview for which myself and the team were filmed for Business Victoria they approached me as they had discovered that our team had embarked on some tailored Customer Service based training last year and were interested in our team culture for a short video for their website (known as a Vodcast). My assistant Melissa and I attended the launch of this Vodcast and it was great to see and meet the other businesses that were involved in other Vodcasts being launched. There were so many different ideas and great advice given that other small to medium businesses can access via these Vodcasts that will be put online shortly, we will of course keep you posted of the link once they are up. Some of my team were quite shocked to learn they could soon be ‘stars’ as around 800 people per month had viewed the previous series of Vodcasts on the www.business.vic.gov.au website.

And finally a big thank you to all that came along to our recent Self Managed Super Fund Seminar and for all of your fabulous feedback. I was so thrilled that so many of you attended and got so much out of listening to Nicholas Don from Metro Wealth and his colleague Paul Kusli on the night. I wish you all the best in continuing to grow your wealth and am happy to have introduced you all to some new ideas. Again, we will keep you posted on our next Seminar evening in the near future.

Until next time...(enjoy the warmth, albeit temporary)

The Question: “I’m Bored, What Can We Do Today?”

From the desk of Leah Calnan, Director of Metro Property Management
With the school holidays coming to a close this weekend you may be asking yourself “What else can I do to entertain the kids?” (or maybe they are asking you?). Well we have found a few relatively inexpensive things to do to keep them active and occupied.

Firstly there is ‘The Enchanted Maze’ garden located at Arthurs Seat. Four mazes for you and the kids to get lost in (and hopefully find your way out of by dinner time!) It is something many children may not have experienced and so much fun will be had. Not only do the different mazes have different points of interest for the kids, ie: finding the 5 Buddhas in the Hampton Court Maze or stopping off to play on the beach hut and pier, complete with sandpit in the Turf Maze Labyrinth, but there are also plenty of other activities including an area with brain teaser challenges, a small animal farm, sculpture park which has large sculptures carved out of tree stumps and plenty of interesting little gardens for you to enjoy. There’s even a cafe if you don’t wish to bring along your own picnic. For more information visit their website at http://ow.ly/5E5Dk  

Our second idea is to take the kids to the ‘St Kilda Adventure Playground’. A great playground full of different things for the children to jump, climb, run and swing from. There’s a big aeroplane, wooden horse with saddle, big metal slide, trampolines, go-kart path, a small basketball court, they can ride on a dinosaur, have a zip on the flying fox, play on the pirate ship, big tepee and a big wooden castle. Open 10am - 5.30pm on weekends it is staffed & tea and coffee is provided. Again, for more info visit http://ow.ly/5E5dJ

Lastly have the kids ever ridden a pony? Well now’s your chance to take them. ‘Ace-Hi Ranch’ is a large property just south of Rosebud in the Mornington Peninsula. The experience is that of the Wild West and as for the kids they will just love it. They cater for all age groups and levels of horse-riding experience (or lack thereof!). Take a pony ride, a scenic horse ride or even a bush ‘n’ beach ride. The ranch also includes a free range style of wildlife park set on 10 acres and gives all visitors the chance to view their native animals in their typical surroundings. They have over 14 varieties of birds including- Emu's, Parrots, Cockatoos, Peacocks & Fowl. Visitors are welcome to feed & pat their furry friends - Koala's, Wombat's, Kangaroo's, Wallaby's, Deer & Dingo's.... a very cool experience for the kids to go to back to school and tell their friends about. Visit http://ow.ly/5E5CL  

So there’s our Top 3 ideas, we hope you enjoy them and if you don’t get a chance to do them these holidays maybe keep them in mind for the next lot of holidays when you are asked the age old question “What can we do today?”.

Until next time.....

Busy Bees this July!

From the desk of Leah Calnan, Director of Metro Property Management...
And here we are at July. As usual much has been happening and will be happening this month here at Metro PM. The first weekend of July saw the team head out to the Red Emperor for a beautiful Chinese banquet as a reward for all of their hard work this year. Many laughs and stories were told and a great time was had by all.

Leah & Matt

Rebecca, Eleanor & Melissa

Josh, Hayley, Tracey & Dave

June, Chen, Rod & Merryn

Peter & Jan

This month we continue with the office renovations – out go the carpets in the foyer and meeting rooms and in goes the crisp white tiling and funky new seating for our guests. Later in the month we will be also carpeting throughout the office entirely which will be lovely as we have lived with the pink, grey and mauve carpet for quite sometime now and you know what they say, ‘a change is as good as a holiday’.

Our team have been busy little bees as it’s all hands on deck putting together our End of Financial Year Packs from the 1st July onwards and we aim to have them all out by the 14th of this month, so keep an eye out in your mail box. In your specialised EOFY folder you will find the Annual Statement for your property/s 2010/2011, as well as some information on Metro Wealth and a handy checklist to help you prepare for your tax return.

In other news Samantha Taylor from our office and myself will be off to Sydney early August to attend a fantastic event called ARPM or the Australasian Residential Property Management Conference. The event runs over 2 days and I am looking forward to hearing from some world class property management and real estate gurus. I am also excited about discovering what fantastic new ideas myself and the team can implement into Metro Property Management in order to keep us at the top of our game in providing the best possible service to our clients. So we’ll keep you posted of what comes about from our little trip interstate.

Until next time...