Ashfield is reaching out to Nepal after earthquake

Anjana Subba woke to the news of the earthquake in Nepal and thought straight away of her daughter and parents.

“My daughter is in Kathmandu, and so are my parents,” Ms Subba said.

“But they are all OK, they are safe. It’s very, very scary.”

Ms Subba, who runs the popular convenience store on the corner of Elizabeth and Charlotte streets, belongs to the small and growing Nepalese community in Ashfield.

Aside from English, Nepalese is the fourth highest language spoken at homes in Ashfield, after Mandarin, Italian and Cantonese.

Ms Subba moved to Ashfield seven years ago, and her shop is adorned with I love Nepal stickers.

“My sister and two kids are visiting in Nepal too,” she said.

“They are OK, but it was very scary for her husband back in the UK.”

Ms Subba said she was touched by the efforts worldwide to help the people in her home country, after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck on April 25, killing thousands of people and destroying homes and villages.

“Everybody is helping out, from every country. People from Australia are helping, from India, and from China. This makes me feel happy about a situation that is so scary.”

Ashfield Mayor Lucille McKenna put out a mayoral minute last Tuesday, pledging Ashfield’s support for Nepal.

“Our thoughts are with our Nepalese residents, as it is unlikely that their families and friends in Nepal have been untouched by this disaster,” Cr McKenna said.

“There are a number of international aid organisations working to rescue those still trapped in rubble and distribute much needed medicine, water and shelter.

“The Australian Government has pledged $5  million in humanitarian assistance.

“In recognition of the effect that this disaster will have on our community, Ashfield Council is able to offer some support to the emergency response and recovery efforts in Nepal.”

While Cr McKenna initially suggested donating $2000 to the cause, after council discussions, Ashfield Council will donate $5000 to an international aid organisation to support the emergency response and recovery efforts in Nepal.

Cr McKenna is asking mayors in nearby councils to match the donation.

WHERE TO DONATE

■The Embassy of Nepal in Canberra has information on how to contribute directly to the relief and rescue efforts in Nepal. Visit necan.gov.np for bank account details.

TIPS ON DONATING

The Better Business Bureau in the US offers these tips for donations to help in Nepal

1. Be cautious of scams when giving online. Rely on expert opinion to evaluate a charity

2. Be wary of claims that 100 per cent of donations will assist relief victims

3. Does the charity have an on-the-ground presence?

4. Is the charity providing direct aid?

5. Gifts of food and clothing are not always the quickest way to help

• By LISA HERBERTSON 
• INNER WEST COURIER INNER WEST

Antony Fung

Ashfield Real Estate

www.ashfield-realestate.com.au

1300 938 931

How parents could help their kids to buy their first property

The median price of property has been rising so quickly in Sydney and Melbourne that many young adults worry they will never be home owners.

The housing affordability issue isn't just about home prices. There are social and generational factors because today's young adults are less likely to be savers.

So even as home-loan interest rates are at their lowest in more than 50 years, affordability is as much about a lack of a deposit as an inability to service repayments.

Luckily, there are options for borrowers who have decent incomes and low deposits, and it's even easier if you have supportive parents.

Recent research of more than 6000 people by Yellow Brick Road showed that many parents want to help their children to buy property. If that is something you hope to do for your kids, these are the options.

First, most lenders will consider a family guarantee in lieu of a saved deposit. If you're buying a $500,000 property, need $100,000 deposit and your parents have built substantial equity in their own  property, they can offer it as security for the deposit.

A family guarantee works when the deposit is as least 20 per cent of the purchase price. The lender accepts this security as the deposit, but the borrower is responsible for the mortgage repayments. If the borrower defaults, the lender recovers costs by selling the property, and they can take any shortfall from the security offered by the parents.

While this form of deposit-financing has increased by about 30 per cent in the past five years, many home owners don't want to risk losing their property wealth if their son or daughter fails to make mortgage repayments.

This leads to another option: the non-refundable gift. If a parent wants to help their child buy their first home, while keeping their own property high and dry, they can give a sum of money to the borrower and sign a statutory declaration that the money is a gift.

Lenders, generally speaking, don't allow these deposit gifts to exceed 50 per cent of the deposit. The other half must be savings of six months or more, so the non-refundable gift is a good way for first home buyers to double their deposit, and the parents can help without putting their own retirement plans in jeopardy.

Be aware that the ability to save a deposit counts for a lot with lenders, and where a borrower has low or no savings, the lender will scrutinise their income and their serviceability.

This situation can be looked at from another perspective: that instilling good financial habits at a formative age is a good investment. The combination of high income and low savings is no way to build financial security. The key is to save some of your income, so you can turn it into hard assets. This is something worth teaching children, especially given the number of consumer temptations foisted on young people.

If you're a first home buyer who won't get parental help with a deposit, save hard and buy the property you can afford, not the one you want.

by Mark Bouris

Please contact Antony Fung on 0425 470 111 if you have any property related inquiries.

Antony Fung

Ashfield Real Estate

www.ashfield-realestate.com.au

1300 938 931

1 Car Space located in Prime Location for sale

1 car space in Pyrmont available for sale

For Sale - $44,500

Purchase this single car space in the heart of Pyrmont, moments away from Darling Harbour. Rent is guaranteed under current lease until Oct 15. Approximately 14sqm conveniently located on the first floor of the building with close proximity to the lift and swipe card access 24/7 security building.

Annual Income: $4,875.40

Outgoings (approximately):
Council: $664 per annum
Strata: $978 per annum

Contact Antony Fung (0425 470 111) or Ralf Baumann (0410 868 488)

Office details

Onside Property
Shop 4/753 New Canterbury Rd,
Dulwich Hill,
NSW 2203  
Phone: 1300 938 931
Fax: 1300 938 936
Web: http://onsideproperty.com.au

Email Office

Local buyers follow the Chinese treasure hunt in Sydney Property Market

Local Australians are increasingly following the Chinese lead in apartment-buying decisions.

Coming from a much longer tradition of living in high-density cities, apartment buyers with some kind of Chinese heritage usually opt to buy close to transport hubs, shops and restaurants.

''They're good buyers to follow because they have a checklist of what they want, and they take emotion out of their purchasing decisions,'' says the chief executive of development in NSW and Victoria for Mirvac, John Carfi.

Mirvac's new 37-level Chatswood tower ERA, the fifth tower in the Pacific Place complex, has a high proportion of Chinese buyers.

''Fundamentally, they are savvy buyers and particularly good at buying off the plan, probably because they're better educated when it comes to real estate as they're accustomed to apartment living, and most in China and Asia are sold off the plan,'' Carfi says.

''Their criteria for buying - well located, in good transport nodes and well serviced by amenities - are excellent, and good feng shui in facing north-east makes perfect sense, too.''

To the north-west, Top Ryde City Living, the $500 million five-tower complex atop the newly built shopping centre, is also popular among Chinese buyers, who may be Australian-born or come from mainland China or Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia or Indonesia.

''The primary reason is that there's a certain aspirational quality that comes from where you live as well as the general lifestyle attributes,'' says the director of sales and marketing with developer Crown International, Haig Conolly. ''Buyers who have some Chinese heritage like to live in developments with facilities like public transport, five-star restaurants, top-class shopping malls and employment close, and increasingly Anglo-Australians are moving the same way, with the traditional quarter-acre block no longer holding the same appeal it once had.''

When Hong Kong-born Chris Ma saw the plans to convert the fifth and final tower of ERA at Pacific Place in Chatswood from commercial to residential, he liked the look of it so much, he bought three apartments.

He set aside an $815,000 two-bedroom apartment off the plan for his eldest son, intends to rent out the $642,000 one-bedder, and the third, a three-bedder bought for $1.07 million, is pencilled in to be sold on completion for a profit, he says.

''I think that'll sell for $1.38 million,'' says Ma, 60, a father of two who makes a living from property transactions. ''I like to invest in Mirvac properties.

''My friend lived in a Mirvac house once and, after 20 years, he phoned them up and said there was a problem. They came and fixed it. It was magical.''

Ma settled in Australia in 1989 and says that of the ERA buyers who are of Chinese heritage, 92 per cent have permanent residence or citizenship, with the rest living overseas.

''Australia has a good, stable economy to invest in, has better weather than Canada … and this is a very good development,'' he says.

''I have lunch in a Chinese restaurant every day opposite the site to watch what the workmen are doing. And they are doing a very good job.''

Antony Fung

Ashfield Real Estate

www.ashfield-realestate.com.au

1300 938 931

Sydney's property market sets a new clearance rate record, the 2nd time in less than a month

Sydney’s auction market on Saturday hit a new clearance rate record of 88.2%, beating the previous benchmark of 87.5% set less than a month ago.

Of the 737 auctions scheduled in Sydney, the Domain Group reports it had collected 599 results.

Domain senior economist, Dr Andrew Wilson, said the buying trend could see the local market even hit 90%.

“That would have been a completely outrageous suggestion but it’s now becoming more likely,” he said.

The highest price was for a six-bedroom house in Strathfield, which sold for $4.42 million.

Other top sales included a five-bedroom home in Newington, for $1,666,000, a three-bedroom Federation residence in Fairlight for $2,805,000 and a house in Haberfield for $3,965,000.

The record-breaking results however have economists torn on what is next for prices in the Sydney market, after experiencing a 12.4% surge in 2014.

Economic researchers BIS Shrapnel last month told The AFR that Sydney house prices will rise, expecting to see as much as a 20% increase over the next two years.

This would push the median house price well above $1 million by June 2017.

BIS Shrapnel suggested pent up demand, a push by investors into the market and an undersupply of new housing stock would be a driving the price surge.

Meanwhile just this week HSBC Australia chief economist Paul Bloxham said the opposite.

He told News Limited that he expects the Reserve Bank to hike interest rates in 2016, a move which would cool the booming market.

He said current prices are growing at an “unsustainable pace” and warned purchasers should expect a correction down the line.

HSBC is forecasting Sydney house prices to be broadly flat in 2016 rather than suffer a big fall.

Also this week, Business Insider discussed the boom in residential construction currently littering Australian cities’ skylines. 

Referencing research notes from ANZ, David Scutt suggested that the change has almost entirely been driven by foreign investment in residential property. 

Antony Fung

Ashfield Real Estate

www.ashfield-realestate.com.au

1300 938 931

Keep Calm It's Friday........

Tasty House Chinese in Ashfield is truly tasty!!

Tasty House was one of the first places I discovered in Ashfield and quickly became a favourite. They specialise in Vietnamese dishes such as pho and noodle soup but also offer some popular chinese dishes like fried rice, sweet and sour chicken/pork on rice and black bean chicken on rice. My ultimate go-to dish whenever I frequent this restaurant is the grilled pork rib on tomato rice or crispy chicken on tomato rice. It never disappoints.

Service is quick and the drinks/dessert menu is pretty mouth watering too.

Address: 297 Liverpool Road, Ashfield

Phone: (02) 9716 5668

Price range: $10-15 for mains 

Antony Fung

Ashfield Real Estate

www.ashfield-realestate.com.au

1300 938 931