Tokyo highlighted in Time Lapse

As a big modern city Tokyo is one of the best with buildings, technology, people, culture and buzz.

So, here’s a great video showcasing Tokyo in time lapse by Samuel Cockedey.

inter // states from Samuel Cockedey on Vimeo.

Enjoy.

Francesco …

3D Graffitti Saves the Children

In Vancouver, Canada the Community Against Preventable Injuries, BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation and the District of Vancouver have painted 3D optical illusion images a small girl chasing a ball on roadways to slow down drivers in high danger areas and increase awareness of children on roadways.

There are signs leading up to it saying “you’re probably not expecting kids to run out on the road” to prepare drivers and the illusion rises up gradually from about 100 feet away as not to surprise drivers, and it fades away by the time a driver approaches.

The images are uncanny as you can see here and on the this YouTube video.

But there’s a lot of controversy about the initiative with objectors saying that it may cause more accidents than it stops as drivers swerve to avoid her and that it may de-sensitive drivers to a real situation by thinking it’s an illusion.

Either way it undeniable that it look like the real deal and avoiding hurting pedestrians is important … so I guess any attention to the topic is good.

The organisers have said they will closely monitor road safety in the locations where the the 3D girl has been placed to assess the impact of the project.

Find out more here.

What do you think ?

Francesco …

Lining up the (strata) Politicians

Now that the 2010 Federal Election dust has settled and we have a government, who’s got what jobs in government and which of them are relevant to strata stakeholders ?

Well, you can see all the Ministers, their portfolios and details here for the full list.  And, the following people are lined up on my radar for strata issues.

The Hon Jenny Macklin MP, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs - because that portfolio covers the way strata provides homes for families and the community.

Senator the Hon Mark Arbib, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness - because that portfolio covers the other end of strata.

Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Minister for Finance and Deregulation - because that portfolio covers money and there is some pressure to de-regulate the strata management sector.

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport - because that portfolio covers an important related urban planning matter.

Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy , Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy - because that portfolio covers technologies that exist in strata and on which strata stakeholders rely on.

The Hon Tony Burke MP, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities - because that portfolio covers so many things that relate to the built form.

The Hon Bill Shorten MP , Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation - because that portfolio covers insurance and regulation of money.

Now, I know that the detail of strata is largely regulated at state government level so you may think that federal politicians don’t count.  But, the big important issues and the overall direction each state will take is guided at the national level and we all want to see more uniform and cohesive approaches to strata in Australia.

So, if you have some strata concerns you know who to contact.

Francesco …

Minimalist Life in a Small Space …

Remember the miners trapped in Chile ?

Like some strata owners they had to live in a small space and are managing to do so reasonably well for a long time with very limited access to things.

To get a feel for things – there are 33 miners trapped 2,230 feet underground and will stay there until tunnelling equipment reaches them in a few months time.  In the meantime an access hole that is 3.19 inches in diameter has been drilled and capsules are used to get supplies to and from them.

Here’s what they have been given to survive.

• A daily 2,000 calorie diet comprising half energy packed shakes and half bread, ham and kiwis per miner
• Five litres of bottled water per miner per day
• Aluminium poles and canvas for cots
• Toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors and toiletries
• Special waterproof shoes and clothing with copper fibres to resist bacteria and funghi
• Reading material including 33 mini bibles
• iPod with speakers to encourage communal listening
• Headlamp batteries and other lighting equipment
• Vitamin D supplements at 250 times the usual daily dose
• Blood and urine sampling kits
• A camera and phone line to speak to family, rescue workers and psychiatrists
• Footbal jerseys autographed by Chile’s national team
• A mini projector and fibre optic line to to show sports and movies on the cave wall

But, what they haven’t been given are cigarettes and alcohol.  Although they asked for red wine to toast Chile’s Independence Day on 18 September.

It’s amazing (to me) how little we could survive on if we really had to. 

Francesco …

Bradfield & Pritchard Notices Blog ...

It's always nice to get noticed ... and my blog has now been picked up by well known Sydney real estate agent, Bob Guth, from Bradfield & Pritchard in his Weekly Realestatement.

Thanks Bob.

So, why not check out his comments on weekly basis too ?


Francesco ...

Challenging attitudes on Homelessness

I’ve posted about homelessness before (see Street Life & Homelessness ... the Opposite of Strata and Solving Homelessness with a Bag) and it’s something I feel strongly about.

So, here’s an interesting and challenging article in Chicago Now by Megan Cottrell called “When faced with a homeless person, what do you do ?” about an equally interesting guy called Mark Horvatt and his Invisible People project.

Read it and think about your feelings over homeless people.

Francesco …

Washing in NSW Strata is now at Half Mast

Since 2008 the NSW government has been trying to make strata schemes greener by changing the by-law relating to washing on balconies to encourage air-drying laundry and discourage using dryers.


There's been a lot of debate and of course much disagreement over whether the 'green' advantages of such a change outweigh the aesthetic offence of seeing washing on apartment balconies.  


And, there's no obvious answer to the question.


But, we now have a new by-law 10 in NSW that moves things forwards as follows.

10   Hanging out of washing

(1)  An owner or occupier of a lot may hang any washing on any lines provided by the owners corporation for that purpose. Such washing may only be hung for a reasonable period.

(2)  An owner or occupier of a lot may hang washing on any part of the lot provided that the washing will not be visible from street level outside the parcel.

(3)  An owner or occupier of a lot may hang washing on any part of the lot that will be visible from street level outside the parcel only if the owner or occupier has the prior written approval of the owners corporation.

(4)  In this clause:

washing includes any clothing, towel, bedding or other article of a similar type.

It's a quantum leap (not).


Whilst before washing on balconies could only be lawfully seen from the apartment itself and everyone else didn't have to see it, now washing on balconies can be seen by anyone who happens to be above street level but not pedestrians, car and bike drivers and their passengers.


So, sorry if you happen to live or be in other apartments that overlook balconies ... you'll now see washing.

See you behind your unmentionables on an apartment balcony soon.


Francesco ...

Life Imitates Computer Gaming (Again)

Well the geek artists are at it again … this time it’s Students at the Columbus College of Art & Design in Columbus, Ohio who have created an interactive Super Mario Bros mural on the College’s administration building.


It’s 16 feet tall and 38 feet wide and took 12 students 8 days to create.

There's a short article about it here.

It's cool and fun(ny).

Francesco …

108 Problems in the new Section 109 Certificates

Yesterday ISTM ran a breakfast seminar about the new NSW Strata Schemes Management Regulations (see Today we have a Surprise !!  New NSW Strata Laws) and highlighted the surprising and un-foreshadowed changes to the information certificate NSW strata schemes have to give prospective purchasers under section 109.


The new format requires a lot more information than before that's causing concern like -

• More details about the levies due for the lot like the period each levy covers, the actual due date, and why the levy is in credit or deficit (this applies separately to administrative fund, sinking fund and special levies)
• More details about the amounts due for costs of proceedings under section 229
• Details of the office bearers (chairperson, secretary and treasurer)
• Explanations about why the levies payable to a building management committee or community scheme are in credit or deficit
• Details of any amounts the strata scheme must pay for things that are not connected with maintenance or insurance of common property like the payee, the purpose of the payment, the next payment amount and due date, any amounts in credit and the total outstanding

The speakers explained that it was unlikely that any existing strata management software could automatically generate the new certificates and that they needed to be done manually.

And, it seems that there is not likely to be any change to these requirements in a hurry.  And, in reality what's wrong with giving owners and purchasers more and better information ???

So, what do schemes and their managers need to do ?  Well a few things seem clear (to me at least).

1. Any certificates issued now must be in the correct form and contain the required details to be valid ... so whatever needs to be done must be done
2. It's hard to imagine that the government will make changes to reduce the amount of information to be disclosed in the certificates ... so the changes are here to stay
3. Some definitional matters in the new information are unclear ... so schemes and managers need to get advice and take view about what's in (and out)
4. ISTM should issue a best practice guide about what it's members should do ... as a member service 
5. Strata software providers should upgrade their software to be compliant ... quickly
6. Owners and purchasers should expect that certificates will take longer to produce ... and understand that it's the fault of the government's surprise changes
7. It's likely that just being paid the prescribed fee (now $104) will not be enough to cover the extra work ... so managers may have to negotiate fee increases with schemes

Change is always a challenge but action is always the best solution.

I'm interested in your views about the changes to setion 109 certificates and how best to implement them too.

Francesco ...

Dogs Breakfast of Property Taxes

A recent article in SMH Domain by Michael McNamara called Property Taxes a Real Dog’s Breakfast says that “the taxation arrangements for purchasing and owning property in this country are an absolute dog's breakfast and governments seemingly aren't prepared to do anything about it”.

 

I agree completely and the article’s focus on the following issues.

• Stamp duty is a regressive tax that has increased to levels that make property transfer a significant cost.  Plus the rates of stamp duty vary in every state making for intra-state complications.
• The federal governments failure to take up the many recommendations in the Henry Review on Taxation as they relate to real estate.
• How poorly the NSW government has used section 94 contributions by developers to manage development.
• The manifest policy vacuum and in-action by the last few federal government.

I’d add a few more too, like …

• The use (and ending) of first home buyer incentives to stimulate parts of the property market.
• How land supply has been strangled forever in NSW.
• The failure to ensure that high and medium density targets are met in urban centres.
• The lengthy delays in uniform electronic land titling and electronic conveyancing initiatives. 

Not sure what to do next apart from complain.  But it’s important to realise these issues are hampering the real estate sector.


And, this dogs' breakfast of property taxes is a bit dry and chewy for me.

Francesco ….

Support Breast Cancer Research

Everyone has a mother so everyone's interested in womens health. 


And one of the more serious threats to womens health is breast cancer. It is estimated that in Australia more than 2,700 women (and over 25 men) die of breast cancer yearly, more than 13,000 women are diagnosed with it each year, one in nine women will be diagnosed with breast cancer before the age of 85 and breast cancer is the most common cancer experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

So research and support for breast cancer is critical.

The National Breast Cancer Foundation is the leading group in the area doing fabulous work with research, awareness and trying hard to raise money. I've been a supporter of them for a few years now and love doing so.

They're started their annual Global Illumination Events around Australia and next week it's on in Sydney.

It's a great night of entertainment, socialising, soul searching and money raising ... so why not become part of it?  It's on Tuesday, 28 September 2010 at the Summit.

You can find out more and book here or contact Janice Lees on 1 300 708 763 and janice.lees@nbcf.org.au

The other events were on in Melbourne on 16 September,  Perth on 15 October, Brisbane on 16 October, and in Canberra on 26 October.

See you at Global Illumination in Sydney next week.

Francesco ...

Politicians Grilled over Strata Coals ...

I’ve always wondered why all those voters in strata buildings haven’t made the politicians pay attention to them and their needs and wishes.  After all there’s millions of voters there.

Well it’s happening in Canada !!!

The Canadian Condoninium Institute has organised a Mayoral Candidates Forum for apartment owners in Toronto ahead of their elections for a new mayor.  It’s being held on Thursday September 30th, 2010. 

Focusing largely on issues pertaining to condominiums, the front-running candidates will explain their policies and campaigns, answer owners’ questions and better understand the special needs of apartments and apartment owners in Toronto.

CCI also hopes that owners comments can impact candidates’ attention to the issues that are important to them.

It sounds like a great initiative that’s worth repeating.

Imagine our politicians doing the same ?

Francesco …

A Different Kind of Parking Problem

We know that parking is a continuing problem in strata buildings and so far no-one seems to have resolved it successfully.

But, here’s a twist on the parking dilemma in a short animation … that’s funny and unexpected.

Parallel Parking from Yum Yum London on Vimeo.

It’s by Yum Yum London, an avantgarde video artist. 

Enjoy.

Francesco …

Picking a Good Real Estate Agent

Some say that real estate agent rate close to used car salesman, lawyers and repossession agents in the popularity stakes … but they’re essential if you want to sell or buy real estate.

So, we have to deal with them.

And, getting the best agent makes a huge difference to your experience and result.  But how can you tell good from bad and what should you look for to pick one ?

A recent article by Susan Wellings in the SMH Domain called Picking the Best Agent explains that the key things are -

• The fee structure
• Who has the best sales record
• Which agent knows potential buyers best

And that five key questions to ask potential agents are -

1. What do you think my property is worth and how did you come up with that figure?
2. How does my home present and what can I do to improve it?
3. What's the best method for selling my property — auction or private treaty — and why?
4. What's an approximate time frame?
5. What's it going to cost me and what fee structures can you offer?

This sounds right to me but I’d add that you should also check on the following things.

• Why the agent recommends an auction or private treaty ?
• What reporting on sales interest will you get ?
• How will offers and negotiation be handled by the agent ?
• What the agent recommends to improve the sale speed or price ?

Either way at least applying some of these tests and filters will improve your outcomes.

I’m now spurred on to try to develop a similar list of things to help pick other key suppliers of services in strata (like strata managers, lawyers, accountants, cleaners, etc).  So, I’ll do that in future posts.

What do you think are important criteria for choosing them in strata (and why) so I can add your thoughts to the posts ?

Francesco …

ISTM (and NCTI) Conferences in Sydney

ISTM is the leading strata industry association in NSW.  NCTI is the leading strata industry association in Australia.

Which means that when they get together and confer everyone better watch out.  And, that’s about to happen again soon.

In fact, the ISTM 2010 Annual Convention is happening between 21 and 23 October 2010 at the Convention Centre in Darling Harbour.  And this year its being run for the first time in conjunction with NCTI … so it promises to be bigger than ever.

Over the 3 days there’s a lot of great presentations at the Conference about strata, business and other issues (including a session for scheme lot owners on Saturday, 23 October 2010).

You can find out a lot more about the Conference and register here.

I’ll be there (which I hope is a positive recommendation) so maybe you should go too.

See you at Darling Harbour conferencing with ISTM and NCTI members.

Francesco ….

Banksy makes Social Commentary Art

I’ve posted about Bansky the infamous British graffiti artist before (see When Crime Pays … or Graffiti for Fun & Profit !).

But now Banksy's expanded his repertoire to include some playful street art in Brighton, England that makes an important social comment.

Here’s a You Tube video.

Enjoy and think about it.

Francesco …

Crazy City Cyclist

I love cycling as it’s a fast, fun and healthy way to get about.  And, it’s very green too.  But it’s not completely safe and not so popular with other road users.

Well here’s a film of one crazy cyclist pushing the safety and (un)popularity limits by terrorising New York City drivers, riders, pedestrians and pets.  


He’s Nigel Sylvester and the film is Run 4 Cover by The 13th Witness. You can see more about his antics here.

Run 4 Cover (Starring : Nigel Sylvester) from 13thWitness™ on Vimeo.

I’m not sure this is what Clover Moore is trying to encourage in Sydney with her new Cycleway.  But you never know ...

See you all over the streets (and footpaths) on a bike.

Francesco …

ISTM Awards their Strata Stars

I’ve posted about ISTM before (see All about ISTM ...) and now they’ve been awarding their best and brightest in the Schindler Lifts 2010 Strata Industry Awards for Excellence.

It’s important to reward those who do the best and advance things in an industry … and that’s especially so in a new sector like strata title.

Firstly, these awards were judged by a panel of experts including Warren Hart (business consultant), John O’Brein (former ISTM President), Sharyn Machin (ISTM Director) and Jimmy Thomson (journalist and author of Flat Chat).

Secondly the awards were sponsored by Schindler Lifts as the major sponsor and by Strata Plus, BPS Strata Maintenance and Bankwest.

And, finally the winners are –

Large Business of the Year was won by CHU Underwriting Agencies – a specialist strata insurance underwriting agency, part of QBE and world leaders in strata insurance

Small Business of the Year was won by Pristine Living Management – a Sydney based boutique strata manager

Excellence in Customer Service was won by Havencab – a family owned cleaning and facilities management company

Commitment to Professional Ethics was won by Dynamic Property Services – an innovative strata manager of multi-owner strata, community and company title properties

Business Person of the Year was won by Chris Mo-Anne – the managing director of Integrated Building Consultancy who specialises in providing building consultancy and other services to strata and community title schemes.

Young Business Person of the Year was won by Mathew Carota - the group general manager of Integrated Building Consultancy who specialises in providing building consultancy and other services to strata and community title schemes.

Congratulations to the winners, thanks to the sponsors and all credit to ISTM for promoting their leading members.

And, if you happen to need insurance, cleaning, management or building consultancy why not use a winner ???

Francesco …

More Families in More Apartments

I’ve posted about the issues for children and families in strata schemes before (see Families in Apartments) and there’s plenty of anecdotes about children and families living in strata (not all good).

But it seems that leading demographer, Bernand Salt, thinks it’s a trend that will continue and with positive outcomes.

In an article in the SMH Domain by Carolyn Boyd called ‘Gen X and Y families avoid the suburbs’, he’s reported as predicting a lifestyle move for young urban families looking for more appropriate strata apartments for them and their kids.  Some things the article identifies that make apartments more suitable include –

• A ground-floor unit with level access to the street to make it easier to get prams and young children in and out
• A secure communal garden young children can access — in view of the apartment
• A bath (or space to put one in) and an internal laundry or an opportunity to create one, perhaps by adding a front-loading machine to the bathroom
• Plenty of storage space, such as a linen press and built-in wardrobes. A separate storage unit can be a bonus
• Walking distance to parks and shops

It’s hard to see that he’s wrong but I believe the issues are much wider and complex for strata schemes, executives, managers and other stakeholders.

For instance, many strata scheme by-laws are kid unfriendly (prohibiting use of many common areas or only permitting use with adult supervision), the building itself is not designed to be used by smaller humans and the last 20 years migration into strata by older empty nesters mean that they crave quiet when kids are far from silent. 

Maybe schemes should have child play areas like sand pits, playground equipment, ball game courts, skate parks, video game galleries, movie theatres, etc which needs installing, supervising, maintaining and repairing.

Plus how do you deal with behaviour issues when it’s the children and not the owner/tenant and just imagine the level of owner/tenant animosity if disputes involved their children.

Maybe strata schemes and managers will need to engage family counsellors and child psychologists to help run schemes in the future.

See you, your kids and mine in strata scheme near you for Gymbaroo soon.

Francesco …