Professionals Armadale Real Estate 
This month has been dominated by the budget and everyone you meet has an opinion as to its merits or lack thereof. I will not berate you with mine.
Budget discussion has however had a couple of effects on the marketplace. First Home Buyers who will be impacted from July 1st by the change in stamp duty cut-offs, have started to bring their buying decision forward. This obviously effects those with property under the $500,000 mark. The impact once the change is implemented is likely to be a slight lull as the market catches up, and as buyers come to grips with the new changes. However, life will go on.
The other telling impact of the budget discussions and the confusion leading up to it is a downturn in consumer confidence. This leads some people to believe that The Sky Is Falling. These people will try lower offers so sellers may need to be prepared for this and be prepared in some cases for longer negotiation periods to reach a successful outcome. However, the truth is we are still building fewer homes than the market requires. Overall, it looks like this lull will also pass.
On the property management front, there is a definite increase in the time on market. However, because Prowest Property Managers begin their marketing early we have managed to minimise the time vacant. Position, price and presentation are now critical if you are going to get your property rented quickly. We have managed to maintain price in most cases and even had a number of modest increases. However those three key issues have made the difference.
If you have a property that will become vacant in the near future, I suggest you consider a couple of things.
- Can you provide an incentive to the current tenant to remain? This could be getting those little upgrades you’ve been asked for, done this side of the financial year.
- Consider maintaining the rental figure rather than looking for more. You may even reduce it if appropriate. Better to offer a reduction to the current tenant and save money in vacancy, rather than have to wait for a new tenant and maybe have to give the discount anyway. However, for some of you, you may still be in the fortunate position where your property is in demand.
- Discuss things with your property manager and listen to their advice. They are out there every day doing business in this competitive marketplace. Their feedback can be invaluable.
- Remember that the government doesn’t want to be in the public housing space and so eventually there will be pressure back on rentals and the market will become more stable.
Over the medium to longer term, property looks likely to remain a sound investment as it has through world wars, the depression and even the GFC. This too will pass.
We also focused on first aid and how important it was for all to know this given you never know when you will need it.
St John Ambulance released a confronting TV commercial to boost first aid awareness.
EACH year almost 900 West Australians die because too many people lack basic first aid skills. Thousands more suffer irreversible brain damage and serious injury.
St John Ambulance released a confronting new TV commercial aimed at snapping West Australians out of their complacency.
One version of the commercial — which shows a child hitting his head while diving into a swimming pool and his helpless mother watching him drown — is so graphic it won’t be shown before 8.30pm. Shorter versions will air during the day.
St John chief executive Tony Ahern said paramedics frequently attended emergencies when lives could have been saved if people on the scene knew basic first aid.
It has been estimated that fewer than five per cent of the Australian population have first-aid skills.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mr Ahern, a former paramedic who spent 10 years on the road, said about 850 people die each year from cardiac arrest because no one was able to perform CPR before paramedics arrived. And about 20 die in car crashes each year because immediate first aid was not provided at the scene.
Those lives could be saved if more people knew what to do in life and death situations.
“Performing first aid before the ambulance arrives can often be the difference between life and death,” he said. “It can also prevent more serious injury.” Irreversible brain damage started once a person went more than four minutes without oxygen.
Last year, St John paramedics attended 1700 cases of cardiac arrest. Of those, about 40 per cent did not have CPR performed on the patient before they arrived, and had “zero chance of survival”. Depending on circumstances, those who did have CPR could have anything up to a 20 to 30 per cent chance of surviving.
Mr Ahern said St John aimed to have every person in WA first-aid trained. That was why it had decided to use the confronting commercial.
“I think the campaign will get the message out there better than before,” he said. “We have gotten the message out there, and the numbers we train in first aid show that is the case. But we won’t be happy until we can survey the community and know that everyone knows first aid.”
In the 60-second TV spot, that will air from tonight, a woman rushes to the aid of her drowning son in a backyard pool, only to be prevented from rescuing him by an invisible barrier.
Mr Ahern said the scenario should shock people into realising how helpless they will feel in that type of situation if they don’t know basic first aid.
“We need to do things from time to time that really makes people stop, listen and look and pay attention to the message,” he said. “I think the time is right just to remind people in this first aid space that it is confronting when you’re in this situation. The reality is, that happens every single day.
“I have personally seen the frustration, terror and anguish caused by not knowing what to do and knowing that it’s so simple to know what to do. That is the frustration for me.”
BRAIN CAN DIE IN THREE MINUTES
SIMON Hughes and Jo Partner have been trained to do whatever it takes to prevent a person dying.
But there is nothing these St John’s paramedics can do if onlookers at an accident don’t know basic first aid.
It’s a situation they said ambulance officers come across far too often – and one that needs to change.
“An ambulance can take on average between eight to 10 minutes to arrive,” Mr Hughes, who has been a paramedic for 12 years, said.
“In that time the brain dies within three minutes. There is a level of time there that is really critical for someone to open and clear an airway, to start doing CPR, to stop bleeding those sorts of things.”
Ms Partner, who spent 14 years as a paramedic in the UK before joining St John’s two years ago, said ambulance officers were always relieved when they somebody at the scene knows first aid.
To book a first aid course ring 1300 ST JOHN or visit stjohnambulance.com.au
For the Children to go online and play the Triple Zero kid’s challenge (also available on App Store and Google Play)
http://kids.triplezero.gov.au/
St John Ambulance believes every child in Western Australia should have access to vital first aid knowledge.
First Aid Focus is a FREE school program that provides first aid training to school students of all ages. In 2013 the program reached more than 100,000 Western Australian school students. This community youth initiative teaches school students of all ages basic first aid skills.
First Aid Focus was developed as part of the St John Ambulance’s mission to ensure at least one person is trained in First Aid in every household in Western Australia. Experienced St John Ambulance first aid trainers are currently visiting kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools throughout the state, teaching tailored first aid courses to students.
The program is open to all schools and St John Ambulance professional first aid trainers visit at a time and date that suits the teacher, making it convenient and flexible. Enrol your school online now or speak to the First Aid Focus course coordinator to organise a training date.
KINDERGARTEN TO YEAR TWO COURSE
It is never too early to learn the importance of first aid and with this in mind, St John Ambulance has developed a course specifically aimed at students from kindergarten to year two. Introducing the notion of first aid at an early age helps to equip children with the confidence and ability to help in an emergency.
Topics covered in the course include:
- Looking for danger
- Staying safe
- Checking for response (talk and squeeze)
- How to call for an ambulance
- Recognising a paramedic
The training sessions run for 60 minutes and can be delivered to several classes or a complete year group.
Students will receive a St John take home bag containing a First Aid certificate of completion, giveaways and other helpful first aid resources and information.
PRIMARY SCHOOL COURSE
First Aid Focus is available to primary schools students from years 3 to 7. This training course is specifically tailored to deliver an enjoyable and enlightening course which is a great way to introduce primary school students to the importance of first aid.
Topics covered in the course include:
- Introduction and principles of first aid
- How to call for an ambulance
- Dealing with an unconscious casualty
Recover
HIGH SCHOOL COURSE
St John Ambulance aims to equip teenagers with the first aid skills they need when faced with a medical emergency. School years 8 to 12 are invited to participate in this fun and informative course with hands-on techniques and demonstrations, plus video testimonials. This includes the use of training manikins for the practical CPR sessions.
Topics covered in the course include:
- Dealing with an unconscious casualty
- Clearing a blocked airway
- CPR
- Managing a bleed
- Treating burns
The training sessions run for 80 minutes and can be delivered to multiple classes, an entire year group or even the entire school.
Students will receive a certificate of completion and other helpful first aid information.