Cloudy 20° 
59 Campbell, Anna Bay, Nsw
House For Lease – $265
Small three bedroom cottage on a large block. The property has side access to the backyard, garden shed, is having new blinds installed and includes lawn maintenance.
First home or investment
Salamander Bay, Nsw
House For Sale – $390,000
This spacious brick and tile cottage is located on a corner site in a quiet area at Salamander Bay. Providing three bedrooms, lounge, dining, screened outdoor room, double garage, sunny back yard, being close to schools, water and shopping centre. It is ideal for a growing family or first home.
1/8 Bayview Street
1/8 Bayview, Nelson Bay, Nsw
House For Lease – $330
Well maintained three bedroom house with views of the harbour in a quiet residential street. The house has a balcony, ceiling fans and air conditioner in the living areas, built-in robes, second bathroom in the double garage, and a paved courtyard.
BRYCE COURTENAY ON PREPARING YOUR HOME FOR SALE
Most people know Bryce Courtenay as the author of the best selling novel ‘The Power of One’ and other books. Read excerpts from his rather droll but very pertinent article ( which first appeared in the Australian) with advice for vendors about to put their homes on the market.
‘A properly marketed house is capable of getting the heart pumping overtime and turning brain to mush before the potential buyer reaches the front door. So let’s begin with the front door – even before it – the front gate!
Your house may need a good overall paint job, but if the gate and the fence are freshly painted and the front door has been done in a designer colour with a brass lion with a ring in its mouth for a knocker, you’ve already told the potential new owner that he or she is dealing with the sort of house that will make them look good.
The best colours for a front door are deep olive, deep maroon (known as oxblood), battleship grey or salmon pink all in super high gloss and set off with a big brass doorknob, knocker, letter slot or bell or, for a top brass door, all of these things.
If the front garden is a bit of a mess, plant a few flowering shrubs which you can buy at the markets a week or so before the first inspection.
If you have a pathway to the front door then buy or hire a dozen standard roses in bloom and bury them in the ground, tub and all, to suggest that they’re the work of a caring owner with old fashioned home values. Standard roses can add tens of thousands to the end price.
Don’t forget to mow the lawn on the week before the inspection so that it looks green and inviting by inspection day.
Always clean the windows. Clean windows are the sort of thing people don’t see, they feel. And on a sunny Saturday morning, clean windows can give the interior of the house a crisp spring look.
If there is a down gutter or two showing on the front of the house that has rusted through, replace it – preferably with a copper one. Don’t paint the copper, make it look like a recent repair you haven’t had time to paint.
Copper drainpipes are the sign of an owner who insists on only the best for his home. Husbands who are oblivious to the other niceties will pick this up in a flash, even if they know nothing about building.
If you get all these first impressions right, the inside is easy: be tidy but not spotless; make sure that the hygiene of the home is right – the bathroom and toilet spotless (no sign of mould in the shower recess), the kitchen gleaming.
Make the beds, don’t leave washing in the bathroom, but make the house look lived in.
Flowers should only be where flowers are normally expected. Don’t turn the place into a florist’s shop.
If the house at one time in its history featured a fireplace which subsequently got blocked up, unblock it and rebuild it to the authentic design. Admittedly, this could cost you a few hundred but it will add $20,000.
Always set the fire with fresh logs and pine cones, summer or winter, as though it’s ready to be lit at the touch of a match. A house with a fireplace or two is a deeply atavistic experience for most people.
The next important factor is smell. Homes that smell of animals, particularly cats, can cost you thousands. So board the cat and the dog for a couple of weeks before the inspection and get the smell out.
But just as important is putting smell back in. There are three important smells to know about: fresh bread, cinnamon and coffee. Most houses are up for inspection over a two or three week period and people can often return for a second look, so varying your smell can be the clincher.
The fresh bread smell is achieved by buying a large white loaf and opening up its belly and pouring a bottle of vanilla essence into it and popping it into the oven at medium heat for half an hour before the inspection begins.
Remove it before the real estate man or lady arrives. The result is a home that smells of freshly baked bread which, as you know, is the warmest, cleanest, most home-caring smell there is.
Another smell that kills any other smells that might have been left behind by the cat or the parrot, is cinnamon. Simply warm a couple of tablespoons in a pan and allow the smell to invade the house.
If your home is a bit upmarket or in a trendy area, then use the famous coffee-bean ploy. Half a cup of coffee beans roasted in the oven will fill the house with the aroma of fresh coffee.
Add to this a tape of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons or a little Mozart both played very softly, and the result can be a year’s salary added to the value of your home. The point is, even if the prospective buyer isn’t a classical music lover, he or she will make decisions about the house that are most favourable if Mozart or Handel are thought to be in residence.
Finally, the backyard – it must look lived in but well kept. So make sure it has recreational furniture and that this is in good condition. A child’s swing is a terrific asset.
A few hastily planted flowering shrubs can also make a big buck difference and a nice looking garden shed or greenhouse can be the clincher.
A couple of citrus trees, a Eureka lemon and a grapefruit are turn-ons and can be bought in an advanced state of growth from most nurseries.
And, of course, if there is a pool the water in it must be perfect. Buy a bottle of water polish (I’m not kidding) from your pool shop – it gives the pool a wonderful translucent look.
The thing to remember always is that the buyer has been out, sometimes for weeks, looking at houses most of which are identical in appearance to yours.
The difference, providing your place isn’t positively falling down, will be the little things.
Most people buy a home on first impressions. The emotional impact they receive in the first few moments can be critical to the way they bid at auction or bargain when it comes down to the sale.’
Office space in Nelson Bay
5 & 6/63 Donald, Nelson Bay, Nsw
Offices For Lease – $0
72 square meters of upstairs professional office space in the CBD area of Nelson Bay. The premises have a single lock up garage and customer parking at the rear.
A hidden Gem
1/1a Bounty , Nelson Bay, Nsw
Duplex / Semi Detached For Lease
This 2 bedroom spacious duplex is the perfect holiday location for a small family or group.
Tucked away in a quite street but located only a short stroll in to the centre of town and the beach this property is bright and comfortable but won’t break the budget.
Sleeps – 1 Queen, 1 Tri-bunk
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2/11 Oyster Close
2/11 Oyster, Nelson Bay, Nsw
Duplex / Semi Detached For Lease – $400
Very large three bedroom duplex in a quiet residential street. The duplex has three living areas, balcony, second bathroom downstairs, single garage, timber and tiled flooring and a small fenced yard.
2/3 Leslie Street
2/3 Leslie, Shoal Bay, Nsw
Unit For Lease – $170
One bedroom unit in a small block is a quiet street at Shoal Bay. The unit has a small porch, carport and has been well maintained.
3 ‘Silvana Court’
3/26 Ajax, Nelson Bay, Nsw
Unit For Lease – $235
Stroll to both Shoal Bay Beach and Little Beach as well as the RSL Club and restaurants from this furnished two bedroom unit. Internally the apartment has had a face lift with a new kitchen to include a dishwasher and a modern bathroom, the unit has a balcony and single garage.
4/4 Church Street
4/4 Church, Nelson Bay, Nsw
Townhouse For Lease – $300
Three bedroom fully furnished townhouse with a double garage (internal access), separate dining area, air conditioning, ensuite and pleasant courtyard in a small quiet complex of five.