2012 Here We Come!!!

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

Welcome to 2012 everyone, and boy this New Years Eve (as it was last year) was certainly warm, as was the first few days of 2012. In fact, the hottest day reaching 40 degrees (Monday 2nd January) here in Melbourne. I hope you all celebrated the New Year by doing something special, in Australia that normally means a few celebratory drinks, perhaps a BBQ and watching the fireworks in our respective cities. When it comes to the rest of the world and their celebrations...some of these traditions are a little different.

In the USA of course we have all seen and heard about the famous Time Square in New York and the many people that pack the square to ‘ring in’ the New Year however we have discovered other popular new year traditions in the USA include, watching football games, crowded streets taking part in a special food called Hoppin' John, along with enjoying cakes and champagne for luck and prosperity. In India, Hindu New Year is the time of celebration. This is the time to meet and greet people, share gifts and sweets. Hindus will decorate and paint their homes, and create a beautiful atmosphere with lamps and candles in the evening. Some of the traditions followed in Hindu New Year celebrations include: buying and gifting new clothes, giving gifts of sweets to friends & relatives and worshiping Lord Ganesha and Goddess Laxmi, who are believed to bring in wealth and prosperity. In Greece the 1st day of the New Year is also known as St Basil’s Day known as one of the Greek Orthodox churches’ forefathers. Special New Year bread is also baked whereby a coin is buried in the dough which when found is considered great luck and fortune for the New Year to the owner. Now back to the land of Oz, and in case you weren’t aware, the Cricket season has begun.

Many of you will be enjoying this years ‘Vodafone Test Series’ Australia vs India, as always if you enjoy your cricket you will be appreciating the 4 test matches being held this month that began with the 1st test at the MCG (26th – 29th Dec) with Australia winning by 122 runs. The 2nd test runs 3-7th January in Sydney, 3rd test will be in Perth from 13th-17th Jan with the 4th and final test being played in Adelaide on the 24th – 28th Jan 2012. Let’s hope that Australia can come through with a win. In other team news, non-sport related we have added a new member to our Metro team.

We would like to introduce you to Emma Racky. Emma joins the team this month as Assistant Property Manager. With a strong background in customer service and retail management Emma has a passion for Real Estate and Property Management that she feels that working at Metro Property Management can provide, and we think so too. Welcome aboard Emma.

Well that is it from us this month.

Until next time…

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Happy New Year & "No Tan Jan"

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

Well it’s the New Year 2011 and we are off and racing like most of you out there and feeling a little more refreshed. The office is a buzz with plenty of properties to lease, twilight & weekend open homes are in full swing and the listing of numerous new properties from existing as well as brand new clients. We are also gradually updating the interior of our offices with new painting, tiling, carpet & a kitchen upgrade which all make an exciting start to the year.

As you would know by now when we see a fantastic cause we like to get right behind it and this month we are supporting “No Tan Jan”. For the month of January we are encouraged by the Warwick Foundation to give up tanning (in the sun & with the use of solariums) for good and change the way Australians view tanning in general. The foundation is Australia's first and only organisation focused on supporting 18 - 40 year olds with cancer. They are encouraging us this month to “Fake It! Don’t Bake It!”

Their website (http://ow.ly/3BwqT) states that ...sadly, melanoma is the most common cancer for this age group and we want that to change! ‘No Tan Jan’ is all about ditching the solarium, breaking up with sun baking and embracing fake tan for the month of January. At the same time you will raise much needed funds for all young adults with cancer.

Being part of “No Tan Jan” is so easy! You just need to register, set up your personal fundraising page and give up solariums and sun baking for the month of January. If you must have a tan, then make sure it is fake.

The Warwick Foundation asks you to have your family, friends and co-workers to sponsor you for encouragement! This will not only help you kick the habit for good and decrease your chances of developing skin cancer, but you will also be supporting all young adults with the disease.

There are many companies willing to donate proceeds from spray tanning and related products to the foundation so check out the companies involved and purchase your products from them http://ow.ly/3BxlT .

If you’d simply like to donate to this foundation to support this specialised group of 18-40 yr olds living with cancer then please go to this page http://ow.ly/3BwwO and simply make your donation.

And remember it is important to get your fake tan right! As the Warwick Foundation state on their site you don’t want to end up looking like bad fake tan victims Donald Trump or Paris Hilton, worse still with a real tan like Donatella Versace!!!

Until next time...

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