Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro will be writing a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Tamasan Freyer has reviewed 'Ted' Directed by: Seth MacFarlane, Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Seth MacFarlane & Giovanni Ribisi

If you thought the 2009 smash hit ‘The Hangover’ was the 'bees knees', then you sure are in for a roller coaster of a giggle with this year’s most anticipated comedy ‘Ted’.  Starring Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, and the directorship and voice of Seth MacFarlane, this epically funny film follows the story of John Bennett (Wahlberg) and his real life teddy bear, Ted. 

When eight year-old John’s wish for his bear to come alive is miraculously granted, they both embark as “thunder buddies for life”. The pair are inseparable, especially when it comes to beer, bongs, and Flash Gordon.

Every bloke in the cinema roared with laughter during the poignant moments when Ted and John sing the Thunder song with a fart noise to finish, and when Ted makes suggestive use of his supermarket checkout scanner to impress a co-worker, and of course when Ted hits a parked car because he was “sending a Tweet”.

What is so refreshing about this film is that both women and men, young and old, could all share in the laughs whatever the joke entailed. MacFarlane’s humour is so unrestrained and so crude that there is no room for being offended. Every audience member understood from the very start that this was a space for laughing, and being open, and embracing one’s inner immaturity (which is not as ‘inner’ for some). 

When John’s long term girlfriend Lori (Kunis) insists that it is time for Ted to move out so that John can grow up, John struggles to be the responsible 35 year-old. He can’t help but ditch Lori’s work party to attend Ted’s wild beer-infested house bash attended by none other than Flash Gordon.
Here we see the party that may just have been the inspiration for the ‘The Hangover’, inclusive of a crazed duck, an irate neighbour and one helluva brawl. John’s revelation to Ted that he has “lost everything” after Lori walks away is so profound that the audience is silent for the very first time.

Ted showed us just how hard it can be for our husbands, boyfriends, or brothers to conform to our ‘responsible’ expectations, and cross over to the land of adulthood when marriage comes into view. I couldn’t help but stare at my twenty-five year old partner and think, I have to wait TEN YEARS for you to learn not to make fart noises in the supermarket line??! And for the guys, they could heave a collective sigh of relief that they weren’t the only ones still fantasising about sinking shots with a childhood action movie star. 

Watching Ted in a booked out theatre of almost three-hundred people, we all cried with laughter, and laughed even harder at those who couldn’t control their snorts and hysterical giggles. More importantly however, we could  all relate to the film, and celebrate the fact that there is a kid in all of us, no matter how old or how young.

http://www.ilovebodykits.com

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Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro will be writing a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Courtney Gardoll has reviewed 'The Five Year Engagement' Directed by: Nicholas Stoller, Starring: Jason Segal, Emily Blunt & Chris Pratt

Having recently become engaged myself I was looking forward to seeing this movie, as weddings are on my mind!

Jason Segal, best known for his work on the TV series 'How I Met Your Mother' and in the film 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', heads up the cast while also co-writing this edgy romantic comedy, which plays to his style of comedy. 

The Five Year Engagement explores the modern day dilemma of managing a successful career and a relationship. We meet Tom and Violet, played by the hilarious Jason Segal and the gorgeous Emily Blunt respectively, who after a year together have become engaged.

The couple then move interstate as Violet has secured her dream job. Tom gives up a fantastic career of his own for the move and this leads to him becoming increasingly distant from both Violet and society. Violet can see this happening but chooses to ignore it by burying herself in her work with her charming boss while Tom continues to hide his true feelings about the move even though he has promised to let her know as soon as he’s unhappy. The wedding gets postponed again and again while the couple fall in and out of love, much to the dismay of the ever passing away grandparents. It takes some soul searching for each of the main characters to realise what the audience has known all along, that they belong to each other, with the movie coming full circle back to the start only this time with a twist.

There is a good mix of both crude and obvious humor and sweetness between the characters and also, as in forgetting Sarah Marshall, Jason Segal’s butt! A special mention should be made to Tom’s best friend, Chris, and Violet’s sister, Suzie, who deliver many of the funny scenes.

I give The Five Year Engagement 7/10, whilst you may go into the film thinking this is your typical romcom the on screen chemistry between Jason Segal and Emily Blunt is amazing.  You could not be blamed for thinking the actors had an offscreen romance, although I have heard them in interviews vehemently denying so.
I would recommend getting to the cinema and seeing it, but I can also see how it may not be everyone’s style.

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Full Steam Ahead into May

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

In news at Metro this fabulous month of May.

The team and I most recently popped up to the Gold Coast for the annual Leading Property Managers of Australia  (LPMA) Conference, it was an informative couple of days with some great speakers and presentations. It’s always great to see what other businesses are doing and what we as a company can learn from them and implement. I know that Samantha Taylor (New Business Manager) and Eleanor Dewar (Leasing Specialist) certainly got a lot out of the conference themselves, as did I. The LPMA Awards night was also a highlight of the trip. Although no wins we felt like stars on the night, dancing the night away and coming away with some beautiful Finalist trophy’s, Metro PM for ‘Property Management Company’ of the year and Eleanor Dewar for the ‘Rising Star’ Award. A great time was had by all and we hope to bring home a few wins next year.

Mother’s Day is this month, just a friendly reminder... in case it has slipped your mind, and this year it falls on Sunday the 13^thof May. We all hope you have something special planned for your mothers, if not you best get shopping! Many of the Metro PM Team and their families are taking part in the famous ‘MDC’ or ‘Mother’s Day Classic’ Fun Run. We are walking to raise money for Breast Cancer research. Every dollar we raise through fundraising goes towards vital research into the prevention and cure of breast cancer. You can help us to make a difference in many Mother’s lives by donating online here http://ow.ly/9V9MN Why not donate as a gift to your mum? You can personalise a message for them on your donation too if you like!

And in other news this month we are holding our third complimentary ‘Metro Wealth’ seminar of the year entitled “First Time Investors” presented by Financial Planner, Nicholas Don. The seminar is being held on Monday the 21st of May at 6.30-7.30pm here at our office located at 461 Whitehorse Rd, Balwyn. If you are currently thinking of investing for the first time, if you have some savings or equity, or if you haven’t thought about property but want to build wealth we think you should consider joining us for this informative session (Seats to these events are often snapped up quickly, so get in quick as seats are limited to just 15!) Contact Melissa Venn at melissav@metropm.com.au or on 03 9831 3006

Well that is all for now from the busy Metro PM team and I.

Until next time...

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Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro will be writing a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Samantha Taylor has reviewed 'The Hunger Games’ Directed by Gary Ross Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth.


I went along to see the Hunger Games, without knowing anything about the story line, not having read the book and therefore no expectations.

From the previews and ads I had seen I was quite hesitant about how gruesome it would be.
The movie starts slow, without much explanation in relation to when it is set, what year or why they are lined up to be ‘selected’ for the games. Not having read the book it is relatively hard to follow in the beginning.

In short the government asserts its authority over the small towns by selecting one boy and one girl from each ‘district’ 24 teenagers in all; to compete annually in a reality TV show called 'The Hunger Games'. The teenagers are chosen at random from a bowl containing everyone’s names, not dissimilar to the lottery. The chosen 24 are then abandoned in a futuristic wilderness, only one can win and this is the last one left alive.

The story centres around a tough young lady, Katniss Everdeen who offers herself to the games in the place of her younger sister whom is originally choosen. There are many challenges that they face over the course of the game; what skills each ‘player’ has to survive, who is popular with the spectators/audience (the audience watching can sponsor people involved in the game by sending them tools of survival), who will form alliances, who may be falling in love? The contrast between the dull, plain districts and the bright, fascinating city is incredible. The director has done a great job capturing the differences in class and culture. I was very pleasantly surprised that the violence was minimal and easy to watch (allowing it’s PG-13 rating).

The story is well set up and you can’t help but notice the similarities between the reality TV shows we now see on TV and the reality TV show created in this movie. The way those that are involved and controlling what happens to the contestants in the hunger games manipulating the world around them to generate more interest and viewers is not dissimilar to our current reality shows such as Big Brother and The Biggest Loser, you cant help but wonder if this is where we may be heading in the next 10-20 years.

Although the movie is long (running for approx. 142 minutes) you don’t notice until you leave theatre. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and the ending leaves you feeling that although the games may not be over, it is not the end of the story.

I went and bought the book almost immediately, to compare and indulge in the story again and, as books usually do, enjoyed the detailed original and bits that may have been missed in the movie. Well worth a look.

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Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro will be writing a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Karli Wise has reviewed '21 Jump Street’ Directed by Phil Lord & Chris Miller Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum and Ice Cube.

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum make a hilarious crime fighting couple in “21 Jump Street, the movie is based on the Johnny Depp TV series in the 1980’s. The actors represent two policemen who go undercover at a local high school.

In high school Schmidt and Jenko were definitely opposites, one being a lot more popular than the other. Schmidt was the nerd while Jenko was the typical jock. The two of them were not friends at all. A few years later they met up again at the Police Academy where they trained to become police officers. They formed a pact where Schmidt helps Jenko with the written work which is to be completed to pass and Jenko helps Schmidt with the physical.

On one of their first missions the two are assigned to 21Jump Street with a leader who is actually actor & rapper ‘Ice Cube’. They are given their assignment where they have to act as high school students and try and find out information about a new drug that is being sold.

The majority of the movie is based on the two undercover policeman acting as “students” being clumsy and messing around. The two succeed in their assignment and in the meantime there are many crude jokes and funny situations which they get themselves in. One scene has the two of them throwing a party where they serve alcohol and drugs to all the underage kids.

This movie is a very different role for Tatum, everyone who is familiar with Tatum as an actor would be used to him being in a romantic movie where he is known for his good looks and amazing body. This movie shows a new side to his acting and his ability to be the ‘funny guy’, which comes as a surprise. He has both an intense and goofy approach in this movie that makes the scenes involving him better than they should be.

Johnny Depp, Holly Robinson Peete and Peter DeLuise starred in the original TV series and they make appearances in the movie which is great considering it was based on this  series.

Overall I thought this movie was great, it was very amusing and such good eye candy for the ladies. Who doesn’t love a movie with Tatum in it?

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Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro will be writing a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Melissa Venn has reviewed 'Any Questions for Ben?' Directed by Rob Sitch, Written by: Rob Sitch, Santo Cilauro & Tom Gleisner, Starring: Josh Lawson, Rachael Taylor, Felicity Ward, Daniel Henshall & Christian Clark.

To start with I love Australian Film and I love to support it wherever I can and when I saw the cast of this film my friends and I were keen to see it especially since the writers had in the past come out with some fantastic films such as The Castle & The Dish - no pressure?

The story follows Ben a 27yr old guy living in the heart of Melbourne with a job that most people could only dream of a ‘Strategic Brand Manager’ where socializing and partying all part of his job it seems. Ben is loving life and enjoying it to the full ie: dating famous tennis players, being paid to party and attend ritzy events with the ‘beautiful people’ until he is forced to stop to truly reflect on his life. Ben is asked to speak at his prestigious academic high school. He is invited by the principal (cameo by Director Rob Sitch) to speak about his job, according to his friends this is a great honor and he should feel excited and proud of this achievement.

The night of his High School speech night he meets Alex (played by Rachael Taylor) an ex-student that he has lost touch with over the years who has a fulfilling life as a Human Rights Lawyer in Yemen. In comparison Ben’s career and life seems insignificant and it is from this point in the movie we begin to see Ben’s internal struggle. Everyone tells Ben how GREAT his lifestyle is but he himself no longer sees the value in it. His lifestyle in his eyes is vacuous and pointless.

He tries to reconnect with Alex but Ben has this habit of not “following through” (a constant theme throughout this film that becomes a bit frustrating). We watch as Ben makes attempts to connect with Alex but she remembers him, how he was, and believes he won’t change. It takes some ‘mountain moving’ gestures on Ben’s behalf to try and change her mind.

The film in my mind began really well; the characters, script and actors were really great. I particularly enjoyed Felicity Ward’s character and there are many great laughs in this film aside from the issues it deals with. I felt however as we watch Ben we feel for him and want him to succeed in finding himself but about two thirds of the way through I just could not relate to him anymore. I felt frustrated by him and lost interest in the character completely (I felt this was a story issue and not the acting of Josh Lawson).

Overall the movie was (believe it or not from what I have said above) worth seeing. There are some great lines, beautiful scenes and cinematography of Melbourne. To be honest I feel you could wait for this one to appear in the DVD store for a night in on the couch with your friends.

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Welcome to February!

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

This month is a month of planning for the future and to start it all off we as a team are having a day focused on building each staff member’s skill set, chatting about ideas to build Metro as a trusted brand and ideas for the day to day running of the business as a whole. I am always inspired and driven by what ideas my team have and I always like to have a ‘get together’ to see what we as a team and as individuals can get out of 2012. We learn and grow as a company by putting forth our ideas in meetings like this so I’m really excited about the ideas that will spring forth, so keep your eyes peeled for little changes you might see here and there. Speaking of changes and additions, this month also brings a few exciting staff additions and role changes.

Tamasan Freyer joined us last month as our new receptionist and has a keen interest in the Property Management industry, she loves a challenge and is enjoying being the ‘first point of contact’ for Metro and we feel she is doing a great job so far. Emma Racky has also joined our team this past month as Assistant Property Manager and she is quickly learning the fast pace of the industry as well as enjoying learning the ins and outs that come with Property Management. Emma has a strong retail management background, her customer service skills will assist her in her communications with owners, tenants and tradespeople alike. Welcome aboard Tamasan & Emma! 

In other news our Senior Leasing Specialist, Samantha Taylor has recently been promoted to New Business Manager and is ‘taking the bull by both horns’. Already Samantha has taken to her new role well and I have every confidence that our new owners and investor groups will absolutely appreciate the level of service and experience in leasing that Samantha brings to the table. Well done Samantha. 

Well as always February brings with it Valentine’s Day, like it or loathe it it comes around every February and I myself was interested as to how it came about...so I consulted the wonderfully useful ‘Wikipedia’...

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is a holiday observed on February 14 honouring one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. It was first established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD, and was later deleted from the General Roman Calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI.

Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. (Source: www.wikipedia.com )

Isn’t it funny how it has lasted and changed throughout the years.

 Well a Happy Saint Valentine’s and a Happy February to you all.

Until next time....

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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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Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro will be writing a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Erin Cheasley has reviewed 'Immortals'. Director – Tarsem Singh, Starring: Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, John Hurt & Stephen Dorff.

The first thing that comes to mind when you see the trailer for the movie is that it is another 300 movie take off, apart from both being the sword and sandals genre and shirts were optional the director for ‘Immortals’ had a lot more visual tricks up his sleeve and took another approach with the Greek Myth concept, quite a comparison to 300.

Immortals definitely portrays a storyline of a battle between good and evil. Evil King Hyperion is leading his army of murderous mask wearing villains across Greece searching for the magical bow that will free the imprisoned Titans so they can attack the gods. Whilst the hero Theseus who is displeased by King Hyperion’s attack is going on the quest to obtain the magical bow himself, and in the end finding courage and leadership abilities within him to lead his forces of good against evil, which eventually wraps up into one big battle. A highlight of the movie are the action sequences, the Director really captured a level of gore and violence that will have anyone’s jaws drop using slow motion action, it will not only give you chills but have you at the edge of your seat.

This is an age of myth, a world where the gods are real, people have visions of the future and magic exists so this movie is allowed to look weird, mystical and over the top. If Greek mythology tickles your fancy then this is a movie I would recommend. Having a keen interest for Greek mythology and the way this movie used every aspect of what Greek mythology is, I found the movie Immortals to be a worth look (and so to the shirtless men) and it maybe even better than the movie 300.

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Metro's Monthly Movie Review

Each month a team member of Metro will be writing a movie review to share with you. And this month team member Merryn Schmidt has reviewed 'The Cup'. Director – Simon Wincer, Starring - Stephen Curry, Brendan Gleeson, Shaun Micallef & Daniel MacPherson.

'The Cup' is based on the true story of champion jockey Damien Oliver and his inspirational ride to win the 2002 Melbourne Cup. Damien (Stephen Curry) crosses the finish line onboard horse 'Media Puzzle', and salutes the heavens as a gesture to his older bother, Jason, who died tragically less then a week prior, in a track accident.

Unfortunately, ‘The Cup’ is not going to stop the nation as the actual race does, but it is certainly an entertaining and enjoyable flick. As the film is set in Melbourne, I appreciated the familiarity of locations such as the Yarra River and Flemington Race Course and the infusion of original photographs and film footage of the Melbourne Cup history over decades.

'The Cup' is a little slow ‘out of the gates’ and moves slowly to give an insight to the danger, the early starts, the half starving themselves, and the dedication jockeys, trainers, strappers and the like give to their careers, all so we can be enchanted by these majestic animals as the thunder down the track for our entertainment.

Released with perfect timing, during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival, ‘The Cup’ may attract good odds, but I have to say it is not a must see on the big screen. When you do see this film be warned you will require a tissue or two.

- by Merryn Schmidt

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Twilight Opens begin, the Excitement of the Home Buyer Show & the release of our iPhone App is Close!!

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

So October has rolled around and with it has come Daylight Savings which we love. More time in the afternoon to do outdoor activities and enjoy the warm weather (when the warm weather decides to pop up) and for Metro it means the beginning of our Twilight Opens for Spring/Summer. During certain weeknight evenings we are now able to show potential tenants more properties during the week which is great news for both our Tenants and Owners. These times, we have been told, are often more convenient for 9-5 workers as it means their weekends are left free to enjoy the sunshine rather than searching for their new homes, if that is what they would prefer.

 

In other news we recently attended the Home Buyer and Property Investor Show where we had a fantastic stall dressed in our eye catching Metro colours and enjoyed interacting with all of the people that came to the show be they current owners, tenants or brand new contacts that were simply interested in how we could manage their properties better and how we differ from other agencies. We handed out 250 Metro show bags (which was up from last year) and had much fun engaging with new people with a keen interest in what we do. We felt it was a busier year this year than last but we have yet to receive the attendance numbers from the event co-ordinators, either way there are plenty of people out there seeking investment properties.

Speaking of the purchase of investment properties... we held our final Self Managed Super Fund seminar for 2011. Many attended and really enjoyed it and felt they learnt something new, which was great. If you missed out feel free to contact my assistant Melissa Venn on 03 9831 3006 or via email at melissav@metropm.com.au , she can pass your details on to Nicholas Don of Metro Wealth who hosted the evening. Nic can offer you an obligation free Personal Review in which he will run through the benefits of SMSF with you on an individual basis and assess other financial matters that perhaps could be improved.

Also this month we will see our MetroPM iPhone application be released onto the Apple iTunes store for our clients and friends to download. We are in the final stages of approval and we will advise you as soon as it is released via our website, Facebook and Twitter so that you can be the first to use it and rate it! We think you will really enjoy the features that will assist you whether you are a current tenant, owner, investor looking to lease their property or a tenant looking for a new home. We will keep you posted as always.

Until next time...

More about → Twilight Opens begin, the Excitement of the Home Buyer Show & the release of our iPhone App is Close!!

No 'Fence-Sitting' when it comes to Feedback

From the desk of Leah Calnan, Director of Metro Property Management...
Recently I came across an interesting Blog from a marketing guru I follow named Seth Godin, a really interesting guy with some interesting ideas on all things marketing. Seth believes in advertising with a conscience and that businesses need to earn buzz by being remarkable, which is a principal I agree with entirely.

Below is his latest blog:

"Please complain"

Acquiring and processing user feedback is a choice. There are good reasons to hide from it:

• You might believe that inviting disgruntled customers to call or write to someone who will actually take action will encourage them to become more disgruntled. If no one is listening, the thinking goes, then perhaps the annoyed will quietly go away.
• You might believe that it's expensive to listen to squeaky wheels, particularly if you have someone in authority (as opposed to a low-paid clerk) actually listening and responding.
• You might believe that the noisy minority don't share the objectives of the rest of your audience, particularly the higher-paying and silent majority.

On the other hand, you might believe:

• That direct feedback in real time is a competitive advantage which will help you grow.
• That assuaging an unhappy customer now is worth way more than negative word of mouth later.

Whichever strategy you choose, you should choose. It's the middle way that vexes... the pretending, the grudging acceptance, the insertion of many levels of filters - when you do this, you get none of the benefits of either plan.

If you want people to speak up, be clear and mean it. If you don't, don't pretend.

(If you'd like to follow Seth's blog visit http://sethgodin.typepad.com/)

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And out of the cold we come...

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

So here we are in September & SPRING! and goodness hasn’t the year flown already! Lots happening at the office this month, to begin with I decided to surprise the team with a Team Appreciation Day which we were all very excited about (myself included). At the recent REIV Property Management Conference we heard from many innovative and inspirational speakers one of which had the idea to surprise your dedicated team, not just at Christmas or the End of Financial Year but unexpectedly throughout the year. So we had a lovely lunch and a movie as a way of saying thank you for all of the hard work they put in, day in and day out. It has been a big couple of months which is great and this was a lovely treat, we had lots of laughs.

The end of August saw my assistant Melissa and I attend a very interesting conference on Social Media, we had heard a few speakers talk on Social Media over the past few years however this seminar was a little different. The speakers were from America and seemed to have a broader insight into what was working and what was not and how people use social media today to not only to talk to friends and family but to investigate property, review their experiences and interact daily with their favourite companies.

We will be implementing a few new programs to assist our clients and tenants with regards to Social Media (although as most of you know we have a Facebook & Twitter account along with a Blog, the links are on the home page of the website), we see this as a way of the future, not just a fad and we love to embrace new technology here at Metro. In fact, we are very close to the release of our iPhone application which you will find has great functionality for both tenants and owners alike...exciting stuff.

In other news we are beginning to get organised for our Home Buyers & Investors Show stand on the 7th, 8th & 9th of October. Last year was a great experience and we met many new and current owners there at the show so why not come and say ‘Hi’ again this year. We have a limited number of free tickets this year so please contact Melissa at melissav@metropm.com.au if you would like a couple posted out to you in the coming month so that you may attend.

Until next time...

More about → And out of the cold we come...

Spring is Nearly Upon Us!

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

Before & After Pics of Reception Area

Wow so it is August and isn’t it a little warmer? And with the sun setting a little later in the day it feels like Spring is just around the corner. Spring cleaning is already happening at our office, to be exact a freshening up/renovation of our reception is starting to come together. Gone is the pink and purple carpet and we are loving our beautiful new tiles and the repositioning of the reception desk means more room for our new client couch and chairs which we will have very shortly. We have had some lovely comments so far and we will continue with carpet replacement throughout the office in the coming months.

In other news at Metro as mentioned last month myself and Samantha Taylor of our office will be attending the ARPM Conference in Sydney this month. Speakers include professionals like Fiona Blayney, Director of her own real estate business development and recruitment firms and highly sought after speaker who’s energy and passion never cease to amaze me, Paul Tonich who will speak on Social Media and it’s impact, Jonathon Handford - Managing Director of Newman Estate Agents who will speak on the UK’s approach on property management and then there’s James Castrission & Justin Jones who became famous for crossing the Tasman Sea in a kayak who will speak on their challenges and how to overcome adversity. These are just a few of the speakers and their topics so as you can see it will be a real mix of ideas which is really very exciting and we hope to get a lot out of our time there.

A couple of months ago now I gave an interview for which myself and the team were filmed for Business Victoria they approached me as they had discovered that our team had embarked on some tailored Customer Service based training last year and were interested in our team culture for a short video for their website (known as a Vodcast). My assistant Melissa and I attended the launch of this Vodcast and it was great to see and meet the other businesses that were involved in other Vodcasts being launched. There were so many different ideas and great advice given that other small to medium businesses can access via these Vodcasts that will be put online shortly, we will of course keep you posted of the link once they are up. Some of my team were quite shocked to learn they could soon be ‘stars’ as around 800 people per month had viewed the previous series of Vodcasts on the www.business.vic.gov.au website.

And finally a big thank you to all that came along to our recent Self Managed Super Fund Seminar and for all of your fabulous feedback. I was so thrilled that so many of you attended and got so much out of listening to Nicholas Don from Metro Wealth and his colleague Paul Kusli on the night. I wish you all the best in continuing to grow your wealth and am happy to have introduced you all to some new ideas. Again, we will keep you posted on our next Seminar evening in the near future.

Until next time...(enjoy the warmth, albeit temporary)

More about → Spring is Nearly Upon Us!

The Question: “I’m Bored, What Can We Do Today?”

From the desk of Leah Calnan, Director of Metro Property Management
With the school holidays coming to a close this weekend you may be asking yourself “What else can I do to entertain the kids?” (or maybe they are asking you?). Well we have found a few relatively inexpensive things to do to keep them active and occupied.

Firstly there is ‘The Enchanted Maze’ garden located at Arthurs Seat. Four mazes for you and the kids to get lost in (and hopefully find your way out of by dinner time!) It is something many children may not have experienced and so much fun will be had. Not only do the different mazes have different points of interest for the kids, ie: finding the 5 Buddhas in the Hampton Court Maze or stopping off to play on the beach hut and pier, complete with sandpit in the Turf Maze Labyrinth, but there are also plenty of other activities including an area with brain teaser challenges, a small animal farm, sculpture park which has large sculptures carved out of tree stumps and plenty of interesting little gardens for you to enjoy. There’s even a cafe if you don’t wish to bring along your own picnic. For more information visit their website at http://ow.ly/5E5Dk  

Our second idea is to take the kids to the ‘St Kilda Adventure Playground’. A great playground full of different things for the children to jump, climb, run and swing from. There’s a big aeroplane, wooden horse with saddle, big metal slide, trampolines, go-kart path, a small basketball court, they can ride on a dinosaur, have a zip on the flying fox, play on the pirate ship, big tepee and a big wooden castle. Open 10am - 5.30pm on weekends it is staffed & tea and coffee is provided. Again, for more info visit http://ow.ly/5E5dJ

Lastly have the kids ever ridden a pony? Well now’s your chance to take them. ‘Ace-Hi Ranch’ is a large property just south of Rosebud in the Mornington Peninsula. The experience is that of the Wild West and as for the kids they will just love it. They cater for all age groups and levels of horse-riding experience (or lack thereof!). Take a pony ride, a scenic horse ride or even a bush ‘n’ beach ride. The ranch also includes a free range style of wildlife park set on 10 acres and gives all visitors the chance to view their native animals in their typical surroundings. They have over 14 varieties of birds including- Emu's, Parrots, Cockatoos, Peacocks & Fowl. Visitors are welcome to feed & pat their furry friends - Koala's, Wombat's, Kangaroo's, Wallaby's, Deer & Dingo's.... a very cool experience for the kids to go to back to school and tell their friends about. Visit http://ow.ly/5E5CL  

So there’s our Top 3 ideas, we hope you enjoy them and if you don’t get a chance to do them these holidays maybe keep them in mind for the next lot of holidays when you are asked the age old question “What can we do today?”.

Until next time.....

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Busy Bees this July!

From the desk of Leah Calnan, Director of Metro Property Management...
And here we are at July. As usual much has been happening and will be happening this month here at Metro PM. The first weekend of July saw the team head out to the Red Emperor for a beautiful Chinese banquet as a reward for all of their hard work this year. Many laughs and stories were told and a great time was had by all.

Leah & Matt

Rebecca, Eleanor & Melissa

Josh, Hayley, Tracey & Dave

June, Chen, Rod & Merryn

Peter & Jan

This month we continue with the office renovations – out go the carpets in the foyer and meeting rooms and in goes the crisp white tiling and funky new seating for our guests. Later in the month we will be also carpeting throughout the office entirely which will be lovely as we have lived with the pink, grey and mauve carpet for quite sometime now and you know what they say, ‘a change is as good as a holiday’.

Our team have been busy little bees as it’s all hands on deck putting together our End of Financial Year Packs from the 1st July onwards and we aim to have them all out by the 14th of this month, so keep an eye out in your mail box. In your specialised EOFY folder you will find the Annual Statement for your property/s 2010/2011, as well as some information on Metro Wealth and a handy checklist to help you prepare for your tax return.

In other news Samantha Taylor from our office and myself will be off to Sydney early August to attend a fantastic event called ARPM or the Australasian Residential Property Management Conference. The event runs over 2 days and I am looking forward to hearing from some world class property management and real estate gurus. I am also excited about discovering what fantastic new ideas myself and the team can implement into Metro Property Management in order to keep us at the top of our game in providing the best possible service to our clients. So we’ll keep you posted of what comes about from our little trip interstate.

Until next time...

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Don’t Rest on Your Laurels, Be Proactive with Your Finances!

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

In this blog I thought I’d take the time to let you know about a fantastic service we have started to offer this year called Metro Wealth, some of you may already have read about this service but for many of you this may be the first time you will have heard about it and boy we have seen some fantastic results for our clients.

Metro Wealth is a joint initiative between Metro Property Management and Nicholas Don of Odyssey Financial. This new business has been established to assist Metro owners (and those interested in allowing Metro to become their Property Manager/s) in achieving the best possible results from their current property investments and improving their current position.

Instead of having to visit a number of separate and different business’ and service providers, then having to try to co-ordinate each piece of advice and assistance themselves, Metro Wealth is able to provide a holistic solution with one main point of contact for its members. Metro Wealth have assembled a team of professionals to assist with everything financial from initial advice through to implementation of a financial plan to ongoing management and then to annual or more regular reviews.

As a member you are entitled to a complimentary membership package which will provide all of the necessary products and services, from financial planning, mortgages, superannuation and tax advice. Metro Wealth also has exclusive access to many amazing brand new properties that you may be interested in purchasing.

I am so pleased to let you know that already this year over 80 people have already joined Metro Wealth. Those clients have had a review of their current situation and financial position along with many purchasing another property. These clients were never aware they could afford to make a purchase until they sought the assistance of Nicholas Don and the Metro Wealth Team.

If you yourself would like to become a Metro Wealth member, visit http://www.metrowealth.com.au/ or simply contact me on (03) 9831 3000 to chat about it further or email me at leah@metropm.com.au

Until next time...

Leah Calnan

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The Launch Day of 'AMIA' Apartments - Brunswick

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

Well the time has finally come for us to launch the fabulous AMIA Apartments to the public this coming Saturday the 4th June from 11.00am - 12.30pm.

Come and enjoy a morning coffee, tea or hot chocolate on us from the coffee cart whilst you decide which apartment you’d love to make your new home! Brand new apartments in a designer complex in the central hub of everything that Brunswick has to offer! These luxurious 1 & 2 bedroom apartments grant a superior level of peace, privacy and exclusivity. Open plan living, quality galley-style kitchen with dishwasher, modern bathroom, separate laundry and private balconies. There is a selection of different styles, floor plans & levels available.

Many of the Metro team will be there on the day to greet you with an AMIA/Metro Promo Bag containing all you will need to apply for these fantastic properties - applications, floor plans as well as some goodies such as a Metro shopping bag, jelly beans and various info and vouchers from local businesses surrounding AMIA are all included.

We hope to see you there and should you have any further queries on the apartments please do not hesitate to call our Leasing Specialist Samantha Taylor on 0434 313 588 or 9831 3000 or visit http://www.metropm.com.au/ for more information.

Until next time...

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New Additions to the Team & an Exciting New Development in Brunswick!

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

Well April passed as quickly as it had come and now here we are in May.

This past month we have added a couple of new members to the Metro team. Karli Wise and Danielle Burian, they each join us in an ‘Assistant Property Management’ role and we are thrilled to have them both on board.

Karli has a strong background in real estate having previously worked for many years in customer service/admin across different roles & fields including a stint in commercial real estate. Karli enjoys a busy and fast paced environment, which she feels Property Management offers and boy is she right, you are never twiddling your thumbs in Property Management!

Danielle also comes to us with experience in both reception and customer service within the Real Estate industry, she holds a Bachelor of Business as well as recently completing her Agents Representative certificate. Danielle has a passion for property and she has attended a few investment & property seminars in the past, these have opened her eyes to many potential investment opportunities. Danielle says that her Business degree has given her an “in-depth knowledge of economic and social aspects of business that I feel will assist me in my role here”.

In other news Metro is excited to be launching the completion and subsequent leasing of ‘AMIA’ in Brunswick another fantastic development by Caydon, the team that brought us ‘The Marque’ apartments in Collingwood late last year (of which we lease and manage just under 50 apartments). Metro will be holding an official launch day on Saturday the 4th of June so if you are keen to be one of the first to register to see these apartments on their very first open day then please just email Samantha Taylor our Leasing Specialist for this building at samanthat@metropm.com.au or call us on 03 9831 3000. To see some of the fantastic floor plans that will be on offer for lease with Metro please take a look at http://www.amialiving.com.au/ you won’t be disappointed.

And finally just a tip from us to start organising yourself for the End of Financial Year, yes it’s fast approaching. As usual if you are an owner of ours you will be receiving your ‘End of Financial Year 2010-11 packs’ with the help of good old ‘Australia Post’ by the 14th of July this year.

All in all another busy month here at Metro.

Until next time...

More about → New Additions to the Team & an Exciting New Development in Brunswick!

Oscars, SchmOscars! REIA & LPMA Award Nights are Better!

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks here at Metro with award nominations left right and centre which has been fantastic for myself and the team.

Frocked Up!

Last Thursday evening myself, my husband and several of my team flew up to the Gold Coast to attend the REIA Awards for Excellence (a national real estate award night) where I was deemed a Finalist in the ‘Residential Property Manager of the Year’ award. Due to the fact that I had won the Victorian award for this category in October last year I was thrilled to discover I had become a Finalist in these National Awards. The evening was a gala event and we all ‘invested’ in some fabulous dresses and gowns especially for the evening which took place in the ballroom at the Marriott Resort & Spa in Surfers Paradise. There was some stiff competition for the title as 6 other fabulous women were nominated and unfortunately we did not come away with a win this time, ah well, we look forward to next year. A great time was had by all, we looked fabulous (if I do say so myself) and we certainly danced the night away.

No sooner had we returned to the cooler climate of Melbourne a few of the team including myself were off to the LPMA (Leading Property Managers of Australia) Conference which runs a 2 day Property Manager & Principals Forum once a year. Within this forum Principals and their PM’s are witness to some fantastic industry presenters and new innovations in our field. It is a great eye-opener and we always come away with some great ideas that we will no doubt be implementing here at Metro in the upcoming months. Day one at the LPMA closed with their Annual Awards evening where we discovered that we were one of only 3 Finalists for ‘Excellence in Business Development’ a fantastic result and a great surprise (I was presented with a lovely trophy too!) Again much dancing and fun were had, so a great night all in all.

Myself & some of the team that attended the LPMA Awards

Coming so close to a win with both of these award evening amongst our peers in the industry really cemented for me that the hard work and dedication that myself and my team put into taking care of our clients is recognised by our colleagues in the industry, which is very humbling. So we now look forward to the rest of this coming year and strive to continue to ensure our clients have the best advice and service from Metro PM and we will let the dice fall where they may next award season.

Until next time...

More about → Oscars, SchmOscars! REIA & LPMA Award Nights are Better!