Hi BDM,
A thought strikes me.
Whenever I am negotiating something I make sure that the knowledge side of the equation is on my side not my opponents.

By this I mean that I know the subject very well, I have assistance from my accountant and or my solicitor and or anyone else I can think of.
In other words if it appears like the other party knows more than I than its time to back off regroup and reassess the situation before continuing once again.

It is better to walk away from a good deal than it is to curse forever at its mere mention.

On a lighter note, this builder who regularly builds 4 and sells 3.
Have you had a discussion with him about vendor finance?
The reason I mention this is because he is an investor himself, keeping 1 in 4.
If he keeps 1 sells 3 with 1 of those interest only to you he has an additional income stream opportunity.

Another point perhaps you can ask this builder if he will consider selling you other properties and perhaps with multiple purchases you can negotiate a discount greater than 4%.

Plus if you are aware of exactly when these other properties will be coming onto the market perhaps you can purchase of the plan and negotiate another discount in future.
After all you are presently happy with the builders quality standard.

Another idea, again if you know when he will have other properties ready to hit the market perhaps you can flip them for him and pocket a quick buck for yourself.

The easiest way to make good consistent profit returns is to network with those around you.
Always surround yourself with people moving in the same direction; along the way they can give you a lift.
Your friend Colin.
Most great people have attained their greatest success
just one step beyond their greatest failure. — Napoleon Hill —

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If you know where your target market is coming from go directly there.
Universities and Tafe’s have notice boards.

Before purchasing furniture, find out borders requirements.
They will be happier that you asked them and did as requested.
They may be happier to pay a premium for it.

He he thinks you did the Reno so fast that you missed out on a few planning details.
Better late than never.

“The man who does not make any mistakes does not usually make anything.” – William Connor Magee
‘Some people make the future, most people wait for the future to come to
them’ Richard Denny

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As I see it negotiations are much easier when everyone gets along.
So first thing to do is patch things up.

Second thing to do is not rush.
Reply to communications no faster than 24hrs.
Tricky for a phone conversation but do your best not to look like you are stalling.

Thirdly all offers are to be in writing and you should expect the same with their reply, include that in your offer instructions.

Fourth always give the other parties room to move
Put yourself in their shoes, how would you react if backed into a corner?
I know I would come out fighting.

Fifth ask lots of questions, sometimes with more knowledge of a situation a better offer can be constructed.

Sixth always keep a few aces up your sleeve.
Your offer is never the final offer but don’t tell them this.
Never let them know that you want to start negotiations, any time an offer is made negotiations have already started.

Consider why the agent is behaving this way, a friend was selling his house a few years ago and he asked his agent to stall for a few weeks so that I could try and raise the money.
I failed to raise the money but knowing what I know now I would have raised as much as possible and negotiated with my friend for vendor finance for the remainder.

Now the situation you are presently faced with sounds like a waste of time to me.
Make a new offer about 2% increase with a 120-day settlement (let them start thinking that you are approaching your limit).

In about a weeks time go back to the real-estate office and put in another offer lower this time but for a different but simular property.
If the other party thinks that you have walked away they may come back to you with an offer.
Either way always be in a mental state that you can walk away never let the heart dictate financial matters that is for a clear head.

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Bad service is unacceptable regardless of where, when or how.
If we all raise our expectations the ultimate service must get better.
There is no such thing as a standard service just an old fashioned service.

Everyone in business makes mistakes from time to time but failing to learn should be a crime.
Same as not Looking to constantly improve your business service.
Never let bad service become acceptable, do all that you can about it.
This is why we must have competition; monopolies are definitely the end of the game.

1. Don’t have any work done unless it is fully quoted.
2. Don’t have anything done by the hour.
3. Once work has begun never renegotiate unless terms for this process have been met with in the contract and service eg the lift breaks down and the job stops then there may be an allowance for waiting on site for it to be repaired.

I employ contractors not employees, and wherever possible I pay generously to encourage exceptional service.
I give them a fixed time to get the job done, knowing that each job can be completed in 3/4 of the time.
The better the work they do the more work I provide in future.
The lower the quality the less work.
If they are quick and do a good job I have no problem if they go home a few hours early.
I also ask contractors for feedback as they are at the coalface and its there that improvements are noticed most.

I also find looking for value with in my contractors occasionally a diamond in the rough can be found.
On Saturday I hired a security guard on Sunday he worked as a cleaner as his knowledge and experience was exceptional.
Today he suggested a few ways to expand the job to offer more services and thus better quality for this one client.
He also has experience managing a cleaning business and quoting work.
He also wants to work for another 10 to 15 years before retiring and hates security work.
Perhaps selling my business to buy back some of my work time for investment time may not be necessary, time will tell.
Always look for that little extra bit of service some time you will find it in the most unexpected places.
Never be afraid to dig for that value.

In the situation you were faced with I would have gladly payed via a check and had the check cancelled before they were out of the street.
When they get back to me in the next few days I wlll direct them to my solicitor to negotiate for a fairer price.
Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind paying extra for good service but refuse to pay more than bad service is really worth.
Hope this helps [angry2].

Give what you have. To someone, it may be better than you dare to think.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882)

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Marketing without money.
By John C Lyons and Edward de Bono.
Tuesday my local paper.
Wednesday the local paper from area I am interested in.
These plus around 200 emails a day.

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Well done redwing however the adventure continues.
What is your next goal?

Those of us following your lead could do with some learned advice.
What did you learn along the way that you can pass on?

“Learn from the mistakes of others, you won’t live long enough to make them all yourself” Richard Denny.

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Hi Mr & Mrs X & Y,
Take a lot of pictures showing tree placement in yard.
Take pictures of trees health condition,
Especially safety concerns.
Take details where drains and power lines in area are etc.
Then go to the local council and ask for their arborist or recommendations.

Having done lots of work for several councils here in Sydney I am aware that most councils have an arbourist on their garden patrol or have a contractual arrangement with one.
Most nurseries in the area will be in the same situation.

Just check that they are qualified before any work begins.
Make sure that they are covered by insurance and get written confirmation of this with in their quote.

S.A. is a little far for me to travel to help sorry.
On the bright side my cleaning business is for sale, which would free up my time to travel.
Other than that I don’t know any arbourists in S.A. sorry.

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Gday C@34,
What ever happens to your lawn on top do as my favourite book says in large friendly letters on the cover “Don’t Panic”.
New lawn naturally will go into some shock.
Just check that the roots don’t go to the here after.
That’s where all the new growth should be.

In order to find the best practical solution and to keep costs down to a minimum lets just try one thing at a time.

You should just grab your garden fork and stab the ground all over the area that is not absorbing the water.
This will help break up the crust that may be repelling the water and resisting its penetration.
To a small extent it will help relieve compaction.
It will provide a space for the water to penetrate down a few more inches.
It will also help the Clay breaker work in as Fern said.

Wait awhile to see the effects then use a soil wetting agent.
Perhaps a breakdown on how and why things work.

Clay breaker unsticks the soil particles by binding them in smaller granules.
Where before clay breaker every particle would be linked to another and a large mass forms.
This is why small particles like clay persist in the upper regions of the soil when you would expect over eons that they would become sub soil passing through the gaps in the larger particles with the flow of water.

Soil wetting agents are chemicals that do not exist naturally in the soil.
They work by chemically altering the way the soil particles accept the water particles.
Often the soil repels water when it has been dry for so long.
If the water sits on it long enough it will eventually get in and once the soil starts to reabsorb water it will stop repelling it.

By breaking through the top few inches of soil there will be new soil below that will have been better protected from drying out.
So very likely soil wetting agents will not be necessary.
Time will tell.

If you change the way the soil particles cling together the soil structure changes.
If the soil had been used by heavy machinery the particles would be compressed together and resistant to water between them.
The same for sub soils turned up where the weight of the soil above has compressed the particles together and the organics out and with them the nutrients.
If some organic material was worked into the soil before the laying of the turf this would have helped the flow of water and nutrients into the soil below (this is not fertilizing the lawn).

If you use soil wetting agents their effects will last up to 6 months then you will be back to the same problems.
So unless it’s an emergency try fixing the problems the permanent way first.
The easy way is not always the best long term way.

As for growing Mangos and mulching the ground with turf, the lawn will compete for the water and nutrients so expect reduced cropping.
Better would have been a thick layer of shredded legumes to hold in the water and to break down and feed the soil and help prevent the weeds from growing.
Considering $5.99 each use the turf as the first layer of mulch and add more legumes and chook poo and cowpats etc on top.
Sell the crop raise money faster purchase next property sooner.

Unless you sell your grass there is no way to make money with it.
But your tree on the other hand.
Can’t sell the tree that lays the golden egg.
$5.99 an egg forgets the bloody lawn.
$5.99 ea for a mango what kind of grass you growing?[goatee]

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Gday C@34,
It is good that you are actually looking for the problem.
Not all problems are obvious sometimes we need to dig a little deeper.
So lets start at the beginning and take it step by step and along the way something will turn up.

C@34 you mentioned earlier that you had prepared the ground by tilling (turning over the top earth layer).
Did you notice anything about the soil in your yard before doing any thing?
1.Is all the soil in your yard the same?
There is a lot to consider here for example colour, texture, smell and taste (taste not kidding ever seen a farmer chewing on a blade of grass as he walks through his paddocks, the sweeter the taste the better, no ph kits 10,000 years ago).

2.Was anything buried or poured out on the ground during construction?
I know it should not happen but lets be realistic accidents happen.
Brickies sand is a good example however in your case sand would be assisting the drainage.
Could the area be affected by concrete dust?
I mentioned earlier about finding a Holden car buried in a lawn, sometimes things are buried just to get rid of them quickly and cheaply.

3.How did the existing vegetation compare to vegetation on the rest of the lawn area before tilling?
It is amazing how much diversification there can be over just a few meters.
Consider why weeds are more prolific in one area and not in another, nature is amazing I KNOW THERE IS NO EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE ;o(.

4.Has the soil structure been damaged by compaction or over tilling eg has that area of ground had more vehicular traffic on it than the rest of the lawn?
Considering use and possibly the weather conditions during construction because trucks bring materials to a house site and wet ground compacts at a faster rate.

5.Could any sub soil materials have been worked up and added to the topsoil perhaps by a pipe or cabling being laid?
The soil below will have less microbial and a lot less nutrients and because of weight and time will be a lot more compacted.

6.Was any soil brought to the site as fill this also includes from one area of your yard to another?
Remember house sites are levelled and you did say that you had prepared the ground before laying the turf.

7.Had your mother in law been standing there long?
OK I am searching now (better ignore this one my mother in law is wonderful).

Consider if any of this makes a difference regarding your thinking about a solution to the problem.

By all means use all grey waters to water lawns such as water from your sink, washing machine, after your kids eventually get out of the bath etc.
Always consider savings wherever you can.

Dishwashing liquid may work but expensive considering it will not be a permanent solution to the problem.
Better would be one of the many commercially available soil wetting agents.
But first look for the reasons why (there may be more than one reason).
And a quick fix may exaggerate the problem.

Remember an ounce of prevention is worth a tonne of cure.
C@34 Hope this helps.
Anyone with a question just drop me an email.

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Dear pyramid,
The higher the risk the greater the return so be careful.
Figure out before you look for an investment (even if its offered) if you are comfortable with the level of risk.
Not everyone is comfortable with it but there are gamblers out there who get off on high risk.

From time to time over the years I have looked for them myself however in each event I only borrowed a little extra than the bank would lend then added a little more from friends and family at a little higher risk/ interest then perhaps the last couple of thousand at very high risk/ interest just so the deal can be done in time.

In doing things this way I can average my loans and reduce my risk.
But before I go looking for any funding everything about the deal is done, business plans are drawn up, management and staff are in place, suppliers and almost always customers are lined up ready to go.

I wouldn’t invest unless some one has done their homework and dotted all the Ts and crossed all the i s first.
Basically if it’s not what I would look for in an investment I improve it or walk away long before I offer the opportunity to others.
In the end your word is your bond and with an investment my ass is bonded to it big time.

Personally I keep my investment goals between 12.5% and 26%.
Or to double my money between 3 and 5 years compounded.
Below this and you may as well leave your money in a bank or managed fund.
I will consider above 26% but there must be a lot of security and trust there first.
When it comes to trust with money only extend a little more to those who have done well for you before, A LITTLE MORE AND NO MORE.

Apart from my staff my accountant checks everything before I proceed looking for money or providing money.
When all problems have been fixed with the deal and my accountant is happy then the deal is run past my solicitor.

If both of them are happy than the deal goes ahead.
This naturally takes some time, a month to over 6 months.
If the deal can’t wait that long you must decide when to walk away politely.

There is more money out there looking for an investment than investments looking for money.
But only sensible people continue to make investments, clumsy investors keep tripping on the first rung, when you realize this they don’t learn from mistakes look at history for a vision of the future.
I have not always got things right but never have I made the same mistake twice.

With age comes wisdom and anyone who has wisdom has a chequered past behind them.

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