Which is actually BS. Good deals come along all the time if you're looking. The deal of a lifetime sets you up for the rest of your natural and they are rare events.

The burb you are looking in has an average growth rate over the last 5 of 2.08%. It did all its growing in the preceding 5. It's a relatively good suburb location wise, Uni, large shopping centers, rail, freeway, beaches, schools etc. All within a five minute drive. 

Perth is cooking off for no real reason other than a supply shortage. The risk is economic for WA as a whole but I don't see it falling into the sea anytime soon. It's times like these you need to keep your head on. Any big growth is likely to be short and sharp in a few select areas. Mid 2014 could prove to be the point where WA starts to do a Melbourne. Business in WA is doing it tough and a rising dollar isn't going to help WA's cause given it lives mainly on exports and servicing the resource sector. 

Resource sector momentum built up over the last 5 years is keeping things going but that momentum will cease about mid 2014. What's not know yet is will there be a vacuum after wards that pulls prices back. My guess is that norther coastal suburbs will fair better than most but your likely to see them stay around trend for some time.

On a reno like yours you'd usually do your strip out then get your plumber and sparky in to do anything needed. Once they're finished it's your chippy, tiler, plaster etc. You would normally organise your subby's in advance and ask them what they need from you and when depending on your reno plan. Most of this stuff you'll realise along the way because it's mostly self evident.

I always tile after cabinets and tops go in. If a wall's not quite straight or room's out of square you can usually hide this with tiling and trims afterwards. Which leads me to another tip. Run a straight edge along where bench tops will go to make sure the wall is straight. Much easier to fix than hide.

If you're going to  update switches and plugs be wary of the cheap switches. Some cause arcing at the switch and that can play Mary hell with halogen lighting.

I bought a crystal ball years ago but I could never get the damn thing to work. [/sarc]

Ok guys… hands up those who have a Swiss banker that invites them to foreign shores to invest their hard earned.

Agh! Pandering to the 1%. I'm disappointed Ziv

Weather's lousy here and I'm a bit bored truth be told. When you play the man I know I hit the spot LOL. Luv it when you bite

Quote:

Love how consumer confidence is a good indication when it slips, but a sows ear when it's high, incidentally. Hypocrite much?

Japanese consumer confidence or more accurately pessimism hasn't actually been in the optimist zone since early 06 and then only briefly. The poor old Japanese consumer has been in pain for decades. From moment to moment it's just a matter of how much.  Abe's managed to give the consumer some respite in the form of a psychological lift but that's unlikely to translate into broad tangible benefits for the populace at large but I do hear Lamborghini expect to increase sales by 30% to filthy rich courtesy of Abe and the BOJ.  

Iabove 50 indicates optimism, below 50 pessimism)

ROFL…. still trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear Ziv. A quote from the report you provided:

• Japan's consumer confidence index rose five points to 78, its highest reading since the first quarter of 2006, according to Nielsen's quarterly survey of consumer confidence and spending intentions.

  However, that figure still trails behind the global average of 94. Index levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism.

Interesting what the report says about SEA in general with Indonesia having a very high confidence score. The report suggests a growing middle class is fueling growth. Brazil had a very similar profile over the last decade and is now running into big problems. Consumers simply leveraged up to buy consumer goods. That gave the impression of a buoyant vibrant economy. If SEA doesn't achieve a concomitant increase in productivity it may well find itself in the same boat as Brazil. Throw a FED taper in there (or even the hint of one) and capital flows will reverse faster than you can say Freckles a legend. That indicates how exposed to a crises SEA is.

The movie of course!