affordable housing investment

Author

1. 

   Julie Lawson 

   Honorary Associate Professor at RMIT University

    

   First home buyers are slipping in the ranks of Australians purchasing a home, and once again negative gearing and supply issues are back in the spotlight. Even Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond has acknowledged negative gearing is skewed towards high income earners and should be addressed as part…
   
    
   A government guarantee could attract more private investment into affordable housing. PT Money/Flickr
   First home buyers are slipping in the ranks of Australians purchasing a home, and once again negative gearing and supply issues are back in the spotlight.
   Even Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond has acknowledged negative gearing is skewed towards high income earners and should be addressed as part of a tax system review.
   There is also growing concern from the Reserve Bank that highly geared property investments by Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF) are pushing up prices, with the potential to drive home ownership further from the reach of ordinary households.
   In his first major speech on housing since the election, Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews referred to a national housing shortfall which the National Housing Supply Council expects will grow to nearly 370,000 dwellings by 2016. Minister Andrews stressed the economic imperative of attracting a variety of investors into housing, and specifically towards private rental.
   Willing and able contenders include Australia’s rapidly growing superannuation funds. Yet as SMSFs have shown, they can also drive up the price of existing dwellings. Much more efficient and effective investment pathways are required to boost housing supply and improve affordability.
   Obviously, to attract the right kind of super funds, Australian governments need to be conscious of what drives their investment strategies. Risks, returns, liquidity and scale are all variables which cannot be ignored. Driven by tax incentives, highly geared speculative investment is not only costly for governments but also damaging to rental security.
   Industry fund managers are actively learning about Australia’s emerging affordable rental housing providers, such as housing associations and rental co-operatives, and trying to define the terms and conditions under which they would be willing to invest. Australian Super, our largest industry super fund, recently hosted an international think tank to design an investment mechanism.
   Currently, bank lending terms are stymieing the growth of the affordable housing industry. The cost and conditions of lending can be improved by rerouting the financing pathway, matching super funds risk/return appetite with the secure rent revenue of well-regulated community housing organisations.
   Recently published research by RMIT and UNSW for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) has explored how governments can attract institutional investment to this new asset class, by supporting the establishment of a specialist financial intermediary to pool borrowing demands and providing a conditional government guarantee.
   Housing associations and co-operatives aim to grow the supply of affordable rental housing for a range of low and middle income households where needed across Australia. Yet they remain small as optimum public-private financing arrangements lag behind.
   RMIT research has found commercial borrowing by housing associations has expanded considerably in the past five years, but the variation in terms offered and the length of the debt-raising process suggests such borrowing is still immature with a limited number of engaged lenders.
   Loan tenures are extremely short, often less than three years, imposing significant refinancing risks. Many loan facilities are interest-only, preventing organisations from amortising debt and building up any equity. Research strongly suggests commercial banks are unlikely to provide the considerable financing required to expand affordable rental housing in the future.
   

   Luring the super sector

   According to the RMIT AHURI report, a new financing option could attract investment from Australia’s rapidly growing superannuation sector. Australian funds invest heavily in more risky equity investments as well as infrastructure such as toll roads, rail and airports. But they also invest and hold lower yield, fixed income securities as a hedge against inflation and to ensure greater diversity alongside more risky equity investments.
   To help establish a new market, governments can guarantee investment in well regulated not-for-profit landlords, such as community housing organisations. This would enable long term rental housing providers to attract lower cost, longer term investment.
   The RMIT AHURI research has analysed seven schemes in Europe and the US detailing how guarantees and intermediaries channel longer term, lower cost investment to increase the supply of social and affordable housing. One of the most important findings of this review is the minimal impact that guarantees have had on government budgets.
   Through appropriate revenue support and regulation, sound business management practices and carefully structured guarantees, there has been a zero default rate among many European housing providers receiving guaranteed loans.
   A stable and supportive policy environment could deliver the same result for Australia.
   

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Dacia Duster : the Upgraded engine range

The Dacia Duster is proving with the technically new up to date TCe 125 engine. The modern turbo petrol engine with direct injection for the 4×2 Duster 92 kW / 125 HP. The downsized four-cylinder 1.2-liter engine from the Renault range shines with a combined consumption of 6.0 liters of premium petrol per 100 kilometers, which corresponds to CO2 emissions of 140 grams per kilometer. Furthermore Duster 4×2 and 4×4 are ordered with the base frugal petrol 1.6 16V and an output of 77 kW/105 hp.

Duster Duster Economical LPG and diesel variants

The dealers Dacia Duster 4×2 in the four-cylinder as LPG version 1.6 16V LPG 105 with 75 kW/102 hp. However, in petrol mode the Duster LPG mobilizes the full 77 kW / 105 HP. The diesel range of Dacia Duster has two turbo-diesel engine 1.5 dCi family: the 66 kW / 90 PS payable dCi 90 for the front-wheel drive variant and the 80 kW / 109 hp dCi 110 for the Duster 4×2 – the Duster 4×4 this engine delivers, however, the eponymous 81 kW / 110 HP.

Save fuel with the ECO mode in the Duster

The new Renault models and the Dacia Logan MCV and Sandero models control the Duster at the ECO-driving program. As standard, the Dacia Duster consumption be reduced so that at the touch again by up to ten percent. For this purpose, power and torque are reduced, the cooling effect of the parallel from the associated standard Duster Ice air conditioner is restricted. With a powerful step on the accelerator, the driver can the Dacia SUV ECO mode off when needed, for example for an overtaking maneuver.

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what is a Cleaning Service

Commercial cleaning is a broad term predominantly used by cleaning companies who earn an income by being contracted by individuals, businesses or corporations to carry out cleaning jobs on a variety of premises. Cleaning companies can be found in virtually every town and city in the world, with a higher concentration in affluent regions. Typically these companies market their services via a professional sales force, advertising, word of mouth, or websites.

 

Cleaning techniques and equipment

Commercial cleaning companies use a wide variety of cleaning methods, chemicals and equipment to facilitate and expedite the cleaning process. The scope of work may include all internal, general and routine cleaning to include floors, carpets, tiles, partition walls, internal walls, suspended ceilings, lighting, furniture and upholstery cleaning, window cleaning, deep cleans of sanitary conveniences and washing facilities, kitchens and dining areas, consumables and feminine hygiene facilities as well as cleaning of telephones, IT and other periodic cleaning as required. External cleaning, litter picking and removal of graffiti may also be incorporated.

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Consumables

Contracts often require the cleaning company to provide consumables such as: paper towels, toilet rolls, liquid soap, bin liners, etc.

Workers

The commercial cleaning industry is extremely competitive and employees tend to be at the lower end of the pay scale. This is predominantly due to the abundance of acceptably qualified able bodies workers vying for low skilled jobs. Many commercial cleaning companies provide on the job training for all new employees due to the nonexistence of tertiary based courses for the cleaning industry and the risks associated with the use of some cleaning chemicals. Individuals employed in commercial cleaning typically hold the job title of janitor, custodian or day porter.
In Australia, the US, and Europe, commercial cleaning companies are encouraged to screen all employees for evidence of a criminal background check. Many homeowners, businesses and corporations insist on these police checks before allowing outside contractors onto their premises.

 

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Essential Technology for Your Startup BY NatalieBracco

With the fast pacing world that we live in today, it’s important that small businesses are up-to-date on their technology to compete against their competitors. With the proper technology, such as a well-established website and accounting software, you can increase productivity and sales to help you succeed in your business.
Let’s look at some of the most important technologies that can help out your small business that you may not have yet.

Business Intelligence Apps

 

If you aren’t already using business apps to improve efficiency and keep track of your data, this is one of the most crucial pieces of technology that you can use today, helping you save time and monitor your business.
What types of business intelligence apps are out there? There’s practically everything you can imagine that you may use for your business. There’s apps that can help you track sales, monitor expenses, connect with customers, and save documents.
If you haven’t started using smartphones and tablets in your business yet, it’s time to update your technology and look into downloading apps for managing your business.
Some top apps that your business can benefit from include:

• Google Analytics: Monitor your website traffic.
• Dropbox: Save and share your documents on the cloud.
• Evernote: Take notes and keep track of your schedule.
• Expensify: Manage your expense reports.

Workload Automation Software

With workload automation software, you can save heaps of time and increase your efficiency. You could end up spending hours job scheduling, but with effective workload automation software, you can find a quick and simple solution to this issue.
With services like this, you’ll discover real-time monitoring, hybrid computing solutions, and automatic processing demands that work with the dynamic, ever-changing environment. Create jobs, tasks, and sessions from one program to increase efficiency while growing your business.

Portable Card Readers

 

If your small business is one that travels often, a portable card reader is an important part of business. For example, food truck owners might use portable card readers to accept credit cards from anywhere. Additionally, you may bring your card reader to a trade show so that you can make sales from your booth.
But you don’t have to be a traveling small business owner to benefit from a portable card reader; they’re easy to use and affordable even if you’re using them from your shop.
There are several portable card readers that you can get for free along with a free app, including the popular Square app. Simply plug it into your portable device, such as your smartphone or tablet, and start accepting credit cards for a small percentage of the purchase price, often around 2.75 percent.

Social Media Marketing Tools

No matter how big or small your business is, getting involved in social media is a crucial step in connecting with your customers and making sales. Today, 85 percent of small businesses and non-profit organizations already have a Facebook page, but if you’re falling behind on the trend you could be falling behind in business.
What can social media do for your business?

• Promote products and sales.
• Engage with customers.
• Connect with others in your industry.
• Make more sales.

But what if you already know all this and already use social media? Then you should know that there are even more social media marketing tools that you can use to increase your efficiency on social media.
Apps like HootSuite, for example, help you manage all your social media sites from one location, where you can schedule updates, track brand mentions, analyze traffic, and do much more.

Social Recruiting Tools

It’s no secret that small businesses tend to have a tough time finding qualified employees that want to stay with them. In fact, the Huffington Post reported that in July, 2012, one in every three small businesses had unfilled job openings because they couldn’t find people with the proper skills to fill the jobs.
However, finding qualified employees to stay with you isn’t as tough as it sounds. With social recruiting tools, such as The Resumator or LinkedIn, you can find qualified workers in your area to fill your spots quickly. With these tools, you can post jobs, look through resumes and track applicants easier while reaching a wider audience.
If you’re not up-to-date with these types of technologies, it’s time that you start looking into them to help improve your efficiency and expand your business. For more ideas on other tools and technologies that can help you run your small business, check out these articles..

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5 Tips to Get Your Ecommerce Site Ready for the Holiday Rush

The holiday season is upon us, and online shopping volumes are likely to explode. According to eMarketer, US online retail sales for the upcoming holiday season are expected to reach $61.8 billion, a 15% increase over the same period in 2012.With Hanukkah and Thanksgiving occurring on the very same day, this year’s online commerce revenues could easily top the already bold predictions.
So, if you are selling online, get ready to roll up your sleeves and prepare your eCommerce site for the coming rush. Here is how:

1. Ramp up Your Server Capacity and Site Performance

The importance of maximum site availability and speed cannot be overstated. After all, down times invariably translate into revenue and traffic losses. The same holds true for slow page load times. According to a recent Harris Poll, a staggering 67% of online shoppers abandon eCommerce sites because of performance problems. Shoppers expect pages to load in 1-2 seconds max. So, make sure your server can facilitate your expected traffic levels and consider performance enhancing utilities such as caching and auto-scaling.
For more information on how you can boost server capacity and site performance, click here: Magento Performance Optimization.

2. Make Your Content Work for You

Use this opportunity to review and test the user-friendliness of your pages, considering all best-practices on the one hand and the unique requirements of your specific target audience on the other. Provide useful information on your product pages to help your customers make the right purchasing decision. Think of common customer questions and concerns relating to your products and provide answers. Be sure to make the information easy to read by breaking up the texts into various segments, and use subheadings to indicate the nature of the content. Use high quality images and videos not only for traditional product presentation but also as visual aids and educational tools for customers.
A case in point: If you are selling baby slings, a video or pictures on how to wrap and secure the sling correctly will establish trust and eliminate concerns regarding its use. What’s more: The better educated your customers are, the less likely it is that they return purchases.

3. Offer Truly Enticing Specials

Feature holiday specials on your pages. Provide shopping incentives, such as free shipping, discounts, coupons etc. With this year’s holiday shopping expected to begin earlier than ever, and 30% of shoppers planning to start before Halloween, consider early bird incentives. Promote quick shopping decisions, like “Order this item by [time/date] and get this popular accessory free of charge with your order!”

4. Make Arrangements for a Flawless Order Fulfillment

Ensure reliable and timely fulfillment despite higher shopping volumes. Consider extra staffing requirements and fine-tune the fulfillment processes with the extra load in mind. Polish your inventory control and take precautionary measures such as buffers or other just-in-time supply capabilities to ensure that your business can fulfill all orders as needed. Customer disappointment with order fulfillment is always bad for business, and especially so during the holidays.

5. Accommodate Your Mobile Shoppers

Mobile devices are projected to account for about 16% of the total holiday shopping volume this year, a 15% increase compared to 2012. Businesses who have a mobile ecommerce solution already in place will likely win big this year. If your site is not optimized for mobile shopping yet, make sure to start the process now so you can be ready for the mobile commerce onslaught in 2014.
During the upcoming holiday season, businesses with strong eCommerce capabilities are likely to win big. Others should take note now, invest time in learning their customers’ needs, and turn to experts for advice on how to translate their insights into measurable eCommerce gains, come the next holiday period.

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what is E-Commerce ?

Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, is a type of industry where the buying and selling of products or services is conducted over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds tranfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at one point in the transaction's life-cycle, although it may encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices social media, and telephones as well.
Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of business transactions. This is an effective and efficient way of communicating within an organization and one of the most effective and useful ways of conducting business.
E-commerce can be divided into:

• E-tailing or "virtual storefronts" on websites with online catalogs, sometimes gathered into a "virtual mall"
• Buying or Selling on various websites and/or online marketplaces
• The gathering and use of demographic data through Web contacts and social media
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), the business-to-business exchange of data
• E-mail and fax and their use as media for reaching prospective and established customers (for example, with newsletters)
• Business-to-business buying and selling
• The security of business transaction

Types of e-commerce

The major different types of e-commerce are:

• Business-to-Business (B2B):

B2B e-commerce is simply defined as e-commerce between companies. This is the type of e-commerce that deals with relationships between and among businesses. About 80% of e-commerce is of this type, and most experts predict that B2B e-commerce will continue to grow faster than the B2C segment. The B2B market has two primary components: e-frastructure and e-markets.

• Business-to-Consumer (B2C):

Business-to-consumer e-commerce, or commerce between companies and consumers, involves customers gathering information; purchasing physical goods (i.e., tangibles such as books or consumer products) or information goods (or goods of electronic material or digitized content, such as software, or e-books); and, for information goods, receiving products over an electronic network. It is the second largest and the earliest form of e-commerce.

• Business-to-Government (B2G):

Business-to-government e-commerce or B2G is generally defined as commerce between companies and the public sector. It refers to the use of the Internet for public procurement, licensing procedures, and other government-related operations. This kind of e-commerce has two features: first, the public sector assumes a pilot/leading role in establishing e-commerce; and second, it is assumed that the public sector has the greatest need for making its procurement system more effective. Web-based purchasing policies increase the transparency of the procurement process (and reduces the risk of irregularities). To date, however, the size of the B2G e-commerce market as a component of total e-commerce is insignificant, as government e-procurement systems remain undeveloped.

• Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C):

Consumer-to-consumer e-commerce or C2C is simply commerce between private individuals or consumers. This type of e-commerce is characterized by the growth of electronic marketplaces and online auctions, particularly in vertical industries where firms/businesses can bid for what they want from among multiple suppliers. It perhaps has the greatest potential for developing new markets.

• Mobile Commerce (m-commerce):

M-commerce (mobile commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services through wireless technology-i.e., handheld devices such as cellular telephones and personal digital assistants (PDAs). Japan is seen as a global leader in m-commerce. As content delivery over wireless devices becomes faster, more secure, and scalable, some believe that m-commerce will surpass wireline e-commerce as the method of choice for digital commerce transactions. This may well be true for the Asia-Pacific where there are more mobile phone users than there are Internet users.

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