Montpelier Street Thomas Street Grange Work Tonight

Montpelier Street Grange/Wilston has approximately 10 gas leaks which we reported this afternoon. The only problem is now they working through the night to fix the problem. Better this than leaking gas however. We do not know if this is due to council work being carried out on Montpelier and Thomas Street intersections or just a coincidence. As the main leak is in front of our house the noise at 11pm is so great I am writing this blog. Have a great night sleep all.

Wilston Norths Junior Cricket Club

Wilston Norths Junior Cricket Club Inc

Wilston Norths Junior Cricket Club Inc is a successful and friendly club with teams in the Under 8 to Under 16 age groups.  During the 2008-2009 season the Club fielded 31 teams.  The Club is affiliated with the Brisbane North Junior Cricket Association Inc (which is a member association of Queensland Junior Cricket Inc). 

Wilston Norths Junior Cricket Club Inc is a junior club associated with the Northern Suburbs District Cricket Club - one of the "premier clubs" in the Queensland Cricket Club Competition.  Northern Suburbs District Cricket Club has produced some of the finest players to represent Queensland and Australia in one day and test cricket competition.  Many fine players have represented the Northern Suburbs District Cricket Club at club and representative level. 

It is not too late to sign-on, just contact our Club Secretary.

President:       Mervyn Buckley

Secretary:    Glyn Netto     Phone: AH 3356 2693          10 Hawdon Street, Wilston

Website:          www.qldcricket.com.au/clubs/wilstonjuniors

Wilston Real Estate Listings

I have found this site http://www.suburbview.com/view/QLD/Wilston/4051 which appears to summarise all listings in the Wilston area with detailed map of where the Wilston listings are located. It even shows breakdown of units, houses and other for quick reference. It seems to be a simple site which could be used in addition to realestate.com.au. It even lists average price for Wilston with click on options for other suburbs such as Grange and surrounding areas.

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Wilston Scouts

The Wilston Scout Group Den is located at the western end of SELLHEIM STREET, GRANGE (beside the Grange Municipal Library - see this map for directions).

If you are between 6 and 25 years of age, see why you should join Scouts!
Contact Wilston Scout Group leader, Jan Hawkins, for more details.

Wilston Scouts Queensland website is http://wilston.scoutsqld.com.au

Wilston Village Serendipity

Jules and Sally have apparently sold Serendipity around July 2009 with Sally’s first baby due soon. Just when you wondered where do I get a great coffee in Wilston, a contender has emerged in Days Road Grange. Beside Go Gecko Real Estate and 3 shops down from The Ironing Shop in Days Road Grange a new coffee shop has opened. It is not a restaurant or cafe with coffee, it is a true coffee shop starting to sell food and the difference shows.

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Wilston Grange Real Estate Agents

Wilston/Grange has many agents proclaiming to be experts in the area. The main ones with offices in the area are Belle Property, Ray White Wilston, Ray Green and Go Gecko. Place Estate Agents at Newmarket, REMAX, Ray White Alderley, Ray White Lutwyche, LJ Hooker Lutwyche and Churchills all claim to be local real estate experts. All of these offices can make claim to exceptional sales over the last decade. REMAX which was based at Windsor appears to have been closed down. Liz Fell I have not personally seen since it’s closure and the the other prominent agent at REMAX, Simone Weigall, has turned up at Place with Mario Sultana. Mario Sultana was previously Harcourts based at Kelvin Grove.

I have personally had dealings with all the above offices over the last 10 years and the results in my view are very mixed.

Ask any agent your are considering for names and phone numbers of the last few sales/listings they have had and phone the vendors to ask about the process and their professionalism during the campaign. Just because an agent may have a great profile and numerous bus stop advertisements it does not mean they are a great agent. It also does not mean a person will list with them ever again. You need to ask externally before you make a decision and never be pressured to sign a sole agency at your first meeting.

We are also wary of in-house finance mortgage broker services claiming to be internal experts. Ray White have been great marketers of this with The Loan Market. They appear to be a separate mortgage broker but are Ray White’s finance arm. In house finance in our view may have a bias towards the agent. Look for an independent mortgage broker in the area prior to signing a contract – http://www.nfc.com.au/ and http://www.wilstongrange.com/2009/09/mortgage-broker-wilston-grange.html

Mortgage Broker Wilston Grange

NFC (National Finance Corporation) http://www.nfc.com.au are your local mortgage brokers and finance brokers. We specialise in mortgage loans (home loans, investment loans and lo doc loans) and loans for motor vehicles (leasing and chattel finance), business equipment, commercial and development finance. We are conveniently based in Montpelier Street Wilston/Grange just near the corner of Thomas and Montpelier Street Grange. Office number is 07 3356 8132 and postal address is PO Box 312 Grange 4051.

Not all mortgage brokers doing home loans are all the same…..ask your broker if they are in the elite group of the following -

CBA (Commonwealth Bank) Diamond Brokers – initial intake early 2009 was 120 (approximate) brokers out of 9000 nationally

Westpac Advantage Plus Brokers

St George Gold Brokers

NAB/Homeside 4 Star Brokers

RAMS  - Priority Processing from 15th August 2009

In addition to the above Warren Schrodter and National Finance Corporation have been involved in the following -

Advisor and trainer to the Reno Kings finance/mortgage broking division Finding Finance

Presenter to the Reno Kings “Developing for Profit” workshop in Brisbane advising on financing requirements for non-residential developments

Training of Mortgage Brokers entering the mortgage and finance industry

Educating thousands of investors from Mackay to Melbourne on investment structuring through financing strategies

Note that in August 2009, the MFAA (Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia) culled 1500 brokers nationally for not fulfilling minimum education requirements. Demand to see MFAA Accreditation from your mortgage broker. The MFAA will now appear to be the leading body in new licensing for mortgage brokers due to commence in 2010. The FBAA  (Finance Brokers Association of Australia) seem to have lost the race to truly govern the mortgage broker industry in our view.

Westpac and Commonwealth Bank have also culled mortgage brokers who have not met minimum volume requirements. If you cannot do a few loans a year with Westpac or Commonwealth Bank then you probably have to question why you are a mortgage broker. With the changes to bank policy since early 2009, the major banks like Westpac and Commonwealth Bank have dramatically increased market share. To a lesser extent, ANZ and NAB/Homeside seem to have also increased market share. The major 4 banks now apparently equate for over over 90% of the home loan market in Australia. CBA and Westpac allegedly account for over 70% of the home loans market nationally in Australia. For more bank policy changes visit http://mortgagebroker.bigblog.com.au.

Call NFC today and discover the difference on 3356 8132 or visit us on-line at http://www.nfc.com.au.

Wilston State School Amateur Swim Club

Wilston State School Amateur Swim Club may be found at the following address - http://www.wilstonswim.org.au and normally meet on a Friday night. The pool is located on the corner of Thomas Street and Primrose Street Grange with entry through Thomas Street.

This is the same pool that DAT Racing (Dan Atkins) use as their training pool - DAT Racing - Dan Atkins Training.

Wilston State School

Wilston State School is in Primrose Street Grange. The school has a strict catchment area just like Ascot State School. The catchment area has been changed over recent years and you need to check if buying property in the area as not all houses in Wilston are in the catchment area. You can check catchment area at http://education.qld.gov.au/schools/catchment/wilston-ss.html

General information on the Wilston State School may be found at http://wilstonss.eq.edu.au and their phone number is 07 3552 8444.

Grange Thistle Soccer Club

Grange Thistle Soccer Club is located at Lanham Park Prince Street Grange and their website is - http://www.grangethistlesc.com.au

There seems to be great support for Grange Thistle Soccer Club locally with many students from Wilston State Primary School and St Columba’s Wilston members of the club.