2022 Winter ECHO LIVING magazine

P R OPERT Y / HO ME / L IVING

SUPPORT SERVICEs

LIVING echorealty doing property differently

FREE access to a range of support services that can help you improve your life.

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KEEPING WARM

Tips on staying warm without running up huge bills.

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SUBURB PROFILE Learn more about Sydney Olympic Park and why it’s a great suburb for young professionals!

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NEW TENANT WEBSITE Being a tenant of EchoRealty has never been easier!

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ECHO LIVING MAGAZINE / ECHOREALTY HIA INDUSTRY AWARD

a division of Evolve Housing

2022 | WINTER

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ECHO LIVING

LIVING ECHOREALTY magazine

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CONTENT

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Bringing affordable housing EchoRealty providing high-quality affordable properties for all Australians.

New tenant website Designed with a focus on ease of use and accessibility for tenants.

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Support Services Free access to a range of support services that can help you improve your life.

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Keep warm Keep warm without racking up a huge electricity bill this winter.

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Hearty vegetable soup A recipe for a hearty vegetable soup with chickpeas.

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Getting To Know Your Agent An interview with Carol Wong, our Senior Property Manager.

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Suburb Profile Insights about Sydney Olympic Park.

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Property listings See a sample of our available properties.

Bringing affordable housing to all Australians EchoRealty’s purpose is to provide high-quality affordable properties for all Australians. Equipped with over 75 years of property expertise, our team is passionate about helping our clients achieve their property goals, whether it be through renting, developing or investing.

Our unmatched customer care is embodied by respect, and our team believe that everyone deserves safe, stable and secure housing.

We will work tirelessly to ensure our client’s property experience is as smooth, transparent and successful as possible.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT EchoRealty acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land where we deliver our housing and services.

We acknowledge and pay our respects to all Elders past, present and future.

We welcome all First Nations People to our services, as we walk together towards reconciliation.

Artwork “Land, River, Home”

by Sal Lavallee.

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New Tenant Website Being a tenant of EchoRealty has never been easier!

Reporting repairs to your landlord can be a struggle, but not for EchoRealty tenants, thanks to a new website upgrade that makes interacting with us easy.

Just like the properties we manage, our new website is both modern and bright, setting a new standard in web design and offering the best browsing experience for our tenants and clients alike.

Our new website was designed with a focus on ease of use and accessibility for tenants who are now able to search for available properties, report repairs through their tenant portal and connect with our team at EchoRealty seamlessly. Other tenant-friendly additions include online contact forms, up-to-date news feature articles and access to the latest editions of our EchoLIVING Magazine!

Our most exciting feature is the ability to search for rental properties across multiple states. To view properties available at various locations, visit your state’s link:

www.echorealty.com.au www.echorealty.com.au/vic www.echorealty.com.au/act The website also incorporates major changes to user experience with a more intuitive navigation and layout. We have also adopted new accessibility features including a text size adjuster, a translate button (with more than 100 language options), high contrast tools and URL adjusters.

These features were designed specifically with EchoRealty’s diverse tenant profile in mind and aims to cater to people of all abilities and needs, allowing them equal access to information.

We hope you love using our new website changes and find the tenant portal easy to navigate!

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ECHO LIVING

Energy saving tipS

Keep warm without rack a huge electricity bill th

Support services Did you know that as a tenant of EchoRealty, you have free access to a range of support services that can help you improve your life?

Our partner Evolve Housing has an in-house Support Unit that can provide assistance to you if needed. The Support Unit can help you with things like your finances, physical health, mental health, education, training, employment or social needs.

When you access the Support Unit, a member of the team will meet with you to help you create your own Personal Support Plan based on your needs. They can refer you to specialist support services that can help you (like employment agencies, or mental health services). They will also check in on you every now and then to make sure you’re doing well.

To access this support, just contact your Housing Manager and let them know that you would like to access the Support Unit.

Winter has well and truly set in, and with temperatures plummeting, it’s tempting to crank up the heating to keep your home warm. While heaters and reverse cycle air conditioning will definitely keep you toasty on those cold mornings, they may also lead to financial stress when it’s time to pay the electricity bill. Luckily, there are many tips and tricks you can use to heat your home without using too much power.

Harness natural heat sources The sun is a great, free source of warmth that you can take advantage of! Don’t forget to open your curtains in the morning to let the sun shine in and warm up your home, then close them in the evening. This reduces condensation on the windows, which can also lower the temperature. Heavy curtains are better, as they prevent heat from escaping your home.

Insulate your home Unless you have carpet, it’s likely that your floor gets cold and affects the temperature in your home. You can prevent this by insulating it with rugs, carpets and other furnishings – they’ll feel nice and warm on your feet, and they may help keep the indoor temperature up. Another good tip is to ensure that there are no gaps in your doors or windows that are letting cool air in, or warm air out. By using door ‘snakes’ and

WINTER SOUP

king up his winter window seals, you can insulate your home and stop draughts.

Warming winter soup INGREDIENTS: • • • • • •

Maximise the effect of your heating When you do need to turn the heating on, be sure to close the doors to any rooms that you aren’t using.

This stops heat moving into unoccupied parts of the home. This will help to keep the energy bill down too.

Be mindful of anything that might be blocking heat from moving around your home. If you use a heater, don’t put your lounge in front of it, or dry your clothes in front of it, as you’ll prevent it from warming the rest of the room.

Don’t turn the heat up too high Resist the temptation to turn the temperature on your heater or air conditioner up too high. Try to use the lowest temperature that feels comfortable. Research has demonstrated that just a one degree reduction in the temperature setting on your heating could reduce your bill by 10 percent.

Think of ways to heat yourself Layer up with jumpers, socks, scarves, long sleeves and blankets to keep your body warm – no electricity required! You can also warm up with hot drinks like tea, or use hot water bottles.

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2 teaspoons oil 1 large brown onion, chopped 2 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp ground paprika 5 cups chopped vegetables (any vegetables will do – feel free to add in whatever you like!)

3 cups vegetable stock 2 cups water 400g can of chopped tomatoes 400g can of chickpeas (drain and rinse prior to using) Half cup of chopped parsley

METHOD: Put your oil into a large saucepan then turn the heat up to medium-high.

When your oil starts to heat up, add in your onion and and stir until clear (this should take a few minutes).

Add spices (turmeric, coriander and cumin) and any harder vegetables that you are using (e.g. potatoes, or carrots). Stir to ensure that everything gets covered by your delicious spices.

Put your stock, water, tomatoes and chickpeas into the saucepan and then bring everything to the boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and let it simmer without a lid for 35–40 minutes.

If you’re using any more tender vegetables (like beans or zucchini), add these in now and let them cook for a few minutes.

Stir in parsley and season with pepper.

Serve up and enjoy!

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ECHO LIVING

Getting To Know Your Agent

Carol Wong ‘Getting to know your agent’ is a segment we are launching to give you some insight into who we are (not only as your property managers!). In this edition, we interview Carol Wong, our Senior Property Manager, someone you may have already chatted to over the phone or met at a recent open home!

A hard-working and loyal professional, Carol has a positive attitude, loves helping her clients and is a great asset to our team!

How long have you been working for EchoRealty?

I have worked with Evolve Housing for over 11 years and joined the EchoRealty team in 2014.

During my time with Evolve (Community Housing Provider and parent company of EchoRealty), I served as a Housing manager, specialising in Supported (traditional) Housing.

This role focused on assisting youth, families in crisis and women fleeing domestic violence. This role taught me many lessons in compassion and relationship management.

In 2014, I moved into my Property Management role at EchoRealty and subsequently became a Senior Property Manager in late 2021.

What were you doing before you came to EchoRealty? And how many people are in your team now?

I was working in the private sector as a Property Manager and currently work alongside 12 members of the EchoRealty team.

a main focus on landlord facing services. My client groups are mostly local councils and government entities with a mixture of private companies, family trusts and individual owners.

My day to day is focused on generating property and profile reports for local councils and government bodies, attending landlord and strata meetings, and regular property updates for landlords.

I enjoy the marketing and promotion of new projects/ property vacancies while also managing any of our resident maintenance and repair requests.

I assist with leasing, routine inspections and general tenancy management (I love talking to residents!) I also cannot forget about rental arrears recovery as well (not my favourite task, but it has to be done!)

How many properties do you manage and in what areas?

I manage around 350 properties across Sydney, including areas such as Parramatta Local Government area (LGA), Willoughby LGA, Bayside LGA, Properties in the Inner west, Cumberland, Penrith LGA, Sutherland Shire LGA and more!

What does a typical day look like for you?

My role is centrally Property Management, with

How many clients do you assist in a day?

7 I assist roughly 20–30 landlords and residents daily through emails, texts, phone calls and zoom meetings.

What kind of impact do you think EchoRealty has on residents?

I’ve been in this industry for a long time and think we have a positive financial and social impact, as well as work-life balance Financially, as residents are able to save money by renting affordable properties to effectively save for the purchase of their own home, and socially as they’re able to enjoy hobbies/travel and extracurricular activities that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford!

Suburb Profile

SYDNEY OLYMPIC PARK

We asked our Property Manager Carol Wong to give us some insights into one of the suburbs she manages properties in! Check out her recommendations below.

What suburb do you manage the most properties in that you love?

Sydney Olympic Park

What would you like residents to know about you?

Any recommendations for cafes or restaurants you’d recommend to clients?

We are a property management team that will not just focus on financial return for landlords, but we are also a team who aim to offer residents a secure, quality, and affordable home that they’ll love.

I would like my residents to know that I’m a property manager that listens to their needs and will provide options and solutions to obstacles they face in leasing and housing.

Mellow Me Café on Australia Avenue! They have an excellent selection on offer for breakfast/ brunch and their lunch is lovely also! I highly recommend their delicious smoothies and when it’s been a grueling day their great freshly roasted coffee hits the spot!

What inspires you?

With regards to work, definitely a satisfied landlord appreciating the service we provide and a happy resident sharing their story of how affordable housing has impacted their lives in a positive way.

Lastly, referrals and reviews from satisfied landlords and residents, recommending our agency to their friends and family!

What do you do in your spare time and what’s your favourite after-hours activity?

I love family time. I like taking my family to fruit picking.

In different fruit seasons, you can pick different types of fruit such as apples, mandarins, peaches and plums, cherries. Many of these fruit farms are in NSW within driving distance. I also like the farm produce such as jam, fruit pie, even ciders.

What household type is the area is good for and what do you like about it?

Sydney Olympic Park is an area perfect for families and young professionals. Families with children of all ages will enjoy the great parklands, cycling paths and sport venues for everyday leisure and enjoyment.

It’s a terrific location for professionals to commute to and from work is within close proximity to Sydney Olympic Park Railway Station and Ferry Wharf. The motorway network such as Homebush Bay Drive and M4 is close by too, which enables a great transport network to business parks including Rhodes and Macquarie Park.

Sydney Olympic Park is also the home to all types of entertainment events such as the Easter Show, Sport Game Finals, weekend markets and more.

Do we have any vacant properties here?

We currently have one vacancy but get in quick!

When there are vacancies, most apartments offer generous layouts and modern designs, suitable for different household types! Keep an eye out for any future properties that might come up in future — you won’t be disappointed!

If you, or a family member or friend, are interested in any of the below properties,

available Properties

please contact us by emailing info@echorealty.com.au. Properties available at time of print. You can find more available properties at: echorealty.com.au

3/27 Hart Drive, Constitution Hill

229/9 Oscar Place, Eastgardens

9/1 Tangerine Street, Fairfield

Unit: 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom Rent: $345 per week Ground level two bedroom apartment featuring a large living and dining area. This property includes built-in wardrobes, a modern bathroom and airconditioning. The kitchen has stone bench tops, a gas stove and an oven. Enjoy the outdoors with your own balcony.

Apartment: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 car space Rent: $396 per week This spacious, modern apartment is available for eligible applicants who are connected to the Bayside local government area only (see webpage for full eligibility details).

It has tiled floors to the living areas, built-in wardrobes in the bedrooms, an internal laundry, gas cooking and dishwasher in kitchen, ducted air conditioning and spacious balconies.

Apartment: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 car space Rent: $352 per week This modern 2 bedroom apartment includes tiled lounge and dining area, 2 bedrooms with built-in wardrobes, and floor to ceiling tiles in bathroom. Kitchen includes stone benchtops, tiled splashback, gas cooktop and stainless steel dishwasher and sink. Other features include an open terrace area, closet storage, split system airconditioning and video intercom.

7/32–34 Lethbridge Ave., Werrington Townhouse: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 car spaces Rent: $425 per week With three bedrooms that have built-in wardrobes, this spacious townhouse is perfect for families. It includes a bathroom, ensuite and an additional toilet, an internal laundry, and large modern kitchen with stone benchtop and gas cooking. Other features include an internal European laundry, large drive through garage, private use courtyard and ducted air conditioning.