From theadviser.com.au

Mortgage Brokers have proven themselves to be the first port of call for borrowers seeking mortgage advice.

According to Mortgage Choice’s 2010 First Home Buyer survey, 24 per cent of first home buyers would seek out a mortgage broker first for advice on their home loan, followed by their parents at 22 per cent.

Mortgage Choice senior corporate affairs manager Kristy Sheppard said the desire to use a mortgage broker as a first point of contact was a telling sign that mortgage brokers were perceived by property buyers to be professional and a valuable information source.

“It is terrific to see today’s first homebuyers trust and value the guidance of their mortgage broker. Parents can be a good starting point for general questions about the property purchase process but the mortgage market is constantly changing so it’s crucial to get up to date information,” Ms Sheppard said.

“A reputable mortgage broker can help borrowers navigate the mortgage minefield and find a loan tailored to their situation, prepare for lending requirements, process their loan application and advise of any concessions that may be available. They’ll then help them with any changes, questions or home loan ‘health checks’ in the future.

“Well informed borrowers can make the most of their circumstances by utilising every resource available, then possibly enter the market sooner using strategies such as saving a larger deposit, preparing for rate rises sooner and sharing the responsibility of home ownership.”

It is with great pleasure that we invite you all to The MyStery Ball 2010. TheMystery.org.au

Date: Saturday 1st May 2010
Venue: GPO, 1 Martin Place, Sydney
Time: 7:30pm to midnight and then kicking on to the afterparty
Theme/ dress code: It’s a masquerade ball but you can wear anything you like as long as you wear a mask of some sort. We had it all in 2008 - from people in dinner suits to Spiderman, Captain Jack Sparrow and dozens in full Venetian get-up so the idea is to get dressed up and wear a mask.

The 2008 Mystery Ball was a stunning success - surpassing our wildest expectations in terms of funds raised for F5m and numbers attending the event. This year is all about going bigger and better.

If you are overseas or you are unable to attend the Ball for any reason, we’d still love for you to make a donation as we need to raise as much as possible for F5m.

What to do now?
Check out the website, check out the Ball details, Buy your tickets and then get on email/ twitter/ facebook, whatever it takes - get as many of your mates to come along as you can. Bring your family along, your teammates, your colleagues at work etc. Our priority is to get as many people to the event as possible and give you all an amazing night. If you buy more than 10 tickets your name goes into a prize draw so there’s a good incentive for you.

Did you know that Lady Finger bananas spend 14 months hanging out on their tree, way more than Cavendish bananas which only spend 9? And that this allows more time for the nutrients to develop, so they provide more bang per mouthful? and that they are straight, so they are great for lunch boxes, and smaller, so they suit little kids better? And that they have a higher starch content, so they’re only really ripe once they’re kind of brown? That’s when they’re perfect to eat.

No nor did Red Ark till we were briefed to develop a campaign to let more people know how awesome Lady Finger bananas are.

We love our work. Here’s cheers.

Is it a sign of the times? Just back from Byron Bay and the wicked vans seem to be dying out either from the old age of the vans themselves or because travellers are getting softer. Grunge is going and in its place are smart new Jucy vans buzzing around. Would love to know if the demographics have changed or the psychographics. Any ideas? Will research and report back if I have anything useful to tell.

Back in the big league

New emphasis … the scene at Osso Bar and Restaurant.
Photo: James Alcock

We are delighted that the MIssion Australia Inner City Housing Project got this fantastic story in today’s Telegraph. It highlights the incredible difference they are making for their clients - formerly homeless people with mental issues. Did you know it costs $900 a night to keep a mentally ill patient in a hospital bed - and just $35 a night to house someone properly in an ICHP house? Plus they get help, support and friendship every day from the ICHP counsellors, helping them to get their lives back to normal.

Read about it here……..

The lucky ones … Tim and Oliver on the front porch of their Surry Hills terrace / Pic: Justin lloyd Source: The Daily Telegraph

IT is a double-storey terrace, like many others on inner city streets. It looks like any share house occupied by three men. Yet what the facade doesn’t reveal are the hardships of these men who only months ago yearned to have four walls and a roof - a place to call home.

This is a house full of hope, spirit and mateship. There is nothing fancy, just the bare minimum - like the men who live there. How they came to be in the house is a stroke of luck.

All were suffering from mental illness, desperate and in serious danger of hurting themselves or others.

They had been living on the streets, sleeping on mates’ couches until they had worn their welcome out.

In a mental psychosis, each landed at St Vincent’s Hospital emergency department where, instead of turning them away to join the vicious cycle of crisis accommodation, hospital psych wards and homelessness, they were referred to a housing program.

Run by Mission Australia, The Inner City Housing Program has six properties around the city.

There are 27,000 homeless in NSW. But the program can only help 27 a year.

Oliver is one of the lucky ones. A year ago, the 38-year-old was calling the streets of Woolloomooloo home.

Suffering a mental illness and with drug and alcohol addictions, Oliver had nowhere to turn.

“I had been living down at Woolloomooloo with about 60 others and it was great, especially in summer,” he said. “Then one day I looked in the mirror. I hadn’t shaved for six months. My face was affected by the drugs and I thought ‘Wow, you have to do something about this’.”

In his Surry Hills terrace, shaven, clothed and owning an X-Box, Oliver credits the program for saving his life.

While at the house, he has weekly counselling and has been placed on medication. A life skills coach visits the men to teach cooking, shopping and how to fill out forms.

Raised in a wealthy family, Oliver had a privileged life growing up in Balmain.

The divorce of his parents and the death of his mother set him on the path of drugs and alcohol.

He is unlike his flatmate Tim, who at 41 found himself homeless.

Born in the UK and university-educated, Tim moved to Sydney after falling in love with an Australian woman 10 years ago.

But the relationship disintegrated and for Tim, who had always suffered depression and anxiety, the situation became life or death. With no friends or family to lean on, he found himself at St Vincent’s begging for help.

Neither own too much but the house comes with sheets, towels and utensils for a small fee.

Since they moved in, Tim has found part-time work and Oliver has taken up playing the guitar again and goes busking, earning extra cash.

In time, both hope to move out and live with other people, find full-time work and start afresh.

Liz Rowell and George Clooney

Should be with us all today….. well actually it’s Red Ark website 2.1 (I hate to write 2.0) now, with 2.2 expected in the next few days. Hooray. In the meantime, here’s my compatibility check with George Clooney

Wow that’s a planning director who’s really driving some insights…..

“And Scott Davis, strategy planning director at Leo Burnett said that the secret of writing a winning entry was in making a simple argument, telling a straightfoward tale and putting it in plain language, which he dubbed “wifey speak”.
He said: “You’ve got to use normal language – I call it wifey speak.”

You see we “wifeys” don’t understand complex language or marketing terms.

I am an ANZ customer - yes I get around - and I spend my time emailing the CEO and the head of customer service about their $45 “honour” fees. One of my emails to them was even headed “you don’t live in my world”. Do ANZ and their agency really think consumers will be fooled by any of this?

Oh and I noticed when I was in NAB the other day - yes I really do get around - that the signs say LISTENERS (and tellers too). Mate that’s marketing genius. Does that make anyone else want to throw up? Sorry to be negative in this Year of the Tiger but really.

The Red Ark blog has been off the air for some time but we’re back with all guns blazing in 2010. We’re about to launch a fantastic new campaign for Wyeth Nutrition (you’ll see the launch TVC if you’re at the Australian Open) and we have lots and lots of fun to look forward to. More follows shortly. Chardonnay is celebrating already