Airlines are getting rid of business class suites to make way for more premium economy.That’s according to Bloomberg, who report airlines are ripping out business class to make space for a super profitable “middle class” of seat – premium economy.They cited the pandemic as one of the reasons airlines are opting to invest more in premium economy rather than business, explaining that with corporate travel having been “whacked” carriers need another way to make money.While many tourists are keen to avoid cattle class, most people can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars for an expansive suite every time they go on holiday.Enter: premium economy. The new home for a burgeoning number of leisure travellers.Juha Jarvinen, chief commercial officer at Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd, told Bloomberg: “People are desperate to take charge of their lives now, and airlines can no longer force them into just one or two categories.”Lufthansa Technik (German airline Lufthansa’s maintanence and repair group), told Bloomberg some Asia-based airlines had enquired about getting rid of business class entirely, so profitable was premium econonomy (40% more profitable per square foot, according to some metrics).In America, the big three carriers (American, United, and Delta) are all putting in premium-economy cabins in their three aisle planes.As for the Middle East, Emirates in September announced: “We will be receiving three more A380 aircraft from Airbus this year, with our last A380 on order scheduled to join our fleet in November.”Crucially: “All three new A380s will be fitted out with our popular Premium Economy cabin along with our latest A380 cabin interiors.”

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A post shared by Emirates (@emirates)

Finnair, too, is jumping on the bandwagon, adding premium economy to all 27 of its widebody planes (per Bloomberg’s report).Singapore Airlines and British Airways already had premium economy before The Bat Kiss swept the world in 2020.

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A post shared by Robert Wyld (@the_wyld_traveller)

As for whether premium economy is worth it; consider the following.Per Skyscanner, “There is quite a big difference between economy and premium economy, primarily in terms of space. Generally speaking, airlines give you roughly 12-18cm (5-7in) extra legroom space, 3-5cm (1-2in) extra seat-width space, and 5-7cm (2-3in) extra seat reclining space in premium economy seats.”“If you like to stretch out your legs (or are just tall) and hate fighting for elbow space, you’ll find upgrading will afford you more comfort in-flight.”Other benefits include better meals and snacks, as well as (depending on the airline) lounge access and free drinks.Food for thought.

Read Next

• These Premium Economy Seats Are Leading The Charge In The Sky

The post Airlines Ditching Business Class To Make Way For ‘Middle Class’ Money-Spinner appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Australia swings above its weight in various avenues: coffee culture, cool neighbourhoods, luxury watch-related political scandals…Another field in which we’ve built up a reputation for excellence is in gin making. Australia has long been recognised as a great wine producer, but Australian spirits have also started to get international props.When it comes to drinking the stuff though, many of us still have a thing or ten to learn.RELATED: The ‘Naive’ Alcohol Myth Europeans Wish Australians Would Stop SpoutingOn that note, allow us to share a simple ice hack that could take your next gin experience to another level.That tip? Don’t settle for the half frozen little cubes in your freezer. Seek out big ones – the larger the better. This, Trish Brew, 2018 Australian Bartender Bar Manager of the Year and Fever-Tree Brand Ambassador, told DMARGE is crucial to your G&T.Why? Because “the larger the ice cubes the slower the dilution of your drink.” Sold? Ok, now all you have to do is make it happen.To make “big clear ice cubes” at home, Trish recommends you get a 5L eski, fill it with cold tap water and leave it in your freezer with the top off for 3 days. Then, “after 3 days take it out and leave it on the counter for an hour so that it slightly defrosts.”“Bang it out on the bench. 1/2+ will, be crystal clear and free of impurities the remainder can be cut off and discarded. Cut the clear half down to appropriate size with a butcher’s cleaver and a hammer, or any powertools you have available. Mind the fingers!”

Joseph Judd, Co-Founder and Head of Marketing at Peddlers Gin co. also told DMARGE using big chunks of ice can be crucial to a top notch gin.“It depends on the cocktail, but for a classic G&T we love building out a long glass or goblet with large chunks of ice,” he said. Then when it comes to gin straight, he said it’s hard to go wrong: “Gin straight is essentially a classic James Bond martini, so you can’t go too wrong.”“It also cuts out the sugar from the tonic. The colder the better – on the rocks, or ice cold, a splash of dry vermouth and an olive.”Ross Lusted, Owner and Head Chef of Crown Sydney’s Woodcut and Hickory Bar, too, told us ice is real important.“Ice is equally important [as tonic] in making a great drink,” Ross told DMARGE. “Using filtered water is critical to the process, to eliminate adding any unwanted flavours that can change an exceptional drink.”“The size of the cube is also important – the smaller the cube, the quicker it melts, diluting the drink and changing the flavour. At Woodcut we use ice cut into 40mm² cubes and made with pristine Tasmanian water – the perfect ice for spirits.”On drinking gin straight he said: “Drinking gin straight is the best way to taste the full array of botanicals. It’s best served on ice, with a garnish inspired by the botanicals itself – citrus is always a winner, but look for unique ingredients that might be included in the gin itself like herbs or spices.”We’ll drink to that.

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• The ‘Evolved’ American Alcohol Trend About To Blow Up In Australia
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The post This Clever Ice Tip Will Take Your Gin To Another Level appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

They say money can’t buy you happiness (a claim many, we imagine, are keen to test). But that very statement could be coming true for China’s richest, following a new fund to be introduced by the country’s president Xi Jinping, which billionaires are being encouraged to contribute towards.According to the ABC, President Jinping wants to introduce new laws that will see China’s most rich and powerful part ways with some of their wealth, while also allowing those at the bottom of the money ladder to raise their fortunes, in what is known as a plan to achieve “common property.”Since Jinping’s statements were first made clear on August 17th 2021, some of the country’s most profitable companies have already begun donating large chunks of their wealth – with figures being in the billions of dollars – to worthwhile causes.Quartz adds that the move came following the revelation: “China’s richest 20% had 10 times more disposable income than the bottom 20%.” The lack of money among China’s working class is also said to be contributing to couples being unwilling to have more children, since they won’t be able to afford to look after, and educate them.China has been known to instil a strict one child per family policy, however that has now been scrapped. According to another ABC article, this has resulted in a rapidly raging population, with not enough youngsters to take over.It’s not yet clear if President Jinping plans to impose higher tax rates, or simply encourage the most profitable companies to pledge portions of their wealth to more social causes. As Quartz notes, China already has a relatively high tax rate for its wealthy population of 45% for those who earn more than 960,000 Chinese Yuan (US$148,850/AU$203,856, at time of writing).

Raising these tax rates will no doubt be met with some serious protest.Not everyone disaproves, however. Alicia García-Herrero, chief economist at French investment bank Natixis, told the ABC, “I actually think what China is trying to do, in itself, is not a bad idea.”“Rather than oblige companies to donate, just increase their taxes then redistribute, especially since China’s effective tax rate is very low. The key here is, companies and people need to know what to expect.”While the term ‘common prosperity’ sounds self-explanatory, it could be anything but. As ABC relates, “‘Common prosperity’ is quite a nebulous concept which hasn’t been defined exhaustively. The government said it involves affluence being ‘shared by everyone’ — not just materially, but also in ‘cultural terms’, according to a summary of Xi’s mid-August meeting, by China’s press agency Xinhua.”The term itself actually dates (semantically) back to the 1950s and the much feared Mao era (a time when China was a lot poorer and a lot more socialist).According to Brookings.edu, “The concept of ‘common prosperity’ has deep roots in the Chinese Communist Party. Party mouthpiece People’s Daily first used the term in a headline on December 12, 1953, as part of an effort to bolster the case for socialism over capitalism.”Yun Jiang, editor of the Australian National University’s China Story blog, is quoted by the ABC as saying, “The current inequality in China is a lot worse than in many capitalist countries, even though China is ostensibly a socialist country that is working towards communism.”“Such visible ‘hyper inequality’ can lead to social unrest. And for the Chinese government, social stability is very important.”For now, President Jinping plans to go ahead with the Robin Hood esque scheme.Whether other countries will take note (to decide whether they want to instil similar policies) remains to be seen.While history suggests you can’t have your utopia and eat it too, we certainly wouldn’t mind a free monetary pay out every now and then.

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The post Billionaires Beware: China Cracking Down On ‘Excessive Income’ appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

If you haven’t been stung with an excess baggage fee once in your life, are you even a traveller?

Hold that thought for a moment because it may now be irrelevant  – traveller and TikTok user Anya Lakovlieva has just shared a genius travel hack which could save your bacon the next time you find yourself rummaging through your suitcase and trying to decide which sweater to throw away at the departure gate.

Anya shows travellers how they can smuggle extra clothes onto the plane, exploiting a ‘grey area’ which flight attendants and airport staff could technically pull you up on, but rarely pay attention to.

Watch Anya’s video below, to see how it’s done.

“Best travel hack ever!!! Pillow flies for free.”

“Nobody’s going to know,” the video sound track gloats. “How would they know?”

The video shows Anya put her extra clothes into a pillow case, which she takes on the plane in much the same laissez faire way one would a neck pillow. Though this, like everything else, gets scanned at security, once you get to the boarding area it is unlikely flight attendants would bother weighing it (meanwhile at security their concern is dangerous objects, not weight).

And there you have it – a simple yet genius way to carry more clothes onto a plane should you ever need to.

One TikTok user, PILOTBABA, joked in the comments: “So I’m a pilot I will let them know for sure jk lol we don’t care if people do all this Im a pilot we allow this for sure there is noooo problem.”

Another complained: “Now everyone will know. By 2022 airlines will be charging everyone to take pillows on board.”

Another user said: “How would they know? I call it an x-ray.”

To which others pointed out: “Security doesn’t care what you take in. And they usually don’t check your pillowcase when you get on a plane.”

Another commenter went another level of evil genius, writing: “Put the clothing in a vacuum sealed bag and get double in that pillow.”

Another, who claimed to be a flight attendant, wrote: “We don’t mind and yes, we do know. We always have. Enjoy your flight.”

A smart hack to try, if you dare, in 2022.

Read Next

• Flight Attendant Reveals Travel Hack To Travel The World For Free
• A Beginner’s Guide To Travel Hacking: Level 2

The post This Genius ‘Pillow Hack’ Lets You Sneak Extra Luggage On A Plane appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

We have been raised to believe that stress is bad for us, since it can cause us to feel anxious or depressed, and we’re often told we’d do well to minimise the amount of stress we experience in our lives. Unfortunately, completely eradicating stress is near-on impossible, since we experience it almost everyday, sometimes even without realising. 

However, some stress can actually be good for you, since in every situation stress enters our lives, it causes the fight or flight response from our bodies. Sometimes, this ‘good’ or ‘natural’ stress is known as acute stress, named so because it doesn’t tend to last very long, ranging from a few hours to maybe a couple of days. Chronic stress, on the other hand, is the ‘bad’ type of stress that we do want to avoid, because, according to VeryWellMind.com, it “is a prolonged and constant feeling of stress that can negatively affect your health if it goes untreated.”

So, since we’re only here to talk about the good stuff and leave you feeling positive, we’re going to focus on acute stress and its potential benefits. One man who wants to encourage us to experience acute stress is Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor. In a recent Tweet, picked up by biohacker Dave Asprey, Conor says, “Exposure to acute stressors daily will make you infinitely stronger!”

Morning coffee
Exposure to acute stressors daily will make you infinitely stronger!
Acute Stressors – coffee. Sunshine. Exercise. Sauna. Ice water immersion. Fasting.
Sprinkle some of this into your life and voila! – you are now @McGregorFast! pic.twitter.com/xaZaMqBW9L

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) October 5, 2021

How so? You may ask. 

Acute stressors are ones that inhibit a short burst of adrenaline, and it can be something mild “like an alarm clock going off, a new assignment at work, or even a phone call that needs to be answered when you’re relaxing on the couch and your phone is across the room,” according to VeryWellMind.

In Conor’s case, his examples of beneficial acute stressors include, “coffee. Sunshine. Exercise. Sauna. Ice water immersion. Fasting.”

“Sprinkle some of this into your life and voila!”

These are great examples of acute stressors because when we expose our body to any of them, our body is challenged. VeryWellMind adds exactly what happens during an episode of acute stress:

“During an acute stress response, the autonomic nervous system is activated and the body experiences increased levels of cortisol, adrenaline and other hormones that produce an increased heart rate, quickened breathing rate, and higher blood pressure.”

Ice water immersion is a perfect example of an activity we don’t really want to do, and one we won’t really enjoy – for the first few minutes, at least – but something that brings numerous benefits. Joe Rogan is a keen advocate of cold water therapy, along with Wim Hof and even Dan Bilzerian. Ice baths and even cold showers can help boost muscle recovery, immunity, circulation, alertness and even aid with depression.

Sunshine (especially early in the morning) and exercise are both proven to benefit our circadian rhythm and overall health, respectively, and fasting can help you to both build muscle and even prevent heart disease. 

If you’re still not convinced, a 2013 study conducted by researchers of the University of California, Berkeley, examined the effects of acute stressors on rats. The research team ultimately found, “…that significant, but brief stressful events caused stem cells in their brains to proliferate into new nerve cells that, when mature two weeks later, improved the rats’ mental performance.”

To obtain their findings, the research team left rats in their cage for a few hours, causing an acute stress response, since they had nowhere else to go, but would have wanted to experience some freedom. 

“This led to stress hormone (corticosterone) – a hormone similar to cortisol in humans – levels as high as those from chronic stress, though for only a few hours. The stress doubled the proliferation of new brain cells in the hippocampus, specifically in the dorsal dentate gyrus.”

UC Berkeley post-doctoral fellow Elizabeth Kirby; “discovered that the stressed rats performed better on a memory test two weeks after the stressful event, but not two days after the event. Using special cell labelling techniques, the researchers established that the new nerve cells triggered by the acute stress were the same ones involved in learning new tasks two weeks later.”

While you may initially be skeptical to the idea that acute stress can be good for you, because you don’t see or feel immediate benefits, over time, the brain can mature and produce new cells. Consequently, the UC Berkeley team added that exposure to prolonged chronic stress, “demonstrates elevated levels of glucocorticoid stress hormones, which suppresses the production of new neurons in the hippocampus, impairing memory.”

 So, even if you don’t necessarily agree or encourage Conor McGregor’s lavish lifestyle, the man can indeed have some words of wisdom. Try adding some his suggestions into your daily routine and notice how you feel after a few weeks. 

The results may surprise you. 

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The post 6 Things Conor McGregor Claims Will Make You Infinitely Stronger appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Working out and getting yourself fit doesn’t have to be hard. But we’re well aware that the mere thought of going to a gym in the hope of seeing results is one that is often met with negativity. “What’s the point?”, “I’m not strong enough”; “I haven’t seen results before” are just some of the phrases many of us have likely muttered.

Indeed, if you’re a complete novice in the fitness game, knowing which workouts and exercises to perform can be more confusing than figuring out the meaning of life. Thanks to the internet, however, information is right at your fingertips. Although you shouldn’t trust everyone with 100k followers and a shiny set of abs, you only need to jump onto platforms such as Instagram to find genuinely good content and industry figures to follow (just do so discerningly, or allow us to bring you good recommendations).

On that note: you’ll soon find that there are plenty of easy-to-do workouts that will help you obtain the results you crave.

Case in point: this simple circuit breaker workout recently posted by Josh Goldberg (@bodybyberg). It involves three movements and a pair of dumbbells. What could be simpler?

Urging anyone who wants to try the workout to complete “6 rounds with as little rest as possible in between sets,” Josh’s workout doesn’t even require you to have a huge amount of space, so you can easily perform it in your garden, living room or another spare room in your house.

Check out this circuit breaker workout in the video below.

Josh’s circuit breaker workout comprises the following movements:

1. Renegade Rows x 15: Starting in a standing position with a dumbbell in each hand down by your sides, drop down into a push-up position. Place the dumbbells on the floor (still in your hands) slightly wider than hip-width apart, and perform a push-up. At the top of the push-up, row each dumbbell up towards your hip, alternating your arms, so that one arm (and one dumbbell) stays on the floor. Once you’ve completed a row with each arm, jump back up to standing to complete one rep.
2. Squat with Lateral & Front Raises x 20: Standing with a dumbbell in each hand down by your sides, perform a squat move – a good squat should see you move as if you were going to sit down on a chair, i.e. push your bum out first and aim to keep your knees from going too far over your toes. Once back standing again, perform a lateral raise: lift your arms up and out to the sides (you can have a slight bend in the elbow) ensuring that your hands don’t go above shoulder height. Next, lift both arms out in front of you to perform a front raises, again, making sure your hands don’t go above shoulder height. Complete all three for one rep.
3. Weighted Reverse Crunch x 10: A real core blaster, this move requires you to lie down on the floor, but raise your legs and upper body off the ground. Holding both dumbbells with your arms at right angles, bring your legs towards your body and aim to bring your upper body forward to meet them.

Easy to follow, but admittedly not incredibly easy to complete six rounds of, start with a light weight dumbbell to perform this for the first few times. You can even try it without any weight to begin with if you’re a complete newbie.

Aim to complete this circuit breaker two or three times a week, and you’ll soon be able to increase the weight and maximise your gains.

Read Next

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The post This Two Dumbbell ‘Circuit Breaker’ Workout Will Absolutely Destroy You appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Working out and getting yourself fit doesn’t have to be hard. But we’re well aware that the mere thought of going to a gym in the hope of seeing results is one that is often met with negativity. “What’s the point?”, “I’m not strong enough”; “I haven’t seen results before” are just some of the phrases many of us have likely muttered.

Indeed, if you’re a complete novice in the fitness game, knowing which workouts and exercises to perform can be more confusing than figuring out the meaning of life. Thanks to the internet, however, information is right at your fingertips. Although you shouldn’t trust everyone with 100k followers and a shiny set of abs, you only need to jump onto platforms such as Instagram to find genuinely good content and industry figures to follow (just do so discerningly, or allow us to bring you good recommendations).

On that note: you’ll soon find that there are plenty of easy-to-do workouts that will help you obtain the results you crave.

Case in point: this simple circuit breaker workout recently posted by Josh Goldberg (@bodybyberg). It involves three movements and a pair of dumbbells. What could be simpler?

Urging anyone who wants to try the workout to complete “6 rounds with as little rest as possible in between sets,” Josh’s workout doesn’t even require you to have a huge amount of space, so you can easily perform it in your garden, living room or another spare room in your house.

Check out this circuit breaker workout in the video below.

Josh’s circuit breaker workout comprises the following movements:

1. Renegade Rows x 15: Starting in a standing position with a dumbbell in each hand down by your sides, drop down into a push-up position. Place the dumbbells on the floor (still in your hands) slightly wider than hip-width apart, and perform a push-up. At the top of the push-up, row each dumbbell up towards your hip, alternating your arms, so that one arm (and one dumbbell) stays on the floor. Once you’ve completed a row with each arm, jump back up to standing to complete one rep.
2. Squat with Lateral & Front Raises x 20: Standing with a dumbbell in each hand down by your sides, perform a squat move – a good squat should see you move as if you were going to sit down on a chair, i.e. push your bum out first and aim to keep your knees from going too far over your toes. Once back standing again, perform a lateral raise: lift your arms up and out to the sides (you can have a slight bend in the elbow) ensuring that your hands don’t go above shoulder height. Next, lift both arms out in front of you to perform a front raises, again, making sure your hands don’t go above shoulder height. Complete all three for one rep.
3. Weighted Reverse Crunch x 10: A real core blaster, this move requires you to lie down on the floor, but raise your legs and upper body off the ground. Holding both dumbbells with your arms at right angles, bring your legs towards your body and aim to bring your upper body forward to meet them.

Easy to follow, but admittedly not incredibly easy to complete six rounds of, start with a light weight dumbbell to perform this for the first few times. You can even try it without any weight to begin with if you’re a complete newbie.

Aim to complete this circuit breaker two or three times a week, and you’ll soon be able to increase the weight and maximise your gains.

Read Next

• This 30-Minute Non-Stop Dumbbell Workout Will Shake You To Your Core
• Want Huge Shoulders? Do This Brutal Upper Body Workout

The post This Two Dumbbell ‘Circuit Breaker’ Workout Is Perfect For Switching Up Your Game appeared first on DMARGE.

Australia's property market is hotter than the cheeks of a millennial who forgot their keep cup in front of their environmentally friendly crush. Steamier than the jowls of a boomer who has just been informed their discount coupon expired yesterday. Warmer than the phone case of an iPhone that has been clutched all day by a TikTok addicted Gen Z.

Suffice to say: Australia's property is ~hawt~.

With that comes whack behaviour – both from real estate agents and buyers alike. This in mind, we figured there's no better time than now to share some of the wildest stories Australian real estate agents have ever talked about.

First cab (or, several cabs) off the ranks are from a recent article by realestate.com.au. The real estate news and listings site interviewed various Melbourne real estate agents to get their juiciest tales from on the job.

From sex to murders to lingerie thieves, they had truly seen it all.

Biggin & Scott Stonnington director Tom McCarthy, who has had a 30-plus year career, shared the following wild stories with realestate.com.au.

"He’s hosted an auction while a prankster in the house opposite pulled up her shirt and repeatedly flashed her breasts at him during the proceedings," realestate.com.au reports.

"He didn’t bat an eyelid and the sale went off without a hitch."

He also shared the story of a duo who thought they were being hilarious when they pulled up in front of an auction crowd and then pretended to have sex on the bonnet of their car.

"Then there was the time," realestate.com.au reports, "Mr McCarthy ruined his favourite tie chasing a man down the street after he saw him take something from the vendor’s bedroom during an open home."

That item? Lingerie.

Speaking of weird behaviour, Kay & Burton chairman Gerald Delany shared with realestate.com.au the time he and a colleague commandeered a buyer’s surfboard after he told them he didn’t have enough money to pay the deposit.

"Luckily for the surfer, he turned up at the agency the next business day with the cash and had his surfboard returned," (realestate.com).

 

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A post shared by Millionaire Homes (@millionaire__homes)

Reddit has also shone a torch on some of the craziest stuff that has gone down in the Australian property market, on the part of agents themselves.

Under the topic "How are real estate agents so bad," one member of the r/australia Reddit community wrote: "After moving out of a townhouse and spending an entire day scrubbing every surface and doing the lot, leaving it sparkling and better than we found it, I hand the keys in and go to my new house one hours drive away. Next day phone call from RE: 'You didn't leave it in a satisfactory condition, there is some dust in the kitchen drawer underneath the cutlery tray. If you want your Bond back you need to come and pick up the keys and clean it.'"

The Reddit user added: "Next day drive over an hour back to RE, pick up the keys, go back to the house, use a tissue to wipe the literal three specks of dirt underneath the plastic cutlery thing, return the keys, drive another hour home. Half a day and $20 petrol wasted on about three specks of dirt hidden underneath a plastic cutlery tray..."

"I hate RE agents so very, very much."

"This happened to a mate of mine. They ended up scrubbing the house from ceiling to floor, paid for carpets to be professionally cleaned, dusted the light fittings, scraped out the oven, practically sandblasted the bathroom, and eventually got their bond back," another Reddit user shared.

"A week later, the owners ran a bulldozer through the place to build units on the site."

Tales from South Australian real estate agents, also told to realestate.com.au, show it's not just Victoria where house selling and renting faux pas occur.

Cynthia Sajkunovic, Ouwens Casserly Real Estate told realestate.com.au, "One of my favourites was when my manager and I discovered an owner sunbaking topless outside on the mezzanine, which was also a prohibited area."

"We thought it was a dead body at first! I had to climb over the railing to get to the owner to wake her up! That was a funny day. The owner didn’t even seem to mind I had seen her naked!"

Further stories from yet another Reddit thread (this one entitled: "Tell me your crazy real estate story. Here's one of mine") show crazy real estate antics occur overseas too.

"Had a listing where the seller moved out. When I went to check on the house to make sure it was presentable, it was empty, clean, and swept out. EXCEPT, in the kitchen a shotgun was leaning against the wall and a catheter bag of urine was on the floor next to it," one user, who appears to be American, wrote.

Yikes.

Read Next

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• 'Shagged’ Brisbane Apartment Could Be Australia’s Biggest Missed Opportunity

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The post Australian Real Estate Agents Share Their Wildest Open House Stories appeared first on DMARGE.

Australia’s property market is hotter than the cheeks of a millennial who forgot their keep cup in front of their environmentally friendly crush. Steamier than the jowls of a boomer who has just been informed their discount coupon expired yesterday. Warmer than the phone case of an iPhone that has been clutched all day by a TikTok addicted Gen Z.Suffice to say: Australia’s property is ~hawt~.With that comes whack behaviour – both from real estate agents and buyers alike. This in mind, we figured there’s no better time than now to share some of the wildest stories Australian real estate agents have ever talked about.First cab (or, several cabs) off the ranks are from a recent article by realestate.com.au. The real estate news and listings site interviewed various Melbourne real estate agents to get their juiciest tales from on the job.From sex to murders to lingerie thieves, they had truly seen it all.Biggin & Scott Stonnington director Tom McCarthy, who has had a 30-plus year career, shared the following wild stories with realestate.com.au.“He’s hosted an auction while a prankster in the house opposite pulled up her shirt and repeatedly flashed her breasts at him during the proceedings,” realestate.com.au reports.

“He didn’t bat an eyelid and the sale went off without a hitch.”

He also shared the story of a duo who thought they were being hilarious when they pulled up in front of an auction crowd and then pretended to have sex on the bonnet of their car.“Then there was the time,” realestate.com.au reports, “Mr McCarthy ruined his favourite tie chasing a man down the street after he saw him take something from the vendor’s bedroom during an open home.”That item? Lingerie.Speaking of weird behaviour, Kay & Burton chairman Gerald Delany shared with realestate.com.au the time he and a colleague commandeered a buyer’s surfboard after he told them he didn’t have enough money to pay the deposit.“Luckily for the surfer, he turned up at the agency the next business day with the cash and had his surfboard returned,” (realestate.com).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Millionaire Homes (@millionaire__homes)

Reddit has also shone a torch on some of the craziest stuff that has gone down in the Australian property market, on the part of agents themselves.Under the topic “How are real estate agents so bad,” one member of the r/australia Reddit community wrote: “After moving out of a townhouse and spending an entire day scrubbing every surface and doing the lot, leaving it sparkling and better than we found it, I hand the keys in and go to my new house one hours drive away. Next day phone call from RE: ‘You didn’t leave it in a satisfactory condition, there is some dust in the kitchen drawer underneath the cutlery tray. If you want your Bond back you need to come and pick up the keys and clean it.'”The Reddit user added: “Next day drive over an hour back to RE, pick up the keys, go back to the house, use a tissue to wipe the literal three specks of dirt underneath the plastic cutlery thing, return the keys, drive another hour home. Half a day and $20 petrol wasted on about three specks of dirt hidden underneath a plastic cutlery tray…”

“I hate RE agents so very, very much.”

“This happened to a mate of mine. They ended up scrubbing the house from ceiling to floor, paid for carpets to be professionally cleaned, dusted the light fittings, scraped out the oven, practically sandblasted the bathroom, and eventually got their bond back,” another Reddit user shared.

“A week later, the owners ran a bulldozer through the place to build units on the site.”

Tales from South Australian real estate agents, also told to realestate.com.au, show it’s not just Victoria where house selling and renting faux pas occur.Cynthia Sajkunovic, Ouwens Casserly Real Estate told realestate.com.au, “One of my favourites was when my manager and I discovered an owner sunbaking topless outside on the mezzanine, which was also a prohibited area.”

“We thought it was a dead body at first! I had to climb over the railing to get to the owner to wake her up! That was a funny day. The owner didn’t even seem to mind I had seen her naked!”

Further stories from yet another Reddit thread (this one entitled: “Tell me your crazy real estate story. Here’s one of mine”) show crazy real estate antics occur overseas too.“Had a listing where the seller moved out. When I went to check on the house to make sure it was presentable, it was empty, clean, and swept out. EXCEPT, in the kitchen a shotgun was leaning against the wall and a catheter bag of urine was on the floor next to it,” one user, who appears to be American, wrote.Yikes.

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The post Australian Real Estate Agents Share Their Wildest Open House Stories appeared first on DMARGE Australia.