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How about a Forum where people like me who are looking to buy into strata can post comments or questions not asked so far (or I don't think have been asked)?
What do people looking at Strata for the first time need to know?
I recently sold a Torrens Title house (in NSW) and want to buy a two bedroom villa.
My Conveyancer from the sale of my house has given me some great advice and referred me to a good Strata Search service, and also someone to do Building and Pest inspections. I have been very happy with them.
I have paid for three Strata Searches so far, and bid unsuccessfully at one auction, after also doing the Building and Pest inspection.
The first place I was interested in has a $9.6 million dollar claim to repair the building before the Supreme Court. These were problems from construction. The insurance company only offered $150,000. The cost of the repairs would be between 63 units.
The other two places were villas. One an “original” in a group of six built in the late 1960's with a sinking fund total of $2,000, the other in a group of nine, probably build in the 1980's. The sinking fund was around $1,200.
Only one had a 15 year plan but that was a joke. For example, “Painting” – $350. I am not a tradesperson but I have a general idea of costs of painting and repairs.
The Strata fees for both lost of villas were around $420 per villa.
It appeared in the two lots of villas, the owners were elderly, and the two I looked at were for sale because the owner was going to aged care.
While I can understand elderly people on fixed incomes would find it difficult to pay increased Strata fees, it is false economy not to repair their building.
I realise some landlords are not really interested if the building is falling down as long as they get their rent.
One unit I looked at but was not interested in was in a block of 12, where they had no sinikng fund but were going to start one.
What is the law about sinking funds?
Are Strata rules for Retirement Villages for independent living different, other than people being older?
Any advice will be thankfully received.
After reading some of the posts to this forum, I may have to work for a few more years and try to get a small house.
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Hello to the Forum. A virgin today! We have lived in owner homes all our lives but now thanks to the GFC we have to downsize to a unit after selling our home. Never owned a unit before!
This is a bewildering topic! Where do I start? About to buy in Sydney Northern Beaches and while looking and fin ding a unit – what do we look at next? Can we trust a Strata Inspector or what ever they are called; do we need a building inspector; what does all this cost?Help us Jimmy
You would be wise to get a proper strata legal search (including minutes of meetings to see if there are upcoming problems and ongoing issues between neighbours). This isn't a bad thing – buy a house in a street and you have no idea how your neighbours are behaving.
You will want a proper building survey done – just as you would if you were buying a house. Don't depend on the Owners Corporation to have fixed everything, even if they are legally obliged to do so.
I was just hearing today about a guy who skipped the building survey only to discover the previous owners had discovered concrete cancer and quietly sold up before the issue was ever minuted. A building inspector would have picked up on that immediately.
How much does it cost? How long is a piece of string and how much value do you place on peace of mind?
Apart from the structural stuff and the EC minutes, your search professionals should make sure there is enough in the sinking fund and there are no big ticket bills on the horizon. They might also check for lifestyle issues that are impending – if you have a dog and a building is about to go pet-free, you need to know about it.
And you want to look at the levies and ask yourself how you will be placed in five years when they have gone up 25 percent (or wherever CPI takes them) but your income may even have gone down. If that's an issue, look for a building with fewer facilities and therefore lower levies.
Good luck and stop worrying – this could turn out to be the best move you ever made.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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