Self Managed strata

I have been searching for a property for a really long time now, however whenever I get excited about a property, I then enquire about the strata fees and as soon as they tell me, I immediately get turned off as they are just so expensive!!! I have had my fair dealings with strata management and they are high on my list of pet peeves and so therefore, I am now looking for a property that has very low fees or have no strata titles. All of my past experiences with Strata Managements have proven that they are not suitable, unhelpful and do not serve the best interest of the owners, just their own.

I am not making a sweeping statement here, I own 5 investment properties and have had to deal with many strata agents over the years with issues and also rented a unit where I have had to deal with strata over a leaking bathroom roof, due to old pipes in the building. This saga went on for almost 2 years!!!! They didn't have any sense of urgency, didn't return calls, didn't follow up, I could go on here… Finally the strata had to be sent to court over the whole situation. Our land lord didn't receive any relief in their strata fees and in fact were charge late and interest charges for not paying, when THEY were the ones at fault!

Are you able to advise if I was to purchase a property which is currently strata managed, how do I go about applying for the complex or my unit being self managed and dismissing the strata managing agents? I feel not only would it be cheaper but each owner would be responsible for their own  properties without all the red tape and could make changes as they feel necessary

I would be interested in obtaining some advice and feedback.

thanks