Keeping Strata Levies Low from the start

In this episode, we walk you through the Pro's and Con's of being a pet-friendly building and provide our recommendation on what your Committee and building should do to manage pet applications and the likely-hood of legal action if you decline a proposal. We also provide a workbook for Committee's wanting to implement our recommendation, including application form, pet by-law and general meeting motion to upgrade your by-law.

In this episode, we help buyers and developers understand what small decisions can save $100s every year in levies .

Learn who should pay for balcony repairs or insurance claims if your strata balcony balustrade or railing needs work.

In this episode, we share a simple strategy to make sure your building is always ready for sale and lease. Giving your owners the best chance to outperform the local market and optimise their return on investment with the common property always presenting at it's best.

In this episode, we help balance a clean well presented building and continued rising levy costs with a smart approach to cleaning.

In this episode we clarify who pays when you need to repair cabinets, mirrors and vanities in a Strata unit. We also talk about how’s it is different when it is an insurance claim.

Strata Management is a job that confuses many people, as it is not clear and evolves for each committee, building and owner. Strata Savings provides a mixture of services to clients from low-cost, low contact, though to a complete custom solution. This video explains the most relevant job of a Strata Manager, the management and monitoring of your strata bank account.

What does a strata manager do? This is the most common question I have been asked over the last 13 years as a strata manager. One of the jobs we do is Welcoming Owners to the building, with our welcome letters. We believe this is the best opportunity to capture the best contact details for people and help them understand how the building operates and the essential rules to be aware of. The Strata Savings process is simple and enables us to: + increase the number of owners using emails,  + reducing running costs,  + prevents future problems and misunderstanding and  + creates an open line of communication with owners. 

This week’s Strata Development Application being reviewed is the 8 lot strata development of 8 micro apartments at  433 Ocean Beach Road, Umina Beach NSW. This development is a new build with a simple but efficient design, with eight (8) micro-apartments and 4 car parks. Within a couple of minutes walk from the beach, shops and cafes of Umina Beach this development embraces the tiny house and van life movements that are only growing throughout the world. It also speaks directly to the growing issue of housing affordability this efficient design inside and outside the apartments make a perfect solution for first home buyers and downsizers. Recommendations for Costs and Running Smoothly The design already creates a development with low running costs, with no lifts, pools, and shared infrastructure the daily running costs are negligible. The possible costs this strata plan could experience are:- Cleaners and landscaper – this could be one visit a week, and could be conducted by the owners if someone feels happy to be involved for the benefit of everyone. Insurance – this will be the largest cost for the development and will include building, liability, and volunteer cover, this is important if someone does choose to help with maintaining the common property. Maintenance – with only a small amount of common property the costs of general repairs and maintenance will be almost nothing. Admin – this building would be best positioned for either self-managed or assisted self-managed, see stratasavings.com.au for more details. With a development like this, the likely complaints and issues would be from parking, pets and noise. We would suggest that the rules around these three (3) items be extremely clear and that signage be installed around the building so that everyone is aware of the community expectations. Considering these are micro-apartments and most people will live on their own, we recommend allowing pets. Being clear on the noise restrictions and aligning them with council rules is smart, so that council or police can be engaged to enforce any breaches. Parking should be allocated or visitor parking restrictions should be clearly signposted.

This week’s Strata Development Application being reviewed is the 3 lot strata subdivision of 5 Norman Street, Umina Beach NSW 2257. The Development This development application is for an existing building, built several years ago. It is not uncommon to see subdivision application for existing buildings where people have built an investment property with several apartments, shops or industrial warehouses, and due to the sale of the single site or change in circumstances, it is beneficial to subdivide the property. This typically brings higher sales values and increased equity for those seeking to use the asset to fund future and other projects. How to keep the Levies Low When we are subdividing existing buildings there are limitations in how you can keep the levies cost low, but it is still possible. Roller Doors – Exclusive use by-law This development has 3 individual lockup garages that are part of the lot. If you do nothing about roller doors in the by-laws, or make a note on the strata plan, the roller doors will be common property, meaning that every owner will share the costs of repairing and maintaining each other’s roller doors. This is unfair because everyone uses their roller door differently. To make this fair you just need an exclusive use by-law making each owner responsible for their own roller door, this doesn’t disadvantage anyone. It only benefits those who maintain and care for their roller door. You can also achieve the same result by putting a note on the strata plan about roller doors not being common property. Common Area Finishes Fortunately, this building has good low-cost finishes to the common property with concrete, pebblecrete and brick finishes. This will enable the common area cleaning to be minimum, and maybe something that the owners can do on a weekly or monthly basis. Waterproof Membranes Due to the ages of this building the failure of the waterproof membranes is a possibility in the near future. Waterproof membranes in bathrooms and other areas are actually common property and strata cost. Therefore it would be of benefit to create an exclusive use by-law that makes the tiles, and membranes within each apartment the responsibility of that lot owner. Admin – Strata Management This building would be best positioned for either self-managed or assisted self-managed, see stratasavings.com.au for more details. As it is only 3 lots will no major infrastructure this can be easily organised and run by an apartment owner with a little guidance and support. If a full-service manager is engaged the running costs would be $500-$700 per year, just for the admin costs. By using an assisted self-management solution the owner will get the benefit of their strata documents stored in a central location that is accessible by all owners, the right insurance policies and multiple quotes obtained, a system to deal with any owners not paying levies, at a cost of around $50-70 per year.