I’ll add another +1 to Darryl’s thought. I’m stunned at how oblivious some buyers are to the nature of strata, and who claim they are ‘ambushed’ when they have to contribute to forecast repairs. ‘You didn’t disclose that in the contract!’. Err…we didn’t write the contract. We didn’t see the contract. We didn’t see the strata report, but we did give the report writer access to our records…
I bought a rural property many years ago. The mandatory Council zoning certificate attached to the contract for sale had a cover page with a brief, large-print statement along the lines of: ‘This property is in an area zoned Rural. Expect dust, spray drift, noisy machinery operating at any time of the day throughout the year. [don’t bother complaining to us]” etc.
Something like this would be a good addition to strata contracts, to very briefly state something like “As well as the right to live in or rent your apartment/townhouse/whatever, you are becoming part of an owners corporation which owns and runs the entire building. You will pay a share of the building’s operation and ongoing maintenance through levies, and can participate in its management by attending meetings or joining its committee.” In large red print!