PODCAST: Space invaders, Airbnb v caretakers and purloined pot plants
How would you feel if you suddenly had 50 to 100 strangers walking through your lobby every day, clogging up the lifts just when you are trying to get to…
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Time we had a Tripadvisor for unit block builders?
With defects on the minds of everyone in the apartment world, there’s a whole lot of finger pointing going on. Developers are saying engineers should be certified, strata owners say…
Supreme Court changes tack on legal cost deposits
There’s a growing trend in legal actions in Australia that has recently intruded into the strata area – litigants being asked to provide security for costs before legal action can…
Flat Chat Wrap #32 – Time we had a star rating for the best and worst developers and builders
In this week’s Podcast, Jimmy Thomson and Sue Williams discuss why it is that we can get ratings and comparisons for just about everything we buy … except the largest…
From the Forum: Tribunal exposed as toothless tiger
I’m getting slightly ahead of the news here, but in the coming days there will probably be a story online about the massive loophole in the current strata laws that…
PODCAST: A star rating system for developers, builders … and residents
We have a friend called Royce who wouldn’t buy so much as a toothbrush without checking online to see if it was the best design (at the best price) for…
Forensic research – your best hope for not buying a high-rise lemon
With state planning ministers meeting this month, informed in part by a behind-closed-doors meeting of development “stakeholders” in NSW last week, you can be sure that building defects in their…
Flat Chat Wrap #31 – Tip of the defects iceberg and why it’s such a massive problem
In this week’s episode of the Flat Chat Wrap we look at the revelation that the Opal and Mascot towers “disasters” are just the tip of a very large apartment…
From the Forum: How do you deal with a dope who can’t cope?
There’s an interesting statistic that I never tire of quoting: no strata manager in NSW has ever been struck off for being really bad at his or her job. And…
PODCAST: When defect disaster warnings were covered up
In this week’s episode of the Flat Chat Wrap we look at the claims that the Opal and Mascot towers “disasters” are just the tip of a very large apartment…
Flat Chat Wrap #31 – Tip of the defects iceberg and why it’s such a massive problem
In this week’s episode of the Flat Chat Wrap we look at the revelation that the Opal and Mascot towers “disasters” are just the tip of a very large apartment…
Hidden dangers lurking in shonky strata records
This weekend, the Flat Chat column in the Financial Review will be about how to avoid buying an apartment in a dodgy building. In it, I discuss the importance of…