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@chak said:
Recently the developer rectified the crack tiles issues by re-tiling over the old tiles.
Where is the ‘line’ relating to bathroom tiles and common property? Does it mean each time a owner wishes to change their bathroom tiles, the OC will foot the bill?
Hi Chak
Take the advice given in other posts and get the Developer to completely take up the cracked/broken tiles at their cost. It should not be the OC who pays for the developer’s bad work.
The subfloor, under the tiles could be uneven and need to be levelled first.
I learned after I had purchased my villa that the previous owners had re-tiled the bathroom, when I was investigating damp.
In the shower recess, not all the old hexagonal tiles had been taken up. It looked ok, but meant the square tiles on top cracked, water got into the subfloor, and while as a short term solution I have had it sealed, I really need to replace the sub-floor beams when eventually the bathroom is stripped out and replaced.
I believe this will be my cost and am prepared to pay.
Danielle, unfortunately, when you phone a large organisation, the person who answers the telephone, or even the first person you are referred to, is usually not an expert in the area.
You said previously you have Strata Title and you should be able to check if that is so by getting back to your conveyancer or solicitor and asking.
Someone has your Title Deed. It could be a bank, or your solicitor, or you may have it in your house. Ask for a copy so when asking questions you get the correct answers for your situation.
I think you are getting conflicting information because you do not seem to be sure of Title.
I am pretty sure you can not just decide to go with whatever is easiest for you.
If you have separate Titles then you do things separately.
If you do not have any insurance it is really important to get cover quickly.
Flat Chat is a great place to be aware of people that I am so happy do not live anywhere near me.
Sadly, this problem will increase as more people with fixed incomes find that the cost of living in a Strata plan increases.
If they have family who will benefit from their estate when they die, it would pay for them to help out the resident to pay higher levies, and get needed work done, so that when selling, the best price should be obtained.
Some do not realise that living in aged care could be even more costly, especially if their home would need to be sold to purchase an accommodation bond.
@lil ol me said:
This is our first strata experience and we are finding it quite daunting. We are in a building which has numerous serious defects. We are currently paying extra levies to pay for defect reports and a quantity surveyor report. So far the process has been going on for a year with no repairs in sight. These are not just minor repairs either but repairs that actually affect whether the apartment can be inhabited. It now seems that the EC is being advised by one of the many consultants to take legal action against the builder/developer and the certifier. Unfortunately, the builders (2 went broke) and have disappeared and the certifier, well who knows (certainly a broken system but that’s another story). My gut tells me this is throwing good money after bad and that in a few years time we will have spent lots of money and see no repairs. In the meanwhile the apartment gets worse and I can’t live in it.I am frustrated that repairs that I wish to make to my apartment to make it livable are all being put on hold by the EC based on some miracle settlement that will pay for all the repairs.
I want to know where I stand on the following.
1) If I am out voted at the next strata meeting and the majority wish to take legal action, do I really have to contribute extra strata levies to pay for lawyers for what I consider to be a lost cause?
2) Can the strata really prevent me from making essential repairs to my property so that someone can actually live in it?
Hey, lil ol me,
Maybe you and Struggler should get together? Maybe you are both in the same complex? If you are at least there are two of you who think alike.
Good luck.
@struggler said:
So fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
Struggler, personally I do not think a letter from a lawyer is not worth the cost and paper it is written on. (Unless it is a subpoena of course.)
What does everyone think would happen if Struggler just gets his property repaired, and present the bill to the Treasurer/Secretary?
The problem is you need to money up front.
If they do not pay up, Struggler has a long paper trail to show how hard he tried to get the whole complex up to standard.
@JimmyT said:
That’s true if the owner is still there when the damage or alterations become evident. But if the renovating owner sells and the new owner doesn’t become aware until later that common property has been altered, then the repair and maintenance of the altered common property falls back on the Owners Corp – that’s why you need watertight by-laws that leave a paper trail of changes.
That happened to me, a building inspection showed a excess moisture in an internal wall. A plumber could not find a leak in the wall, but the new tiles in the shower were laid over remnants of the old original tiles. The tiles moved and some cracked so I had the leaks sealed, at my expense, but eventually I will need to gut out the old and have a new bathroom built.
Once a bylaw is in place, eg. for solar panels, air conditioner installation, television antenna, etc., then all benefit, and I think, do not have to get an additional by-law again, for the same things.
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@Les Dansonne said:
You guys have lost the plot. A reality check is needed.Les, you are the one who needs the reality check. I will probably be censored (sorry Jimmy), but you remind me of a little child who can not even get a grip on the ‘big picture’.
@struggler said:
What to do, what’s to do?After a sleepiness night considering my options thought I would put it to my fellow flat chatters. What do you think I should do or what would you do in m y position?
A brief synopsis – an EC who do not get around to doing any work, a complex that is need of repair, a complex that is full of people who don’t know what has been happening behind the scenes (nothing) and just think someone else is getting the work done.
So do I demand a time line of works from the EC, quoting the relations sections of the act (that quite frankly I don’t believe they would know what the act is) and tell them to produce this in a week? An EC that has meet discussed and organised quotes should be able to produce such in a week. Then tell them if they do not produce this I will take the matter further, advising their actions are sufficient to be found dysfunctional and again quote the relevant act? Do I leave a note for all resident owners telling them the EC has yet again not arranged any works and that if they want action they have to tell them to get on to it? Otherwise they will produce more quotes for the same works at the next AGM for the third year in a row? Or should I do both?
Any input or encouragement would be welcomed?
Struggler you have tried hard, in fact you seem to have given your all to the cause, but unless you think your location is the absolutely best place in the city/state/country to live, maybe it is time just to tart up your place, put it on the market, and try to get a peaceful life.
Why not start looking around at places now. If it is in Strata, you know what to look for before going there. If Torrens Title, then even though more expensive, maybe by the time the majority wake up where you are currently living, the special levies needed may make the extra cost of a house affordable by comparison.
The only problem, if you go to a house, we may not have the benefit of your experience and wisdom on this forum.
@IBC said:
Hi Les,I have no problem with anyone expressing their view and I don’t expect that everyone is going to to agree with my contributions and that’s OK. But it would be nice if you didn’t misquote me, …
… I have built the business around Strata, so every day we are out there helping the mums, dads and kids to get the best out of Strata Living.
The great thing about this forum is that we can all have a say and as a collective help each other, so welcome to you and thanks for your constructive input. Regards Chris Mo’ane
Chris you are a real gentleman. I really appreciate your input to the forum and know you would be someone to go to if I needed specialised advice about where I live.
@raptorz said:
Hi all,Property with strata scheme will have its common area looked after by OC. But how about property without strata sceme, like 2 townhouses in a block or duplex or flat (a building where 2 tenant live upstair or downstair). Of course, I am referring such properties that have tenants.
For our discussion, let’s just say a common driveway of 2 townhouses has some grass area on the side that need maintenance (monthly trim, cutting, etc).
If each owner of the townhouse occupied it themselves, then I guess it is 50-50 shared responsibility among them.
SCENARIO 1: If both townhouses owned by one owner. Is it the owner that need to maintain it? or the tenant of each share 50-50 responsibility for it?
If nothing mention about this on the tenancy agreement that will make it more difficult.SCENARIO 2: If each townhouse has different owner.
I guess if each owner put in the lease that the common area is shared responsibility of both tenant, probably that’s the end of story – but what if one tenant got that special condition and the other do not.
I seems cannot find any reference on this matter without involving Strata Scheme, what will be the best guide to this problem, especially with lack of specific on the contract.
What do you think?
Thanks !
rapz
Hi rapz,
Have you asked the owner or the Agent what is expected?
In NSW a standard lease that most people sign has paragraphs about lawns/gardens, cleaning windows, pets, etc. Before signing, it is important to take the time to read the lease in full and ask the owner or the Agent if you are not sure what is expected. Also ask for a copy of the lease so you can refer to it later.
I had a tenant who had mainly lived in units, but when leasing my house, he did not know he was supposed to keep the lawns mowed and the yard tidy. (I sold that house to buy my villa.)
If the other tenant has a ‘special condition’, did the owner/Agent tell you that, or the other tenant? Maybe the other tenant is really the owner? Maybe the other tenant is a friend or family of the owner and they just want you to look after their lawn as well?
Struggler, did you replace all your locks when you moved in?
For safety sake, your life is worth more than the dollars spent to have a locksmith come and replace your lock, repair your lock, or just cut a new key to fit the lock.
If most residents have the same problems it would save a call out fee if everyone had their locks fixed at the same time.
We have deadlock doors and keys hanging on hooks close to each screen door, but out of reach if someone cut the screen and just stuck a finger in to flip the lever if it was not locked with a key.
Insurance is a bit cheaper with deadlocks on windows and doors.
We also have the screen door key on our key rings.
If the reason consistency for the EC to change all the screen doors?
What happens if someone wants to get a top line security screen, and someone else just wants to keep insects out? Does everyone get the top line door if the EC replaces them all?
@struggler said:
I too live in a townhouse complex. We have owners who appear to be happy to have a pile of leaves at their front door and a weed or two. They just step over them going in or out of their unit. … It is disappointing when a resident does not want to take enough pride in where they are living to bend over and pick something/sweep something up.The only way to ensure there were not leaves or pieces of paper would be to have someone standing by! Is once a week enough? Not if you live in an area with a lot of trees when the southerlies blow. Twice a week? Probably would do it. But I personally would not like the loss of privacy of having someone regularly at my front door sweeping up a few leaves. So I do this myself.
I live in one of eleven villas in a 40+ year old complex, our garbage bins are our own responsibility and we put them out and bring them in as we would if we were in a Torrens Title property.
(I think some posters just in a big complex imagine everyone has a huge bin room that would get really on the nose.)
Most of the residents here take pride with their surroundings and sweep paths, etc. but we have a clean-up every six months or so and the regular gardener is given a list of things to be done that the Owners submit to the EC.
Getting back to victoria’s original post, we have a 5 year plan that seems to have low estimated costs. At our last AGM the SM put up suggested levies for this year but only three of us were prepared to pay the increased levies. Some of the owners are very elderly and on pensions.
One owner who was on the EC for several years, resigned, but was very vocal about the increase in levies. His comment was “we can always get a Strata loan”.
As I am retiring from full time work next year I do not want to have the additional interest expense of a strata loan.
I am sure it will come up again at the AGM and I will say that as our villas are a perfect place to be in, even very elderly. It would be cheaper in the long run for the families of the elderly owners to help them out with higher levies, so they can stay in their home for as long as possible.
If their elderly parent moves to aged care, I think the children will be losing a lot of their ‘inheritance’ because of the high costs involved getting an aged care bed anywhere. Many people now have to sell the family home to afford the entry fees for aged care.
@Juan Durection said:
Flat Chatters, please. What do you think of the following letter I receive from strata manager after I email a couple of executive committee members about something I thought was being done that was wrong.
Hi again Juan,
No offense meant in my first post, just that there have been other threads where people have resigned from Executive Committees because of the number of owners who approach them directly.
What was the ‘something’ you thought that was not done correctly?
Maybe Flat Chatters would be able to give more directed advice?
Hi Struggler,
Emails seem to be what the problem was in the beginning. The SM asked Mr Direction to stop copying emails to Committee members.
Something that had already been discussed (and probably on the Minutes) of either the EC meeting or the AGM.