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The summary of issues and possible changes on your site is terrific.
Its amazingly and shockingly rare to get such compact and thoughtful information on strata issues.Bern
I own a unit in a block of 16 units. Haven’t had too many problems as we have a very good/diligent Strata Committee.
This building was completed in 2000 approx but we have had some water ingress problems. We have found out that the waterproofing wasn’t approved by council as no application was sent to them and therefore didn’t appear on any Strata Committee Minutes.
We have employed engineers and after 3 quotes I have been given an approx cost of $200,000 per unit which is way beyond my budget! The other unit owners are also concerned as they too will have financial problems.
We don’t have any recourse with the builder as he is not around anymore. I don’t know if it is “overkill”. Tiles ripped up, scaffolding erected for all floors because other externals are not compliant.
Engineers have presented at meetings and seem to be ok but I wouldn’t know. The other owners seem to be knowledgeable and have asked questions of the engineers, which have been answered, but $3.2 million for a leaky roof and related issues seems excessive.
Why are we getting worried about space to build?
For reference I look at a lot of reaction videos, some on foreigners reactions to this is australia.
Over 87% of us are living within 50k of the coast.
The rest of Australia is desert.
Almost all foreign reactors initially see Australia as almost the size of the US. And think australia is 100% livable. They are blown away by the reality.
They and their governments do not realise we are very restricted because we are Very Arid and have very limited space. It is shocking to reactioners because Australian politiciabs have never protested with this publicly available information. They coukd easily be given youtubes by aussies/americans capably showing the situation.
Instead without any protest, Foreign Governments negiotating immigrant levels class australia as ALMOST EMPTY.
And it is up to australian politicians to point wayward foreign governments to the truth. We are 80% unlivable. And NO one knows.
However instead of pointing foreign countries to the very well produced youtubes “our”politicians suposedly working for Australia sign to any foreign mandared immigrant levels far beyond our capability., dumping all humans trying to live in Australia into something that is quickly going to become a confrontational /survival issue.
Rent up, strata fees up. Young Aussies have no hope.
This is what is contributing to the social problems we have now that is affecting everyone, immigrant and Aussie bornDo you mind sharing a bit more how you got the mandatory strata manager?
I’d love to get an. update on this one Paul H!
Always looking for Strata Manager recommendations!
I have just read your update on Netstrata, how disgusting and disappointing that the investigating Company were not permitted access to their building and the cover up!
What did they have to hide?? Everything!
Only accessing records from 2022… my building and many others it commenced in 2020 and prior.
This lame Labor gov have blood on their hands and if the findings are revoked we should all be extremely concerned.I have no faith any longer in Fair Trading and this pathetic Government.I will never purchase in a strata scheme ever again.
Hello Steady Sam,
It helps just to clarify and unpack what’s actually happened here…
The Strata Management Agreement expired on 12/12/23 (3 year anniversary)
The Notice received from the old strata manager saying they would cease to act from 29/2/24 is effectively their exercising the (up to) 3 month option they have under S 50 (7) of the SSMA to extend.
There is NO “termination” involved, just the amended expiry of the original agreement to 29/2/24.
So far, so good, and without seeing the EGM Minutes I would assume that the appointment of the new manager at the specially called EGM on 15/2/24 was to be effective from 1/3/24 (appointments are typically just a single resolution to adopt and execute a term agreement).
NB At some point prior to 29/2/24 the strata committee would presumably have been consulted on the selection of the appropriate insurer for 1 March 2024 period onwards (to be ratified at a later AGM).
No surprises as to why the original SM chose to hang in there till 29/2/24 – it gave them time to be part of the strata insurance selection process and claim their commission !
It is hard to find fault with the process itself, but that does not stop the SM’s conduct being unconscionable even in the eyes of that declining band of people who believe that SM’s should be commission remunerated – even they assume the SM WORKS for their commission and this one, by the careful exercise of the s 50 (7) option, avoided any responsibility for insurance claims handling etc in the coming 12 months.
Thankyou for sharing something that should be a lesson to all those schemes still remunerating their SMs with commissions.
Personally, I’d like to recognise Chloe Tombleson of PT Strata who took over management of our large scheme less than a year ago under difficult circumstances with defect claims and many experts involved, not to mention a complex building insurance situation and the need to address budget repair to reach a sustainable level. PT Strata took the reins, and Chloe has worked non-stop to assist and drive all aspects of the 3rd parties involved. She’s successfully navigated challenging owners with professionalism and empathy and pro-actively used her professional network to propose and reach pragmatic outcomes wherever possible. Our journey is not over yet, but we’re pleased to have PT Strata assisting our committee and Owner’s Corp.
Thanks for the opportunity Jimmy. I would like to express my appreciation for our exceptional Strata Manager. As the Treasurer of the Antias Strata Apartments in Jacksons Landing, Pyrmont, I have had the pleasure of working with Jeremy Delaney from Whelan Property Group. Jeremy also serves as the Strata Manager for the Jacksons Landing Community Association, where I also hold the position of Treasurer.
Jeremy is an extremely experienced and professional Strata Manager. He promptly addresses any strata queries and questions, consistently attends all our strata meetings, and is always available when needed. The Minutes of our meetings are always accurate, professional, and delivered on time.
We have negotiated a firm-price contract with Whelan Property Group, which eliminates most Schedule “B” charges, and Whelan does not take commissions on any services, including insurance. The Accounts Department staff are also highly efficient, responding to inquiries promptly. Financial reports are accessible on their website to me at any time, and payments are processed immediately upon my approval.
I cannot fault the management and staff of Whelan Property Group and highly recommend their services.
Neville Monk, Antias Apartments
There are a few other dodgy practices out there when it comes to the renewal of strata management agreements / re-appointment of strata managers….Owners seldom understand and do not scrutinise strata management agreements, especially those for renewal with incumbent managers; so renewed agreements tweaked with a “small” change like a 15% fee increase can easily go undetected.
But it does not stop there…we’ve seen AGM agendas go out WITHOUT a copy of the proposed agreement and just a note that “a copy of the agreement will be provided to owners on application”. Hardly transparent but one of the consequences of leaving the preparation of the AGM Notice / Agenda to the strata manager….
I do understand Jimmy T’s point that a benchmark % (of lot value) for what levies should be is a useful starting point – one strata manager’s website actually quotes Jimmy’s percentages in their article explaining what Levies are – but unfortunately many strata owners do not understand clearly enough how strata works to realise that levies could sometimes need to be 2 or 3 times these percentages, especially if maintenance has been ignored or underfunded. Therein lies the danger.
It is hard enough for a Committee to sell large levy increases to owners at the best of times – having rules of thumb for levies out there only makes it harder to shake owners out of their low levy complacency.
In a well run property i.e one where the OC saves for future major repairs / replacements through its Capital Works Fund “CWF”, the majority of levies would be going towards the CWF rather than the running costs in the Admin Fund.
In a poorly run property it is the other way round with most levies going to paying for running costs and little being saved.
If the owners corporation in their wisdom is reluctant to levy for the future in the CWF, they can get away with levying for just the bills they have to pay this year, so total levies will be low.
Trying to work out whether levies are high or low for a building – even taking into account its facilities – will in many cases be an exercise in futility viz. a building with superficially low levies that hits its owners every 5 years with a $20,000 Special Levy that does not show up in simple comparisons.
Any disclosure of levies needs at the very least to be shown side by side with the current balance of the CWF.
Even this doesn’t tell the full story, because lots of $’s in the CWF may still be small compared with the building’s future repair obligations.
Any conversation comparing levies or using rules of thumb runs the risk of owners becoming comfortable with a building’s financial position when there is no reason at all to be comfortable.
Just reading through the posts…timSP says the AGM is a ...”paper online vote”... so presumably this is not just a meeting decided by pre-meeting voting by email / mail etc but an actual ONLINE meeting.
I couldn’t see the copy of the Notice of Meeting but has the SM provided a Zoom / Teams link for the meeting ?
In any event you could ask for a link so as to attend and follow the advice of StrataChair….
“So decide your timing carefully. If there is a physical/electronic meeting at a particular time and place (as there needs to be to elect a committee) you could simply ensure you are there, nominate orally and point out that any pre-meeting electronic votes for the committee are invalid per the Regulation.”
Funnily enough, we have a strata by-law giving responsibility for window repairs and replacements over to individual owners. This is inevitably going to mean that windows, as they are slowly replaced, won’t match 100%.
In fact, one of my windows is getting replaced, and it’s only the one window I can afford to do right now. I’ve asked for it to match what’s already there, but there will be small differences.