[sunbeam]

Turning around an owners corporation to face head on the responsibilities of maintenance is never going to a fast, or smooth.  Definitely not for the faint-hearted or for anyone buying for less than a 10 year commitment.

I wish I had been more aware of the signifiers of a building in trouble. Prospective buyers should look carefully for signs of adherence to the fundamental obligation of the NSW Strata Management Act to protect the value of  every unit in the block through regular maintenance of common property.

Ideally, the OC should have an engaged Strata Manager on whom they rely heavily for guidance.  If the Strata Manager is disengaged, changed often (a tenure of less than 5 years), or the contract with the Strata Manager is for only the most basic services, be concerned.

Signs that the building is in trouble include clues that individual owners take it upon themselves to dictate their preferred behaviours, so lots of passive-aggressive handwritten notices around the place with admonishments are a telling clue.

Generally, the by-laws should provide clear guidance, and if further clarity is needed, a re-draft of the by-laws should be sufficient.

If you are prepared to put in the hard yards of nudging the OC towards closer adherence to the SMA, it can be done but it is not for the faint hearted and it will take 3-5 years to see a change of direction, and 5-8 years to remedy the maintenance deficit.

[sunbeam]

I wish I had seen this article BEFORE I bought my unit in Darling Point!
When we moved in there were nearly daily nasty little pos it notes in the lift accusing other owners of theft of newspaper, accusing owners of leaving lights on in the common car park area, accusing owners of feeding birds, accusing owners of scratching entry and exit doors, such trivial personal peeves written up as if they were government legislation.. There are just over 10 owners in our block,, so clearly there were some very unhappy stressed residents, or, possibly a demented bird-feeding, electricity bill careless, newspaper thieving resident. In addition, every day a new rule seemed to be announced, always by the self appointed “boss” of the strata block. All of the owners were long term residents well into their golden years, who still saw the building as “new” as it was when they purchased in the early 1980s and were not sensitive to the regular maintenance needed on any building. My recommendation would be to check the history of the owners, look for evidence that maintenance issues have been logged and dealt with, and evidence that the owners are motivated to deal with maintenance.

If I had been alert to the items you have noted as warning signs, I would have been aware that the abundance of (stolen) rusty local supermarket shopping trolleys left in foyers, some blocking the fire doors, the individual customisation of external balcony glass, the laundry hung out to dry on balconies, the post-it notes, and the lack of any minutes of Strata Meetings, would all indicate a failed Executive Committee and a corresponding serious deficit in maintenance. Big mistake.

Fortunately, with some energy from new owners the EC has got on to the main maintenance deficits, but there has been no growth in the value of the units in our property, and unlikely to be any growth in the near term, as the list of maintenance issues is still long. During the boom of the last 3 years, in an appealing suburb like Darling Point, that is a glaring anomaly.

[Author]

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