Helping older residents – now we have a number
You can understand why older people are reluctant to move into aged care – and that was even before they became hotspots for Covid-19 infections last year. For some seniors…
Call for landlord blacklist to warn would-be tenants
Bad landlords could soon find themselves on a “blacklist” if tenant Rachel Black has her way. Rachel, also a landlord herself, has launched a petition to the NSW Parliament, supported…
Forum: How you can lose even when you win
The headline on one of our posts this week, says it all: “It’s as if I’m paying to sue myself.” The situation is pretty common. The strata committee takes an…
Podcast: Unit prices stall and ropey reno regs
Hi, did you miss us? We took a little break last month but we are back with our new, improved Flat Chat Wrap podcast. We – Sue Williams and JimmyT…
Why first-time buyers need better protection
As our various governments, state and federal, lure us with grants and tax breaks into buying new and off-the-plan units, they really need to put more safeguards in place to…
Are we finally falling out of love with apartments?
Have Australia’s apartment residents finally had enough of strata living and are they now fleeing back to houses? Do they see high rises as high risk for too many varied…
Double trouble as regs fail on minor renovations
When is double glazing not really double glazing? When it’s cited in NSW strata regulations. As mentioned in this week’s newsletter, and detailed on the Forum, a Flatchatter is involved…
Forum: Who pays for gate crasher’s damage?
There are some issues that bring out the bush lawyer in all of us. Take the sub-tenant who accidentally drove into his block’s garage gate, doing $4000 worth of damage.…
When elderly are a danger to themselves and others
My elderly mother is currently being assessed in a nursing home to see if she can look after herself or needs more hands-on help. She is in one of the…
Flat Chat writer publishes her first full-length novel
Regular readers of this website and, especially, listeners to our podcast, will probably recognise the name Sue Williams. Sue co-hosts our podcasts and is a prolific writer on property (among…
Finding homes for strata’s invisible 25 per cent
Who do you think lives in apartments in our big cities? Are most other apartment dwellers just like you or are you somehow different from the mob? Based on a…
Forum: Should cleaner have to deal with dog poo?
Our first post in this week’s roundup illustrates precisely why I would never live in an apartment block that didn’t have CCTV at least covering the front door and foyer.…