Legal costs – how to avoid losing when you win
The trouble with taking legal action is that even when you win, sometimes you can lose – especially in cases when no costs are awarded. And costs are rarely awarded…
Live where you love, buy where you can afford
There are few feelings of financial disappointment greater than scrimping and saving (not to mention begging and borrowing) for a deposit only to see the prospects of living where you…
‘Business as usual’ for Airbnb by-laws, says strata lawyer
With the announcement two weeks ago that legislation is going to be changed, allowing owners corporations to pass by-laws forbidding owners from listing their entire apartments on holiday letting websites,…
Would you buy a flat with a mate?
Would you consider buying a place with a friend, flatmate or family member? It’s an intriguing prospect but one that’s fraught with all sorts of pitfalls. The following is a press…
Roundup: Whingers – nails on the chalkboard of bureaucracy
The other day I came across a paid-for strata advice service that said it offered an alternative to scouring the web for the opinions of serial whingers. It made me…
Strata battles: Know when it’s time to stop fighting
Q: What’s the phrase that lawyers love to hear most? A: ‘It’s a matter of principle.’ Yes, even better than ‘you win’, according to that old joke, a battle fought…
Roundup: Chance to take your disputes to a TV reality show
The TV reality show Judge Judy and its imitators are based on a fairly simple premise – two parties with seemingly intractable problems face each other in front of a…
Airbnb furious as tenants claim survey was misconstrued
by Jimmy Thomson and Sue Williams The influential tenants’ group behind a study frequently used by Airbnb to justify the spread of short-term holiday letting in NSW says its research has been misconstrued by the…
Roundup: Airbnb’s MP mates offer a crumb of discomfort
Finally we get the Government’s short-term letting laws – or at least the proposals – and they turn out to be little more than a “surrender tackle” on Airbnb with a half-hearted and…
Sydney MP’s ‘quasi-hotel’ fears for city apartment blocks
Alex Greenwich, Independent Member for Sydney, welcomed moves towards a model that would give apartment communities some say on short term letting in their buildings, but said that changes do…
New Airbnb laws come with ’empty flat’ escape clause
After several false starts the NSW government has released its proposed changes to planning laws that will take the current restrictions off online holiday letting platforms like Airbnb. And while…
False economies: Beware the lure of low levies
It sounds too good to be true: buy an off-the-plan apartment with a heated pool, professional gym, 24-hour concierge and a residents’ sauna – and it comes with the promise of the lowest levies in the area. Who…