RENTERS: Buy or rent?

QUESTION: I’d like to own my own unit but the figures just don’t add up.  Anywhere I might be able to afford isn’t as  good as the place I’m renting…

Could you be sued?

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how half the strata plans in NSW are self-managed – that is, they have no strata manager although these tend to be…

Renters: Paint job

QUESTION:  A year or so ago I did some work on my rented apartment – including painting, installing shelves and some basic maintenance – in lieu of a few weeks…

Pressure selling

Pressure selling, the blight of the apartment boom a decade ago, is back with us, it seems.  The question is, are we going to make the same mistakes all over…

Renters: cuts all round

QUESTION: The owners in our building have just cut the concierge services so they can reduce their levies,  meaning that not only do we no longer have 24-hour security, we…

Dog flap

QUESTION: The Executive Committee at our complex has received an application from a resident to install a doggy door on to their balcony.  Our building manager has told us we…

Renters: Between bonds

QUESTION: I’m leaving my apartment to move somewhere closer to work, I’ve given my notice and everything is fine.  The problem is, with the cost of moving house, buying a…

Plan to ban renovations

QUESTION: A slim majority on our executive committee want to introduce a new by-law to prevent owners making any internal structural renovations to their units because recent work done was…

Renters: Rights and wrongs

Noise, nuisance and in-your-face “couldn’t give a stuff” attitude.  Sure, there are some tenants like that but what happens when an owner is the problem and tenants are the victims?…

Renters: Sitting tenants

QUESTION: We have been on a series of one-year fixed-term leases with our current landlord which has been fine but now we are seriously thinking of buying our own apartment.…

How to stage a revolution

The executive committees and chairmen of strata blocks get a hard time – usually unfairly since they can’t please everyone and are giving up their time for free.  But every…