Buyers Beware – The Government Doesn’t Care!
As of January this year, apartment buildings more than three storeys high were no longer covered by home warranty insurance, leaving the owners of new apartments highly exposed when it…
“You treat this place like a hotel …”
There’s a war being fought from building to building in Sydney right now, as councils try to curb the spread of executive rentals in apartment blocks. The laws are, in…
Balcony Ins and Outs
In recent years, Sydney has gone balcony crazy with residential blocks being designed with that “resort lifestyle” in mind. It’s a fairly recent trend. Contrast Harry Seidler’s Blues Point Tower…
Get Noticed!
If you truly want a sense of community in your building – or even if you just want the building to function effectively – the place to start is your…
The Chair vs The couch potato
When it comes to running apartment blocks there is an army of unsung heroes who put in the hours and, far from getting the gratitude they deserve, cop nothing but…
Sold My Chevvy to Pay the Levies
Once you’ve got over the shock of having complete strangers deciding where you can dry your laundry and how loud you can play your early Elvis Costello records, the biggest…
Reeling in the Ratbags
Right now (late 2004), somewhere in a State Government office, a team of bureaucrats, lawyers and politicians is trying to untangle the unholy mess that is our apartment-living strata laws.…
The Company of Strangers
They are becoming endangered species but there are still a few company title apartment blocks around and a shrewd investor shouldn’t necessarily shy away from them. Company Titles sprang up…
Balcony Barbecues – No Smoke Without Ire
It may be considered unAustralian but many people think there’s no place for barbecues on apartment block balconies. Especially in this age of eco-friendly, self ventilating buildings, the very thought…
Loathe Thy Neighbour
The hardest adjustment most people have to make when they move into apartments is simply getting along with neighbours all around them. It is usually a simple issue of tolerance…
Talkin’ ’bout a renovation
Renovating an apartment is quite different from renovating a house but in ways that are not immediately obvious. And you don’t want to discover that when you’re halfway through the…
Pet Peeves and Animal Attraction
There are few more vexatious issues in apartment blocks than the question of pet ownership. Some buildings won’t have a bar of the noisy, smelly little blighters while in others,…