#53384
tina
Flatchatter

    A lot of people (me included) are ignorant of how the levies are used.  The quarterly financial statement never looked like a fun read.

    Since joining the strata committee, I had a close look at our financial statements and I read the strata manager’s contract.  Our strata manager had a rule in our contract where they could spend up to $500 on a repair without asking for permission of the owners corporation.  Every three months, I perused our financial statement and noticed many repairs costing $495 or $450.

    If the strata manager sought a quote, the price was always exhorbitant.  The strata manager doesn’t care about the price because it is not the strata manager’s money.  i.e. If the work was being done on the strata manager’s own home, they’d get a better price.

    Our owners corporation now works without the “$500 rule” (and the strata manager).  Executive committee can advertise for a job to be done.  We typically receive quotes half the price or less than under the old regime.

    It pays to study your strata manager contract and every transaction in your financial statement.  Go back a few years so that you get an idea of all the recurring costs and problems.

    Call a few other strata management firms and ask for quotes.  When I did that, the strata management price varied a lot.  A couple of them had the “$500 rule”.

    I would expect levies to be higher in a smaller strata plan and if there are paid employees (building concierge) and facilities like swimming pool, gym, elevators.

    Our biggest expenditures are strata insurance, water usage (we’re not individually metered) and strata manager.