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It is good to check carefully before buying into strata. Many people living in strata think that the owners corp pays for everything. I know of someone who lives in villas in Sans Souci and they had no money in the bank. The reason – they had many elderly people living there and the owners corp had always paid for everything. So when a tap dripped, the OC paid for the washer, if the key didn't work in the lock the OC paid for it. And with the complex aging, they had to pay more. And the elderly owners cannot afford an increase in levies let alone any special levies.
Look in the SMH Domain apartments section. I think it is page 5 that has info on different strata units for sale and lists their levies. You can get a fair idea of what “average” is for different types of units. Low levies look good (especially in new complexes) but there is usually not be enough money going into the bank. And with high levies, generally I have found that they cover more “things” around the complex and more common property (ie pool, movie theatre room, lift etc).
An old complex with low levies and not much money in the bank equals special levies ahead, and there has to be increases. You mention that the strata fees for the units you inspected were $420 – am assuming that you meant levies. I personally would say this was in the low average price range for southern Sydney for two bedroom villa. Though in an older unit, with more wear, tear and repairs, it probably should be a bit more. If you take the amount in the sinking fund and divide by the number of units – from your information of the units you inspected there is only a couple of hundred dollars for each unit! With tradies costing $100 for call out, would only take a few problems to considerably reduce that balance!
Our complex has at the moment over $2,000 per unit (complex 10 years old) Our levies are considered low/average. Our OC does not cover “everything”.
Having said all that, am looking for a little house to get out of strata myself!