Forum: dad and daughter double act driving us mad
Dealing with rude and bossy owners on your committee is hard enough but confronting the entitled, non-resident relatives of owners is a whole other set of soul-sapping challenges. This week,…
committee
From the Forum: no-reply neighbours delay renos, costing owners a fortune
What do you do when you are paying rent while your unit awaits renovation but your neighbours won’t even respond to communications, let alone hold the meeting required to pass…
Stage a strata revolt without being revolting
There was a popular saying around at the end of the last century – “don’t get mad, get even”. However, as I often ask people who write to the Flat…
Flat Chat Wrap 51 – Email privacy, off-the-plan protections and owner revolts
Privacy, consumer protections and how to engineer radical change in your apartment block are the main topics for discussion in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap podcast. A heated discussion in…
Appeal of professional pains in the butt
I was talking recently to a strata manager about a new service that’s springing up around their territory – I call them strata advocates – and she said “Oh, you…
FORUM: Committee parking pests warned
Sometimes this website just works. A couple of weeks ago we had a post from a Flatchatter who was annoyed that her neighbours parked their cars outside their garages, making…
From the Forum: Committee causing parking problems
We fielded a curious question about parking that drew a very enlightening response, this week. One of our Flatchatters can’t easily get to her garage because other residents – including…
From the Forum: Rogue committee rides roughshod over rules
It’s been a while since we’ve had a forum post about a committee that’s gone “rogue” – making decisions without consulting other owners and awarding themselves all sorts of perks.…
Reasons why you should – and shouldn’t – get elected to your committee
Do you ever get the urge to stand for election to your strata committee? Are you convinced you could do a better job than the existing members? Do you want…
How to spot a well-managed apartment block
With consumer confidence in brand-new or off-the-plan apartments taking a hit after the Opal Tower crisis in Sydney, where massive cracks started appearing in supporting walls on Christmas Eve, many…
How to rid your committee of control freaks and clowns
Having lived in apartments in Australia for 30 years, I have encountered every kind of dubious committee office-holder, from the corrupt bully to the incompetent narcissist, and the hands-off passive…
Why untrained volunteers run big bucks budgets
They oversee annual budgets of millions of dollars, make decisions that have profound influence on the lives of hundreds of people, pursue policies that could have devastating effects on the…