Your nuttiest strata committee is now a podcast
Podcasts are all the rage these days, it seems. So we bought the microphone, downloaded the software and attended the seminar – all we needed to create a podcast was…
committee
Dardanelle Towers: Episode 1 – The Naked Truth
We recently discovered what seem to be reports from an apartment block with more than its fair share of idiosyncratic characters. Is this place real, or a figment of someone’s…
Why you don’t want your managers to be too cozy
If there was ever proof needed of the naivete of prospective apartment owners – and the expectation of developers that new apartment buyers don’t know their assets from a hole…
Why pre-sale renos could be bad planning
For any prospective home buyer with a skerrick of visual imagination, a rundown home is a massive canvas on which to express themselves. That might apply to apartments even more…
Five ways do-nothing neighbours could cost you heaps
While many apartment residents complain about the decisions their strata committees make, it could be the ones they don’t make that are causing the most harm. Here are five examples…
Vive la Revolution … why strata heads must eventually roll
Appropriately, with Bastille Day just behind us, we turn our thoughts this week to revolution. And while employing Madame Guillotine might seem a little excessive (if tempting), there comes…
Roundup: When is it OK to start plotting against the committee?
There’s been a lot of forum chat in the past week or so about whether or not it’s a good idea to set up an alt. committee – or strata…
One simple way to sack your strata chair
Strata stories are often like slapstick comedy – hilarious … provided you’re not the one lying face down in the custard. Recently Flat Chat fielded a question from a…
Stages of strife when strata shock strikes
Do you have any idea what’s going on in your apartment block? Does every change come as a shock, quickly followed by a range of emotions, just like the five…
Roundup: Mr Valentine ponders training committee members
In a post-broadcast chat with James Valentine the other day (you can hear the Podcast here), he raised the issue of qualifications for strata committee members. James, who chaired…
Last post for insecure mailboxes
If there was one thing about its entrance that would put me off buying an apartment – apart from the obvious warning signs like grafitti, broken windows and wandering Airbnb…
How to silence strata committee bullies
Nobody in their right mind enjoys formal committee meetings. Whether it’s your local club or your company board, they often descend into battles of wills between those who know…