Forum: Stalemate keeps fresh faces at bay
Strife in strata is so often a case of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object that it’s hardly worth mentioning – but then someone comes up with a new…
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Defame game – when it’s okay to criticise
With all the various defamation trials we’ve seen recently, it’s only natural that anyone who’s going to criticise anyone for anything might be a little concerned. And before I type…
Do you have this professional on your side?
Here in strata, your building will hire a lot of people to help look after its and your interests. There’s probably a strata manager, there may be a building facilities…
Forum: Strata doesn’t have to be so difficult
Sometimes you just have to wonder why strata owners make life more difficult for themselves, twisting themselves into pretzels to find ways of doing stuff that the law clearly does…
Free guide shows how strata committees work
Last year we accidentally bought an investment property. I say accidentally because it was going to be our sea-change downsizer where we would live in peace and quiet while we…
Forum: Taxing times with income you never see
It’s that time of year when we are all thinking about tax – if only because we have been bombarded with ad for EOFY (End of Financial Year) sales and…
Strata facts (and fun) to the fore at conference
Tickets are running out for the inaugural Strata Impact Conference on the Gold Coast at the very beginning of next month, your chance to see and hear a stack of…
Forum: Developer turns block into Airbnb hotel
What happens when a developer can’t sell all their apartments so then lists them on Airbnb? Are they running an illegal short-term rental hotel? And didn’t their sales people tell…
Forum: Unelected despot bullying tenants
There is a malaise that must be unique to strata buildings – an ordinary owner awards themselves extraordinary powers and appoints themselves de facto building or strata manager. It’s not…
Forum: Is it okay to record committee meetings?
The vexed question of whether you are allowed to record strata committee meetings has raised its head again – with new complications for the modern age. First of all, it…
Forum: Insurance bumped up because of Airbnbs
Here’s a dilemma that I’ve been waiting to see crop up in the Forum for a couple of years now – can short-term letting hosts be charged the difference if…
None shall sleep when strata Pavarotti pipes up
It’s one of the most famous arias in opera, but Nessun Dorma – it means “none shall sleep” – could apply to shift workers, restless babies and Sunday afternoon nappers…