Golden oldies get a going over

All the talk recently has been about strata newbies rushing into the off-the-plan market with their first-time buyers grant in one hand and their stamp duty exemption in the other.

Financial freebies aside, buying off the brochure is a bit of a gamble – but is buying an older apartment any less so?  Admittedly the apartment exists and you should be able to get a better sense of what it will be like to live there than you can ever get from glossy brochure or an artist’s impression.

You can see the building in 3D and walk around inside the apartment, hear the neighbours (or not), and picture your stuff in that space.

But how do you find on what’s really going on in an older building? Is there a stack of secret repair bills the vendor is hoping to escape? Is there a rusted on executive committee that rules with a rod of iron, outdated by-laws and an over-inflated sense of their own importance.

Are the neighbours at war? Is the sinking fund a black hole into which money is sucked but never emerges? Is the complete lack of anything untoward in the EC minutes a sign that the block is an idyllic oasis from life’s cares or a crumbling disaster area where nothing has been noted because nothing gets done.

You can find out how to answer some of these questions when the Owners Corporation Network hosts the second of their apartment buying seminars next Saturday, November 24, at Kirribili Club in Lavender Bay, Sydney.

Speakers will include strata lawyer Suzie Broome of Makinson & d’Apice, building expert Chris Mo’ane of Integrated Consultancy Group, strata manager Wally Patterson of Dynamic Property Services,  Liza Perera a strata owner with her professional finance background and Ingrid Jackson an experienced Executive Committee Chair.

The whole thing costs $40 ($35 for OCN members) including morning tea, will be run with the charm and efficiency of a broken cuckoo clock by yours truly (I may even tell my one and only strata joke). Click here for more details.

Meanwhile City of Sydney is running a series of workshops called Strata 101 with the next two sessions being ‘Strata Paws’ on pets in apartments (in Surry Hills on  November 27) and ‘High-Rise Matchmaking’, finding the right building for you (Kings Cross on November 29). Click HERE for the pets session and HERE for the one on finding the building that best suits you.

Here at Flat Chat we are always keen to promote any events for apartment residents across Australia so if you have anything that might help us all to understand where we’re headed in this brave new world of strata living, log in and post the information here.