Hi – we own a block of 4 x 2 bedders which we bought approx. 3 years ago.

We had no trouble getting finance, but we did have a line of credit already set-up and just needed to increase the limit, so maybe that made it easier.

We don’t bother with a body corp. as it is unnecessary hassle when you own the whole block.

Our property manager on-charges the water-usage component of the water bills to the tenants once per quarter (I just send them a copy of the bills).

The advantage of owning the whole thing is that you get to control what maintenance you want to do to the common areas and when (as long as nothing is actually inconveniencing one of your tenants). Plus you can upgrade one unit at a time whilst getting 3 other rental incomes (in our case) if you need to.

You need two insurance policies (as mentioned by the other poster) – Building/Strata insurance and Landlord’s insurance. You don’t have to have Landlords if you don’t want it, but I would recommend it.

I think all the other advantages/disadvantages would apply whether your properties are separate or in the same building (eg. tenant issues, maintenance inside units, etc.).

Hope this helps.