Forum Replies Created
Thanks for that info. I wasn't aware that it was only for walls and after doing some more research have decided that at this point it is not for us.
From my understanding on it you also need to use their property managers and the fees for that are a bit steep… (i think about 16% for freestanding house and about 12-13% for units/townhouses)
Hi Jazz77,
All I know is that in NSW the bank legally has a responsibility to get market value for the property which is why you don't get a 'bargain' like you would in America (for example) where people get expensive houses very cheap. If the bank sold significantly under market value then they are in deep water legally.
Hi Jins13,
Thank you for that. We are looking into doing that but all the filing in courts and responses from owners etc take time. We know eventually they will be forced to pay or sell the unit to pay costs. At the moment 3 owners are paid up to date so there is money there for cleaning/maintenance as well as bills which is good.
Hi,
I am by no means an expert but when we were in the same position the advise we were given was to ask questions like:
– how often do you do inspections? do you take photos? will you give me a report? is this included in the cost or extra?
– how many properties do you manage? who looks after them if/when you are sick/on holiday? (you don't want them to have too many because then yours might slip through the cracks)
– how do you advertise for a tennant? Do you have innovative ways of attracting quality tennants? how do you screen tennants?
– what % of your rent roll is in arrears? what is your policy/procedure for late rent collection?
– what are the fees/charges with your service?
– what is included and what is an 'extra'?Hope this has helped,
YuliaJust to put my two cents in –
My husband and I bought a unit in a block of 6… At the time we bought 5 of the 6 owners had stopped paying their fees… When we bought the Strata received a cheque from the settlement. Our experience has been that it can take a long time to get the money from the other owners because there is a process that needs to be followed and (in NSW) they can file for mediation with the CTTT and Fair Trading which pushes back the process. It has been more than 6 months now and we are still in the process of taking 3 owners to court for the outstanding fees. In the meantime what this has meant is that there is no sinking fund, there is no money for repairs and maintenance as all the money that the Strata receives goes into paying insurance, bills etc. However, we have time and patience to wait this out/see it through and because of the issues with this we got a great deal. I think it comes down to doing your research and your tolerance for risk and stress.
Thank you Michael and Richard for you responses.
It certainly has given me some questions to ask them when we go for pre-approval and if they can't answer them properly then look at speaking to a broker.
The property we bought was under 500k which is why it was 0.7% I can't remember what % they said if we had a loan bigger than 500k.Also, I have been reading on this site about Trusts. Can you recommend where I can look for more information about this and the benefits? There is a lot of information on this site but everything I've found so far assumes a basic understanding/knowledge which I don't have at the moment.
Thanks,
Thank you Terryw. Do you know how long something like this can drag out for? Or is it done quite quickly?
i think the website you are talking about is http://www.refindhouseprices.com/ it tells you how long a property has been advertised for and if the price has been discounted/reduced.
