Hi again,
can anybody tell me about extra expenses involved with owning units as opposed to houses? I assume insurance would be more, but are there extra land rates or expenses I haven't considered?
Thanx…..morgan1
Hi, I personally do not have units , but do have townhouses which are similar.
You need to pay strata fees – can range from $100 to $200 or more a month.
Insurance – contents is by tenant and unit by strata body, but you need to pay insurance for fittings and imdemidy ( can't spell )
Also special levies maybe impossed to pay for one off bills like replacing a roof or replacing something big.
Basic maintenance is paid for by strata fees, like painting exterior, grass cutting etc. but you still need to paint your own unit inside.Your strata fees should also pay for say broken tiles on roof or leaking shower etc.
Council rates are less because you own less property, but not enough to cover strata fees.
Thats about it off the top of my head, I'm sure there are other items someone can think of.
Thanks for that. I'm assuming if you own all the units (a block of 3,) there are no strata fees because the maintanance is all yours anyway? Is there still a legal requirement to set up a sinking fund, though?
morgan1
I am no expert on this, but my guess is.
You maybe should get a strata management company to run it – at least to start so you can see what is involved, they can advise on strata fees etc. I think you need to have a sinking fund etc to make it legal, but I'm no expert, other have complete blocks, hopefully they can advise.There is no obligation to engage a strata manager – it is more a case of engaging a third party to manage and arrange several contracts and minimise any legal liabilities which may arise. Using a SM is most common in blocks where there are several owners whereas blocks under single ownership may not benefit from having external management (however the SM may be better positioned to negotiate better insurance premiums, maintenance contracts, budgeting etc). Alternatively, you could utilise your real estate agent to handle some of those items.
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