Hi all,
I wanted to see if you had suggestions on reducing/limiting ongoing cost of apartment investments, and if there's any way to avoid certain costs. Anyone input from someone who has experience owning apartments would be good.
The common ongoing costs are body corporate (strata) fees, water/electricity bills, property management fees, etc.
I think it's important to stay on top of costs particularly from a cashflow perspective so any advice would be fantastic.
Regards,
AjayHi Ajay
It's always a good idea to keep a close eye on your costs. Let's have a look at the ongoing costs you mentioned:
1. Strata Fees – You could stand for election on the Strata Committee. It's usually quite easy to get elected as most people don't seem to want to get involved. This is the committee that overseas all expenditure on the building.
2. Water rates – Make sure your property manager charges your tenant that proportion of the water rates that can be charged to the tenant in your State (usually water usage).
3. Electricity Bills – The electricity bill for your individual unit is paid by your tenant. However electricity usage in the "common areas" of your building is paid by Strata.
4. Property Management – You could manage the property yourself. We had a go at this and didn't like the experience. We now shop around for a good price for our property management. However to us, price in property management, is secondary to getting a good property manager. A bad one can easily lose you the money you save on management fees.Cheers, Paul
Paul Dobson | Vendor Finance Institute
http://www.vendorfinanceinstitute.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeAn alternative way to finance your home.
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