RE: Urgent – bad strata report – within 5 day cooling off period – cracking & water penetration problems

I woke up today disappointed but definitely no regrets  Unfortunately the property was not cheap and if anything, it was being marketed as over the market value for that area and the vendor was offered a figure closer to the asking price. He decided to accept my lower offer which was still within market value. The real estate agent had no idea that the strata was about to increase and there were long term remedial works planned. This will not be reflected in the price. They just hope the next buyer won't discover the problems. As the real estate agent said, most people don't do reports.

There is no such thing as a cheap building advertised  in Sydney until you discover the problems yourself at cost and then negotiate a lower price. So not only do we have to pay higher prices and ugly designs, we can't expect it to be structurally sound either. Here is another bullet I dodged which are being currently being marketed at $465k for a 1 br apartment – http://www.dalgetysquare.com.au/display/property_detail/254 

Dalgety Square, Jones Street, Ultimo
Defect assessment and liaison with Office of Fair Trading representatives in establishing extent and nature of control joint, rooftop terrace and wet area waterproofing deficiencies, internal courtyard balcony deterioration and rectification measures, and water penetration of façade.  Coordinate tenders and reconcile with recommendations to client.  Liaise with specialist consultants in completion of works outside our expertise.  Approximate remedial cost $4.5 m, excluding fire protection issues being assessed by others.