STRATA - COUNCIL OF OWNERS

When you buy into a Strata Titled building you need to view the minutes - see what's happening in there, what they are planning to do if anything.  See who the Councillors are and if possible talk to them.

When I bought into 4 Dover Court I was told not to buy in there as it was the worst block in Mosman Park (yep sure was), however why was it the worst block?

After many years with a lot of the same hard working people on the Council of Owners 4 Dover Court and 2 Murray Avenue has been turned around to be one of the best blocks in Mosman Park.  Yes it hasn't had the whole face lift outside but really it's all about replacing:
roofs, lifts, pipe work, security, carpets, painting, secure parking the list goes on and on.
The outside of the building maybe not all pretty but it's all pretty good inside.  All of the old apartment blocks that were built originally in the 70's all need to have work done, lets face it and if they have not got a good reserve fund hmmm could be a big hit coming your way.

The Council of Owners is a thankless task but my train of thought is if you are buying into a complex have some interest and keep that building up to scratch.  Years ago many people didn't even have a Strata Company to run their complexes but they did it themselves - fraught with danger in a big complex, okay with 8 and under I suppose and if you get the right people that know all the rules and regulations can be okay however if they are there for their own agenda's might not be good.

Dover Court & Murray Avenue have 197 units between the two of them, shared pool in the middle, secure parking for top and bottom floors and first in best dressed for the rest of the floors for Dover, Murray Avenue have an allocated car bay each.
Our strata fee's are exactly the same for the one & two bedrooms and we all have the same voting rights.  This was the way it had been created since it was built.  When we do something big it goes to the vote and its the majority wins, so I tell people it's important to attend the AGM meetings to vote the way they want to.

You don't always get what you want for the complexes but this is a fair system when the people vote - sometimes you are able to load the meetings (in the way of proxies) but I don't consider that a fair playing ground.

The Council of Owners also go over the monthly accounts and make sure there is no discrepancies - double payments to suppliers etc. as the Strata Companies don't just look after you they have hundreds of complexes not everyone is infallible as data entering is not always correct.
Also you have to be on the Council for a few years to understand it all but it's a great learning curve and I recommend everyone having a crack at it.

To get a good Council of Owners they all have to be on the same page and work towards the better of the complex and not just be there for their own agenda but unfortunately it's like everything isn't it people go on these Councils to try and change it to their own advantage, well that's why you have to be involved to make sure these incidents are kept to a minimum.

I have been on the Council of Owners now for about 16 years and it's been an interesting ride, from going to a novice to an informed Councillor who tries to be fair in all instances.  Lots of investors have faith in me and give me their proxies to vote the way I want to vote (see you can load the meeting) but I try to get the feel of the majority of people at the actual meeting and listen to their concerns before making up my mind on the way to vote and it's always going to be in the best interests of the whole complex.

Overall very happy with Dover & Murray great people, good complex, parking at Dover seems to be an issue at the moment but we are working towards that - everyone pitches in and tries to solve these issues, not everyone see's eye to eye but if you can sensibly work it out together that's what its all about really.

Don't fear Strata just be more informed and there are plenty of courses (night) that you can do to learn about strata issues, I have done loads of them and benefitted a lot.


MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS AND GIVE IT A REAL GO !!