StrataAU

23/08/2023

| Being a Body Corporate Manage can be quite challenging (but it is also very rewarding)

👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 At any one time, within a single scheme - if you are in charge of 40 lots - that could be 80 people. Which could also mean, 80 vehicles and 80 pets! Across 10 Schemes, that could be 400 - 800 people with vehicles and pets to boot.

🧟 You might at some points within your contracted time have to be the “bad guy” because it’s your duty to follow the legislation. This could mean telling a lot owner that their request isn’t as simple as they might think it is (maybe a planned renovation has an element that needs to be voted on at a General Meeting, and the next AGM isn’t for 8 months). We dont love doing it! But we have to follow the rules as they are set out.

🗣️ You might have lot owners directing their frustrations that their levies went up at you - but the budget proposed was inflated merely to meet the needs of certain bills now being more expensive than they were last year.

📚 The legislation is hefty! The three most referred to pieces of documentation are the 1997 Act, the Standard Module and the Accommodation Module. That equated to 838 pages of legislation! And that's just the most utilised ones. There is also the Small Schemes module, the Speificfied Two-Lot module, and the Commercial module, and that's just the legislation specifically written for Body Corporate.

📝 The list goes on!

😀 But at the end of the day, its also super rewarding being able to take a really tricky sector and make it easier for the unsung heroes - the committee members! Usually an unpaid gig, they elect themselves to help the Body Corproate thrive for the good of the people.

👍 A good BC Manager will usually attract a great Committee. And that combo together will make for a fantastic and well running Body Corporate!

🚑 IF you think your Body Coroprate needs a bit of TLC - call StrataAU, we’re here to help!

☎️ 0434 748 321

20/08/2023

WHY HAVE MY LEVIES INCREASED?

A question asked frequently and misunderstood often.

To drill deeper into it, there are two questions to ask first. Are you asking about a singular levy payment, based on your previously paid total or are you looking at the budget and levies proposed for the coming financial year?

If you're asking about the levies proposed for the next year, the simple answer is: your levies are probably going up because so is the cost of living. If you are a stand-alone homeowner, your insurance would be going up as would the cost of materials, maintenance and repairs. It's the same for Bodies Corporate. Your running costs are higher therefore your levies need to be higher to cover the costs to keep the body corporate running!

You’ll find the biggest contributor to any levy rise is the rise in insurance costs. The last few years have seen massive price inflation to cover the same structure - that has to be paid from BC funds, therefore, the appropriate additional money needs to be raised to cover it.

If you are asking about a particular levy instalment being higher than the instalment just gone, it could just be that the small rise was okayed (CARRIED by majority vote) at the last AGM. Before you email your committee or BC Manager - take a peep at your last AGM Meeting minutes. You might be able to answer your own question with documentation you already have.

Body Corporate is complicated. It's best left to an expert. Call StrataAU if you’d like your property managed by good humans.

☎️ 0434 748 321

16/08/2023

SELF-MANAGED STRATA: Might save you money, but at what cost? [PART 2]

So, you live in a smaller Body Corporate Scheme. 4 lots? 6 lots? Everyone pitches in and helps with maintenance - so, why pay a Body Corporate manager? Surely it's not that hard?

Well, you might be right, you might also rue the day you actioned that thought.

Self-managing your Body Corporate Scheme might seem like a practical money-saving idea at the time. And you may be right. But if that decision is being made based on the people you have living on-site at a certain point in time, think about this:
❓ Who will be the custodian of all your official documents
❓ Who will be in charge of funds at the bank and what processes will you implement to ensure transactions are properly recorded?
❓ Who will organise the AGM? Are you aware of the legislation surrounding the completion of an AGM? The statutory motions required?
❓ Who will complete the budgets for the upcoming year?
❓ Who get the privilege of deciding the levy totals needing to be collected to meet the price rises seen across the board lately?
❓What happens if, 2 out of the 5 owners you respect so much sell their property and are replaced with newcomers that don’t share your values?

If your Body Corporate Manager is making it look like an easy job, perhaps they are just good at what they do. And if you have a Body Corporate Manager that is good at what they are doing, you are lucky! Keep them.

If your Body Corporate Manager is making your life harder than it needs to be, don't go the self-managed route. Call StrataAU, and we’ll show you what “making it look easy” feels like!

☎️ 0434 748 321

15/08/2023

🎡 EKKA WEEK HOURS 📣

We will be closed for the Ekka Show Day public holiday tomorrow, August 16th and will remain closed until 8am Monday 21st of August.

Emails will be checked intermittently throughout this time.

13/08/2023

Living in Queensland is pretty special. To think our winter weather rivals that of some northern hemisphere summers!

09/08/2023

MAINTENANCE VS IMPROVEMENT
A cage match for the ages, to be sure.

You live in a Body Corporate Scheme, and you want to make a change to your allotted outdoor area that is “exclusive use”. Easy right?

Easy, sure. But do you know if your plans would be deemed as maintenance or an improvement? And do you need approval? From who? The committee or the entire Body Corporate at a General Meeting?

While every question posed in Body Corporate comes down to the individual scenario, here are some things to understand:
If you are maintaining what is there, to keep or restore, it is most likely going to be deemed as maintenance
If you are taking something, and changing or upgrading it “for the better”, aka, not like for like, you could be wandering into “improvement” land.

Once you are in the “improvement” column, there are some things to consider:

A committee can approve your improvement if:
✔︎ the total cost is less than $3,000
✔︎ the improvement does not detract from the appearance of a lot
✔︎ the body corporate is satisfied that the use and enjoyment of the improvement is not likely to be a breach of the owner’s duties as an occupier (e.g. by causing a nuisance to others in the scheme).

➡️ If your improvement will cost more than $3,000, a motion for the works you wish to embark on must be authorised by ordinary resolution at a general meeting.

Don't feel supported by your manager? Call StrataAU. We’ll take care of you.

☎️ 0434 748 321

03/08/2023

SELF-MANAGED STRATA: Might save you money, but at what cost? [PART 1]

So, you live in a smaller Body Corporate Scheme. 4 lots? 6 lots? Everyone pitches in and helps with maintenance - so, why pay a Body Corporate manager? Surely it's not that hard? Right?

Well, you might be right, you might also rue the day you actioned that.

While it may not seem like the Body Corporate Manager does much, here is some food for thought:
💡 Perhaps your manager seems like they don’t do much because they are experienced in what they do, and make it seem somewhat effortless.
💡 Perhaps, without viewing their email inbox or call history, you can't actually see what questions and queries your neighbours have emailed or called though, that require research to correctly answer.
💡 Perhaps because you aren't working in the sector, you don’t understand that your scheme is bound by the 1997 Act, a separate set of legislation set out by the module your scheme is registered under and also has specific maintenance requirements based on its format, stipulated on the structures survey plan
💡 Perhaps if you move from a Body Corporate management company - your scheme documents and operations will no longer be managed by a program designed to efficiently manage the day to day items of a Body Corporate scheme

And that's just things to consider with regards to the removal of the manager.

Keep your eyes out for Part 2: You’ve gone self-managed because your neighbours are lovely people - but some of them just sold, and your new neighbours are…interesting…

If you’r wanting to explore your options, you could look at self-managed strata, just like you could run a marathon with no shoes on.
But if you want to explore options that make your life easier - call StrataAU. We’ll sort yah.

☎️ 0434 748 321

28/07/2023

👩‍🔧QLD: Maintenance vs Improvements What spending limits apply | LookUpStrata

⚠️ A really worthwhile watch for anyone in living in a Body Corporate or currently (or thinking) of serving on Body Corporate Committee in the future:

Frank Higginson from Hynes Legal joined Nikki Jovicic from LookUpStrata to discuss Maintenance vs Improvements.The session highlights the significance of the...

27/07/2023

Those pastel hues reflected in still bayside water. Who would want to live anywhere else?

25/04/2023

Lest we forget.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

For the Fallen | Laurence Binyon

13/04/2023

DO YOU OWN A UNIT IN A COMMUNITY TITLES SCHEME? Yes? Read on…

Whether you occupy your unit or not - if you own a unit or a “lot” in a community titles scheme, you are automatically a member of the body corporate.

The body corporate has a statutory responsibility to keep common property in a good condition. It also must administer the affairs of the body corporate in a reasonable way.

There are a range of other statutory obligations set out in the Body Corporate and Community Management Act and the related regulation modules. The overriding obligation is to act reasonably.

If you are unhappy with how your body corporate is managed but not confident enough to elect yourself for a committee role - the next best thing is researching and submitting a motion to appoint a new Body Corporate Manager.

While a Body Corporate Manager can’t make decisions on behalf of a Body Corporate or their elected committee, they can guide the committee and supply the correct legislative frame work in which to effect positive change for your community.

If you’d like to see what’s out there for you and your Body Corporate - shoot us an email and request a quote!

| Info in bio |

12/04/2023

DID YOU KNOW | 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘬𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘯

Whether you are a local or have only visited the Bayside a couple of times, you would have seen the three pillar sculpture. But did you know anything else about this permanent part of the Wynnum foreshore?

Created by local-to-Brisbane-artist, Stephen Newton - his artists statement reads as follows:

𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘬𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘯

Symbolising the indigenous, non-indigenous and natural history of the Moreton Bay region, and commemorating the original pier built in 1882. Bulka Booangun means calling the dolphins, a reciprocal fishing practice used by the local Quandamooka people.

The more you know huh?