Buying an apartment - what questions should I ask

[VPS]

So although I'm a bit reluctant to live in an apartment but I've found one I really like. They were built in 2004 and not just a standard block but obviously designed to be a more aeshetic rather than a concrete box.

What questions should I be asking?

 

[Dr Ralph]

Surely access to common areas should be through swipe cards that are not able to be easily copied?

Rare in my experience. Especially for older buildings. My building is 10 years old and does not have this for common areas.

 

[Pushka]

OK bumping this again. Obviously the last one didn't come off but have found another one. It's a block of 5 on top of commercial buildings.

Anything else that screams at anyone when commercial buildings involved. Currently a coffee shop and beauticians and one empty below.

Also - the strata fees a $1600pq which I think is expensive. Just waiting for details on last strata meetings and details on sinking funds etc

Look out for annual shut downs, eg over Christmas and if that will limit access to any facilities. Our body corporate fees are around $1300 a quarter but that includes maintaining a gym and small swimming pool. Im thinking given its commercial then insurances might be higher than residential.

Rare in my experience. Especially for older buildings. My building is 10 years old and does not have this for common areas.

Our building is 11 years old and access to the pools and gym is by swipe card.

 

[p--and--t]

Surely access to common areas should be through swipe cards that are not able to be easily copied? This allows for them to be easily cancelled without affecting other residents.

When a key is lost which requires rekeying then there is the hassle of reissuing new keys to all residents.

The difficulty here is every state has it own regulations, every OC has its own registered rules, some OC may have ratified rules only found in minutes of meetings and every building is different.

The size of the building, the number of OCs in the building, the approved usages in the building (commercial, mixed, res only), the age of the building, the act under which the building was "stratified" all create variances where a single answer cannot be given.

All answers here will come from an individuals experiences. I have apartments in three capital cities and each one has its own individual challenges and quirks from the multitude of factors at play.

Some older smaller niche buildings with mainly permanent residents less than 4 stories with no common areas other than a foyer, and no elevator are perfectly happy with "real" keys and owning responsibility for not losing them, no fancy services, low body corp fees.

Some large mixed tenancy 44 story modern buildings with hundreds of residents that are much younger and lots of renters have fancy video call doorbell systems, keyfob RFID systems, onsite concierges, pools, gyms, theatres, and cameras everywhere.

There is "no" standard apartment building.

 

[VPS]

Look out for annual shut downs, eg over Christmas and if that will limit access to any facilities. Our body corporate fees are around $1300 a quarter but that includes maintaining a gym and small swimming pool. Im thinking given its commercial then insurances might be higher than residential.


Our building is 11 years old and access to the pools and gym is by swipe card.

This is just a block of 5 apartments on top of a few shops. Nothing like pools or gyms or anything fancy. I'm just concerned that because there are commercial buildings underneath then that may increase costs and some good hints here. Thanks everyone

 

[mrsterryn]

This is just a block of 5 apartments on top of a few shops. Nothing like pools or gyms or anything fancy. I'm just concerned that because there are commercial buildings underneath then that may increase costs and some good hints here. Thanks everyone

Our block is 11 townhouse type , with four small shops
We have no lifts , pools or gyms. We have weekly cleaning. Our place did not manage to force the builder to fix the faults in our buildings. Our particular place has about 35,000$ worth of repairs done in 2016. We are one end of the row. The other end also needs some worth nothing like ours. We have quite high strata fees about $1800 a quarter and our sinking fund is very healthy
The only difference that I am aware that having the four shops was we needed to our our own front doors a special fire doors. One owner wanted to put a screen door in I think and it wasn't permitted. Also some of our repairs that in most places are strata to do aren't in our property. Our bylaws have been changed to reflect it. Probable here we have 1/3 renters and 2/3 still owner occupied.
Our place is about 14 years old

 

[cove]

Test each of your car parking spaces to see you can get your vehicles in and out easily. Check to see your storage area is big enough if you are downsizing.
Read the minutes of the strata and see that the sinking fund is correctly funded for handling the larger items like lift replacements. Make sure the building coating is not combustible as replacing it is a big cost. Check the noise level on both a week night and a weekend night.
The more tenants in a building can cause trouble. See if Air BNB is a problem.
Review the building annual operating costs.

 

[moa999]

Don't think AirBNB is an issue anywhere at present.

One useful thing in the strata minutes is to see if they have a 10yr plan and are adequately provisioning for things like lifts, fans, HVAC etc.

Flammable cladding replacement costs can vary massively. I've been hit with the equivalent of about 4 month levies (and cladding only covers about 10% of the building). Replacement finally starts next week.

 

[cove]

We had to replace the flammable cladding on a strata titled warehouse and we used Dulux paint to fix it rather than do a new cladding. That saved $190,000 and cost $60,000 in total for the three owners. Fire safety has to be a priority.

 

[p--and--t]

Don't think AirBNB is an issue anywhere at present.

They might not be right now but they are a real problem in apartment buildings, especially in the middle of the city. Often rented for a night so a group of friends can go clubbing or hold a party. Alcohol noise damage unannounced strangers wandering the common areas propping security doors open, abusing residents. They dont care because they will be out 10am tomorrow and know there is nothing you can do about it. We are considering at next AGM banning all short term rentals in the building

One useful thing in the strata minutes is to see if they have a 10yr plan and are adequately provisioning for things like lifts, fans, HVAC etc.

+1 Absolutely. also exterior & common area repaint every 15yrs, facelifts, pool refurbishments, replacement gym equipment et al.

 

[Austman]

This is just a block of 5 apartments on top of a few shops. Nothing like pools or gyms or anything fancy. I'm just concerned that because there are commercial buildings underneath then that may increase costs and some good hints here. Thanks everyone

I own in a mixed use strata. There should be three OC/BCs: one for the residential lots, one for the commercial lots and one "shared" where both the residential and the commercial lots are members.

There should be three annual budgets with fees set accordingly. The costs for commercial lots should be mostly separate from the residential lots. Those two OC/BCs can have their own separate common property, separate services and facilities and even separate entrances. The commercial OC/BC lot owners might even be individually responsible for the maintenance of external parts of their lots.

The "shared" OC/BC looks after shared any common property (eg building structures), any shared facilities and eg building insurance as well as strata management costs.

 

[Buzzard]

It would also be worth checking how much the building is insured for.
Hopefully nothing happens but imagine if it burnt down and you found it wasn't adequately insured.

 

[Austman]

It's certainly worth checking insurance.

But all strata schemes in Australia have compulsory insurance requirements and many states require building valuations to be done at certain intervals (eg at least every 3 years).

And to note that building insurance is based on rebuilding costs, not on market value. And that insurers automatically index it each year.

 

[cove]

Is there any guest parking so friends can visit?
Check the water pressure at peak use times.
Check that the building has a strong signal for your phone, Ipad and computer if you plan to work from home.
Is it adequately heated and cooled.
If there is a pool and a parking area below it look for leaks and sagging steel......I saw that in one in Northbridge....that is a category 10 in difficult to fix as the parking roof height is usually under 5 metres .

 

[Hvr]

Check to see if there is an embedded electricity network.

Embedded networks customers | Australian Energy Regulator (AER)

Live in an apartment block? Or maybe own a business in a shopping centre? Learn more about your rights as a customer in an embedded network.

www.aer.gov.au

These are not good for residents.

The same for internet.

 

[VPS]

Thanks for all the info - lots to chase up but as usual the real estate agent is not responding to requests and they want me to pay to see the strata minutes - I don't think so.

No pools and plenty of parking and visitor parking and there is free off street parking in the area as well.

 

[Pushka]

Thanks for all the info - lots to chase up but as usual the real estate agent is not responding to requests and they want me to pay to see the strata minutes - I don't think so.

No pools and plenty of parking and visitor parking and there is free off street parking in the area as well.

What? Ive never heard of that at all. Is that even legal to charge for something as important as that in a real estate sale?

 

[cove]

We had a bit of difficulty getting to read the strata minutes but I persevered. Get the name of the strata managers is what you need. Agents try to avoid this sort of information.
i gave up trying to buy one Sydney apartment that I liked when I could not get the information I was seeking. Almost nothing is so unique that you have to buy without all the information.
In today’s market a buyer has the upper hand.
We change the hoses to the washing machine and dishwasher if they are not the re-inforced type as having a flood can be very costly.

 

[p--and--t]

Thanks for all the info - lots to chase up but as usual the real estate agent is not responding to requests and they want me to pay to see the strata minutes - I don't think so.

No pools and plenty of parking and visitor parking and there is free off street parking in the area as well.

I don't know about Adelaide, but in Vic you can view the documents for free by appointment during business hours but charged per page for a hard copy of same.

 

[VPS]

We had a bit of difficulty getting to read the strata minutes but I persevered. Get the name of the strata managers is what you need. Agents try to avoid this sort of information.
i gave up trying to buy one Sydney apartment that I liked when I could not get the information I was seeking. Almost nothing is so unique that you have to buy without all the information.
In today’s market a buyer has the upper hand.
We change the hoses to the washing machine and dishwasher if they are not the re-inforced type as having a flood can be very costly.

The agent gave me the name of the strata manager and they were the ones who told me I'd have to pay. I'll be calling the agent tomorrow to have a polite discussion as she hasn't responded to my emails requesting her to authorise this payment

 

[Pushka]

The agent gave me the name of the strata manager and they were the ones who told me I'd have to pay. I'll be calling the agent tomorrow to have a polite discussion as she hasn't responded to my emails requesting her to authorise this payment

I guess in a way that makes sense as if the strata mangement is having to organise it then the owners are funding the costs. Which would add up with many sales and many interested buyers. However it isnt like you can organise and pay for someone else to produce it (I'm referring to the costs of building inspections). The Agent should pay and get permission to distribute it to interested registered parties.