Transcript
Buying a unit, apartment, or townhouse? You need a strata report. Same thing as a body corporate report in Queensland.
When you buy into strata, you're buying into a shared building with shared costs. A strata report tells you the financial health of that building. A few hundred dollars. Here's what matters.
Your unit entitlement. Your percentage share of the building. This determines what you pay towards everything—levies, special levies, all of it.
Fund balances. There are two funds. The admin fund covers day-to-day — insurance, gardening, electricity, fire safety. The capital works fund is savings for major repairs — roofs, lifts, waterproofing. You want healthy balances in both. What is healthy is depends on your building. If you have a quaint 4-unit block compared with a multi-storey complex with gyms, lifts and pools, the amount of money you’d want to see in the fund is drastically different.
Your levies. What the unit you're buying is charged quarterly and annually. This is a fixed cost on top of your mortgage.
The capital works plan. The building's ten-year maintenance schedule. Compare it to the capital works fund balance. If major work is due and the fund is low, a special levy is coming your way.
Insurance. The building needs to be insured and your lender will require it. Check that the insured amount matches the property valuation in the report.
Upcoming works. Any major projects approved or in the pipeline? Know what's coming and what it'll cost.
And finally disputes. Active disputes between owners, with the builder, or strata manager and ongoing defect claims should be documented. This tells you how well the building is run.
Key takeaways
- Your strata levies are a fixed cost on top of your mortgage — know what you'll pay quarterly before you commit
- Compare the capital works fund balance to the ten-year maintenance plan — if big repairs are due and the fund is low, a special levy is coming
- Check for active disputes and defect claims — they tell you how well the building is actually run
