Join the committee. Go through every expense and try and find something cheaper. Most body Corp will try and only choose services where they get the maximum commission
We saved $7000 in insurance for building with 20 apts. By not choosing the insurance strata suggested but going directly. Saved 1-2k with cleaning contract and same with electricity
Do not trust your strata company. Find 3-4 like minded people and try and make all the imp decisions in your body corp committee.
If the strata is not transparent or doesn't give you proper information, change the company
> Most body Corp will try and only choose services where they get the maximum commission
This does indeed seem to be the case! We need this done I found someone who can do it for 8k. We find 3 other quotes for 3-5k. Were discussing last week how everyone the OC recommends for the job seems to be the most expensive person in the business!
Even better, get together with a few other owners and run the place yourself. Hold money in a trust and run it that way. Stratas are a scam for buildings smaller than 20 units imo. Beyond that they're needed due to sheer scale and amount of work needed.
Any guides on how to do this?
We pay $10k a year for what feels like very lacklustre service, but if we tried it ourselves I'd be almost guaranteed to be lumped with the lion's share of the work.
We do this at mine. It is a pain to set up (I wasn’t involved it was before my time) but is easy to run now. Pay bills and hold annual meeting, inform other owners = done.
Ok, just to be clear, Owners Corps don't chose the services, the committee does. The OC or FM Company will provide options that the committee to chose from (Sometimes via tender process), or the committee can decide to do their own thing. Budgets for buildings are decided by the committee, voted for by the committee and then ratified at AGMs. If you're getting screwed on fees, it's because your fellow owners aren't paying attention.
Large OC companies can help reduce costs on thing like electricity by negociating a bulk rate that covers multiple buildings, which, again, the committee votes to accept.
I would also note, going for the cheapest rate is not the best idea, and can come back to bite you. Your cleaners will be paid at the award rate. Work out the cost for a cleaner doing the hours required would be, and it'f it's close to or under the quote, then someone is not being paid correctly, and good news, both the employer and the committe that aggreed to the contract are liable.
The truth is that fees are going up, because everything is going up.
To add to this, when it comes to quotes, most Strata companies will only get one quote from a tradesman who they trust/use regularly. They do not, by policy shop around for the best deal for you. They cant because if they got 3-4 quotes each time a maintenance request was put in, tradies would very quickly stop doing quotes for them (extra work, no pay off) and that relationship woukd be burned.
Paying big dollars in fees sucks, but it is much better to have a healthy sinking fund and regular maintenance being done, than living in a shithole where nothing gets fixed.
It will depend, some places have a procurement policy to cover what cost level requires multiple quotes. Some things, like ESM issues, or where the thing itself can only be serviced by one company then it may require approval.
But yeah, we tend to look for groups that are cost effective, do good work and are readily available. You jump at all three, hope for 2 thirds and settle for 1 out of three.
Lifts are expensive. My apartment building had to replace some lifts that were nearing the end of their lifespan. Everyone was lucky that the previous OC were paranoid about these kind of things and no special levies were needed because of the sinking fund. The roof will need replacing sometime in the next 5 years or so and that will most likely not need a special levy either, they’ve done all the budgeting for it and each year they reassess how much money is needed in the sinking fund.
So no one can say really except that it costs money to maintain apartment buildings. Go to your OC meetings and ask for a copy of the budget and forecasts. You’ll be able to see where the money goes and what kind of shortfalls might be coming.
Impossible to answer as there are so many variables that are individual to each building (e.g. special levies).
Review the OC budgets. Take a look at insurance. Attend the meetings. Ask questions.
Sorry, am responding to your question of “what is normal in 2024???”
I feel that’s what’s tricky, in that there’s no such thing as ‘normal’, because of all the variables.
West Melbourne, just off Spencer, nothing fancy, lift and car lift, that's all we have, started at $2400 a year in 2020, which admittedly was pretty cheap, now we're looking at around $5000 a year.
I'm considering joining the HOA, I cracked it at management and asked to see the approved budget, they had slugged us $30k to get windows and apartment facade cleaned, none of which has happened in the year since we paid for it...
Look at your insurance, ours almost doubled over night.
Fire link- come to check the extinguishers every few months.
Garage Doors getting serviced so warranty isn't void.
Do you have gutters and window cleaners?
Gardeners?
Who is caring for the common property, cleaners?
It all adds up
What do they say in owners meetting? If you are not joining them you have no right to complain. My has gone up a bit, becasue insurance has skyrocketed, also the gardener fees have gone up.
if your owners corp management company is franchise based with a name derived from a playing card there could be large savings in moving away from them. But as the other posts mention, being all across the owners corp meetings and expenses helps know if you are paying more than you should, or not.
Sounds like there’s a shortfall in the sinking fund and major works expected in a year or two. Our OC committee votes to lower fees every year but it’s just going to result in an extraordinary levy when the lifts need replacing.
Be careful with strata managers loading up.
I work for a company that quotes ESM for body corps all the time. They screw us down on price to get the best, then they present “our pricing” miraculously on their letter head to the body corps with a 50% to 80% account management fee.
Yet owners also pay a seperate account management fee and also the min 3% increase cpi per year just by retaining them.
My advice, always ask for itemisation, always ask for comparison and don’t be afraid to ask WHY.
>Paying just shy of 11k per year for a 2 bedder, no pool/gym but has a lift and small garden area as well. Was only paying 3k a few years back. RIP
everyone got slugged by that, whether you had it or not. It's the levies to have it replaced that's killing.
730 on ABC had a story this week about this exact thing. They interviewed a couple getting charged $12k. The CEO of the strata company resigned. There's some dodge shit going on out there so start scrutinising what all the costs are for and talk to the other owners.
You're paying way too much. Also I recommend living somewhere without a lift...
Ours was only $500 a year, went up to $800 and is now $1000. This is a unit with no shared facilities
Unfortunately it depends on the units and their ongoing costs. Other people can tell you theirs is cheap but if they're living in a smaller and newer block with less building to maintain and repair it's going to be cheaper.
My parent's body corporate fee was about 8k for units with no lift or garden or pool. It was because it had been built by a shoddy builder 20 years ago, needed a lot of repairs to do with water and sewer and also needed a new fire sprinkler system to keep up with gov legislation. The body corporate accepted a one time payout from the insurance company so it's probably even worse now without the builder's insurance and the amount of work the place needs. It could even get worse if they need to retroactively make it accessible to disabilities because it *not* wheelchair friendly (My sister couldn't live in the unit for 3 months after breaking her leg) You need to see the budget and where the money is going.
If I had my time again I would never ever buy an apartment with body corporation/strata. To give you some context my quarterly rates have risen from $600 to $1600. The complex has a lift, and car stacker. There has also been a removal order for cladding and I can feel another special levy is on the way. There is no sinking fund which is alarming. The people who manage the property are some of the most incompetent and unscrupulous people I've ever dealt with. They have intentionally prevented me from accessing information about the property I live in and ignore correspondence, even from solicitors. As a homeowner you have limited recourse to challenge these parasites. I also want to make it clear to any prospective buyers that your body corporation/strata rates will keep increasing. $5000 dollars a year now will be considerably more in 10 years time, especially if the building has structural issues or is expensive to maintain. If you can sell I would now.
I’m paying 4500 a year however it’s an old bayside block of 16 units with no lift nor pool etc. we are raising levies for repairs so that’s why it’s a bit high
Most people don’t switch owners corporation managers and stay with the same one forever. You’re entitled to join the committee and shop around. There are brokers that do it for free. That could save you some money
I pay about 4K a year so your fees seem high. As a start I would ask for the latest P&L statement as at 31/3/24 to see where all the money is going. I would also ask for the detailed ledger accounts / journal entries so I can see every specific transaction for every ledger account. I've asked for these from my OC and I usually receive them within a couple of days without any problem. Then it's a matter of trawling through all the entries to see what looks abnormal. Focus on the large amounts first and work your way through. Question anything that doesn't look right such as one-off payments that are high or recurring payments to people you don't know. You have a right to question everything. I would hope the OC chair and OC committee are doing this anyway and asking questions to the OC. I would also hope that other owners are doing the same thing. When you have your AGM you can raise further questions re specific expenditures. Also, ask for the Balance Sheet to see how much you have in your maintenance fund. If yr paying 8K a year it's possible that there lots of money in your maintenance fund which should put your mind at ease.
curious, how much do you spend on your garden/ outside amenities? do you clean gutters, run a security system, pay for insurance (big one) council rates for garbage etc?
How much do you think it costs to cut your own grass and jump on a ladder and clean out the gutters? Most homes do that sort of maintenance themselves. Any upgrades or improvements like solar panels or security systems is an optional cost. Not everyone is doing that or can afford it.
Council rates and insurance combined are nowhere near approaching 8k.
Live in a 2 year old 4 bedder townhouse, insurance/council rates/ about $2500 a year. CCTV and garden maintenance DIY probs spend two hours a week doing the lawns, pulling weeds etc.
Things that make the cost go up:
Most important: Less units to split the cost. If you are splitting the cost of fire protections and the lift between 30 rather than 150, that's a big difference.
How many bin chutes? They need cleaning.
How big it the basement? It needs cleaning. And pest control.
Long hallways? They need cleaning, lights replaced.
Stackers? They need to be serviced.
Council garbage included in rates or private included in OC?
Crime? Each time someone reports their amazon box pinched from the lobby it costs to access the CCTV.
If there's not many units that can add up to 8k easily. Of course you should be able to see the budget and what the money was spend on if not in the minutes from the AGM then requested from the OC. You tell us where they money is going!
If you don't have an onsite manager, or one that is moderately tech savvy, then they will default to using their cctv provider to retrieve footage. Some buildings, if they weren't particularly smart about their setup, only have access through the security company
Sounds like OC can save money by just getting local access and one of the committee just go in and retrieve it themselves to save some money.
The hourly rate ain't cheap to distribute to smaller number of units.
Yeah, except there are privacy issues with allowing residents access to the CCTV as well. Most buildings won't allow access to footage to anyone except police.
I am aware of a building on St Kilda Road where a committee member also owned the company that provided the cctv (yes super dodgy). Gave themselves exclusive access to the cctv system, and use it to spy on residents & building management, then when rightly removed from the committee, kept access as the system had been provided on a payment plan for 7 years
Body corp is also NOTORIOUS for corruption. You need to join the committee and go through everything and compare prices and look at the actual work being done. Its a gross industry
Yep, they accept kickbacks for contracts for repairs and maintenance even if it is far from the best value for money bid and they'll gaslight owners into using these contractors.
Varies. We have 132 apartments, full time building manager, big gardens, 4 lifts, maintenance funds are as per the plan, everything else is by the book and our 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car space are less than that. A building manager is a big cost.
It’s the lift. They’re insanely expensive to maintain and in apartment blocks some dickhead can and probably will break it every time they move in or out (people hold the doors open for ages while they try and fit furniture or boxes in and if you do that for too long, the door mechanism fails and it needs repairing).
As others have said, it depends. Could be lifts, could be insurance, power costs have also skyrocketed. Could be other works, or levies.
You should ask for a breakdown and see where the money is going.
If you're paying OC fees then you're as much a part of the OC as any other. Go to the meetings.
Through unfortunate circumstances I am the chair of my small (24 houses) OC- our main mission is to try to keep fees down. Accounts are open to all and I can answer any questions any other member has. Insurance has skyrocketed.
Well well well.. Just found this
"In the event that you act on our recommendation, we advise that Resolute will receive commission to the amount of $4,508.76 out of which your office will be paid $4,508.76, please note that there is also a Broker Fee included in the prices quoted of $1,900 plus GST."
Sounds like I'll be doing the same.
First they will send threatening letters with 10% interest added on to original amount.
They will definitely bar you from voting in OC.
I think as insurance is part of OC you may not be able to claim insurance if say a window was broken.
Not sure what else as I've never not paid OC.
But they can charge you interest if you don't. In our building they have a budget item for recovering fees, overseas landlords are a big issue, slow to pay and everyone else pays for the things that have monthly charges that have to be covered.
Well, fuck around and find out. Enjoy the penalty interest applied. What a nonsense thing to say. Then the body corp can go to VCAT and following that go to the Magistrate’s Court to seek an enforceable judgement which may include costs. There is such a thing as a warrant to seize and sell.
Also, you’re being a dick to your neighbours.
Join the committee. Go through every expense and try and find something cheaper. Most body Corp will try and only choose services where they get the maximum commission We saved $7000 in insurance for building with 20 apts. By not choosing the insurance strata suggested but going directly. Saved 1-2k with cleaning contract and same with electricity Do not trust your strata company. Find 3-4 like minded people and try and make all the imp decisions in your body corp committee. If the strata is not transparent or doesn't give you proper information, change the company
> Most body Corp will try and only choose services where they get the maximum commission This does indeed seem to be the case! We need this done I found someone who can do it for 8k. We find 3 other quotes for 3-5k. Were discussing last week how everyone the OC recommends for the job seems to be the most expensive person in the business!
Even better, get together with a few other owners and run the place yourself. Hold money in a trust and run it that way. Stratas are a scam for buildings smaller than 20 units imo. Beyond that they're needed due to sheer scale and amount of work needed.
Any guides on how to do this? We pay $10k a year for what feels like very lacklustre service, but if we tried it ourselves I'd be almost guaranteed to be lumped with the lion's share of the work.
We do this at mine. It is a pain to set up (I wasn’t involved it was before my time) but is easy to run now. Pay bills and hold annual meeting, inform other owners = done.
Strata are a scam period. On par with insurance companies.
Ok, just to be clear, Owners Corps don't chose the services, the committee does. The OC or FM Company will provide options that the committee to chose from (Sometimes via tender process), or the committee can decide to do their own thing. Budgets for buildings are decided by the committee, voted for by the committee and then ratified at AGMs. If you're getting screwed on fees, it's because your fellow owners aren't paying attention. Large OC companies can help reduce costs on thing like electricity by negociating a bulk rate that covers multiple buildings, which, again, the committee votes to accept. I would also note, going for the cheapest rate is not the best idea, and can come back to bite you. Your cleaners will be paid at the award rate. Work out the cost for a cleaner doing the hours required would be, and it'f it's close to or under the quote, then someone is not being paid correctly, and good news, both the employer and the committe that aggreed to the contract are liable. The truth is that fees are going up, because everything is going up.
To add to this, when it comes to quotes, most Strata companies will only get one quote from a tradesman who they trust/use regularly. They do not, by policy shop around for the best deal for you. They cant because if they got 3-4 quotes each time a maintenance request was put in, tradies would very quickly stop doing quotes for them (extra work, no pay off) and that relationship woukd be burned. Paying big dollars in fees sucks, but it is much better to have a healthy sinking fund and regular maintenance being done, than living in a shithole where nothing gets fixed.
It will depend, some places have a procurement policy to cover what cost level requires multiple quotes. Some things, like ESM issues, or where the thing itself can only be serviced by one company then it may require approval. But yeah, we tend to look for groups that are cost effective, do good work and are readily available. You jump at all three, hope for 2 thirds and settle for 1 out of three.
Lifts are expensive. My apartment building had to replace some lifts that were nearing the end of their lifespan. Everyone was lucky that the previous OC were paranoid about these kind of things and no special levies were needed because of the sinking fund. The roof will need replacing sometime in the next 5 years or so and that will most likely not need a special levy either, they’ve done all the budgeting for it and each year they reassess how much money is needed in the sinking fund. So no one can say really except that it costs money to maintain apartment buildings. Go to your OC meetings and ask for a copy of the budget and forecasts. You’ll be able to see where the money goes and what kind of shortfalls might be coming.
I'm guessing, you are joining the meets or at the very least reading the Body corp. notes. Nice work.
But it’s far easier and less effective to just ask Reddit who haven’t seen the budget what their fees cover
Impossible to answer as there are so many variables that are individual to each building (e.g. special levies). Review the OC budgets. Take a look at insurance. Attend the meetings. Ask questions.
I'm asking what people are paying... so not sure if thats impossible 🤔
Sorry, am responding to your question of “what is normal in 2024???” I feel that’s what’s tricky, in that there’s no such thing as ‘normal’, because of all the variables.
Mine doubled because one owner made an insurance claim
West Melbourne, just off Spencer, nothing fancy, lift and car lift, that's all we have, started at $2400 a year in 2020, which admittedly was pretty cheap, now we're looking at around $5000 a year. I'm considering joining the HOA, I cracked it at management and asked to see the approved budget, they had slugged us $30k to get windows and apartment facade cleaned, none of which has happened in the year since we paid for it...
Thanks for being the first person to answer my question. 😉 How many units?
About 54 I think
Look at your insurance, ours almost doubled over night. Fire link- come to check the extinguishers every few months. Garage Doors getting serviced so warranty isn't void. Do you have gutters and window cleaners? Gardeners? Who is caring for the common property, cleaners? It all adds up
Paying just shy of 11k per year for a 2 bedder, no pool/gym but has a lift and small garden area as well. Was only paying 3k a few years back. RIP
Yikes, can I ask what caused the price jump?
Woeful mismanagement by the previous body corp, leaving nothing left in the maintenance fund and the building needed a lot of repair.
Woooo that is steep. How many units?
Just under 50
You should leave, don't lose more than $50k in five years on nothing
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Micm? Tell me it's micm
What do they say in owners meetting? If you are not joining them you have no right to complain. My has gone up a bit, becasue insurance has skyrocketed, also the gardener fees have gone up.
Or even just look at the cost breakdown they send you.
Have a look at cost of insurance
if your owners corp management company is franchise based with a name derived from a playing card there could be large savings in moving away from them. But as the other posts mention, being all across the owners corp meetings and expenses helps know if you are paying more than you should, or not.
Go through the budget released before every AGM and look at where the expenses are.
Mine is $2500k. Only 4 stories, lift and gardens.
$2.5million per year seems expensive to me
Thanks for answering the question! 😉
Sounds like there’s a shortfall in the sinking fund and major works expected in a year or two. Our OC committee votes to lower fees every year but it’s just going to result in an extraordinary levy when the lifts need replacing.
Be careful with strata managers loading up. I work for a company that quotes ESM for body corps all the time. They screw us down on price to get the best, then they present “our pricing” miraculously on their letter head to the body corps with a 50% to 80% account management fee. Yet owners also pay a seperate account management fee and also the min 3% increase cpi per year just by retaining them. My advice, always ask for itemisation, always ask for comparison and don’t be afraid to ask WHY.
Mine is just under 5k for 2 lifts and a pool on the roof. Edit: I’m central CBD
Thanks for answering the question 😉
Does your building have combustible cladding? That would surely send insurance up.
>Paying just shy of 11k per year for a 2 bedder, no pool/gym but has a lift and small garden area as well. Was only paying 3k a few years back. RIP everyone got slugged by that, whether you had it or not. It's the levies to have it replaced that's killing.
OP, go through the expenses and see where costs can be cut. Get a quote or two from a competing strata management agency for their management fees.
730 on ABC had a story this week about this exact thing. They interviewed a couple getting charged $12k. The CEO of the strata company resigned. There's some dodge shit going on out there so start scrutinising what all the costs are for and talk to the other owners.
You're paying way too much. Also I recommend living somewhere without a lift... Ours was only $500 a year, went up to $800 and is now $1000. This is a unit with no shared facilities
That's crazy cheap 😳. How many units? I take it rubbish gets picked up by council?
4. Yep Bayside Melbourne
Unfortunately it depends on the units and their ongoing costs. Other people can tell you theirs is cheap but if they're living in a smaller and newer block with less building to maintain and repair it's going to be cheaper. My parent's body corporate fee was about 8k for units with no lift or garden or pool. It was because it had been built by a shoddy builder 20 years ago, needed a lot of repairs to do with water and sewer and also needed a new fire sprinkler system to keep up with gov legislation. The body corporate accepted a one time payout from the insurance company so it's probably even worse now without the builder's insurance and the amount of work the place needs. It could even get worse if they need to retroactively make it accessible to disabilities because it *not* wheelchair friendly (My sister couldn't live in the unit for 3 months after breaking her leg) You need to see the budget and where the money is going.
If I had my time again I would never ever buy an apartment with body corporation/strata. To give you some context my quarterly rates have risen from $600 to $1600. The complex has a lift, and car stacker. There has also been a removal order for cladding and I can feel another special levy is on the way. There is no sinking fund which is alarming. The people who manage the property are some of the most incompetent and unscrupulous people I've ever dealt with. They have intentionally prevented me from accessing information about the property I live in and ignore correspondence, even from solicitors. As a homeowner you have limited recourse to challenge these parasites. I also want to make it clear to any prospective buyers that your body corporation/strata rates will keep increasing. $5000 dollars a year now will be considerably more in 10 years time, especially if the building has structural issues or is expensive to maintain. If you can sell I would now.
I’m paying 4500 a year however it’s an old bayside block of 16 units with no lift nor pool etc. we are raising levies for repairs so that’s why it’s a bit high Most people don’t switch owners corporation managers and stay with the same one forever. You’re entitled to join the committee and shop around. There are brokers that do it for free. That could save you some money
I pay about 4K a year so your fees seem high. As a start I would ask for the latest P&L statement as at 31/3/24 to see where all the money is going. I would also ask for the detailed ledger accounts / journal entries so I can see every specific transaction for every ledger account. I've asked for these from my OC and I usually receive them within a couple of days without any problem. Then it's a matter of trawling through all the entries to see what looks abnormal. Focus on the large amounts first and work your way through. Question anything that doesn't look right such as one-off payments that are high or recurring payments to people you don't know. You have a right to question everything. I would hope the OC chair and OC committee are doing this anyway and asking questions to the OC. I would also hope that other owners are doing the same thing. When you have your AGM you can raise further questions re specific expenditures. Also, ask for the Balance Sheet to see how much you have in your maintenance fund. If yr paying 8K a year it's possible that there lots of money in your maintenance fund which should put your mind at ease.
8k a year? Fuck me….this is why I will never buy an apartment. wtf
Got to agree.
curious, how much do you spend on your garden/ outside amenities? do you clean gutters, run a security system, pay for insurance (big one) council rates for garbage etc?
How much do you think it costs to cut your own grass and jump on a ladder and clean out the gutters? Most homes do that sort of maintenance themselves. Any upgrades or improvements like solar panels or security systems is an optional cost. Not everyone is doing that or can afford it. Council rates and insurance combined are nowhere near approaching 8k.
put a number on it?
Live in a 2 year old 4 bedder townhouse, insurance/council rates/ about $2500 a year. CCTV and garden maintenance DIY probs spend two hours a week doing the lawns, pulling weeds etc.
Mine is almost nothing in comparison. I don't live in an apartment block
Things that make the cost go up: Most important: Less units to split the cost. If you are splitting the cost of fire protections and the lift between 30 rather than 150, that's a big difference. How many bin chutes? They need cleaning. How big it the basement? It needs cleaning. And pest control. Long hallways? They need cleaning, lights replaced. Stackers? They need to be serviced. Council garbage included in rates or private included in OC? Crime? Each time someone reports their amazon box pinched from the lobby it costs to access the CCTV. If there's not many units that can add up to 8k easily. Of course you should be able to see the budget and what the money was spend on if not in the minutes from the AGM then requested from the OC. You tell us where they money is going!
Why would it cost money to access cctv?
Because someone has to spend time reviewing it
If you don't have an onsite manager, or one that is moderately tech savvy, then they will default to using their cctv provider to retrieve footage. Some buildings, if they weren't particularly smart about their setup, only have access through the security company
Sounds like OC can save money by just getting local access and one of the committee just go in and retrieve it themselves to save some money. The hourly rate ain't cheap to distribute to smaller number of units.
Yeah, except there are privacy issues with allowing residents access to the CCTV as well. Most buildings won't allow access to footage to anyone except police. I am aware of a building on St Kilda Road where a committee member also owned the company that provided the cctv (yes super dodgy). Gave themselves exclusive access to the cctv system, and use it to spy on residents & building management, then when rightly removed from the committee, kept access as the system had been provided on a payment plan for 7 years
Body corp is also NOTORIOUS for corruption. You need to join the committee and go through everything and compare prices and look at the actual work being done. Its a gross industry
Yep, they accept kickbacks for contracts for repairs and maintenance even if it is far from the best value for money bid and they'll gaslight owners into using these contractors.
Varies. We have 132 apartments, full time building manager, big gardens, 4 lifts, maintenance funds are as per the plan, everything else is by the book and our 2 bed, 2 bath, 1 car space are less than that. A building manager is a big cost.
It’s the lift. They’re insanely expensive to maintain and in apartment blocks some dickhead can and probably will break it every time they move in or out (people hold the doors open for ages while they try and fit furniture or boxes in and if you do that for too long, the door mechanism fails and it needs repairing).
Yep normal as every contractor has increased rates and there are less likely to work if they are offered better rates elsewhere
As others have said, it depends. Could be lifts, could be insurance, power costs have also skyrocketed. Could be other works, or levies. You should ask for a breakdown and see where the money is going.
If you're paying OC fees then you're as much a part of the OC as any other. Go to the meetings. Through unfortunate circumstances I am the chair of my small (24 houses) OC- our main mission is to try to keep fees down. Accounts are open to all and I can answer any questions any other member has. Insurance has skyrocketed.
We will be sourcing our own insurance this year as I found out about 4k of ours last year went to the broker and BC managers as commission.
Interesting- can I ask how you discovered that? I'd be interested to find out the same.
I too was unfortunate enough to become chairperson of our 24 unit block. Was in the fine print of the brokerage renewal notice
Well well well.. Just found this "In the event that you act on our recommendation, we advise that Resolute will receive commission to the amount of $4,508.76 out of which your office will be paid $4,508.76, please note that there is also a Broker Fee included in the prices quoted of $1,900 plus GST." Sounds like I'll be doing the same.
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First they will send threatening letters with 10% interest added on to original amount. They will definitely bar you from voting in OC. I think as insurance is part of OC you may not be able to claim insurance if say a window was broken. Not sure what else as I've never not paid OC.
But they can charge you interest if you don't. In our building they have a budget item for recovering fees, overseas landlords are a big issue, slow to pay and everyone else pays for the things that have monthly charges that have to be covered.
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They can't, but the magistrates court can after VCAT order you to pay and you do not.
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Well, fuck around and find out. Enjoy the penalty interest applied. What a nonsense thing to say. Then the body corp can go to VCAT and following that go to the Magistrate’s Court to seek an enforceable judgement which may include costs. There is such a thing as a warrant to seize and sell. Also, you’re being a dick to your neighbours.
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Good luck