Silly question re owning an apartment

Hello All,

We have three IPs so far, all houses.

We are about to exchange on our first strata apartment, and I have a silly question.

Let's say the tennant rang and complained that the plumbing isn't working correctly, or that one of the powerpoints doesn't work.

I know that in a house, the landlord is directly responsible for fixing these things. But what about in an apartment? Who organises and pays for these repairs? Is it the landlord or the strata managers?

The reason I ask is that the real-estate agent told us we would only own the "air space" in the unit, so that got me wondering what happens when something goes bung inside the apartment.

Thanks,

Harriet
 
First point of call (for the PM) when ANYTHING goes wrong is the strata manager (BC/OC etc) who will advise. Sometimes they aren't sure, but we have found they get back quite quickly (they may need to go and check with the building/common prop insurers etc)

Cheers,

The Y-man
 
have a look at the s32 as well - sometimes you own a set amount into the walls to cover all things like powerpoints.
 
generally you own to

1) the top side of the floor
2) the underside of the roof
3) the internal side of the external-most walls.

anything OUTSIDE this, directly affecting your property, is BC controlled.

generally.....
 
I live in an apartment and I am responsible for everything in it such as carpet, painting, repairs to kitchen appliances etc. Not sure if there are such appartments where you only own the "air" - seems odd to me. Would expect high body corporate fees on that if it covered all your internal maintenance/repairs also! Plumbing I suspect might be different, because I guess, depending on the problem, it could potentially be an issue to a number of apartments, not just localised to yours.
 
Recently we had a water problem in one of our units. The leak was on the common side of the isolation valve. Even though it was nternal ot the unt the body corp repaired it.
 
I own a town house in a complex of around 52 (town house is 2 story) and late last year I got a call to say the shower recess was leaking into the kitchen below (same unit).

Made a call to the strata managers and they have fixed EVERY THING.

The only thing I paid for was the phone call.
 
Very handy information! I assume if a shower was leaking into the apartment below this implies the structure is wood not concrete? (I cant imagine how a shower could leak through a concrete slab :) If this is the case, water leaking through the building would affect the structural integrity of the building and definitely be a concern for the body corp.

It is the same in our apartment in the CBD, the body corp owns the outside of the door and we own the inside of the door. Same goes for the walls. Means that the body corp can ensure all hallways and walls are kept neat and tidy.

"the real-estate agent told us we would only own the "air space" in the unit" I assume he just means its a standard arrangement, you are responsible for everything from the inward facing side of the internal walls however I would double check this with your conveyencer.

Regarding the S32, I have never seen an apartment without a S32. To me it would be odd if there was not one produced. I had assumed that by law S32 had to be produced for apartments.
 
If you want to know for sure, just get a copy of the contract, this should include a copy of the body corp rules, ours was a 200 page document. It should answer all the questions you have.
 
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