What DOES the Body Corporate Manager ACTUALLY DO?

[BigCol]

Here's the scenario...

Got 2 units in 2 rundown complexes side by side - 99% of the other owners are investors like me & are out-of-town. I live locally.

The Body Corporate Managers tell me they're only administrators handling the money & giving the work orders for maintenance, etc. They said they don't come out to the complex & do a regular checkup.

The Property Managers take care of each individual unit.

So my question is: How does an owner know whether the complex is run-down & needing maintenance fixed???

Oh & by the way, how is it that there's $23,000 in sinking fund money per unit complex, but both are run down???

If the complexes looked fantastic, you wouldn't have $23,000, you'd have $5,000 or $10,000 because the complexes would be regularly maintained.

 

[The Y-man]

The BC manager is really the facilitator for the committee.

The committee formed of interested owners like yourself, meet, discuss and decide on monies to raise and spend. The manager is there to make sure all the legal bits and pieces are followed.

How does an owner know if the place is run down? You need to go and check, or send someone in you can trust.

The sinking fund can be struck (with majority agreement) but the committee decides how it should be spent).

In Victoria, the guidance docs can be found here:
http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/CA25...penDocument&1=90-Owners+corporations~&2=~&3=~


Not sure re Qld.... but I am sure they are similar.

The Y-man

 

[daniellee]

I agree with Y-man. The BC manager simply facilitates the committee's directions. Being the Chair of the committee in my BC, I often have to get regular updates from the BC manager just to see what he has been up to.

Effectively, they are like employees and have to be managed accordingly.

Regarding the sinking funds, it is up to the committee to determine where to spend that money as it sees fit.

 

[handyandy]

You need to get on the committee and set out a work plan to address all the issues you can identify. Then as an active committee you need to get active in the quote and quality procedures of the work to be done, Without this you will get a very expensive delivery with mediocre results.

I bought into some run down strata's be it somewhat smaller (12 & 15 unit types) and I set out a plan of improvements that could be achieved over a number of years. Sinking fund less than $1000 each block.

Over the years we have painted the outside at the carport level we have installed new guttering ensuring that all the drains operated. We have taken the water pipes out of the ground and hung them under the building as there were constant leaks in the ground. We have filled in a rather unattractive pool (fiberglass) which was costing $7k+ to maintain a year which nobody was using. We have cut down numerous trees. We have done concreting. We have fixed automatic gates to allow exit from property without a key. (some dumb decision made or should I say not made by whoever installed the original) We have installed ahandycap ramp as some older residents were starting to have trouble with the steps which had short treads.

We are still planning to replace carpets in the staircases we are still planning to top soil some uneven ground which was as a result of the plumber digging to fix a sewer pipe.

Installed insulation in all blocks, but that was gratis from the government

Obviously if you were to try and do all the jobs at ones then it would cost a motza. Ask the government how much they overspent on schools because they wanted it done now.

Also, I have found that you do not leave it solely to the strata manager to get all the quotes as they will use their favored trademan even though they don't do those type of jobs and who then contract it out at an extra cost.

Cheers

 

[chilliblue]

Unless you have a rare gem, they will do the bare minimum that their contract states taking into consideration the legal requirements.

You need to review their contract and work out as a collective if it is worth keeping them or start shopping around.

A good PM should also be on top of things and advise you of the general state of the exteriors so start looking at them too.

Best of luck.