Strata Life

Get ready to elevate your knowledge with Strata Life Podcast, a place where you should go to learn and get inspired on all matters Strata. Welcome back to Strata Life Podcast by Rochelle Castro. In this episode, I would like to discuss with you what to do if your apartment or unit is found to have building defects. There are three key steps that you could do to prepare in compelling the person who...

Welcome back to Strata Life Podcast by Rochelle Castro. Today's session, I will be discussing your options in respect of How you would deal with decisions made by the committee where you do not agree with such, such decisions. In a strata community, the committee is empowered to make decisions on the daily operations of the strata community, and that requires an ordinary resolution. What the commi...

Get ready to elevate your knowledge with Strata Life Podcast, the place where you should go to learn and get inspired on all matters strata. Welcome back to Strata Life Podcast by Rochelle Castro. Today, this particular podcast is directed to professional strata managers. In the last podcast, I covered ways to better communicate the committee with the professional strata managers. I think it's jus...

First method is agree on the method of communication. There are different platforms. It's not always email. There could be a chat room that could be agreed upon. In addition to the email, there's a chat room. There's also calls. There are just some things that you need to pick up the phone and speak with them, that it's not necessary that you use the email as a chat room. So my point is, agree on...

One of the things that's difficult with running a committee is when you're trying to make decisions and move forward. But in reality, because of the different personalities, there are disruptors and there will be clashes that could occur. But I would like to share with you in this podcast five tips on how to handle complaints and disruptor. One, put the procedure in place. Create a flowchart or ev...

What I'd like to talk to you about today is the importance of seeking approval and what are the steps in seeking the approval when you carry out renovations in your property and of course when I say when you seek approval I am really referring to your strata community. It's important for you to understand that when you carry out renovations because you live in a community whether it's physical or...

Our discussion for today is about Understanding the Implications of Water Leak from your Balcony or Terrace. The reality is when it is determined by an expert and it could be a contractor when I say expert a building manager, building consultant or an engineer that your waterproof membrane needs to be fixed or it has past its lifetime. The consequence of not fixing that issue is water ingress and...

You see, it's absolutely certain for the strata community to pass a special resolution because it gives the power to all the owners to make a decision if they want to lease or license part of the common property. Now, this wasn't given to the executive committee for the very reason that all the other owners in your community must be given an opportunity to voice out whether they want to lease or l...

One of the common issues that one faces when they start living or owning property in a strata community is the obligation to contribute financially. Contribute to the maintenance of the community. There are times that owners stop providing contributions or giving their contributions because they have issues with the maintenance being dealt with. Unfortunately, that isn't the solution because those...

And it gets quite distressful for Strata community, especially when there are a number of complainants who approach them and demand that the issue be resolved. It's important for this executive committee to first determine the seriousness of the issue and how much information has been put forward by the complainant. If there's not enough information that the complainant has provided to the executi...

Do Strata communities have to get involved in owner-to-owner water leak disputes? Unfortunately, most times they do. This particular podcast provides clarity on the five reasons why Strata communities get involved in water leak disputes. One, the water leak originates from common property . That's quite clear. If the water has come from common property, the Strata community would be involved in th...

A man's home is his own Castle. This is no doubt familiar to you. One of the most exciting times in a person's life is when they buy their first property and more properties. However, the exciting time could turn into a nightmare where building defects are involved. Let's explore the five steps to resolve building defects in the Strata community. 1. Hire a building Inspector to confirm in a report...

After attending an Annual General Meeting or what I will call AGM, you would receive a copy of the minutes, but before that, you would receive a copy of the notice when you're getting invited to the meeting. Have you ever wondered, as a member of the Strata community, what are the further details or items that will be discussed at the AGM that's scheduled so that all Strata community members recei...

You would need a common license or lease if you would like to use part of the common property to install your solar panels or personal effect such as your business signage on the common property. Have you ever wondered what should be included in a common lease or license? Even if you're not a lawyer, it is important to understand their components. Let's have a look at five of them. 1. Lease or lic...

Season 2 of strata life podcast aims to provide you bit size learning and guidance from practical, commercial and effective governance perspectives so that you could maximise living in the strata world. These podcasts also serve all other stakeholders of the strata community industry as guidance for best practice methods so that they could enjoy living, serving or governing this industry.

Often people wonder why it is necessary for a common property to exist, These are the five purposes and even benefits of having a common property 1. Enjoyment by owners and occupiers or residents of the common property - keeping in line when I refer to common property it includes schools, gyms, playgrounds, tennis court, and all those types of facilities and areas that are shared with other reside...

There are various types and various types of people that the strata manager communicates with but what I will be raising are in my view the type 5 communications received by your strata manager daily. 1. Committee communication - these are usually instructions given by the committee or follow-up on actions being taken on behalf of the committee. it is common that the strata manager would often hea...

The administration or operational budget is passed usually at an annual general meeting. These are simply put the regular expenses. Here are the five purposes of why this particular budget should be raised at each and will general meeting by your strata community . 1. Regular repair and maintenance of the common property - there is no doubt that from time to time your strata community's common pro...

There are various names the maintenance budget others call it thinking budget others call it sinking budget, others call it reserve fund others call it capital improvements budget they all mean the same thing and that really means savings for future maintenance. Here are the five reasons or purposes for a maintenance budget 1. Long-term maintenance/repair (i.e., painting program) - long-term maint...

This particular podcast covers what should be in the agenda items of committee meetings 1. Resolution to accept the financial statements presented for the period - when I refer to the period that could mean depending on how often a committee meets so it could be the financial statement for the monthly period. quarterly period. and semiannual period. 2. Resolve to provide particular instructions to...

In particular legislations, there are basic items that need to be covered in AGM agendas I will feature the 5 foundational items that should be covered in your AGM agenda. 1. A resolution to renew or confirm your strata managers contract of appointment it’s important for all the members of your strata community to either confirm or determine whether it wishes to renew its strata manager's contract...

In today's podcast I want to cover “How do you register rules of the owner's corporation?” The traditional way before electronic lodgment of land Victoria documents were done was that, a form is completed, a form created by land Victoria, it is signed by either an owners corporation representative or the solicitor of the owners corporation and then a clerk would then file that form along with cert...

A common question that we get asked is “How does a person deal with water leak issues?” The main thing to determine in water leak issues are two things: Is there evidence through an expert report identifying what caused the leak and the damage, once you get evidence from an expert identifying where the leak is coming from and what is the damage caused, a significant amount of the water leak issue...

The truth is, neighborhood disputes could occur in a strata community development. What your strata community must do is simply consider these disputes as part and parcel of strata community living that should be dealt with by using resources that help resolve them. Here are 5 resources of your strata community that could help resolve disputes. 1. Chart with a diagram of the dispute resolution pro...

Financial, legal and ethical obligations. Financial, legal and ethical management. When strata enthusiasts talk about what it is like living in a strata community, Most people usually talk about the obligations, the levy contributions, the work required to be part of a strata community. That said, there are absolutely many benefits of living in a strata community. Here are what in our view some of...