The best favour you can do for yourself is to ask the right questions prior to purchasing in an Owners Corporation (formerly known as a body corporate) in the State of Victoria, so you get a true picture of what you are investing in. This is broken into 2 areas;
1. The Apartment and associated lots (eg. car park).
If you are a first time buyer in an 'OC' it is most important to perform even a basic risk assessment, let alone an inspection of the apartment (or Lot). Even the wise heads who have invested in an OC previously can get caught out. We have all made the mistakes in life where we have not asked the right questions or not read the fine print. In this case it may be that this will be our first experience living in a vertical community.
2. The Books.
Just like your accountant is going to tell you. The books tell the story. These include the Owners Corporation Certificate provided by the vendor, arrears (if any), the budget or proposed budget and such things as Licences the OC has entered into. It can be nice to know if your OC is solvent, or in litigation as you don't want the value of your investment in free fall whilst the ink is drying. Those seeking protection under new legislation or contracts in many cases can be brought to account by Consumer Affairs Legislation or use of The Crimes Act. It can truely be a case of buyer beware.
The Solution and What We Do.
StrategicFM uses the knowledge it has gained from the 'pointy end' of OC Management to identify any issues which will assist you in your investment decision. There are well run OC's out there with very few issues, but as you are reading this you obviously realise there are many out there with issues or potential issues of one type or another. Getting strategicFM to assist is a small investment in removing future stress in our already stressfull life.