Strata Life

Part and parcel of strata community living is compliance with the rules and regulations and management of the same. This requires good governance and retention of important documents by the strata community. 1. Plan of subdivision A copy of the plan of subdivision should be retained because it not only provides the boundaries (what is common property and what is private property), it also gives guidance on who should contribute to the costs of the strata community expenses. It will be very difficult for the strata community to operate if it does not rely on its plan of subdivision. 2. Minutes of meetings or ballots To make sure all decisions of the strata community are validly passed (which means the strata community was legally authorised to make decisions) evidence of those decisions should be recorded on meeting minutes or ballots. The absence of recorded decisions in minutes could open the strata community to risks of acting without legal decisions being made. 3. Financial statements In annual general meetings of a strata community, financial statements are presented. This document records, based on the previous financial year the following: strata community’s expenses, collected levy payment from the members or arrears of members. It also details the breakdown of the proposed budget for the upcoming financial year. A copy of the financial statements from previous and current financial years must be retained for the obvious reason that there must be evidence available to all members to demonstrate how the funds collected from them have been and will be spent. 4. List of members’ names, postal address, email address and contact number It goes without saying that the strata community must have an accurate list of all its members’ names, postal address, email address and contact number so that they receive all documents of the strata community. We emphasise the word accuracy. If the strata community does not have the members’ accurate details, consequently, the member would not receive the documents and in turn the member would not be able to pay their contribution levies that adversely impacts the strata community’s budget and compliance with their legal obligations. 5. Contracts The strata community, must at all times, retain a fully signed copy of all agreements and contracts that they are a party. Further, they should keep track of when the contract ends, so that they could appropriately consider their financial and contractual obligations in the coming financial years. We have chosen 5 crucial documents that should be retained. However, we note that there are further documents that should be included in the list. We are interested in what you think should be included to this list. We want to hear from you, so please comment on our podcast in the relevant section. Strata enthusiasts, keep in mind to – continue upgrading yourself.

Living in a strata community requires that we learn to live in close proximity with one another. Living in close proximity means that there may be times that others could affect one’s enjoyment of their property and the common area. Where disagreements occur, your strata community could receive complaints from residents about others’ behaviour including misconducts resulting in damage to private or common property. It then becomes necessary for your strata community to hold a dispute resolution meeting by inviting the complainant and the alleged offender to the meeting, with a goal to reach an agreed solution to the issue. That is why strata communities must know techniques so that an effective dispute resolution meeting is held. 1. Request from the complainant evidence of the alleged offenceBefore your strata community decides to hold a dispute resolution meeting, it is necessary to ask the complainant reasonable evidence to support that the alleged offence continues to occur. Nothing could be worse than holding a dispute resolution meeting and the alleged offender denies the alleged offence and points out that there are insufficient evidence supporting that they have caused the offence.2. Determine the appropriate and effective meeting platformAs you know the choices of meeting platforms have now expanded to not only face to face, but also through phone or video conference platforms. Your strata community should consider if one of the following platforms (which should depend on the issue in dispute) could be effectively discussed in one of the following- face to face meeting, phone conference or video conference. It should also be considered if the attendees have reasonable access to the chosen platform, so that all parties are given fair opportunity to attend the dispute resolution meeting. 3. Issue a sufficient and compliant dispute resolution meeting notice to the appropriate partiesMake sure that your strata community includes in the dispute resolution meeting notice the agenda ,a copy of the complaint, evidence received from the complainant, time and date of the meeting and the meeting platform. The meeting notice should be given to the parties within a reasonable period of time so that they could make the necessary personal arrangements in able to attend the dispute resolution meeting. 4. Invite an independent third party to chair the dispute resolution meetingThe purpose of a dispute resolution meeting is to provide the affected parties (complainant and alleged offender) an opportunity to be heard. That said, it is crucial that the strata community engages an independent third party to chair the meeting. Otherwise, the parties may not open up at the meeting, which could compromise the opportunity to resolve the dispute.5. Aim to reach a resolutionThe parties (complainant and alleged offender) should be reminded that it will be very difficult to determine the outcome of the dispute if it is litigated (court dispute). If they resort to litigation, they are passing the power to decide the outcome of the dispute to a judge or tribunal member and the outcome will be very difficult to determine. Not only does litigation cost, but it takes time and could take an emotional toll on all parties of the dispute. Inform the parties that it is likely that they would prefer to put the control of the outcome in their own hands instead. Thus, it is absolutely necessary to be open to negotiations at the dispute resolution meeting.These are the 5 techniques to hold an effective dispute resolution meeting. Holding an effective one means all parties must work hard to reach an agreed resolution.Strata enthusiasts, do not forget – continue upgrading yourself.

We all love to improve our residence or real estate investment. However, one of the worst nightmares of a homeowner is if your property has water leak issues. You either will see the progressive resultant damage or you will see the potential loss of your income, if you hear your tenant threatening to end their rental agreement, should the issue not be resolved within a reasonable period of time. In either situation, as a home owner, all you want to do is resolve the issue as soon as practicable. Strata enthusiasts, in this episode we will share with you 5 ways to resolve a water leak issue. 1. Determine where the water leak is coming from Unless you are a building expert, you should probably not make your own assessment of where the water leak is coming from. Engage a building consultant to prepare a report for you. The report details the source of the water leak including the damage caused and will be caused in the future if the water leak issue is not rectified. 2. Determine if the water leak runs only on private property or includes common property It is important that you hire the right building consultant expert who could determine if the water leak runs only through private property or if it includes common property. This is important because it will help guide you on how to effectively approach your strata community to help you resolve the issue. If the water leak only runs through private property, you could request your strata community to enforce the bylaws or rules. On the other hand, if the water leak runs through the common property, you could require the strata community to stop the water leak and rectify the damage caused to your property. 3. Seek expert advice to temporarily stop the leak Whilst you are communicating with the different parties (whether it is another lot owner or the strata community) you should seek expert advice on how to mitigate or prevent further damage from occurring to your property, by temporarily stopping the leak. 4. List the damages caused to your property and obtain a rectification quote After getting an expert advice on where the leak is coming from, make a list of the damages caused by the water leak to your property so that you could inform the relevant parties what should be rectified after the leak is stopped including the rectification costs. 5. Be open to negotiate The worst position that you could find yourself in, is if you spend your time arguing with the other parties on who should rectify the leak. Be open to negotiate a resolution to your leak issue. Of course, we do not encourage that you accept any offer made. You should accept a reasonable offer. When you reject an offer, you should reply with a reason why their offer is rejected and provide an offer that you will likely accept. These are the 5 ways to resolve a water leak issue. Having a water leak issue is not a walk in the park. That said, strata enthusiasts, if you follow these steps, you will be better equipped in dealing with the issue. Until next time strata enthusiasts, remember – continue upgrading yourself.

Your strata community should carefully consider the traits that are important to you so that you could hire the appropriate and fit strata manager. After all, your aim is to hire a trusted advisor – your strata manager.There are many traits of an effective strata manager. Here are what we think are the 5 traits that you should consider when you hire your next strata manager.1. Committed and DedicatedAn effective strata manager should be reasonably committed and dedicated. Your strata manager should treat all customers with the same high level of care. Their time should be dedicated enabling the committee’s decision making easier. Their attention should be to the commitment of being a trusted advisor of the strata community.2. Experienced and TransparentExperience is important for an effective strata manager. Your selected strata manager should have sufficient exposure in dealing with a strata community with similar characteristics as your development. They should also have a network of strata experts within their reach, which your strata community will need to access from time to time. That way, your strata manager would effectively guide you in an effective and smooth daily operation of your strata community. In our view, transparency is also a necessary trait of an effective strata manager. They should be able to provide accurate reporting on all financial matters and carry out appropriate consultation with the committee, especially when it involves engagement of strata contractors and service providers. By having this trait, the strata community is assured of the integrity of their strata manager. 3. ProfessionalYour strata community would want a strata manager who demonstrates professionalism. Such a trait is crucial in a strata manager because they should be able to execute the duties that they agreed to carry out, which includes compliance and administration of finance management, insurance management and meeting matters. 4. ProactiveAnother trait to look for in a strata manager is their level of responsiveness. An effective strata manager takes a proactive and not a reactive approach in dealing with the strata matters which includes, but are not limited to asset maintenance, accounting, disputes and by-laws or rules enforcement). 5. Effective Communicator We cannot over emphasise the importance that to be an effective strata manager, you must be an effective communicator. Avoidable conflicts in strata management usually comes from poor communication. An effective strata manager would keep an open and healthy channel of communication amongst the strata community members with a goal to reach a resolution. The strata manager should be able to demonstrate that they are an effective listener so that the strata community’s needs are understood and reasonably responded to.Strata enthusiasts, you could probably think of other traits that make up an effective strata manager. Please share your views by writing them in the comments section.There you go. The 5 traits of an effective professional strata manager. If you are part of a strata committee, consider the importance to your strata community of the 5 traits that we have shared with you. On the other hand, if you are a strata manager, you could reflect and consider if there are some traits, from what we shared, that you could work on and improve. Because remember, you should – continue upgrading yourself. This is Rochelle Castro, speak to you next time in Strata Life podcast!

A strata community leader is either the chairperson or president who is elected at an annual or special general meeting. A chairperson or president of the strata community is either delegated all the ordinary decision making entitlement or powers or they are delegated to lead the committee. Many wants to lead a strata community, but the truth is, not everyone has the traits to effectively lead a strata community. Being an effective leader is not just about how much you know or if you are the most liked strata community member. Being an effective leader is about having the required skills to be the captain of your ship called – strata community. 1. Being diplomaticBy being a diplomatic strata community leader, you are able to diffuse any situation with utmost tact and fairness. From time to time, a strata community leader will face challenges to protect their members’ interest in the development. By being a diplomatic leader, it will not appear that you have any favourites or have any loyalty to a particular person. That way, you could demonstrate that the decisions you make on behalf of the strata community is governed by being diplomatic, which could change in approach. 2. Have vision and take actionA leader may have so many ideas to improve the value of their real estate investment, but taking action to put that vision alive is only carried out by few leaders. Being an effective leader, particularly in your strata community is coupled with vision – then action.3. Have brevity and clarityThis means having an ability to communicate with concise and exact words and clear message. I know a number of people who love hearing their own voice. They could go on and on and on with their speech. Unfortunately, they do not realise that their message is not understood by person or persons that they are talking to, but they have just used too many words. Do not waste time. If you want to be an effective leader, particularly in your strata community, have brevity and clarity in your communication with your strata community. That way, you not only take the captainship of your strata community, the message gets across to the appropriate person or persons, so that the message is actioned.4. Take accountabilityAccording to rightattitudes.com – a true leader does not pass and blame for failure but graciously accepts responsibility for the problems inherited. It may be possible as the new and incoming chairperson or president of your strata community, you may have inherited a number or significant issues. Rather than passing the blame of the inherited concerns in the strata community, as an effective leader, take charge and embrace the challenge as the new leader.5. Have the ability to control your emotionsI do not mean – not have any emotion, but be able to control yourself because, after all, you are an effective strata community leader. When times are stressful, and there will be times like that, because not everything runs perfectly, as an effectively leader, you should be the last person to react with dramatic emotions (for example, walking out of a meeting or discussion). You should be a level headed calm individual, who will not explode or lose cool in difficult situations. As an effective strata community leader, you should learn to regulate, not suppress your emotion – according to healthline.com With these 5 traits of an effective strata community leader, I am certain that your real estate investment will not only be preserved but increase in value. Also, you will enjoy being more involved with your strata community by being its effective leader. There are many more other traits of an effective strata community leader. I am interested in your views on what other traits you see that should be added to expand this list.

Welcome to Strata Life by Rochelle Castro The place where you should go to learn and get inspired on all matters strataIn this episode I will cover...5 techniques on how to hold a productive general meetingI previously shared with you the techniques on how to hold a committee meeting. This episode is different in that I am sharing with you the techniques on how to hold meeting with a larger crowd, the crowd where all the members of your strata community are invited to attend and vote – the general meeting. It is important to make sure that you use effective techniques to hold general meetings because it that meeting gets out of control, it is very difficult to turn it around and rectify poorly run general meetings. Here are the 5 techniques to effectively hold a general meeting. 1. Set the agenda based on the past year’s activities and circumstances that have occurred in your strata communityWhen you prepare the agenda for a general meeting, part of the agenda includes a reflection on the events and circumstances that have occurred in the past year. If it is included in the agenda, your strata community is able to report on all the hard work accomplished in the past year and ongoing matters that the new committee elected (if any) will take over.2. Send the meeting notice and agenda to all last known addresses of all members (i.e. physical address, email address, mobile numbers)Your strata community should make sure that the meeting notice and agenda is issued to the member through effective communication method that will get these documents to their attention. The worst thing that a strata community experiences are allegations that the meeting notice and agenda were not appropriately issued, making the general meeting invalid. 3. At the general meeting, held in any platform (i.e. face to face, by video conference or by phone conference), make sure there is an efficient method of noting attendance, absences, proxies and apologiesNoting attendance should simply not eat up too much time. Depending on the meeting platform that your strata community uses, make sure an efficient method of taking attendance is planned well before the meeting is held. This may include putting a team together to help take attendance and the team is briefed on the process.4. At the beginning of the meeting, inform the attendees of the policy or code of conduct on how to behave at the meetingBy setting the tone of the meeting with clarifying the policy or code of conduct of all attendees at the meeting, your strata community could made it clear that the general meeting is held in a businesslike manner.5. Set an efficient method of counting the votesThe worst thing that could happen in the meeting, most especially for large strata communities is if the method of counting votes goes to disarray. You should make sure that even before the voting commences, it is clear to all voting members how the votes are counted. That way, your strata community demonstrates that the general meeting is effectively and efficient held and carried out. CONCLUSION Strata enthusiasts, with these 5 techniques that I have shared on how to hold a productive general meeting, I have no doubt that your next general meeting will be very accomplished and benefit all its members, which, ultimately helps protect and increase the value of your real estate investment. Strata enthusiasts, I will speak to you in our next podcast. I will keep encouraging you to - continue upgrading yourself! This is Rochelle Castro, speak to you soon here in Strata Life podcast!

5 techniques on how to hold a productive committee meetingOf all the meetings that your strata community holds, it is the committee meetings that you will hold the most. This is because committees make the decisions on daily operations of your strata community. So, it is important to know effective techniques on how to hold your committee meetings. Here we go.. 1. Set an agendaIt’s not only crucial but also a compliance requirement for your committee to set an agenda before calling the meeting. The agenda will allow the other committee members notice to prepare for the items to be discussed at the meeting. It will also allow them to research about the agenda items so as to achieve a robust discussion and informed decision making of the committee.2. Invite the right people in the committee meetingObviously, all committee members should be invited to the meeting. I don’t mean that. I mean, the committee should determine if they should be inviting experts to the meeting so that they could be better guided on crucial matters, prior to making a vote.3. Prior to calling the meeting, seek the other members’ views, if they are available for the meeting or if they intend to appoint a proxy.The worst thing in a meeting, is if most of the committee members cannot attend. Enquire with the committee members if they could make the scheduled meeting so that it could be determined if another time and date should be set or if proxy appointment is appropriate.4. Determine the appropriate platform for the meeting (depending on the agenda items and attendees)There are different platforms (like face to face, video conference, phone conference, ballot).Your committee should carefully consider which platform best suits your next meeting, which should also depend on the agenda items. Ofcourse, should you also consider if your committee members could access that platform on the set date and time of the meeting.5. At the meeting, set a table for list of actionsThe purpose of your committee meeting, is to make decisions. Ofcourse, you expect that, that particular committee meeting will not be the last meeting that your committee will hold. To make sure that there is a follow through, your committee should create a table for list of actions, so that at the next committee meeting, your committee tracks which agenda item is complete, ongoing or requires further assessment and determination. CONCLUSION Strata enthusiasts, with these 5 techniques that I have shared on how to hold a productive committee meeting, I have no doubt that your committee will be very accomplished, which ultimately helps protect and increase the value of your real estate investment. Strata enthusiasts, I will speak to you in our next episode. I will keep encouraging you to - continue upgrading yourself! This is Rochelle Castro, speak to you soon in Strata Life podcast!

5 items that strata insurance covers One of the benefits of being in a strata community is enjoying the benefits of a bulk buy of strata insurance cover. It means that each and every lot or unit property, including common property purchases strata insurance cover so that their investment is protected. You will notice that I used the word “bulk buy” of strata insurance. “Bulk buy” refers to the owners, who are also members of the strata community to jointly purchase strata insurance cover. By jointly buying strata insurance, through a specialist strata insurance provider, your strata community will be able to get the appropriate cover that suits your community’s needs. Here are the 5 items that strata insurance covers- 1. Building replacement and or reinstatement cover – in the event that your building needs to be repaired or replaced, if it experiences impact damages (accident that is not excluded from the cover) you will be covered by insurance.2. Public liability cover – Your common property is open for use by you, your family, your guests, your tenant, their guests. The common property is also open to contractors and service provider who visit the site. Should any safety or harm is caused to them or their belongings that are left on the common property, or the damage originated from the common property, there is a likelihood that they will make a claim against your strata community. To transfer that risk, your strata community could make a public liability claim. 3. Office bearer cover – Committee or board members of your strata community are volunteers. They also make the daily decision on the operations of your strata community. It is prudent that your strata community obtains office bearer cover to protect the committee or board members from third party claims of allegations of making wrongful decisions on behalf of your strata community. There is no issue of an approved office bearer claim, as long as your committee or board members could demonstrate to the insurer that their decisions were made in the best interest of the strata community.4. Machinery breakdown cover – If your development has a special machinery (like lifts, car stackers, car lifts or carpark roller doors) it is prudent for your strata community to get machinery breakdown cover. You should note that you can only be covered by insurance for machinery breakdown if the strata community carries out regular maintenance to the machine. Remember, that insurance will not cover you if you do not conduct regular maintenance of your asset.5. Legal defence costs cover – Although you may think that your strata community has not had an legal issue in the past year or so, it is prudent that your strata community is covered for legal defence costs in the event that a third party makes a claim and it is necessary to defend it. Trust me, your strata community will not regret getting this cover and will be able to avoid raising a lot of funds for legal fees, that were not projected in the budget for the current financial year. There you have it strata enthusiasts – the 5 items that strata insurance covers. I hope I have inspired you to review your strata insurance cover to find out if you need that extra protection.CONCLUSION Strata enthusiasts, I will speak to you in our next episode. Remember, continue upgrading yourself! This is Rochelle Castro speak to you next time in Strata Life podcast!

5 responsibilities of your strata community (You probably wonder the purpose of your strata community aside from collect money from you. Well, in exchange of the monies collected from you are the benefits of services and value that you receive from your strata community. These benefits and services come from the responsibilities that your strata community has to take care of your common property so that the value of your real estate property is protected. Here are the 5 responsibilities of your strata community 1. They are responsible to repair and maintain your common property. (Examples of these are your common lobby or driveway, the exterior of your building, if that is common property or if you live in an apartment, your common pool or gym for example).2. They are responsible to protect your security and safety when you, your family or guests are using the common property. (Your strata community must make sure that all those entitled to use the common property is safe and secure. They take reasonable measures to make sure you and your loved ones safety are safe and secure.3. They must obtain the reinstatement and replacement building insurance of the common property and your private dwelling (where applicable). (One of the main benefits of living in a strata community is that you enjoy bulk purchase of reinstatement and replacement building insurance which covers you should unfortunate accidents occur to your property and the common property).4. Your strata community is responsible to enforce the rules against persons whose misbehaviour affect your enjoyment and use of your property AND the common property. (Aside from referring to external resources like the police, fire brigade and other external resources, you could also revert to your strata community to enforce the rules so that the persons hinder your enjoyment of your property and the common property could be compelled to stop).5. Finally, your strata community is responsible to make sure that your property value is maintained or increases. Your strata community achieves this by making sure they continuously maintain and improve the common property including the exterior face of our property. One model behaviour of the strata community is continuously assessing and measuring (through its members, your co-owners) how it could maintain and increase the value of your real estate investment. There you have it – 5 responsibilities of your strata community I hope that you now have a better understanding of your strata community’s responsibilities and how it helps you better enjoy your real estate investment.CONCLUSION Strata enthusiasts, I will speak to you in our next podcast. If you like what you hear, please reach out to us and let us know which episode has caused you to further appreciate living in a strata community Remember - continue upgrading yourself! I am Rochelle Castro, I will speak to you soon in Strata Life podcast!

5 kinds of strata levies(I previously covered 5 collection methods of strata levies. It is also important to know the 5 kinds of strata levies which contribute to maintaining and preserving one of the large investments in your life your property)1. Insurance to reinstate and replace your property building (#it is absolution necessary to get reinstatement and replacement building insurance. This is one of the main reasons why strata levies are raised. This levy is raised on regular basis based on your strata’s insurance premium for the year.).2. Repair and maintenance expenses of your common property(#Key in maximising or keeping a very good value of your property is through maintenance and repair of your common property. By having a healthy budget for repair and maintenance of your common property, you are able to preserve your property value. This levy is raised on regular basis based on your strata community’s regular repair and insurance requirements).3. Large improvement projects (#An example of a large improvement project is to upgrade your common property, i.e. refurbishment the tennis court. This type of levy is raised if a budget is set by your strata community based on a large common property improvement project).4. Once off levies(These types of levies are raised if an unexpected expense must be raised by your strata community and it was not considered at the last annual general meeting budget. These once off levies could include repair and maintenance expenses that are considered emergency or expenses to pay an expert’s advice that was not planned at the last annual general meeting. This type of levy is raised only once during the financial year to meet the unexpected expense.) 5. Levies for selected members(These levies are only raised and levied to selected strata community members who will solely benefit from those funds. An example would include burst pipe repair works that will only service selected properties and members who will solely receive those benefit. The number of times that these levies are raised depends on the quantum of the funds required and the urgency that the works are required to be carried out.)CONCLUSION Strata enthusiasts, I hope that this episode has given you the bird’s eyeview on…. These are the 5 kinds of strata levies, so that you could have a better understanding on why certain types of levies are raised in your strata community. In the next annual general meeting of your strata community, I recommend that you partake or get involved in the discussion of your strata community’s budget approval. That way, you have a better understanding of the continuous improvements being carried out to your strata community, which directly impacts your property investment. Dave Ramsey says, that “a budget is telling your money where to go, instead of wondering where it went.” Remember, continue upgrading yourself, strata enthusiasts. This is Rochelle Castro speak to you soon in Strata Life podcast!

Welcome to Strata Life by Rochelle Castro The place where you should go to learn and get inspired on all matters strataIn this episode I will cover... 5 collection methods so that your strata community’s cashflow is healthy1. Send a letter of demand 7 or 14 days after the levies are due (do not wait for a final notice to be sent. You could also send another letter after the final notice is issued).2. Charge penalty interest (punishment to those who pay on time, reward to those who pay on time).3. Arrange a reasonable payment plan (reasonable is the keyword, so that the debt eventually catches up to their debt).4. Inform your strata community in AGMs of consequences to their finances if members do not pay on time.5. Pass a resolution that authorizes the strata community to automatically issue legal proceedings if a member fails to pay on time or enter into a payment plan.CONCLUSION Strata enthusiasts, I hope that this episode has given you the bird’s eye view on how to …5 collection methods so that your strata community’s cashflow is healthy Strata enthusiasts, I will speak to you in our next episode. Life is the C between the B and the D. Life is about choices, making choices. Remember, continue upgrading yourself! This is Rochelle Castro speak to you soon on the Strata Life podcast!

5 steps on how the owners corporation committee could make legal decisions-1. Identify the items that should be decided #explain2. Create a meeting agenda and notice #explain (include 3 days prior meeting notice)3. Hold the meeting. (Check attendance and eligibility to vote, give brief opportunity for each member to express their views, then vote, then close the meeting)4. Write the minutes of meeting . (only record decision NOT comments)5. Keep minutes in custody of secretary or strata manager, then give directions to relevant parties to action decisionCONCLUSION Strata enthusiasts, I hope that this episode has given you the bird’s eye view on how to … 5 steps on how the owners corporation committee could make legal decisions- Strata enthusiasts, I will speak to you in our next episode.Remember, continue upgrading yourself! This is Rochelle Castro I will speak to you next time in Strata Life podcast!

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Welcome to Strata Life by Rochelle Castro. The place where you should go to learn and get inspired on all matters strata.