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How to check if your apartment developer is telling fibs

NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler’s ratings are so valuable that some companies are falsely saying they’ve got them when they haven’t even been tested.

  • Jimmy Thomson

This Month

Prepare to be persuaded, cajoled and even bullied into collectively accepting contracts for which there are no competitive quotes.

A showdown with strata shonks is coming for this columnist

At the first AGM of a new apartment block, owners are expected to approve all sorts of contracts. But what if they are being misinformed, misled and ripped off?

  • Jimmy Thomson
Apartment owners would elect a committee at the initial AGM which would then scrutinise the contracts on the table and take advice on them.

Pet owners are winners in strata law overhaul

When NSW apartment blocks were dragged whining and yelping into the pet ownership age, some smarty-pants strata schemes came up with ways to deter fur-babies.

  • Jimmy Thomson

How a mortgage mess nearly cost me my new apartment

An old debt that was paid off but never cleared came back to haunt me.

  • Jimmy Thomson

September

A tax on short-term holiday rentals could immediately put tens of thousands of homes back into the residential mix.

Airbnb tax could be a win for everyone – except the hosts

With an Airbnb tax planned in Victoria and a 60-night cap approved in NSW, the free rein for short-term holiday rentals is finally coming to an end.

  • Jimmy Thomson
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Apartment owners would elect a committee at the initial AGM which would then scrutinise the contracts on the table and take advice on them.

This property sector could be the ultimate hassle-free investment

The build-to-rent sector could provide the opportunity to invest in housing without the usual hassles associated with being a landlord.

  • Jimmy Thomson

Three ways to prepare your unit block for an emergency

With extremes of weather, bushfires and strained infrastructure on the way, is your building ready for a crisis to become a catastrophe?

  • Jimmy Thomson

The low-rise housing solution local councils seem to hate

These blocks offer community living, well-designed interiors and level access – but the Nimbys say no.

  • Jimmy Thomson

August

Lock boxes for short-term rentals on Spencer Street in Melbourne.

Expect Melbourne City’s $350 ‘Airbnb fee’ to spread

Predictably, the short-term rental lobby predicts any clampdown will cost jobs and that ‘mum and dad’ property investors will suffer.

  • Jimmy Thomson
Apartment owners would elect a committee at the initial AGM which would then scrutinise the contracts on the table and take advice on them.

Big changes in store for apartment laws

Major updates to NSW strata are being proposed with working groups having recommended some bold regulatory reforms for the sector.

  • Jimmy Thomson
Home and contents cover is the very least you should have as a resident and certainly as an investor.

‘Catastrophic’ insurance rises set to strike unit owners

Natural disasters are driving up insurance costs but unlike people with houses, apartment owners can’t opt out.

  • Jimmy Thomson

The one thing you need to know before you buy in Queensland

The Sunshine State is set to double its apartment count, but professionals fear that may lock in its corrupted management rights contracts.

  • Jimmy Thomson

How to stop dodgy maintenance contracts in your new apartment block

It’s down to owners to challenge expensive “embedded networks” at the first AGM as governments slow-walk strata law changes.

  • Jimmy Thomson

July

Is it worth paying the volunteers on your apartment committee?

Some argue for paying a little more in your levies to have trained office-bearers, rather than untrained amateurs making big-buck decisions.

  • Jimmy Thomson
Stata committee members may be reluctant to pursue defaulters because they are neighbours they see every day.

Who’s minding the gap in your big strata budget?

Annual strata budgets can run into the millions, yet there are no requirements for office bearers to possess financial or legal skills.

  • Jimmy Thomson
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NSW Rental Commissioner Trina Jones.

Tenants’ champion targets bad landlords

NSW Rental Commissioner Trina Jones has no-fault evictions and pet bans in her sights.

  • Jimmy Thomson
Owners and tenants of units in Mascot Towers were evacuated in June 2019.

‘More blocks in danger’ of Mascot Towers-style evacuations

NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler says anxious owners could be sitting in dangerous buildings fearing public exposure more than they do serious defects.

  • Jimmy Thomson

June

Airbnb goes back to basics as local resistance grows

The global letting agency is promoting genuine sharing (again) as whole-home letting faces increasing restrictions.

  • Jimmy Thomson

The apartment project that turned into a $2.5m horror show

A case study of the Otto 2 building details the horrendous financial and emotional cost of skimping on building inspections and certification.

  • Jimmy Thomson
Apartment buildings in the inner city suburb of Pyrmont.

Australia can’t afford sustainable housing to be a luxury

With the focus on our housing crisis, a new report reveals that sustainability is taking a back seat in apartment construction – except for at the top end of the market.

  • Jimmy Thomson

The Australian Financial Review Magazine

BOSS Financial Review

British beauty entrepreneur Sarah-Jane Duncanson “Trinny” Woodall at the Park Hyatt, Sydney.

Life & Leisure

Living it up, but not at The Ritz: Raffles London at The Old War Office has been restored to full baroque Edwardian elegance.

Rich List

Chemist Warehouse paid $364m in dividends in the last 12 months.