FLAT CHAT WRAP Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams
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- Society & Culture
All about living in apartments (condos), from dealing with your committee to getting on with neighbours and – a dose of healthy skepticism about dubious developers. Please subscribe by clicking on one of the icons below, to take you to your favourite podcaster.
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Why unit rents are closing the gap on houses
There are myriad reasons why apartment rents are getting closer to and even, in a couple of areas, have overtaken the rents demanded for houses.
Is it because the immigration tap has been turned back on for people from countries where they aren't horrified by the prospect of living in apartments/
Is it because more, especially younger Aussies (wherever they originated) are seeing the benefits or apartment living outweighing the drawbacks.
Or is it just that landlords have decided its time to stop discounting units just because of a fear of flatophobia?
Also we take a look at the perils and potential benefits of asking for the compulsory appointments of strata managers and ask if there's any chance that NSW Fair Trading and the Attorney-General's office (which looks after the Tribunal) could start talking to each other about strata.
Honestly, guys and gals, we can set it up for you. We'll even buy the tea and bikkies.
And finally, Jimmy and Sue recall the journey from Hell that almost ended their marriage before it had even started. That's all in the Flat Chat Wrap.
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Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites. -
'Worst block ever' and big plans for the trendy burbs
In this week’s Flat Chat Wrap podcast we look at a report that building commissioner David Chandler has issued a stop-work order at a Wollongong construction site after structural defects were discovered in a 149-unit apartment block.
According to a story in on the ABC news site, Mr Chandler said the prohibition order followed the detection of a number of issues in the Crownview building in the last few years with $37m already spent on remediation but new problems with critical cable tensioning were discovered during remediation work.
As a result, he announced that he was pushing to have regional offices across the state because standards are so lax outside of Sydney – and we have a take on that too.
We glance in the direction of government moves to nudge baby strata managers to get themselves qualified and gain expertise in a bit more than gouging Schedule B fees from unsuspecting apartment owners.
And we look at news that already has the trendoids of Sydney’s inner-west suburbs in a tizz; the NSW government wants councils in these areas close to the city centre to stop blocking low-to-medium rise apartment blocks.
Add that to the Greens’ demand that the Federal Government should build 360,000 homes to be available for low-cost rents and purchases and all those former workers cottages in streets with no parking will be swallowed up … or probably not.
We look at what you really want in the shops in your block and a slight change of direction for Great Escapes.
That’s all in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap.
____________________________________________________
Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites. -
Shops you want in your blocks
In this week’s pod we look at “placemaking” which seems to be designing communities just to make them nicer places to live.
By nicer, of course, we mean places that don’t stress you out in the walk to and from the station every day. More trees and open spaces are a start, but then open spaces are exactly where developers want to put buildings. And trees generally get in the way of that.
We look at the NSW government’s plans to bring more high and medium rises to where there are shops (rather than the other way round).
And we ask what shops we would like in our block - by way of introducing this week’s poll which asks readers what they would like to see in their building.
All that and more in the pod, this week.
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Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites. -
Email madness - $17k charged for five messages
We’ve lifted a post from the Flat Chat Forum this week to illustrate two issues – one basic common sense, the other highly contentious.
The post explains how a strata manager managed to legitimately charge $17,000 for sending out five emails.
Obviously, our advice would be to read the small print in your strata management contract with a focus on what the worst-case scenario might be.
The other is the issue of whether the strata committee should have every owner’s email address – something way too many strata managers are not prepared to allow, regardless of what the law says.
And this is a case in point. Had the strata committee sent these five emails out themselves, it would have cost them nothing apart from the time it took to click on “forward”, “group” and “send.”
But you have to have the email addresses first. You can read the detail on how five emails cost $17,000 HERE.
Also in the pod, we look at the measure spreading across Australia to curb Airbnb and other short-term holiday lets to get homes back into the residential rental market.
We examine, the improved but still “least-worst” deal that will probably be accepted by enough Mascot Towers owners to make it happen.
And there’s a terrific 70 per cent off deal for a posh hotel near marvellous Maloolaba.
That’s all in this week’s packed podcast.
____________________________________________________
Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites. -
Your pet hates (and it's not pets)
This week on the podcast we are talking about YOU. At least, we are talking about your pet hates, as defined by our highly unscientific and totally skewed poll on who irritates you most in your strata scheme.
The poll is on the Flat Chat home page and you can see the results when you vote. Sneaky way to get clicks? Not really. We simply don’t want to influence your choices.
Also we have a look at what’s happening – or not happening – at the Balmain Leagues Club site where plans for a new block have been put on hold again (but, it seems, for a good reason).
And we check out a report that renters could have saved thousands of dollars – or even have been able to find somewhere to live – if a critical planning restriction had been eased just a little.
Finally, there’s our Lock Up & Leave – a designer cabin in the bush that’s just far enough away from civilisation. Race you there!
____________________________________________________
Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites. -
And now the good news ... for some
There’s some good news, some bad news and some great news in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap.
The good news (for investors) is that apartment prices and rents are going through the roof in Brisbane. The boom is being stimulated by preparations for the 2032 Olympics and an influx of new residents.
Of course, what’s good news for investors is generally bad news for tenants and not only are they facing rising rents and shortages of available properties in the Sunshine state, they’d think twice before escaping to Victoria.
There rents are rising but properties are falling, as in falling down. An “undercover” inspection of properties offered for rent in Victoria by the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) and Tenants Victoria revealed one-third of them failed to meet some of the basic living or safety standards.
And if you want to get away from all the doom and gloom, our Lock Up & Leave this week is a half-price, food and drink included, no-kids stay in a fancy hotel in Sorrento – the one in Italy, not the one in the Mornington Peninsula.
All that for $2k – less than a long weekend in a party flat in Docklands. It’s all in the Flat Chat Wrap.
____________________________________________________
Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.