Podcast: Off-plan buyers rage and SMs slap back

From Jimmy and Sue’s podcast:

Well, anyway, so on LinkedIn, a strata manager has said, can the self-appointed experts stop criticising strata managers, like at the basic level of strata management, who are out there just doing, they’re trying to do their job? It’s not their fault that things have gone wrong.

LinkedIn has a reputation for self-appointed experts.  I find this comment offensive.  It is the remark of a bully who wants to silence us for waking up to their ruse.  I had a look at what it takes to become a strata manager.  There used to a TAFE Certificate IV for this job. Now it is only offered by private colleges. It’s not a three year bachelor degree. It does not require a competitive ATAR score for entry. Anyone who pays the course fee and works one year in a strata management office can do it.

I have two bachelor degrees and a graduate diploma.  I am a self-appointed expert in strata management and I will continue to criticise poor and dishonest strata management when I see it. I have been running a self-managed strata plan for some years. It is a tonne of work; most of it done during the set up phase. I use a computer, a scanner, a printer and personal finance software. Levies are invoiced correctly. Recurring bills are paid by direct debit. Budgets, meetings, financial statements, capital works plans, by-laws are all compliant with the law.

Strata management is not a big mystery. You need to be organised, a bit nerdy and able to deal with people. As anyone who reads my posts knows, the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (or the equivalent in your state) is my friend.

It is the strata managers’ fault that things have gone wrong.  They see where the money goes.  They see over-servicing and over-charging:

An example of over-servicing is when we paid $130, year after year, for an income tax return.  I called the ATO and learnt about ATO Ruling TR 2015/3, which says that we don’t need to submit a tax return if we have zero income.

In Jimmy’s interview with Linton Besser, Linton described a Zoom meeting between strata managers. One of the strata managers joked about the exhorbitant fee he charged for updating the NSW Strata Hub database. The NSW Govt charges $3 per unit for Strata Hub but the strata manager inflates this cost. Linton Besser said that the strata manager said he raised so much money he could buy a ute with the proceeds of Strata Hub update.  He thanked the NSW Govt for inventing Strata Hub.