I found a lockup car space and was ready to buy and have now received the Strata Report I paid $350 for. Wouldnt you know it, they are about to slug a special levy on owners for capital works, my share would be 780 next year and ,a second one planned of about the same. This is on top of the regular levy and council rates. This means that if I can find a tenant I wouldnt make a cent for 2 years as the costs would equal the rental return. The poor unit owners are up for thousands. It does have some things going for it though, the price is good, and enclosed lockup spaces are impossible to find. What should I do?
Property Buying Dilemma, Strata Report Received
screensaver on 02/05/2020 - 02:26
Comments
I was not expecting this
Happy to delight.
Investing, lesson one: avoid strata titles (Unless you buy the whole block).
I dont feel good about buying anymore
So don't buy. It's just a car space that you want to make money from. Everything carries risk and there's no guarantee that in 3 years there won't be more capital works expenses. You genuinely come off sounding entitled to a guaranteed return on an investment but that is not how the world works.
Yeah don't get into anything that big unless you are comfortable with it. Do your sums based on a 'worst case' scenario and if they work out OK just go from there. I'm still expecting BIG real estate drops at some point, maybe late this year/next year (IMO).
When buying a Unit, we usually ask the Seller or Agent about Levies, past and future. Pity you have to pay $350 to get this info….
To buy or not to buy? Price is good and impossible to find, why not?
In NSW you have to pay for the strata report - even if you don't end up buying (!)
People keep saying that investing in the property market is a sure things. Things like this and current climate shows that it isn’t.
A special levy of $780 is nothing. Some special levies can be 10s or 100s of thousands depending on the problem.
Usually there’s only a need for a special levy of a low amount like that if the executive committee hasn’t been increasing the strata levies in line with the 10 year plan to cover regular maintenance.
It’s probably an indication of a poor executive committee than anything else.
What is the levy actually for?Let me guess - older building with some concrete cancer? Or newer building with combustible cladding?
If your proposed investment has an ROI that won't even begin for 2 years - and then consider there's a risk that further levies could be applied to it within or after that 2 years - then I'd say don't buy it. There are better ways to invest your money.
Real estate is a good investment because its a tangible thing, and its good if you're in it for a long duration. Even better if your investment is saving you from paying rent for a place to live! (tax benefits etc aside). Other options will present themselves, but you did the right thing by checking that strata report, and the $350 saved you 2 years of no returns. Keep looking.
They are looking at just buying a garage space, so not sure how much 'real estate' that counts as….
found a lockup car space
I was presuming it was a city car space, in a secure basement garage sorta thing.. I wouldn't think one would invest in a car space outside of this context..?
And if there's a property title of some sort tied to it, its real estate!
Last year car space in a Sydney CBD building sold for $600k!
Investment decision is going to come down to what your total cost is going to be and what return you can expect
i don't think you should do it. you might lose the keys and be up for thousands more
I still have those, but I dont beleive it was profiting from human tragedy, it was preventing human tragedy. There was not a single case in the nursing home that did buy 200 from me. They were lucky they bought from me, as I had them in stock, unlike the other ads who made you wait 3 weeks
First step, stop posting to Ozbargain about your High Yield Vehicle (space)
why should I stop? Other people ask real estate questions
he didnt offer me to repeat day 1, only gave me the notes so I missed out on the practical. So I didnt get my moneys worth. I have gone to a different school, which has been postponed due to virus.
If it has power you can grow weed in it and you won't need a tenant.
Use the report to negotiate the price down the same amount as the extra cost. If they don't go for it, walk away.
yes that is an option, they did not disclose
I think I have made my decision. I am not buying and I will have to let them all know, the 2 solicitors and the agent. My solicitor did a good job, hope I dont have to pay more. I have decided to go back to my old type of business I did years ago, never thought that would happen, but its ticking most of the boxes again
I have decided to go back to my old type of business I did years ago, never thought that would happen,
Almost too afraid to ask.. What was your old business?
i cant reveal all my trade secrets, but I am made an attempt to start, I bought some equipment on ebay and found it was not up to scratch, so asked for refund and the person refused, I now have have a fight on my hands, for my 800. I also nearly had a serious car accident driving there, not a good start at all. I will have to be more careful what I buy, I am not giving up
Ah! For some reason, I assumed it was sex work ( not that there's anything wrong with sex work - just didn't think it would suit your personality).
I also nearly had a serious car accident driving there, not a good start at all.
Was that after you lost your car keys? I wonder if that was a sign that it wasn't meant to be.
I look forward to reading about your future adventures. From the sound of it, you have an even more eventful life than I do. Who would have thought that was possible? ;)
@[Deactivated]: I have been driving for many years and this was the closest call I had to a potential biggie.
They should have disclosed it was subject to special levies, only my solicitor advised me. Looking at the report, there were no such levies all these years until now. So he expected the new buyer to pay them. I see the owner is 800 behind in his payments too
Why would you even bother sinking X amount of money into a strata car space, to only make $800 a year out of it? Whats the point?
Flip a coin. What exactly were you expecting here?
Oh…