Commercial strata V's residential

Did a quick search, to no avail
In short

Have a commercial/retail unit.
My unit is smaller than the other commercial unit (only 2 commercial in the complex) yet our strata fees are the same.
Also of the "complex" our fee's are nearly the same as the the two penthouses that occupy more than twice the sqm I have......
It is one of two commercial units at street level of of multi storey resi complex, even though it has 2 street frontages.

How are strata levies preportioned ???
Is it per sqm of each unit
Or do the commercial units attract a higher rate ? (Oppossed to resi)

For the record, i was not informed of the strata fees prior to purchase as the strata was (alledgedly at the time, since proven to be lied to by the REA) yet to be established as the building was in the process of being "strata'd"...
Thanks in advance

 

A Quantity Surveyor usually allocates the unit entitlement based on a number of factors that sometimes make sense and sometimes not. Loosely based on area, views, access to facilities/common areas, street exposure (retail).
Certainly a risk to buy a strata property without the unit entitlements set.

 

Do you have a "schedule of lot entitlements" to refer?

 

Hi Stoffo, sorry to bring an old post back up but im looking at an apartment to buy as my first IP and have found one that is actually, if not very similar in configuration as your complex mentioned above.

Im just wondering if you still have it in your portfolio, and how it all panned out with the strata. Is it worth buying into a complex like that? Or should i run away with all that complexities.

Im in the process of getting finance approved, so have yet to ask for the sales contract or start a strata search, but from talking with the agent, i have found that quarterly strata fees are around $900.

I really like this apartment as to me it has a really good location right in the heart of this CBD, and close to all amenities. 2 bed rm, parking space 91m/s internal floor space. Built in 2004

 

Yes, still have it, has had good capital growth.
Yes it worked out kind of ok.
Just the few little things that bug me, like both commercial have water meters, yet the balance of the complex use "common water" (so my levies go toward paying for everyone else's water ! Clearly the quantity surveyor didn't have all the facts on the day ).

@Dat Nguyen is the property you are looking at also a ground floor commercial in a resi complex ?

 

Hi Stoffo, thanks for the reply. Im all new to this. The apartment complex is zoned mixed use, and is a corner block with a laneway on one side. It has two retail shop at the front and 10 apartments i think, front two apartment with penthouse, this is from what i have gathered. Ground floor/first level seems to be carpark. These apartments are two levels with combined kitchen living and dinning sittung on 2nd floor and 3rd floor 2 bedrooms total 91 sqm floor space. Are these type of property harder to sell? As this one has been on market since t the beginning of the year with a $30k price drop already. And before that it took 846 days on the market to sell.

 

The rea when I bought said the complex was being strata titled and the levy info was not available (lesson learned).

The strata fee's of $900 are ok (average is $1,000+ these days), but there's far more to buying.
View, privacy, light/orientation, noise, transport nearby but the largest issue these days is building defects, sinking, waterproofing, cladding, so going back through the strata reports and meeting minutes are crucial

 

The apartments are north facing, which from these forums i read is good. Its less than a minute to the train station/bus hub, restaurants and good variety retail shops. Less than five minutes walk to the main shopping centre. It seems its the last aprtment at the end so its a good thing one lest common wall but the garage door is at that end to, pretty much right under the apartment which from these forums is a no no.

Thanks for letting me know $900 strata is ok, all that time i thought it was on the high side and thats why the aprtment wasn't selling, guess i was wrong. Yes, i will definitely get a building/pest report and strata search once i know i can get the finance approved. Can i ask if 91sqm for a 2 BR apartments is ok? Im looking at others where it looks bigger around 120 sqm and am wondering if 91 sqm is to small. Mind you im only going from photos as due to covid lockdowns, can not physically go see how a 90 or 120 sqm apartment looks like and compare.

Stoffo, your a champ. I really appreciate you giving up your time and replying to my post.