Hi all I am one half of a property investing couple from sunny Qld. Previously I have left a lot of the property stuff to my partner and have decided it’s time to get myself more educated since we are onto our third property. We have recently brought a unit in a block of 5(which we are living in) most of the residents are tenants. We were approached by one of the owners who is wanting to seperate the water meters for each unit. I was wondering if anyone had experience with this? We think it will probably cost a few grand. I am wondering if the cost of changing it is worth it in the long run. We plan to renovate for about 6-12 months and then rent it. We have a body Corp meeting coming up as we have applied for our dogs. I am worried if we say no to paying for the change then they will say no to our dogs. Any help will be appreciated.
@Bayley Davies, does the BC have sufficient funds in its Sinking Fund to install separate meters or will it be raising funds via a Special Levy?
Once you have seperate meters, you will then be able to charge your tenants (when you start renting it out) for their own water. Which is awesome and the way it should be. The only problem I see with this is the fact that nearly all apartments in QLD don't have separate meters and the LL pays the water. Some people say this is reflected in the rental price, but I don't believe this. You might have a slightly more difficult time renting it out if renters compare prices and find they have to pay for water as apposed to not having to pay. Water in a 2 bedder apartment will probably run you around 300-350 a quarter. So that's around 20-25bucks a week. I wonder if anybody on this forum is a LL for a metered apartment in QLD??? Is there a pool in the complex? How would the water for that be paid for? I guess a common tap that goes through BC and a special levy to cover the costs? mmm... No idea.
Our son has a unit in a block of five. He checked out pricing to get seperate meters several years ago. It was a couple of thousand per unit (from memory) and I'm not sure if everyone must agree. It didn't happen.
