Strata Management_how to self educate?

I am wanting to be more involved in the strata management of an apartment I own. I'm an ex-pat but the new strata manager seems to be open-minded and ok with zoom in and said most strata is online management anyway
Can any of you point me in the right direction to resources. I think it could be a good skill to learn for later down the track...he he. Always reinventing myself.
In the interim, I can at least learn and try to figure out why the quarterly fees are so high, what the issues are and try to improve the value of my place
Thanks all - Mods if this belongs somewhere more appropriate please move away

 

I learned a lot of the strata stuff from the combination of reading the legislation and strata guides published by the state in WA - maybe there's the equivalent for your state?

 

The strata property is in Canberra so ok cool I can ask strata manager to send me links and reading. That's really good guidance on where to start

 

A good place to start would be with Flat Chat which covers a multitude of strata issues. Mostly based on NSW legislation but it does cover issues in other states or gives you a point from which you can look up the ACT Strata Act for issues affects you.

Become a member for the regular updates and raise your own issues to learn more.

 

Excellent website for Strata info, I send my friends who are having strata problems to this site

 

Offer to be on the management committee and learn as you go.

I'm treasurer for two strata bodies who self-manage and it's really not that hard - for small groups, I hasten to add!

Since we booted the strata management company from one of the groups, our bank balance has grown nicely by the tune of the saved fees without needing to increase the strata levies. And we can choose quality trades to attend to issues, not the cowboys that did the bare minimum and charge the maximum.

Oops, ranting.. sorry.

 

" I'm an ex-pat but the new strata manager seems to be open-minded and ok with zoom in and said most strata is online management anyway" I am in China

 

Lookupstrata is a good resource.

Flat-chat has to have the worst usability of any forum/website I know of. The content is okay but not great.

OCN can be useful and there is an active local chapter.

Reading the legislation is a good start, it varies a lot by state/territory.

NSW legislation has been relatively recently revamped and is quite good/straightforward with most issues clear.

The ACT units plan legislation is unclear and confusing at best. The government resources are also poor. It is a small market so there is less material out there. There are also massive differences between ACT and NSW.

 

That's great info and I agree that Flatchat interface is horrible. Hmm, I wonder if my strata manager can send me 'user guides' or something. She seemed super excited when I expressed interest in becoming a more involved owner ;-)

 

Ask for the strata manager to send you the minutes for the last few AGM and go through them, jot down any questions and then work on finding the answers, I think you'll probably learn a lot (at least about your building).