I have a question about villas on about 200 sq.m. strata triplex blocks with no strata management fees (due to no common property), like many of those in Nollamara, Perth. When I buy such villa, will I also own the whole strata block, on which it sits, or just the area inside the property, like in the case of apartments, or old 2-bedroom villas in Yokine/Tuart Hill?
Just look at the strata plan and bylaws for the complex. You should be able to get a copy from the selling agent. Its pretty rare for those triplexes to have no common property - usually there's the common driveway. And most of the ones I've seen were built strata and not survey strata. Plus even if you own the land, you're probably very limited in what you can do with it without permission of every other lot owner.
Thanks for your answer! How much more valuable is a villa on 200sq.m. built strata block vs a similar one on a survey strata block?
I doubt there would be any difference in price if that was the only difference - because like I said, its not like you can do anything with the land that you want.
Section 16 on page 19 https://www0.landgate.wa.gov.au/doc.../$file/1129-Guide-to-Strata-Titles-online.pdf Units behind each other After 1985 you "own" the 200 m2 the house sits on and the main driveway is common property. Have a good look at driveway. If ants have gotten under paving and removed sand. The hassle is trying to get all owners to agree to fix it. To me a poor driveway devalues the property. Also yearly in Nollamara the common area might need to be sprayed for the "coastal brown" ants. Often all units are on a shared insurance policy. Also no strata body who looks after the verge? Again garden down sides of driveway. It all looks nice when buying new. There are some unloved looking properties around again devaluing the property imho.
Thanks a lot! Now it makes much clearer. What if the front villa has its own driveway, would it still be sharing the common driveway? Like for example, when it requires some fixing, does the front villa owner have to pay, or just the other two villa owners?
My understanding you own all your 'block" and a third of all the driveway (your section can't be separated, it is all mixed together). So yes you are responsible for it. The house on front facing street could have garage access from driveway or front street. Depending how built. If the front owner doesn't doesn't maintain yard it can make whole complex look unsightly. So while many people like units without a strata body and fees. I can see the benefit of having one with a small sinking fund and collecting building insurance quarterly. Which is rare.
My thoughts on choosing a unit. So while harder to find and possibly at a price premium a corner development might be a better choice. Ideally one with a physical gap between buildings, then ones touching but not connected, then ones connected only by carport, then ones with shared roof.
@Shogun Thanks for the info! Do you know how much approximately the building insurance costs for such villa (e.g. for a 350k villa in Nollamara)?
Some blocks in that area have 2 driveways and it's possible the front has no entitlements and therefore ownership of the other driveway. You would need to see the survey plan to make sure though. Generally you will own the land and the internal and external physical structure. You may be limited to what changes you can make to your structure though.
What property has better CG growth prospective, a 200m2 villa in Nollamara, or a 700m2 house in Maddington? I understand that Maddington is considered as low socioeconomic area, and it is further away from the CBD. On the other side 700m2 green title alone has more value than 200m2 strata block. So I am struggling to determine which one has higher CG prospective in 5, 10, 20 years time. For example, this house looks appealing to me: 7 Nutley Street, Maddington, WA 6109 7 min cycling to the station, and 20 min to the city by train. It seems the land cannot be subdivided without demolishing the house (as there is no space for driveway), but it has got a pool, which means easier to rent out. Besides it is located in front of the park, being a limited stock.
Tenants like houses for various reasons. Eg That is a nice back garden I can see myself relaxing there. Hard enough to get some to water your garden and pull weeds from between paving bricks. Oh what pretty roses. Really not that hard to cut the dead ones off. Pools not without issue. Some discussion here also other threads. Some costly repairs when things break. Finding a tenant to look after your pool might be fun. Managing a rent property with a pool? I think pools attract some people but would scare off others. In Northern suburbs my PM told me she can rent out houses with pools easily. Maddington varies across the suburb and street by street. Lots of houses on large blocks. Which will be more desirable in future? I have seen Thornlie recommended a few times on here as a maybe in the second line of betting for potential CG Nollamara is a suburb full of developed blocks and units. 10km from city with good access via bus. Also within 6 km radius large number of shopping centres, areas of light industry and services for potential tenants to work at and live close by. Capital growth is really people in the future desiring what you own now for some reason and willing to pay more.
