FLAT CHAT WRAP

JimmyT and Sue discuss his long chat with the building commissioner, what you can do to avoid coronavirus in your apartment block and how Sue learned about the great Australian toilet roll panic, all over the newspapers ... in India.If you want to get new episodes of the Flat Chat Wrap and as soon as they are posted, just subscribe to one of the links underneath the player at the top of this page … it’s completely free!  And if you enjoy the podcasts, please share with a friend, (especially in strata) and leave us a rating – it helps people to find us.

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Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

In this week’s Flat Chat Wrap, JimmyT and Sue Williams discusses the possibility of having free, or non-profit strata managers.Would it work, who would use the service and wouldn’t rich owners in boutique blocks just rort the system if it was done on the basis of the size of the building?Also they talk about the 100-year-old converted mansion where the owners ripped out a faulty alarm system and never got round to replacing it.And there’s the question of a tenant who has replaced the original handle on his rented apartment with an electronic key pad, which not only keeps the landlord locked out, but isn’t fire compliant.If you want to get new episodes of the Flat Chat Wrap and as soon as they are posted, just subscribe to one of the links underneath the player at the top of this page … it’s completely free!  And if you enjoy the podcasts, please share with a friend, (especially in strata) and leave us a rating – it helps people to find us.

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

Roughly once a month JimmyT drops into the ABC radio studios for a chat with James Valentine about strata and all the myriad related subjectsThis month they start off talking about charging electric cars in strata schemes but pretty soon the calls from JV's listeners start pouring in.One caller wants to know if the owners in two out of three buildings in the same strata scheme should be responsible for the cabling when the third building gets  NBN fibre to the basement, rather than fibre to the node that the other blocks have.Another caller in a duplex wants to know what to do when their neighbour (and half-owner) wants to render the external walls of their half, but the caller can't afford to match it.A frustrated member of a committee wants to know if there's anything they can do about owners who wilfully ignore warnings not to park in visitor parking.Also, who's responsible when goods stored in a garage get damaged by water pouring through in heavy rains?And is a flat occupied by different sets of employess of the company that owns it short-term letting?  And what do you do when the visiting employees ignore or flout the strata by-laws and rules?These questions were all addressed in the Flat Chat slot in James Valentine's Afternoons. You can catch up with the rest of James' daily shows HERE.If you want to get new episodes of the Flat Chat Wrap and as soon as they are posted, just subscribe to one of the links underneath the player at the top of this page … it’s completely free!  And if you enjoy the podcasts, please share with a friend, (especially in strata) and leave us a rating – it helps people to find us. 

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

This week on the Flat Chat Wrap we ask whether retired business people are the best or the worst committee members you can have.Based on this column, Jimmy and Sue weigh the pros and cons of people who have experience and maturity, with the fact that they may also be used to getting their own way, are a little too keen to hold on to power when they get it, and often block the appointment of younger owners who want to make a contribution.Early retirees, with business smarts and energy to burn could be exactly what your block needs. Or they could be your worst nightmare.In another story, we look at how Airbnb has been touted as the answer to housing shortages in bushfire ravaged towns and rural areas.And we discuss why the global holiday letting company’s recent financial woes could mean they are about to expand, and come back even stronger.We hear a word of warning about taking owners to the tribunal even when you know you have them bang to rights on by-laws … because the Tribunal member might not be interested in strata law and by-laws and only sees things thorough the prism of personal ownership.And finally, if you can’t get enough of JimmyT’s dulcet tones, swing by The Elephant In The Room podcast where he was a guest a couple of weeks ago.If you want to get new episodes of the Flat Chat Wrap and as soon as they are posted, just subscribe to one of the links underneath the player at the top of this page … it’s completely free!  And if you enjoy the podcasts, please share with a friend, (especially in strata) and leave us a rating – it helps people to find us.

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

In this week’s podcast, with the East Coast states of Australia only just having survived the bushfires, we are now dealing with torrential rain and floods.Sue has contacted the big property insurers to discover an astonishing amount of damage claims had been lodged as early as Monday morning after the weekend storms.And we examine what can go wrong in apartment blocks despite a feeling of being “above it all”.‘This is when you discover how well your block really has been built,” Jimmy says, with one expert musing that, when you have horizontal rain in these quantities, something is bound to give.Later in the podcast, Jimmy and Sue discuss under what circumstances it’s okay for personal trainers (PTs) to use common property gyms for their clients.Inspired by this issue on the Forum, they look at the three basic circumstances under which you might find a PT in your gym.  One is fine, another is definitely not on but a third is borderline.But is a resident PT using the gym for commercial purposes really any different from an Airbnb host offering your shared facilities as part of their holiday rental package?Finally, we look at this Forum question of who pays for repairs and lost rent when your owners corporation needs to dig up your bathroom to fix a common property pipe.And before we go, take a listen to James Taylor’s Fire and Rain a tiny taste of which opens this week’s podcast.And, if you need cheering up, after all the real fire and rain that we’ve endured,  watch him with his updated version on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

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Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

This week’s podcast topics have come straight off our front page and our Forum.

For instance, how would you feel if an owner started allowing – maybe even encouraging – their dog to swim in the communal swimming pool?

Now, many free-standing home owners allow their pets to swim in their pools.  And the pets clearly enjoy it.

But does that mean we should allow dogs into our communal pools?  Aren’t there by-laws against that?

Well, check yours but probably no, there won’t be.  There might be something about not allowing pets on common property, or keeping dogs on a leash.

But hey, what if the dog is on a leash but in the pool?  JimmyT and Sue Williams dive into that one.

Then there is the problem of what to do with persistently, deliberately and aggravatingly annoying neighbours.

A while ago we talked about the deposed committee chair who took his revenge by calling up tradies working in the building and abusing them to the point that they refused to work there again.

Fortunately, there is an answer in the form of an Apprehended Personal Violence Order which, despite it’s heavy-hitting title, can be used to prevent verbal abuse between neighbours and unrelated civilians.

And finally, we look at the environmentally right-on apartment block in Redfern that’s been sold in its entirety to an investor … who plans to use it exclusively for Airbnb.

That’s all in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap.

If you want to get new episodes of the Flat Chat Wrap and as soon as they are posted, just subscribe (it’s completely free!), click on this link for iPHONE and IPAD and this one for Youtube. You can also subscribe on  Castbox or here on Spotify.  And  if you like the podcasts, please share with a friend, (especially in strata) and leave us a rating – it helps people to find us

This week’s podcast topics have come straight off our front page and our Forum.For instance, how would you feel if an owner started allowing – maybe even encouraging – their dog to swim in the communal swimming pool.Now, many free-standing home owners allow their pets to swim in their pools.  And the pets clearly enjoy it.But does that mean we should allow dogs into our communal pools?  Aren’t there by-laws against that?Well, check yours but probably no, there won’t be.  There might be something about not allowing pets on common property, or keeping dogs on a leash.But hey, what if the dog is on a leash but in the pool?  JimmyT and Sue Williams dive into that one.Then there is the problem of what to do with persistently, deliberately and aggravatingly annoying neighbours.A while ago we talked about the deposed committee chair who took his revenge by calling up tradies working in the building and abusing them to the point that they refused to work there again.Fortunately, there is an answer in the form of an Apprehended Personal Violence Order which, despite it’s heavy-hitting title, can be used to prevent verbal abuse between neighbours and unrelated civilians.And finally, we look at the environmentally right-on apartment block in Redfern that’s been sold in its entirety to an investor … who plans to use it exclusively for Airbnb.That’s all in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap.https://episodes.castos.com/flatchatpod/Flat-Chat-60-Dog-pool.mp3If you want to get new episodes of the Flat Chat Wrap and as soon as they are posted, just subscribe (it’s completely free!), click on this link for iPHONE and IPAD and this one for Youtube. You can also subscribe on  Castbox or here on Spotify.  And  if you like the podcasts, please share with a friend, (especially in strata) and leave us a rating – it helps people to find us

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

Sue Williams is back in the Flat Chat Wrap co-chair this week as we discuss the proposed Dodgy Developer Database announced by the NSW government last week.Sue reckons it can only be a good thing to get all that information but is concerned that it might all be too complicated for ordinary owners to understand.Jimmy points out that he doesn’t think it will ever see the light of day, and even if it does, ordinary people won’t have access to it to begin with, and will eventually only get to see it if they pay.“Outrageous!” says Sue. “We pay for these things through our taxes.’In any case, Jimmy says, it will be like the East Coast Fast Train line plan that gets trotted out at every election … a great idea that never gets out of the too-hard basket.One group of people who Jimmy thinks will be all over the proposed database (if it ever eventuates), apart from the council and state planners for whom it is apparently intended, will be the banks and other mortgage lenders.‘Imagine,” says Jimmy, “You want to buy a unit off the plan, you have the deposit, a great credit rating, solid employment and your mortgage lender looks at the database and discovers your proposed developer has a poor rating.  Result? The computer says no!”“Would that be such a bad thing?” asks Sue.Another problem will be any large, high-profile developers with a poor customer service record.  What are they going to do when they discover they only have three stars when their direct rivals have five or six? Lawyers at 12 paces, probably.Elsewhere, we discuss whether it is reasonable to expect parents to tell their kids to play quietly on common property.One building in Sydney’s Western suburbs has threatened parents with $1100 fines for breaking the schemes noise by-laws by allowing their kids to play noisily on common property.As more families move into strata, is it fair to expect kids to be seen and not heard.?And Jimmy asks if his bike is technically a “roadworthy vehicle”.  He’s been pinged for parking his bike in his parking spot which, the strata scheme’s by-laws say, can only be occupied by “roadworthy vehicles”.Now, he doesn’t particularly want to park his bike there – it’s usually in the back of the car ready for the next ride.  But this does illustrate the angst and confusion that can be caused by a badly worded by-law.If you want to get new episodes of the Flat Chat Wrap and as soon as they are posted, just subscribe (it’s completely free!), click on this link for iPHONE and IPAD and this one for Youtube. You can also subscribe on  Castbox or here on Spotify.  And  if you like the podcasts, please share with a friend, (especially in strata) and leave us a rating – it helps people to find us

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

“It’s like heading down the runway while you are still building the plane” – no, we’re not talking about buying off the plan, but the pressures and perils of creating an Oscar-winning, multi-million-dollar animated Hollywood movie.We’re taking a slight detour this week into the world of comedy and show-business, in an interview with our good friend Warren Coleman, formerly of the Castanets Club comedy troupe but more recently a writer and co-director on Happy Feet and a writer on Happy Feet 2.Now, we do get to the question of apartments – specifically, what it’s like to be looking to buy and sell for the first time in 30 years – but we take a few side-roads along the way.We’ll hear how taking a hit comedy show on a multi-city tour of the USA can be like “hyper-flat-sharing” and we get essential travel tips from Davy Jones, formerly of the Monkees.But there's also how entering the apartment buying arena for the first time in a long time is a bit like dating after the end of a long-term relationship. ‘Until you make a commitment, you have to let any flat you like know that you’re still seeing other apartments, just like it's seeing other people,’ says Warren.And then there's packing.  As you can imagine, there's a lot of accumulated stuff to get rid of  - or not - after 30 years in the one flat.Due you use Marie Kondo's "does it bring me joy?" filter for all your stuff, or do you go hard core and use the Swedish Death Cleaning method.  Yes, that's a thing ... it's even a book.But we also hear about Happy Feet producer/director George Miller’s seat-of-the-pants genius, what it’s like to be nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and even a Logie, and what you do when you can’t find out if you’ve won because your party hosts are recording it to watch it later.All in all, it’s a very different Flat Chat Wrap this week … but it’s a lot of fun.If you want to get new episodes of the Flat Chat Wrap and as soon as they are posted, just subscribe (it’s completely free!), click on this link for iPHONE and IPAD and this one for Youtube. You can also subscribe on  Castbox or here on Spotify.  And  if you like the podcasts, please share with a friend, (especially in strata) and leave us a rating – it helps people to find us

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

This week in the podcast we revisit the vexed question of whether or not you should be allowed to view other owners’ email addresses.The SCA (Strata Community Australia – aka, the strata managers) website says this in its FAQ for apartment block neophytes:How do I obtain the phone number/email address/postal address of members of the committee?Due to privacy laws you only have the legal right to obtain the postal address of lot owners, which you can request from the strata manager, or if the scheme is self-managed, the committee.In other words, no email addresses for mere owners. Now, we’ve had this discussion running on the Forum for a while and I, JimmyT, have to admit I got it wrong.I said that because the strata Act doesn’t require you to provide your email address, then that wasn’t part of the strata roll and was therefore private.But hang on a minute, the strata Act does require owners to provide their email addresses.  And if strata managers and committees are using them to send out notices, agendas and minutes, they are part of the records of the business of the strata scheme anyway.So how come strata managers say you can’t have them?Privacy, they say.  But corporations with a turnover of less than $3 million a year – e.g. most strata schemes – aren’t covered by the federal privacy laws, and even if you were in a mega complex that did qualify, the privacy laws are superseded by laws that require information to be provided … like the strata Act.So here on the Flat Chat Wrap  podcast we are calling this out – especially since one of our readers took their strata managers and strata scheme all the way to the Supreme Court in WA and got a definitive ruling that they were entitled to see and use the email addresses of all the other owners. That's quite a saga, as we explain.You will often hear it said that sending someone an unsolicited email is an invasion of privacy.  How exactly can that be the case?  It may be an invasion of their email inbox, but that’s about it. Sure, sending complete strangers unwanted emails is spam.But co-owners in the same apartment block, with myriad common interests and concerns? In any case, the recipient doesn’t have to read it, and they can block the sender with the click of a ticked box, should they so desire.Personally, I would rather another owner emailed me and told me they were worried about decisions made by the committee, than hope and pray that the reason I don't hear any complaints is becasue they can't get past the fake privacy filter.Call us cynical, but we think the real issue is that too many committees and strata managers don’t want the instant, costless communication that emails offer.  Why?  Because, with half the strata units in Australia owned by investors, with snail mail often only going to their agents, the results could be unpredictable, to say the least, if owners with a grievance were able to communicate with each other and start asking awkward questions.So the next time your strata manager refuses to let you see other owners email addresses, stick your iPod buds in their earholes and make them listen to our podcast.Elsewhere in the Flat Chat Wrap, we look at what happens to proxy votes and Powers of Attorney when the owner of the property dies. {NB: This podcast has been corrected since it was first published}And we issue a warning to pet owners, especially the parents of pugs and bulldogs and their ilk, about the combined dangers of smoke and heat.That’s all there in this week’s podcast.

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Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.