What’s an “average” Main Beach body corp fee?

$7,919 per annum.

Recently we seem to have another crop of buyers frustrated with the seemingly high body corporate levies. We sell a lot of apartments, they are our bread and butter real estate. As such we get an insight into the body corporate dealings within the suburb. We are privy to the details that home-owners are required to provide to buyers before they enter into a contract to buy an apartment (or townhouse, villa etc) that is part of a community title scheme.

‘That’s too high’ or ‘I’m sure other buildings are cheaper’ are common concerns I hear.

I have been back through my last 25 sales to calculate the average. I have to say I am not surprised that average figure is around the $150 per week mark.

My sales range from apartments in high-rise towers to units in smaller 3-storey walk-up styles. High rises tend to have on site managers, lifts, pools, spas, gyms etc while walk-up styles may not have onsite managers, no lifts, limited community lighting and no other service demands. So typically these body corporates are smaller and pay only insurance, gardener and secretarial costs. If you’re trying to keep costs to a minimum these are the best choice – but even these very rarely have body corp levies below $70 - $80 per week. As an example, the cheapest body corporate levies in our sample are $3,698 per annum.

Mid-rise to high-rise apartment buildings shape the landscape of Main Beach and their running costs do include lifts and often pools, gyms and onsite managers. The majority of their levies are now well into the $7000’s and per year.

In a community title scheme where the lot entitlements are equal you will see little or no difference between the levies whether the apartment be 1 or 3 bedrooms.

If the lot entitlements are set according to the lot size you will see a difference in the levies payable due to this. The owners of the top floor penthouse will pay considerably more than the 100m2 apartment on level 1.

The dearest fees on the list? It’s $14,804 per annum and situated in a complex with two towers and world class resort facilities as well as onsite security! It’s no surprise it’s a building offering such luxury and facilities.

So are body corp fees just too high? The sample we’ve produced here is just one selection of 25 properties, but it’s likely to be fairly accurate.

Our advice on getting/keeping body corporate levies is: Your body corporate needs you! Pay attention to the dreary minutes, make your vote count, and even better, attend the meetings! No-one makes a profit, all owners share the pain of rising costs like insurances, electricity and locked-in increases like yearly top-ups to managers wages. The running costs of a building can be reduced, but only with input and effort of owners themselves.

I always suggest to people who are considering a move to a highrise apartment, but are put off by the body corporate that they add up how much it costs to maintain their current home on an annual basis. More often than not it works out to be around the same amount as the body corporate levies. Do the exercise, be honest with yourself and put in all the costs. You will be surprised how much you actually pay each year.

The big cost is bulding insurance. In an apartment complex you don't pay building insurance only contents insurance. What price would you put on not having to mow the lawns or put the bins out every week? I would say that is priceless!

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Posted By Shelley Fuller

Updated : 10th October 2021 | Words : 604 | Views : 14169