What you need to know when buying an apartment in Sydney

Purchasing an apartment is a little different than purchasing a house. When you purchase a freehold property like a house, you own the land and everything immobile on it, such as the shed, pool, and driveway.

Apartments are part of a building with multiple dwellings that share common ground and other areas like the foyer, car park, and driveway. These areas are managed by the body corporate and require a body corporate or strata fee to maintain. All apartment owners become members of the body corporate

Conveyancing advice when buying an apartment

The body corporate establishes rules and governs the rules that apply to the apartments. The body corporate establishes and governs the rules that apply to apartments. Owners are required to financially contribute to the body corporate. The exact amount can vary from building to building and is in addition to utilities and standard land rates.

One other important feature to be aware of when purchasing an apartment is that you don’t own the building you are buying into. Instead, it’s owned by the collective owners, which is why an administrative body corporate is necessary.

Always remember that buying an apartment means you are buying into a community, so you must ensure you understand the rules and regulations and agree with the lifestyle. The limitations on what you can do to the inside and outside of an apartment are extreme when compared to a freehold house. So, if you think you are buying a fixer-upper, keep in mind that you don’t have free reign over the renovations because the body corporate always has the final say.

Things you need to know

The conveyancing process for purchasing an apartment is similar to purchasing any other property. However, there are items a buyer should be aware of, including:

• The value of the annual contributions the new owner of the lot must pay to the body corporate
• Improvements on the common property the owner is responsible for
• Any other details as described by the regulations

Full and accurate disclosure is critical to a successful transaction. As you can see it will be easy to miss vital details without the assistance of a qualified conveyancer.