Eighty plans, one manager: what to ask before choosing a strata manager
18 July 2026 A prospective client told me last week that their previous strata manager was carrying around 80 plans. One person. I’ve no reason to doubt them, and honestly, whether it’s eighty or sixty doesn’t change the point. The number is a symptom. The model behind it is the cause. But sit with it […]
Where we stand on insurance
9 July 2026 Strata insurance commissions are in the spotlight in NSW right now, and they should be. Insurance is one of the biggest costs your scheme carries, and for a long time it was hard for owners to see how the people arranging it were paid. So let us be plain about where Bettr […]
Strata insurance in NSW: what your committee is now entitled to see
7 July 2026 Insurance is usually one of the largest single costs in a strata budget. For years, how the people arranging that insurance were paid was hard for owners to see. NSW law has changed that, and most committees still do not know what they are now entitled to ask for. Here is the […]
One year in: what running strata on fees alone actually proved
1 July 2026 One year ago today, on 1 July 2025, Bettr Strata opened. The business started with one bet. That you can run a strata management company on management fees alone. No insurance commissions. No related-entity broker arrangements. No revenue stream sitting behind the owners corporations we work for. In NSW strata, that is […]
Heading to Your Strata AGM? A Confidence Primer for Owners
20 June 2026 Once a year, your strata scheme holds its Annual General Meeting (AGM). It’s where the budget is set, your levies are decided, the committee is elected, and the bigger calls about your building get made. For most owners, it’s the single most important hour of the strata year. It’s also the one […]
My price is my price.
15 June 2026 I get asked, more than you’d think, whether Bettr Strata is for sale. Whether I’d come “into the tent” of a bigger group. Whether I’d take on the strata arm of a real estate firm and scale it up. The answer’s no. Not because the offers aren’t flattering, but because scaling up […]
Same money. Different envelope.
2 June 2026 You can almost hear the sigh. “He’s doing commissions again.” Yep. The Age put a strata kickback on its front page this weekend. A strata manager, on a recording the paper says it’s reviewed, allegedly asking a contractor for a cut to rig a tender. If it stands up, it’s a straight […]
When “no commissions” doesn’t mean what you think it means
26 May 2026 The question that keeps coming up A prospect compares two strata management quotes. Both say “no commissions.” On paper they look the same on that line, so the prospect moves to comparing the management fee. The lower fee wins. What the prospect doesn’t see is that one of the two quotes is […]
Winter is coming. Here’s what your committee should be doing now.
21 May 2026 The first cold snap usually arrives in late May or early June. By July, every strata manager in NSW is fielding the same calls – burst pipes, ceiling leaks, blocked drains, dead hot water systems. The damage was preventable in almost every case. The window to prevent it is now. Here’s what […]
Wollongong’s next decade isn’t just about height.
7 May 2026 There was a piece in the Illawarra Mercury today about the race for Wollongong’s tallest building. Three contenders, all over 38 storeys. The Bunnings site alone is now planned for 1,500 apartments across six towers – three of those at 40 storeys. Add Crown Square, the twin 26-storey towers at Crown and […]