Strata renovation approval in NSW: who says yes
22 September 2026 Who has to approve your strata renovation in NSW? You can paint your walls without asking anyone. A new kitchen is a different conversation. Most owners find this out the hard way, halfway through a quote, when the strata manager asks whether the owners corporation has approved the work. The rule is […]
What happens to building defects when the developer goes broke?
9 September 2026 It’s a question we’re hearing a lot in the Illawarra at the moment, and it deserves a plain answer. The short version: the defects survive, and so do most of the legal rights that attach to them. What changes is who has to drive the fix. Before a collapse, owners can at […]
The warning signs of a scheme heading toward compulsory appointment
1 September 2026 Part of my work is section 237 appointments. That’s the point where NCAT decides an owners corporation can’t run itself and appoints a managing agent under orders. Levies, insurance, maintenance, meetings, all of it, taken out of the owners’ hands. It’s strata’s version of putting a company into administration. Schemes usually reach […]
Before you sack your strata manager
20 August 2026 Most committees who sack their strata manager didn’t need to. That’s a strange thing for a strata manager to write down, so here’s the reasoning behind it. Changing agents costs a lot more than the difference in the fee. Whoever takes over has to learn your building from scratch. The history, the […]
Why I do strata this way
13 August 2026 If you’re reading this, there’s a fair chance somebody told you to. Most of our new business comes by word of mouth. Google works and marketing matters, but when somebody puts their name next to yours and tells a person they actually know to give you a call, that means more […]
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 […]