When you buy an apartment or townhouse, you usually also buy into a body corporate that manages the complex as a whole and to ensure the property continues to be well maintained.

The Body Corporate takes care of garden maintenance, pays for electricity to illuminate common areas and ensure adequate insurance is in place.

On the negative side however, there are ongoing body corporate fees and these are reviewed annually and they can, increase from year to year.

The best way to minimise Body Corporate Fees is to join the Committee, as the members decide how much quarterly fees will be and work with the Strata Manager to manage maintenance & repairs.

Before buying into a Body Corporate, do your due diligence before signing anything and have a solicitor conduct additional searches into the Body Corporate records, to make sure you are fully informed, about proposed works, fee increases and past maintenance issues.

Also, check with your Accountant to see if all or some of the fees will be a tax deduction. For instance, fees spent on a capital or deductible item.

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