The PROPERTY DOCTORS, Sydney Australia Novak Properties

EP. 1307 Key Differences: Strata Plan, Floor Plan, and Strata Report

Mark Novak, Josh Wapshott Season 28 Episode 1307

Unlock the secrets of real estate mastery as we promise to demystify the puzzling world of floor plans and strata plans. Ever wondered why some property listings feature detailed layouts while others don't? We'll clarify the crucial distinctions between these two types of plans, shining a light on their respective roles in both sales and legal contexts. Whether you're gearing up for a property purchase or simply curious about real estate dynamics, this episode will equip you with knowledge that is essential for navigating property ownership and rights, especially within strata buildings.

Our discussion doesn't stop there. We stress the indispensable value of building inspection reports as a cornerstone of informed buying decisions. Think of these reports as the biography of a building, revealing its condition, past repairs, and future upkeep needs. This information is vital for prospective buyers, especially when considering long-term investments. Additionally, we'll guide you through the maze of essential documents like strata searches, ensuring you're fully prepared for the complexities of property transactions. With these insights, we aim to empower first-time buyers and seasoned investors alike, giving you the confidence to approach real estate with clarity and foresight.

Speaker 1:

Floor Plan, strata Plan Ordering a Strata Search. The differences in floor plans have confused some of us, starting at Novak, so we're going to talk this morning about the differences in real estate, estate, about floor plans, stay tuned. Now we do love a plan, everyone loves a floor plan in real estate, but there are different plans that we're going to talk about today. That's right.

Speaker 2:

Yes, we have the strata plan, floor plan and strata report or search Mark. Where did you want to start?

Speaker 1:

Wherever you want bud. So the reason we talked about this is often people start in our business, in our business in our agency and instead of explaining the differences we had this happen last week we're like, well, why aren't we sort of putting this on social, putting it out there so people understand the differences? Because we're always coining these, like Australia, you know plan and this and that, and it's like hang on a sec, there's a difference between them. Let's get it straight for people out there. What does a traditional floor plan look like?

Speaker 2:

so your traditional floor plan will include the, the layout within the, the specific property or residence that you're looking at. So things like your walls where your showers, your bathrooms are running from essentially just gives a person a layout of the space without physically being there and really just gives a good idea of the separation within the actual property.

Speaker 1:

Got it so and that's pretty much what people love. So you don't see it as much in rentals. Ours are a bit more fruity, so you don't see this as much in rentals. When you're on realestatecom or domaincom or the agent's website For rentals you won't really see a floor plan. But for sales you will see this. It shows you your car space, it shows you your outdoor area. Ours are a little bit fancy lots of colour, lots of furniture and a bit of a salesperson's spiel of the selling points and the property we even anchor in the photos of. I don't know if you can see that we can even anchor in the photos off that floor plan. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a typical floor plan and what you're looking for. Even dimensions are on there as well. Now there is a different thing called a strata plan. Over to you, josh.

Speaker 2:

So a strata plan basically will give the buyer or anyone looking an understanding of where the unit sits within a complex. So generally, if you've got a bunch of offices within a large building, or whether it's your internal floor plan for a residence apartment building, basically we'll just show the breakup of the entire project, entire project, so that way you can get an understanding of you know um neighboring, neighboring buildings, neighboring, um, sorry, not neighboring buildings, but neighboring um premises, just so you, that they get an understanding of how the layout or how the layout actually works. What's common area? Uh, you know what's, what's considered private, um or sec. It really just gives it again a visual understanding for clientele to see the building without being there as such, especially, you know, without all the technology in the past, you know a simple FaceTime video.

Speaker 1:

This gives them an understanding of you know and I would say like an architectural layout of the building in quite detail so to give you an idea, that's, that's a uh strata plan, um, and it gives you an eye oh, that's one page, okay, so this particular actually this is a really good one. To show the reason why is because it's just a one level property. Um, so what you'll find with this sort of stuff and and with strata plans, it doesn't actually have dimensions of or and it doesn't have internal rooms. But if you're like a lawyer looking at a strata plan, you can actually reference what belongs to that particular unit that's being sold. So you can say, okay, it's got a car space. Okay, it's got a balcony. Okay, it's got it's on the top floor.

Speaker 1:

And when you're actually buying a property, the lawyer will actually highlight your unit that you're buying on that strata plan. So they'll highlight, for instance, down here, uh, this puppy. And they'll say is that like, is lot to your one? You go, yes, are you sure that's it? Yes, and then they highlight it, yes, and then what actually happens within strata plans that people don't realize is there's a thing called entitlements, right, that sits on that same plan. So see that number two that said that had 50 on it. It said 50 meters squared. What they actually do is they work out how important proportionally your unit is for the whole block and that gives you your voting rights in a strata meeting.

Speaker 1:

So there's actually a fair bit of weight on a strata plan it does. It does a little bit of work legally. It does a little bit of work to show people you know what they're buying it, um, for your voting rights and stuff like that. So a strata plan is a critical document in every contract of every property that you're purchasing. So you, if you're a strata building, it is critical that that strata plan sits in the contract. When a seller, when you're buying it, and a seller gives you the contract, it's one of the critical documents that goes in there and that's how you actually formally ID your apartment. The first plan we showed at the beginning of the show, which was a floor plan, believe it or not, doesn't really have any legal weight. It's fruity, it's there to make you feel warm and fuzzy, it's like photos, um, but the strata plan is the bad boy exactly right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you touched everything. Mark, it is a quite important document, um, legally, and, and both to get an understanding of the property. Um, as best you can, which is what you like to do when you're making these big investments you want to do when you're making these big investments, you want to know where you're buying, what you're buying and what's around you. So yeah, very important and a critical document, as you said, in the legal process up to coming to whether it be exchange if you're selling or exchange if you're buying.

Speaker 1:

And just it's not really related in terms of a topic, but it did come up. One of the young bucks in the office brought up that. They said, well, what's a strata search? Then they sort of got it confused. So we thought we'd bring in that confusion to the show. They were like, well, what's a strata search? Then we're like that's completely different. The strata search is when you go through that scheme and you check where the money's been spent, you check if there's any projected works, you check what's been discussed at the strata meetings. So just because it's got the word strata, it sort of threw one of the young bucks in the office. So we thought we'd throw people off today because it was valid.

Speaker 2:

So yeah, yeah, no, definitely. And then, yeah, I mean, is that? Moving on to your report, I mean that's also very critical, especially in the buying process. It may not, you know, affect you in the first six months of moving into your property, but 12, 24, um, you want to know of these things. So it actually is a report on the integrity of the build, the building itself, um any works that have been done. So it's a really good way for buyers to get an understanding of the building without particularly living there. I'd say the report sort of gives us a story like an autobiography for the exact property that it's referring to, sort of gives you a lifeline understanding of where it's at in terms of maintenance, maybe future works that are going to be carried out. So very critical piece of information for buyers out there.

Speaker 1:

And there you go. Okay, strata search, strata plan, floor plan. That's the difference, that's it all very important. Love you bye everyone enjoy anything else.