Townhouses - are there management fees?

[bebe]

Hi,
I'm moving to Brisbane from Canada in June & am looking into buying a townhouse. Are there management fees for townhouses? None of the real estate ads I've seen list any additional fees associated with townhouses.
Thanks for your help!

[kaz101]

Hi Bebe,

Welcome to the forum.

Town houses are usually freehold and so don't have any additional body corporate type fees. If you see anything that says strata titled that will usually have body corporate type fees, but that is usually apartments.

When I'm looking for property (I'm an investor ) I always ask the agent what are the fees for the property since then they usually give you council rates, water rates etc. which can be useful for budgeting. Also check out what stamp duty is paid in the State that you are buying in too since I'm not sure if that varies from State to State here.

Regards,
Karen

[bebe]

Great - thanks for the info Karen!

I assume that if there are indeed any strata titles, that they'd be outlined in the real estate ad itself? I've been doing townhouse searches on the OurBrisbane website. I assume also that since I'd own the townhouse, that there wouldn't be any restrictions on pets, etc?

Thanks very much!!

[kaz101]

Hi Bebe,

No the advert wouldn't always mention strata titles since it seems that people in Oz just automatically know these things, whereas as newcomers don't You need to check with the local council about pets since I've heard that there can be restrictions on the number of pets you are allowed (one person has told me that you can only have 3 dogs, while another has told me that it depends on the council and the size of your home). All cats & dogs have to be registered in South Australia but I'm not sure if the same thing applies in Brisbane.

Regards,
Karen

[bebe]

What would you say is the average strata title fee & what does it include? Thanks!!

[kaz101]

Hi Bebe,

I don't think there is a strata title fee as such - there are other fees such as body corporate fees because a property is strata titled. The body corporate fees vary a lot depending on what you are buying, so your best bet is to ask the real estate agent since they will tell you all the information if you ask them.

Body corporate fees are usually for the maintenance of the communal areas and may include things like security.

Regards,
Karen