The savings will depend on the size of your building and what options your committee chooses to implement, but in my experience there are usually $1,000s - $10,000s of savings to be found. For example, my building has 90 units and I was able to make over $60,000 of annuals savings. The amount you save will also depend on how much your vendors are currently taking advantage of you and whether your committee is willing to try different ideas to test whether they’ll work.

Absolutely. Strata insurance is generally the most expensive budget line for a building and is one of the first things I always check.

I’ve also negotiated insurance policy options for my clients which totally removes strata insurance commissions which can help save buildings $10,000s. Of note, you can’t remove strata insurance commissions by going straight to the insurer as the insurer will generally keep the commissions instead.

Of course, I’m happy to work with complexes of any size. Smaller complexes tend to mean smaller budgets, which impacts the savings that can be found, but we’ll still be able to find some worthwhile savings for your complex.

No. All decisions for your building remain a matter for your strata committee. Your committee can decline my recommendations for any reason. ‘No savings, no fee’ means that no fee is payable if the committee doesn’t want to progress with my recommendations.

While I am based in Canberra, I can assist strata buildings anywhere in Australia.

Not at all. My work with strata buildings can be done via email and videoconferences. I am able to travel within Australia if required, though would pass along travel expenses.

Only if they’re the best type of strata manager. I’ve worked with 3 different strata companies at my building who have ranged from great strata companies to poor strata companies. None of them have ever done a full budget review, nor would I expect any strata company to make recommendations which might reduce their own profitability by reducing commissions.

My service offerings are specifically designed in the only way they would be acceptable to my strata committee if we received the offer.

My ‘no savings, no fee’ guarantee means my interests are fully aligned with your building, as I also only benefit if your building is benefiting. There’s also no risk for the building, given the committee retains control of all the decision-making power and can decline my savings recommendations for any reason.

Trying to save money by turning off all your maintenance is a terrible long-term plan. Although maintenance can feel expensive, the cost to replace your assets much earlier than expected will end up costing you much more. I would only ever recommend reducing maintenance if you were genuinely maintaining something more than the manufacture’s recommendation – something that can happen with some vendors wanting to increase their profits.

Instead of reducing maintenance schedules, I focus on finding savings in areas you’re being overcharged. I then help you find a better provider or negotiate a better contract with your current provider which means you get to save thousands.

It’s important to note that the 33.3% commission is only on the savings, and is only on the first year of savings. As the fee is based on the savings, it means the cost of a ‘savings project’ is a third of what you’re already paying to someone else. By engaging me, you’ll get 66.6% of the annual savings we make in the first year and then get 100% of the savings every following year.

My fee also includes all relevant taxes and includes all my work on reviewing your finances and contracts, attending strata committee meetings or AGMs, and then working with your committee, strata, and vendors to implement the new arrangements.

Savings are generally calculated as the cost you’d pay if you continued using your current methods (normally via a quote), minus the cost you’ll pay through my saving option.

If obtaining a quote isn’t feasible, we can also use the costs over the last year minus the cost the over next year

Of course, though you’ll probably save more money and do it with less effort by engaging me.

It took me 3 years of significant effort to learn how to generate $60,000 of annual savings for my building. During this time I needed to find the right vendors willing to negotiate with me and I had to exhaustively read all the fine print of every contract and quote. My building would’ve made more savings over the last 3 years, and it would’ve been much less effort, if we’d been able to hire someone we trusted to help us find the savings.

Of course, I’m happy to assist your building and provide independent advice, charged as an hourly rate. If we’re already doing a ‘strata savings project’ I’m happy to provide incidental advice for free, and will proactively flag if anything you’re requesting might drift into something I’d charge separately for.

Yep - I offer free initial consults for all the services I provide to strata buildings.