What are all the costs involved with owning an apartment?

The annual costs involved when owning a carpark include Body Corporates which range from $3500 to $8000 depending on size of the apartment. There are rates are around $1500 which is much cheaper than owning a house. Other costs include water, power and internet.

SUMMARY:

Often when someone buys an apartment they don't know the other costs involved like: Body Corporate fees, parking and such. What do you need to financially prepare for before purchasing an apartment?

What is the Cost of Owning an Apartment?

The cost of owning an apartment is pretty simple:

Body Corporate fees - On average, the smaller the apartment generally the lower the Body Corporate fee is.

One Bedroom - $3500 - $4500

2 Bedroom - $4500 - $7000

3 Bedroom - $6000 - $8000

Car park – Add another $1000 - $1500

Rates – around $1500

Water - $500 per year

Power – Generally half your household power bill due to heating and size.

Internet – Standard fees apply

Improvements to your apartment are obviously your own cost, otherwise everything else is covered in the Body Corporate fees.

Some Body Corporate fees will include power and water and in that case the outgoings will generally be higher. Also, if the apartment is in a hotel complex they are often more due to higher standards.

TRANSCRIPTION:

Good day, Andrew Murray here from the Apartment Specialists, talking about what are the costs of owning an apartment? Now, the costs to own an apartment are pretty simple. They consist of your body corporate fees, which on average for a one bedroom, are around about $3,500 to about $4,500. A two bedroom is around $4,500 to $7,000. They go up higher depending the facilities in the complex, or how high end.

The better quality apartment often the body corporate fees are higher. A three bedroom would generally be about $6,000 to $8,000 a year, and if you have a car park, add $1,000 to $1,500 to that body corporate fee. Now, the next is obviously rates. Now, rates are around about $1,500 per year. The more expensive the apartment, the higher the rates. But if you look at it compared to a house, your rates are a lot less - probably about a third.

Now, your water is probably around about $500 per year, and your power is about half what it would be in a house. This is because you don't have to heat as much area. You have less appliances, you have less lighting - all that kind of thing. The Internet is pretty much standard, as if you are living in a house. Now, repayments to your own unit, obviously, come at your cost, which is pretty obvious.

Improvements to the rest of the building and everything else is covered by the body corporate fee. Now, bear in mind, some body corporate fees are quite high, and this will often be because things like power are included and water is included in the body corporate fee. That's not common, but it does happen from time to time. Also, if you live in a hotel, the complex will often be looked after to a very high standard, and you can get higher body corporate fees then. I hope that has helped.

Andrew Murray, Apartments Specialists, Cheers.

If you have any questions, flick me an email at [email protected] or call +6421 424 892 and I’ll be happy to answer your queries.