Welcome to Strata Living!
Dear resident, we would like to introduce you to strata living, a.k.a. modern village-in-the-sky living.
What is the difference between living in your own home and Strata home?
1. What do you own?
Own home: Just your own home and the land it's on.
Strata home: You own your home and have joint ownership of common property (i.e. swimming pools, car parks, elevators, saunas, gyms, meeting rooms etc.).
2. Facilities and other amenities?
Own home: You get what you buy or build for yourself. If you want a pool, a sauna, or a tennis court, you would have to build it on your own.
Chances are, for most individual homeowners, accessing facilities and amenities means leaving one's own home.
Strata home: Usually condominiums and other strata properties come with a variety of communal amenities that have become a staple for modern living. Most modern condos and apartments have facilities for sports, recreation and other communal activities
Swimming pools
BBQ pits
Saunas
Meeting rooms
Gyms
Mini markets or vending machines
Security guards (like a Tan Sri 😎)
Cleaners
BOOM GATES! (these are remarkably uncommon in private homes)
3. Homeowner responsibilities
Own home: You are responsible for your own home and nothing more. You will probably have to abide by some communal standards of your neighbourhood at most.
Strata home: With great joint ownership facilities come great(er) responsibilities. In addition to making sure you keep your own house in order, strata residents must also
Abide by house rules set by your resident committee
Abide by the strata act (ie pay your maintenance fees and other dues)
Abide by condo etiquette which is more sensitive than traditional landed neighbourhood etiquette due to the fact that you usually have neighbours upwards and downwards in addition to left and right.
4. Costs
Own home: You pay for the upkeep and repair of what you decide to keep in good condition (you can repaint your home every 100 years if you wish). Generally, so long as your home does not fall into dilapidation or turn into a hazard for yourself or your neighbours, you have absolute freedom on how much to spend.
Strata home: You pay for the monthly maintenance fees and into a sinking fund.
Maintenance fees will be used to cover operating expenses such as utilities, staffing and maintenance of facilities.
The sinking fund will be for future capital expenditures (ie all large upgrade or refurbishment expenses)
To all dwellers, we would like to wish you a happy living in your modern-day village in the sky. In the event that you are still unclear about what it means to live in a strata community after this brief summary you can read more regarding the Strata Management Act here:
https://www.rism.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1-Strata-Management-Act-2013-Act-757.pdf