A plain-English guide for small townhouse and villa schemes — what to check, what to ask, what it should cost, and how switching actually works.
Why this decision matters
If you own a townhouse or villa in a small strata scheme on the Central Coast, choosing a strata manager is one of the few decisions that affects every owner, every year. Get it right and the complex runs quietly in the background. Get it wrong and you spend your evenings chasing unreturned calls.
Most strata management companies are built around volume — a portfolio of several hundred plans, a call centre, and staff who move on every year or two. That model can work for a 100-lot apartment tower. It works poorly for a 6-lot villa complex in Bateau Bay.
The Central Coast is full of smaller schemes — 4 to 16 lots is typical — and many were registered in the '80s and '90s. That brings its own realities: by-laws that haven't kept up with current legislation, patchy records from previous managers, salt air working on balustrades and gutters, and budgets with no room for waste. A small scheme doesn't need a bigger manager. It needs a manager whose business is actually built around small schemes.
The checklist
In NSW, strata managing agents are licensed under the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002, and a Class 1 licensee must be in charge of the business. Ask: "Who will personally look after our plan, and what licence do they hold?" If the answer is a team inbox or "your portfolio manager, once allocated", you already know how it will feel in twelve months.
Every manager promises good service. Very few will put their response times in a document you can hold them to. Ask for service standards in writing — how quickly calls are returned, emails answered, work orders issued. If they won't commit on paper, treat the promise accordingly.
The headline fee is only half the story. Many agreements carry additional charges: per work order, per page of photocopying, per extra meeting. On a small scheme, those extras can quietly double the annual cost. Ask directly: "What is not included in the flat fee?" — and read the fee schedule before the vote, not after.
Bringing a 1980s scheme up to a compliant standard — by-law reviews, capital works planning under section 80 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, proper records — is routine work if you do it often, and a drama if you don't. Ask what they'd do in their first 90 days with an older complex. A good answer is specific.
Coastal schemes carry coastal costs: salt-air corrosion means shorter painting cycles, insurance pricing reflects the location, and capital works plans need to allow for both. A manager who knows the Coast builds that into the 10-year plan up front — rather than presenting owners with a "surprise" special levy in year four.
At the proposal meeting
Fees, honestly
There's no fixed market rate, but for a small townhouse scheme the honest answer is: the headline fee matters less than the extras.
A low base fee with per-item charges routinely costs more over a year than a slightly higher flat fee with everything included. When comparing proposals, ask each manager to estimate the total annual cost for your scheme based on last year's activity — meetings held, work orders issued, notices sent. That comparison tells the truth; the headline number often doesn't.
Changing managers
Under the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (section 50), a managing agent's appointment runs for a fixed term — a maximum of three years — and it doesn't simply roll over forever. Reappointment is a decision for the owners at a general meeting, which means every scheme gets a natural opportunity to reassess.
The process is straightforward: owners vote at a general meeting to appoint the new agent, and the incoming manager handles the handover — collecting the records, funds and keys from the outgoing one. You shouldn't have to chase anyone.
If your current agreement still has time to run, it's still worth talking — terms and notice provisions vary, and we can tell you exactly where your scheme stands.
Common questions
Often, yes. The legal obligations on an owners corporation (insurance, records, annual meetings, capital works planning) are the same whether you have 6 lots or 60. Self-managing works for some schemes, but the owner doing the work is usually unpaid, uninsured for the role, and one house sale away from nobody doing it at all. Weighing it up? Our guide for self-managed schemes covers the trade-offs honestly.
Not always — some are Torrens title with no owners corporation at all, and some are community title. If levies are being paid and there's common property (shared driveways, gardens, insurance), you're almost certainly in a strata or community scheme. Your title deed settles it.
Yes. We're based at Caves Beach, an hour or so up the road. AGMs and major inspections are in person by default, with Zoom and email keeping the day-to-day fast. Details on our Central Coast strata management page.
This article is general information, not legal advice. For advice on your scheme's specific situation, speak to us or a strata lawyer.
Small townhouse and villa schemes only — 2 to 22 lots. One flat fee, same-day responses, and a Class 1 licensed manager personally overseeing every plan. We usually come back the same day.
Request a ProposalAlan Hunter · (02) 4971 0363 · alan@townhousestrata.com.au