Selling a strata or survey-strata property in Collie: 2026 seller guide

A Collie unit, villa, townhouse or grouped dwelling may be held under a strata or survey-strata title. The property can look like an ordinary house while the title includes shared land, common services, by-laws and obligations that are not obvious during an inspection.

That makes pre-contract information central to the campaign. A buyer needs more than attractive photographs. They should receive the required scheme and lot information at the right time, and the advertising should accurately distinguish the seller's lot from common property or exclusive-use areas.

This article is general property-marketing information, not legal, strata, surveying, building, insurance, tax, settlement or valuation advice. Use Landgate's current forms and guidance and obtain advice from the strata company or manager, settlement professional, licensed agent and other qualified advisers.

Confirm whether the property is strata or survey-strata

Order the current title, scheme plan, scheme notice, schedule of unit entitlements and registered by-laws. The title description alone may not explain the boundaries or who maintains a wall, roof, driveway, garden, fence or service. Ask a licensed surveyor or strata professional to interpret anything unclear.

Do not describe a courtyard, car bay, shed or access strip as part of the lot because the owner has always used it. It may be common property or subject to an exclusive-use by-law. The plan and registered documents should guide the wording and visual presentation.

For a boundary record checklist, also use the Collie boundary, fence and survey seller guide.

Understand the seller's disclosure duty

Landgate says WA strata law requires a seller to provide specified information about the scheme and the lot before the buyer signs the contract. Its current resources identify scheme documents, recent meeting minutes, the latest accounts, contribution information and amounts owed by the seller among the matters to disclose.

Landgate provides a precontractual disclosure statement with Part A for general scheme information and Part B for lot-specific information. Its seller guidance warns that failure to provide required information can allow a buyer to delay settlement or, in some circumstances, avoid the contract.

Official source: Landgate — resources for strata sellers, checked 29 September 2026.

Build the scheme document pack

Ask the strata company or strata manager for the most recent records rather than reusing an old purchase pack. Check that meeting minutes include the latest annual general meeting and any later extraordinary meetings. Obtain the latest statement of accounts and current levy or contribution details.

Include the scheme plan, notice, by-laws, unit entitlements and any leasehold document that applies. Record whether a termination proposal exists and ask how any debt owed by the seller will be dealt with. Keep private owner contact and bank details out of buyer-facing copies.

If the scheme is small or self-managed, do not assume there are no records or obligations. Gather what exists, identify gaps and obtain professional advice on the required disclosure. A shared insurance policy, common driveway or informal repair arrangement may still matter to a buyer.

Explain levies, insurance and planned work factually

Buyers commonly ask what regular contributions cover, whether a special levy is expected and who insures the building. Provide current written evidence. Do not say there are “no strata fees” if costs are collected informally or owners pay shared expenses directly.

Review minutes and correspondence for planned roofing, painting, drainage, retaining wall, driveway, fencing or insurance work. If the seller knows of a proposal, dispute or quote, give it to the agent and settlement professional. Let the documents explain the status rather than reducing an unresolved issue to a reassuring caption.

The property's own cover and the strata company's cover may be different. Ask the relevant insurance and strata professionals what documents can be supplied. Avoid telling a buyer that all risks or contents are covered.

Check exclusive use and common property

Exclusive-use by-laws can give a lot owner rights over part of common property, often with maintenance conditions. Locate the registered by-law and plan or sketch that supports the use. A garden, parking space or storage area used by one owner is not automatically exclusive-use property.

Walk the site with the plan. Identify shared driveways, visitor bays, service routes, bins, letterboxes, meters, roofs and outdoor areas. If physical use differs from the documents, obtain advice before launching the listing or drawing a floor plan.

Photography should make orientation clear without implying ownership. Southside Media can show the home, access and outdoor areas honestly, while captions and floor-plan notes identify common or exclusive-use spaces only where the seller's records support them.

Review by-laws before making lifestyle claims

Read current by-laws for pets, vehicles, parking, noise, short-stay use, external appearance, renovations and use of common property. Do not advertise “pet friendly”, “park a caravan”, “run a business” or “short-stay ready” based on one owner's experience.

Where approval is required, supply the written approval or describe the use conservatively. Buyers should make their own enquiries about future activities. If the lot is within an over-55s or retirement arrangement, obtain specialist advice about the additional rules rather than treating it as a standard strata sale.

Find renovation and improvement approvals

Changes to walls, windows, roofs, patios, fences, air-conditioning, solar panels, plumbing or exclusive-use areas may involve council approval, strata approval or both. Gather the request, decision, plans, building records and contractor invoices.

An informal email or long-standing installation may not answer every approval question. If evidence is missing, record the gap and ask the Shire of Collie, strata company and qualified adviser what can be searched or regularised. Do not call an improvement approved until the relevant evidence confirms it.

Use the Collie renovation and building-approval records guide to organise the property file.

Keep disclosure current after contract

Landgate calls certain material changes after the original disclosure “notifiable variations”. Its guidance says the seller must provide enough information about those changes and explains that buyer rights can depend on the type and timing of the variation.

Continue forwarding new meeting notices, levy decisions, plan changes, by-law changes or other relevant developments to the agent and settlement professional between contract and settlement. Do not assume the initial disclosure pack stays complete automatically.

Official source: Landgate — buying and selling a strata-titled lot fact sheet, checked 29 September 2026.

Prepare the lot for inspection

Clean and declutter the seller's lot while respecting common property and by-laws. Do not pressure-wash shared areas, move another owner's items or alter gardens without authority. Arrange access to any included storage, car bay or courtyard that buyers are entitled to inspect.

Photograph the private interior, legitimate outdoor-use areas and useful shared features without including neighbours, number plates, private mail or misleading boundary angles. Aerial photography should comply with flight rules and must not be used as proof of lot boundaries.

Use Collie's current market figures carefully

REIWA's Collie profile, updated 27 September 2026 for settled sales in the 12 months ending August 2026, reported a median house price of $540,000 and a median unit price of $380,000. It reported annual house-price growth of 20.1 per cent, with a 15-day median selling time for houses and 30 days for units.

A suburb unit median is not a valuation for a particular strata lot. Unit type, age, condition, parking, outdoor area, levies, scheme finances, planned work and comparable sales all matter. Use a licensed appraisal and disclose the property's actual scheme evidence.

Market source: REIWA Collie suburb profile, data updated 27 September 2026.

Use a pre-launch strata checklist

• Current title, scheme plan, notice, unit entitlements and by-laws.
• Required precontractual disclosure statement prepared with advice.
• Latest AGM and later extraordinary meeting minutes.
• Current accounts, contributions, seller debt and special-levy information.
• Insurance, planned works and dispute records held by the seller.
• Exclusive-use documents and approvals for relevant improvements.
• A list of any information that changes before settlement.
• Marketing captions checked against the plan and scheme records.

A complete pack does not guarantee a quick sale or remove buyer due diligence. It helps a Collie seller present the lot accurately, reduces last-minute document chasing and gives serious buyers a better basis for professional advice.