Buying an apartment: the body corp checks that save you
The apartment can be perfect while the building is a liability. The paperwork tells you which one you're buying.
The documents to demand
The seller must give you a pre-contract disclosure statement; you can and should also require the additional disclosure and the pre-settlement statement. Add the last two years of AGM and committee minutes, the long-term maintenance plan (LTMP), the fund balances, and the insurance certificate of currency. Any resistance to producing these is itself information.
Reading the minutes like an investor
Minutes surface what glossy listings don't: weathertightness investigations, cladding reports commissioned 'for information', disputed levies, lift replacement quotes, owners at war with the committee. One mention is a thread to pull; a pattern across meetings is your answer.
The three financial red flags
An LTMP fund that's tiny relative to the building's age; insurance excesses that ballooned at last renewal (common post-earthquake in some regions — ask why); and operating deficits carried forward. Each one converts into either special levies or deferred decay, and both are your money.
Make the offer conditional
A body-corp-documents condition with a real review period is standard and sensible. Price the findings: an underfunded plan or looming remediation isn't necessarily a walk-away — it's a number to take off your offer, with your lawyer's letter explaining why.
A unit-title question of your own?
Levies, leaks, committees, consents, disclosure — ask in plain words and get an answer with the Unit Titles Act sections to prove it. First question free.
Ask NZ Body Corp Answers →FAQ
What is a pre-contract disclosure statement?
A statement the seller must provide before you sign, covering levies, fund balances, known defects and proceedings. It's a floor, not the whole truth — the minutes fill in the rest.
Who pays for the disclosure statements?
Pre-contract: the seller. Additional disclosure: the buyer can be charged the reasonable cost. It's cheap relative to what it can reveal.
Can I get help reading what I've received?
Summarise or paste the concerning parts into NZ Body Corp Answers and ask what they mean — you'll get a plain-language read with the Act's sections cited. First question free.
General information, not legal advice for your specific situation.
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