We are looking forward to welcoming you to your beautiful new home at Cotton Tree by Mosaic. So you have an understanding of what to expect in the months leading up to and following handover, we have prepared a comprehensive overview of the process for you.
We understand that purchasing a property off-the-plan for the first time can be a daunting and unknown prospect.
Perhaps you have previously purchased off-the-plan with another developer but are unsure what you can expect with Mosaic.
Rest assured, having delivered over 65+ projects and counting, you are in experienced and sympathetic hands.
We are here to assist in making the process as smooth and stress-free as possible for you.
QUICK LINKS
Settlement & Handover Timeline Summary
Key Settlement Steps & Information
Apartment Rectifications
Building Management
Speak to Us
Throughout the build, you will have received regular updates on construction progress.
You will start to receive specific settlement updates from Mosaic, including anticipated timings, three to four months before building completion.
These updates will continue through the pre-settlement period and be your prompter for any actions you need to take.
If you have purchased your property as an investment, you will be contacted in the months leading up to settlement by the Mosaic Property Management team.
They will introduce themselves and explain your property management options should you be interested in using our services.
You will be invited to conduct one personal inspection of your new apartment leading up to settlement. Cotton Tree’s construction program means that each level will be ready for inspection at different times.
We recommend allowing 30-45 minutes for your Personal Inspection.
You will receive a call from our sales team to ask if you require finance to settle your property. If you require finance, your bank will need to engage a valuer to inspect your apartment.
There are strict protocols associated with access to the building (including that your valuer can’t access the building without a Mosaic representative present).
We will explain this in further detail when we coordinate access for your valuer to complete your valuation.
There is an official “Call for Settlement”, whereupon you are given your confirmed settlement date. You will receive this notification via your solicitors.
Prior to your settlement date, we will contact you to finalise the arrangements for your keys.
If you are utilising the services of Mosaic Property Management, your apartment keys and manuals will be handed to them directly on your behalf.
If you will be using alternative management, we will arrange an appointment to conduct a handover to you or your appointed representative.
From settlement, residents will start to see members of the Mosaic Caretaking team onsite, assisting in the day-to-day management of Cotton Tree’s common areas.
In the immediate few months following settlement, Mosaic will retain stewardship of the Body Corporate until a Committee of owners is elected to perform the required functions.
Mosaic’s Sales team manages the pre-settlement valuation process. It involves communicating with buyers and buyers’ brokers, banks, valuers, and booking agents.
The Sales team will call you in the lead up to valuations to understand your finance requirements. If you are considering finance, your bank will need to secure a valuation by engaging a valuer to inspect your apartment.
We will advise when we are ready to begin booking valuation appointments.
If you do not require finance to purchase your apartment, you will not need to schedule a valuation inspection.
To ensure the best valuation outcome possible is achieved for you, a Mosaic representative must accompany the valuer on-site for the inspection.
Mosaic’s Sales team will greet the valuer onsite with a comprehensive and professional Valuation Pack and provide a personal tour of your apartment.
To receive the Valuation Pack and gain access to site, the valuer must have both:
Should points 1 and 2 not be followed, access to site WILL NOT BE PERMITTED under any circumstances. We recommend you ensure your finance provider is aware of these instructions.
If you have any questions or would like to book an appointment following notification of the valuation period commencing, please contact Sales Administration Manager Kerry Croaker on the following details:
kcroaker@mosaicproperty.com.au
07 3171 2270
We have received feedback from Mosaic clients that our valuations process is extremely professional and effective and that they appreciated the proactive assistance from the Mosaic Sales team.
You will be contacted by Mosaic’s Customer Experience team to organise your personal inspection in the lead up to settlement.
Subject to the construction program, your apartment may be ready for inspection any time up to 2 months prior to completion of the building. We will be in touch to advise when we are ready for your inspection to be scheduled.
Your personal inspection is an exciting time as it is your first opportunity to view your new apartment. It is also a critical opportunity for you to highlight any items you feel require review ahead of settlement.
Unlike inspections of existing properties, your experience of an off-the-plan build will be very different. Whilst the internals of the apartments are prioritised, ready for your visit, you will notice construction works still underway in all the building’s communal areas, basement levels and streetscape. As such, we are only able to show you through your apartment as part of your inspection. We will provide you with the opportunity to tour the beautiful common area amenity and car park levels on handover.
It will also be important to keep in mind that scaffolding may still be in place in some areas, which could affect the cleanliness of your balcony and obstruct the level of light experienced within your apartment on the day of your inspection.
We recommend you make yourself available to attend your personal inspection during the window of time provided. To ensure the construction program is unaffected, we are not able to arrange an alternate time or provide more than one pre-settlement inspection.
When scheduling your personal inspection, we recommend you allow 30-45 minutes.
If you wish to arrange for a third-party external inspector to attend on your behalf, please note their inspection must be scheduled within the same timeframe as stated on the inspection invitation.
As part of our quality assurance process, we look to ensure our purchasers get the best out of their pre-settlement inspections. Part of this is helping our purchasers engage the correct building inspector.
To ensure your property is inspected correctly and a valid building report is produced, your engaged inspector needs to adhere to the following QBCC (Queensland Building & Construction Commission) guidelines:
Please note we are able to offer virtual inspections via video call to those purchasers unable to attend in person.
Any rectification items identified during your inspection will be recorded and provided to Mosaic Construction for review and rectification as appropriate. We’ll endeavour to close out all genuine defects prior to settlement, however if any items require longer to address, we will keep you informed.
Due to construction OH&S protocols, we will ask you to provide us with the names and contact details of all those attending your personal inspection in advance. Fully enclosed shoes must be worn by all visitors, otherwise access to site cannot be granted.
At Mosaic, we conduct rigorous quality assurance processes throughout construction as part of our commitment to delivering you the highest quality.
Our extensive process includes:
If you are utilising the services of Mosaic Property Management, your property manager will conduct an entry inspection report for your apartment. Should any rectification items be identified during this inspection, they will be reported to our construction team to attend.
You may already have experience with settlement of an off-the-plan apartment. If you haven’t or would appreciate a reminder of what to expect, following is some context around completion and settlement timeframes.
Buyers will understandably seek certainty around settlement and move in dates as far in advance as possible in order to finalise arrangements. The nature of off-the-plan development is inherently uncertain however, anticipated settlement timeframes will be continually refined in the run up to completion and communicated through regular updates.
It is during this period that a very high number of essential activities take place both on and off-site, including obtaining approvals with multiple authorities.
The most important approval milestones are the achievement of plan sealing with Council, followed by Titles Registration. Titles Registration is the administrative process by which the development site (often under a single title) is transformed into individual titles representing each apartment, allowing you to then ‘settle’ on your new property. Both of these approval processes can experience long lead times that are often outside of our control.
Titles Registration must be achieved before we can ‘Call for Settlement’ which is the formal notification of settlement which you will receive from your solicitor. The settlement notice period is a term specified within your sales contract and is typically 21 calendar days for Mosaic projects.
In other words, you will receive approximately 3 weeks’ notice of your confirmed settlement date.
During the final weeks and months prior to settlement, it is also worth noting that the development finishing program becomes once again vulnerable to weather, and extended rain could impact our schedule.
The exact circumstances for each project’s completion are always different. After delivering a multitude of projects within a diversity of challenges, we take a careful approach to balancing each project’s inherent uncertainty with providing you with the most reliable information at the right time.
This means we will provide you with estimated timeframes for settlement throughout the process, but exact notification only occurs once all approvals are obtained and settlement is called – as we have outlined above – three weeks in advance.
At Mosaic, our property management team have a strong track record of developing trust-based, enduring relationships through a reliable and transparent approach.
With one of the lowest property-to-staff ratios in the industry, award-winning expertise, exclusive use of Mosaic Property Group’s extensive trades and services network, plus early access to off-the-plan properties to commence project marketing, we dedicate the highest levels of customer care to our landlords and tenants.
In addition, Mosaic Property Management are the only company that will have pre-settlement access to the property helping to secure you a tenant prior to the property settling. With years of project leasing experience on a large scale, they are best equipped to navigate you through the initial lease phase of your investment journey.
To receive more information on Mosaic Property Management’s services, contact the team via the details below:
Jessica Handy – Business Operations Manager
Phone: 1300 985 852
Email: jhandy@mosaicproperty.com.au
Moving all residents into a brand-new building for the first time is a unique event.
As you would expect, there is usually incredibly high demand from all residents to move in as soon as possible following settlement, and the initial weeks are very busy until the building is fully occupied.
To ensure this initial phase proceeds as smoothly, swiftly and fairly as possible, it is essential that we manage the move-in process tightly along with a schedule for lift usage.
Mosaic Property Management works closely with the relevant teams to ensure a smooth move-in experience for your tenants.
For those who have engaged an external property management company, please ensure you inform The Customer Experience team of their contact details as soon as possible.
When you have an approved tenant we will coordinate with your management team to schedule their move and ensure lift availability.
It is critical to the rest of the building’s move-in schedule that residents ensure their own move takes place within their allocated time slot.
Building address
The registered council address is your apartment number, 17 The Esplanade, Maroochydore, QLD, 4558
Electricity
Your building has an embedded electricity network, which means that your building purchases its electricity in bulk. This arrangement reduces network charges by aggregating all electrical meters through one metering point that is directly connected to the main electricity network, thus providing a competitive energy rate to all residents.
Apartments retain their own individual meters, so residents are charged only for their usage, in addition to standard supply charges.
If you are engaging the services of Mosaic Property Management, connection instructions will be provided to your tenants directly.
For external managements, please ensure your property manager is provided with the necessary information in relation to arranging electricity connection, so that they can advise your tenants accordingly.
Activation of your energy account is necessary from settlement day, regardless of occupation date. If an account is not registered, a placeholder Occupant Account will be created for which you will incur back charges, possibly at a higher rate. Connection instructions will be provided in the lead up to settlement.
Please note that under an embedded electricity network, you are required to sign up with the building’s provider however, the supply rates are lower than what you would obtain under a retail arrangement.
Water
Each apartment has separate hot and cold-water meters and will be individually charged for usage.
Hot water at Cotton Tree is delivered via an electric instantaneous water heating system, which provides an immediate and continuous flow of hot water. Designed for efficiency, the units do not store water, avoiding potential heat losses that occur in traditional storage hot water systems. Having the unit located within your apartment reduces time lags, saving residents both water and energy.
Your cold-water usage will be calculated and charged to you by Unity Water. They will bill you directly with the details provided to them at settlement. You do not need to arrange connection or contact anyone to establish an account. As a general note it is common for the first bill to be sent several months following settlement.
As above, if using Mosaic Property Management, connection instructions will be provided to your tenants.
For those using external property management, please ensure your property manager is provided with the necessary information that will be uploaded closer to settlement.
Internet
Cotton Tree will provide residents with an exceptional building-wide wireless internet experience via Lightning Broadband.
Boasting one of Australia’s most reliable and fastest internet connections, using an innovative mix of optic fibre and cutting-edge fixed wireless technology, Lightning Broadband are offering speeds of up to 1,000Mbps.
With the router already installed and configured, living in a Lightning-enabled home provides:
Further information including onboarding documents, benefits and monthly rates will be provided to tenants by Mosaic Property Management.
For external managements, please ensure this information will be passed on to your tenants.
If you have engaged Mosaic Property Management to manage your investment, the keys and relevant manuals for your apartment will be provided to them on your behalf. They will provide these to your tenants.
For those who are managing their property with an external agent, we will need to arrange a formal handover to you or your appointed representative. Following is some further information on what to expect in relation to this.
Once your settlement date has been confirmed, you will receive an email from the Mosaic Customer Experience team to arrange a handover appointment, during which you or your external management team will receive keys, manuals and an overview of some key items within your apartment.
Please note, if you intend for keys to be collected on day of settlement, we are unable to release your keys or provide access to the apartment until we have confirmation from our solicitors that settlement has occurred.
Should you or your external property manager wish to conduct the handover at a later date for any reason, we are happy to hold onto your keys in the interim.
As a general note, apartments will require periodic maintenance from settlement onwards, which will be your responsibility to ensure even if you are unable to collect keys or secure a tenant for several months following settlement.
For more information on how to maintain different finishes and fixtures within your apartment, please refer to the manuals and warranties supplied on settlement.
There are a number of warranties covering issues that may arise in the future. These include:
Under Mosaic Property Management, your property manager will take into account the applicable warranties when managing any issues in your apartment.
As part of the handover, you will receive access to the Residents’ Online Guide. This guide summarises key information regarding your apartment and building as a whole, including key contacts, a building management overview and maintenance guide.
All of your individual manuals and warranties will be saved to the Residents’ Online Guide.
Mosaic Property Group has partnered up with Koste Quantity Surveyors to provide you with discounted tax depreciation reports starting at $295+GST per report.
Many property investors overlook the benefits of claiming thousands of dollars in tax credits on their investment property. Koste tax depreciation reports cover a 40-year horizon and include a free upgrade (Gold package).
You can start your application process directly with Koste by clicking this link and using the promotional code KTAXMOSAIC to secure your special rate.
Please keep in mind that Koste will produce your report after the building is complete, though you are welcome to pre-order your report now.
Visit Koste.com.au or contact 1300 669 400 for more information on tax depreciation for your investment properties.
Mosaic executes an extensive quality assurance process as part of our handover to you.
It includes inspection and oversight of your apartment by our quality assurance team, who will also complete a comprehensive series of pre-handover checks.
Despite our best efforts, it is normal for teething issues to arise in the weeks following settlement.
Importantly, we have robust internal protocols for managing any issues, as outlined below.
For those who have engaged Mosaic Property Management, any rectification items will be managed on your behalf by your property manager.
For externally managed properties, there is a process for the reporting and management of any rectification items, which is outlined in the Residents’ Online Guide.
Following your 12-month defect liability period with Mosaic, any issues will need to be raised with the individual supplier or contractor under their warranty process (if applicable) or coordinated with another tradesperson as a general wear and tear item.
Of course, if you have engaged Mosaic Property Management, this will be managed on your behalf.
To assist with externally managed properties, we include the original supplier and installer details in the Residents’ Online Guide, however you are welcome to reach out to your own preferred trade contacts.
Following settlement, you may wish to arrange minor changes to your apartment in order to personalise your new investment. Alternatively, your tenant/s may request a change, and this will be brought to you by your property manager for consideration and approval.
For Mosaic managed properties, such queries and works will be managed by your property manager on your behalf.
For externally managed properties, we will provide you with some local trade contacts who may be able to assist you following settlement (e.g. installing additional power points, modifications to cabinetry etc).
Please keep in mind that some changes may need to be approved by the Body Corporate, especially if they change the external appearance of your lot or relate to your car park.
There are several different entities involved in the ongoing management of Cotton Tree.
For many clients, this will be their first experience owning property under a Body Corporate scheme.
It is important to understand the functions of each entity to ensure you and your tenants have the best experience with:
Below is some vital information on each of the entities involved in Cotton Tree’s ongoing management and maintenance.
One of Mosaic Property Group’s most important points of difference is the retention of management rights for each building we deliver.
While many developers will sell a development’s management rights for significant revenue, our model prioritises an enduring relationship with all of our projects, with a 25-year horizon.
In doing so, our highly experienced Mosaic Caretaking team ensures your building’s common areas are maintained to its best possible standard under the budget and scope of duties defined within the Caretaking and Letting Agreement that is contracted with the Body Corporate.
Mosaic Caretaking is one of our company’s largest growing departments, with over a dozen full-time onsite caretakers across South East Queensland. They are further supported by a team of dedicated cleaning, landscaping, and pool contractors.
The Body Corporate is the legal entity by which the common areas of your building are managed and maintained on behalf of all owners.
It determines and enforces its own rules for the building, called By-Laws. These regulations cover matters such as parking, noise, use of the common areas, changes to the external appearance of the building etc. During the development process, Mosaic puts together the by-laws incorporating learnings from previous buildings into standard practice clauses.
The by-laws for Cotton Tree will be available at handover.
A committee of representatives will be elected to discharge the day-to-day decision-making duties of the Body Corporate on behalf of all owners. This election takes place at the first Annual General Meeting, which is usually held a few months following settlement.
Until a Committee can be established, Mosaic Property Group acts as the Body Corporate temporarily and will work with the new Committee to ensure a smooth transition.
Stratacare are the appointed Strata managers for Cotton Tree’s Body Corporate. The role of strata management is to facilitate the administration of the body corporate.
Duties include assisting the Committee, organising meetings and issuing minutes, managing the administration and sinking funds to ensure compliance, and responding to breaches of the by-laws, among other duties noted in the strata management agreement.
Contact details for Cotton Tree’s building Strata manager will be advised closer to settlement.
Please remember we are here to assist you every step of the way throughout the above processes. If you have any questions regarding settlement or handover, please contact:
