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Fees

We pride ourselves on keeping things simple and believe fee structures should be fair, transparent  and uncomplicated.

Let’s talk about The Ninth fees

Buying an apartment in a retirement community is a little different than buying a typical residential property. At Aura, we pride ourselves on keeping things simple and believe fee structures should be fair, transparent and uncomplicated. That’s why we have a straightforward Deferred Management Fee on the exit sale price, so you benefit from the capital gains when selling your apartment.

Fully-refundable deposit
No stamp duty on purchase price
No sales and marketing costs on sale
No refurbishment costs on sale
You get the capital gains less DMF
We pay your legal fees on exit

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What makes Aura different?

Four older adults, two men and two women, walk outdoors together, smiling and laughing. They are casually dressed and holding hands, with greenery in the background.

Benefit from capital gains

Our DMF is calculated on the price you achieve when you sell your apartment and the length of time you reside in the village. Unlike other operators, at Aura Holdings when you sell your apartment, you receive the majority of capital gain accrued over time.

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No sales and marketing costs

At The Ninth Middle Ridge, we have our own in-house sales and marketing teams that will handle everything from advertising and open homes through to paperwork and consultations – all free of charge and with regular communication.

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No refurbishment costs

You and your family will have peace of mind knowing that when it’s time to sell, we will organise and pay for any reinstatement or refurbishment needed to prepare your property for sale.

Fees

Purchasing

When securing your apartment, your only commitment is a $5,000 fully-refundable deposit. This amount remains in a solicitor’s trust account. When you settle on your apartment, your deposit will be applied to the purchase price or refunded if you don’t proceed with settlement.

This is the price of the apartment that you are purchasing.

There is no stamp duty payable on the purchase of your apartment.

Living In

EEach apartment contributes to the operation and maintenance of the village through the General Services Charges (GSC) and Maintenance Reserve Fund Contribution (MRFC).

These budgets are set each year, in line with the requirements of the Retirement Villages Act. Under this Legislation, budgets are based on cost recovery only, Aura cannot make a profit from these monthly fees.

What GSC it includes:

Gardening and lawn maintenance of the village
Cleaning of village facilities
Council rates – land and water
Building insurance
Operation and day-to-day maintenance of the village facilities
Community management including the village management team

The MRFC is a separate budget from the GSC and covers maintaining and repairing (but not replacing) the village’s capital items.

While the GSC covers many of the expenses you would encounter living in a residential property, you are still required to pay for your own water usage and electricity, and any personal expenses such as phone, internet, contents insurance and domestic or in-home support services.

Leaving

At The Ninth Middle Ridge, when you sell your apartment you receive the majority of capital gain accrued over time.

Like the majority of retirement villages, The Ninth Middle Ridge retains a portion of the funds from the sale of your apartment when you exit our village.

The Deferred Management Fee (DMF) is calculated on the price you achieve when you sell your apartment and the length of time you reside in the village. At The Ninth Middle Ridge, there is a maximum 33% DMF accrued over five years.

This helps cover the cost of shared facilities and the replacement of capital items to keep the village looking as good as the day it was built. It also covers sales and marketing costs, the refurbishment of your apartment, and legal fees so you don’t have to worry about out of pocket expenses.

To compare our fee structure with other operators, please see below our DMF Comparison table.

To ensure there are no surprises when you exit our village, we do not charge any additional fees for sales and marketing or the reinstatement or refurbishment of your apartment.

We will pay both your legal fees (up to $1,100) and our own legal fees.

By law, we will also buy back your apartment if it has been on the market for 18 months to give you the certainty to plan your next move