A Brisbane local has launched a game-changing apartment review website to help residents dish up details on the good, the bad and the poorly designed for some of the city's most popular residential buildings.
Andy Barron, a former professional Kiwi soccer player turned Queenslander, created the innovative apartmentreview.com.au just months ago in a bid to deliver transparency to unit life while ensuring home hunters wouldn't face nasty surprises before moving into their new abode.
He said the site, which is 100 per cent neutral and independent, allowed residents to review their building based on six key ingredients for apartment dwellers, including noise level, location, security, amenities, parking and management.
"This easy-to-use but on-point review system gives each residential building an overall score while allowing users to explore where the complex succeeds or falls a bit flat," Mr Barron said.
"It's a game-changing site that will help a lot of people and I'm thrilled to have it up and running as I believe it will make the stressful task of apartment home hunting infinitely easier."
While Mr Barron said the website was a nation-wide first, his idea was born out of need after moving to Brisbane, finding what he believed to be his dream home, only to discover it backed onto a Dan Murphy's that fired up the forklifts every morning at 5am.
"Apartmentreview.com.au was certainly inspired by my own frustrations and personal experiences," Mr Barron said.
"There were just so many things I would have love to have known before I signed the lease on my apartment – such as the poor security around the building, lack of visitor parking and the sheer noise.
"I just couldn't find that information anywhere and these are the kinds of things that a real estate agent tends to gloss over.
"It occurred to me that a rating or review site would solve this and after chatting to friends and family I realised just how many others were in the same boat. From there I researched the key ingredients for locals when it came to apartment liveability and that's how I devised the six key categories on the website."
"While my initial focus has been Brisbane, apartmentreview.com.au is on track to becoming a national, third-party and independent resource for home hunters and residents across the nation to deliver true transparency."
Mr Barron said with so many home buyers opting for low-maintenance unit life over the traditional house with the big backyard, his website was more vital than ever.
"This website makes apartment building managers and developers accountable and helps them clearly see what renters and owner occupiers value, especially as there's a lot of competition for apartments across the country," he said.
"For example, you need to provide good property managers, if you don't then people get frustrated. So apartmentreivew.com.au is here to deliver credibility, accountable and visibility."
Mr Barron said the website was designed to be as user friendly as possible, with residents simply required to create an account (providing just their name and email address) to add a review.
"We already have 81 apartments listed with reviews growing daily in Brisbane alone but if your apartment complex isn't on the list then you can simply request to have it added."
He said the site, which can also be
