Who this article is for
Buyers and buyer’s agents reviewing a strata building in Cohabit
Anyone who has opened the Building Snapshot tab and wants to know what it all means
What is a Building Snapshot?
Your Building Snapshot is a high-level summary of how a strata building is tracking.
It brings together key information about:
Overall building health
Money (levies, funds, insurance)
Compliance and building condition
Security, liveability and sustainability
It’s there so you can quickly answer:
“Does anything here look like a potential risk or something I should ask more questions about?”
How to open your Building Snapshot
Log in to Cohabit.
Click My Buildings.
Select the building (or search by address / SP number).
Click the Building Snapshot tab at the top of the page.
What you’ll see – and how it helps you as a buyer
Building Health Score
A score out of 1000 showing the building’s overall health, often with a comparison to similar buildings.
As a buyer: Use this as your quick sense of whether the building looks generally strong, average, or higher risk.
Financial Stats
Shows average levies, any upcoming special levies, and fund balances (e.g. admin fund, capital works fund, loans).
As a buyer: Helps you see whether levies look reasonable, if big extra levies are coming, and whether there’s money set aside for future works.
Building Insurance
Key insurance details such as premium, sum insured, expiry date and an insurance risk indicator.
As a buyer: Gives you a quick feel for whether the building appears adequately insured and if insurance costs are in a normal range.
Compliance Information
High-level signals about things like fire safety, timing of the last AGM, record keeping and building valuations (based on available records).
As a buyer: Helps you see whether the building appears to be keeping up with core obligations and meetings.
Building Condition
Snapshot of current defects, condition of the exterior and common areas, and maintenance history.
As a buyer: Tells you whether the building looks well-maintained or if there are known issues that could lead to future costs.
Security Features
Information about on-site security and an overall building security rating.
As a buyer: Helps you understand how secure the building is likely to feel day-to-day.
Liveability
Signals about amenities and services, such as amenity rating, recurring pest control, cleaning, building manager and concierge.
As a buyer: Gives you a feel for the day-to-day living experience, not just the numbers.
Sustainability
Indicators like energy/water scores (where available), solar, EV charging and other sustainability features.
As a buyer: Helpful if you care about running costs, environmental impact, or future appeal/resale.
View Expert Report
At the bottom of the snapshot, you’ll usually see a “View Expert Report” button (if an Expert Report is available).
As a buyer: Use this when you want a strata expert’s plain-language commentary behind the snapshot tiles, plus more detailed insights across 12 categories.
How to use the Building Snapshot in your decision
Scan everything once
Look for anything that jumps out as unusually strong or concerning (e.g. high levies + low funds, major works, poor condition, disputes).
Decide where to dig deeper
Use the snapshot to choose which areas to explore next:
Expert Report (if you have one) for explanations.
Files tab for original documents your conveyancer/solicitor might want to review.
Turn signals into questions
Use what you see to frame questions for your conveyancer, solicitor, broker or other advisers.
Things to keep in mind
The snapshot is based on the latest records Cohabit has, not a real-time feed from the strata manager.
If records are missing or old, some tiles may be limited or show “No data”.
It is not legal, financial or tax advice, and should always be used alongside your own professional advice.
If your snapshot looks very light or empty, see Why is my building missing data?