To bring in the crowd developers have no qualms going the extra mile; often providing a generous spread of complimentary finger food, drinks and even entertainment that has been painstakingly chosen to pamper and please the target visitors.

Even then, the formula of just the satay, fizzy drinks and chilled mineral water alone is no longer enough to excite the crowd - thanks to growing competition in the marketplace. Enter the lavishly furnished show units. It is incredible how it a tastefully furnished show unit can help sell property. I have witnessed how even the most cautious and conservative of professionals, acting against their grain and training, put their money down for a real estate that they had absolutely no intention of buying in the first place.

Naturally, while some may have lived to regret the unintended purchase, there are others who must have thanked their lucky stars that led them into signing on the dotted line.

For the prospective buyer, be it the owner-occupier or investor, never forget your rights as well as obligations. This is especially true for strata-titles property where communal living is the very fabric of the lifestyle it offers. It is no different whether the purchase is a super high-end type costing as much as RM1,000 psf or one that does not cost an arm or leg.

In recent times, strata living - something that has been around for the last 25 years - has caught on fast in the Klang Valley, pushed by factors such as the modern lifestyle and security it offers coupled with land scarcity that has translated into spiralling land costs and consequently property values.

According to latest government data, as at the third quarter of 2004, Malaysia's supply of strata property totalled almost a million units - 900,785 units to be exact - and the stock is growing rapidly. This accounts for more than a quarter (26.5%) of Malaysia's total housing stock of 3.4 million units. It is no surprise that the bulk or over 60% of the strata homes are found in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, where land and property values is beyond the comprehension of many staying outside the Klang Valley.

For Klang Valley folks who can remember, strata homes debuted back in the 1980s when Tan & Tan Development introduced Desa Kudalari located in the heart of KL. Since then, some have sworn by strata living and would not consider any alternative lifestyle. Then there are the strata dwellers who should never consider communal living in the first place, given their little or no appreciation for the concept involved.

On the other side of the coin, there exists black sheep among property managers. Property management or, more precisely the lack of it, is a core complaint of strata living. By the same token, property managers complain about the challenger in maintenance fee collection.

Education is key to successful communal living. Because strata living has caught on so quickly in Malaysia, there is an urgent need to streamline the Strata Titles Act 1985 which appears to be outdated. The government needs to keep up with the innovations of the industry such as strata landed living - for it to continue with its journey ahead. Such are some of the issues identified and discussed in a Property Roundtable on Strata living organised by The Edge on April 12. The six-members panel also explained why it could take more a decade for a strata title to be issued and they suggested ways to expedite the process.

If you are interested in more details of the roundtable, check out the coming issue of The Edge. The panellists comprised three award-winning developers - Datuk P Kasi (executive director and co-founder of MK Lang Holdings group); Datuk Michael Yam (chief executive officer, Sunrise Bhd) and PK Poh (group managing director, Dijaya ResortCorp Bhd). The others were: John Loh (president of the Institution of surveyors Malaysia), Wong Kok Soo (managing director, Yap Burgess Rawson International) and Janardhanan Gopala Krishnan (chief operating officer, Azmi & Co Building Services Sdn Bhd.