Property Buyers Beware

By Janet Spencer

Property Buyers Beware – We were recently commissioned by a client to purchase a lovely 3 bedroom unit in Fitzroy.   In a boutique block with a roof terrace, open living spaces and close to cafes.  This property looked like the perfect home for our buyers.

After completing our pre-purchase research some negatives started to emerge.

1. The unit has Commercial Zoning currently and our client was not aware of this.  From July 1^st 2014, when the new residential zones come online in Melbourne,  it will be Neighbourhood Residential Zone.

2.There were no separate water meters in the block meaning that our buyers could potentially be paying for other residents’ heavy water user.

3. There was also very little information  available about the Owners Corporation with the owners corporation manager only being contactable via a Post Office box in rural Victoria rather than by phone as is usually the case. Far from ideal just a few days out from the Auction.

However, the real deal breaker was when we uncovered that;

4.  The unit abuts a site on Johnston Street, Fitzroy which has plans lodged for 10 storey residential and commercial development. This has been designated as a Major Development in the City of Yarra.  Given the target property had a roof top terrace, not only were our Purchasers going to be thoroughly overlooked by a number of apartments, the amount of traffic in and out of the neighbouring property was going to increase hugely.  Also, they were going to be living next to a major building project for the next 18 months.

Once our clients were informed of this they did not want to buy the property.  Importantly, they were unaware of any of these factors prior to engaging our services.

What happened?

This didn’t deter other buyers.  The apartment sold at auction, under the hammer for $120,000 in excess of the top of the quoted range. We dodged a bullet for our clients and they are happy they are not going to be living next to a big construction site for the next few years or overlooked and overshadowed in the years ahead.

For up to date information on what’s happening in real estate in Melbourne, contact Janet at  jspencer@buyersolutions.com.au or 0418 101 146

Buying property, Investment property

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