Hi All,
My partner and I went and inspected a property today which we are quite keen about. It's an old (built about 40 yrs ago) and tiny 3 bedroom house with an attached granny flat at the back of the house. (Both on one title)
When I asked the agent if the granny flat has been approved by council he said that he thinks so, well at least that's what the current owners told him.
How can I be sure that this is so. Do I just call up council and ask them. Or is there a website where I can get this information from.
He also told us that the owners are selling it because it's positive cash-flow and they need to get rid of it! I couldn't understand why. It makes me wonder if there is something wrong with the house that we don't know about.
Anyways the property is on a corner block and is close to train, shops and schools but the two houses beside it are really bad. The house on the right hand side had grass up to it's window seal and 90% of the paint outside the house has peeled off. The one on the left hand side has cars and boats parked infront of the house which either seems to had worked for years.
Our concern is that what if we want to sell in the next couple of years and no one will buy it because of the bad surrounding properties.
Has anyone had a similar experience? What did you do? Did you end up buying the property anyways? Or should we not care about the other properties.
Thank you in advance for all your help.
MY
Without knowing the exact area it is hard to tell. In property investment is usually best to own the worst house in the best street as opposed to the best house in the worst street. It is all about the location. Whilst I would not like to judge a book by its cover, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is likely to be a duck. Bad neighbours will bring not only the sale price down but make the place less desirable for tenants to move into. Again if you are renting a house in rough neighbourhood with wild neighbours, that is the type of tenant you will attract … is that what you want looking after your hard earnt money? Trust me when I say that it is not worth the hassle … have been burnt (well the walls were at least!)
On the other side you might be able to use the current situation to drive the price to a crazy low, bight the bullet and hope area makes an improvement and get some good gains. Less than likely though.
M Y wrote:How can I be sure that this is so. Do I just call up council and ask them.Yes, call and ask.
M Y wrote:What did you do? Did you end up buying the property anyways?Yes, purchased at a discount. It was only one dud property next door though – not a street full. Also now, that owner passed away and there are new owners who have fixed it all up.
M Y wrote:Or should we not care about the other properties.Yes you should care. It does affect value (both real and perceived).
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