Hi Thomasb53,
It seems odd that a Council would be selling Crown land – perhaps there’s some mix-up in the terminology here? Might be some differences between the States?

At any rate, the only party with current legal access to the land is the adjoining owner (owner of the farm) and therefore is the party given the first offer (possibly the only offer)to buy the land.

If you are able to make an offer to buy the land, simply make the contract conditional on your ability to have a carriageway easement registered in favour of the ‘Crown’ land over the adjoining title (i.e. the farm driveway). Obviously you’d negotiate the terms and the $ with the farm owner.

However, be careful how you describe this to the Council as the Council themselves could decide to pursue the option of securing a carriageway and then choose to sell the land on the open market for a greater return.

You’ve done the right thing approaching the Council to find out if it’s for sale and if you’re at all dubious about the asking price, it would be advisable to obtain a land valuation yourself.

Good luck

Leila

Alistair, Adrian, Tony, Gill,
Hope all is well with you and the other group members.
Are any arrangements underway for a future meeting? If you need help to organise, I’m happy to help – just PM or email me as I’m very infrequently on this forum.
I hope to catch up with all of you soon,

Leila

Hi Landt,
Agents certainly come up with some classic lines, don’t they! I would simply proceed as planned (assuming it’s not sold next week), and if it sells, it sells. In terms of doing your due diligence, you’re not yet in a position where you’re happy to make an offer. If the property’s not sold the agent is being very foolish as they should be treating you as a red-hot prospect, and buttering you up, rather than indulging in fairly dismissive behaviour.

Speaking generally, if it is as good a property as the agent seems to think, it would be worth trying to get the builder to inspect with you a bit sooner.

Of course if this is just a dodgy ‘sales’ tactic as you seem to suspect … Just have a laugh at the agent’s behaviour and continue to ‘run your own race’ as they say.

Hope it’s not sold and you manage to negotiate a fabulous price!!!!! If it is sold, just tell the agent that you would have bought it had you known of it earlier and ask them to give you the first call/email next time they list a similar property. You may be able to guilt them into putting you on the top of their list next time (:

Leila

Hi Herb,
It sounds like you’re going well with your investigations. I’ve been thinking of doing the same with my PPOR (although this would be a couple of years away at least) which is on a large block on a main road, and near consulting rooms and a hospital. I’ve been looking at price/demand information for selling/renting out consulting rooms, and have found it difficult to come by.

Talking to local practitioners who have consulting rooms has been the most informative in regard to what they pay in rent, and what they look for in consulting rooms. Many individual practitioners (such as the one I live next door to) have a preference for buying customised facilities, and are willing to pay a premium for something they can move straight into.

The only (slightly) helpful website I’ve found is http://www.medicalrealestate.com.au – this may help a little.

I personally think that selling the place with a permit is a slightly ‘scattergun’ approach. Identify the types of practitioners likely to need rooms in your area, and sell the property customised for this. To find your likely market will require some local research – but shouldn’t be too difficult. If there’s a hospital nearby, you can also enquire if they need consulting rooms or know of any specialists looking (Thanks Gatsby for that great idea).

A property near me (opposite the hospital) has been on the market with a permit for medical use for over 3 months, while a customised facility suitable for radiology (my next door neighbour) was sold quickly for a high price at a hotly-contested auction. The one that hasn’t sold needs changes to make it suitable – i.e. construct car park and medical-style fitout – and is therefore still on the market. In my opinion, this is another good example of how property buyers can lack vision. To bring this property up to the standard of the one that sold wouldn’t take much work and it would come at a lower overall price. It also has a better location. Go figure …

Anyway, I hope this all goes well for you Herb, and if you find any good information resources, I’d appreciate if you could let me know, as I need all the info I can get too [biggrin]

Kind regards,

Leila

Shawn,
I have had experience with organising assessment and remediation of contaminated sites for my employer. I would also suggest contacting the EPA Victoria for further guidance.

While clean up can be done, it can be very expensive, and can take a significant amount of time. Council are likely to expect you to demonstrate that this has been done before you can redevelop. Definitely go into this with your eyes open – a fair bit of research is required – but that doesn’t mean redevelopment isn’t feasible.

If you have nothing more to go on than the word of the neighbours, you can ask the owner if they have done soil or groundwater testing. It’s also worth finding out if there are any underground storage tanks (UST’s) on the site, or if they have been removed. Contamination is most likely to have come from leaks in these. If no tests have been done, you could make the contract subject to soil tests and groundwater tests showing no contamination (of course, see your lawyer about the fine print). Alternatively, if the contract declares the contamination, find out what is involved in the clean-up and perhaps use this to negotiate on price/terms.

If it hasn’t been tested, you can hire someone to undertake an “EPA screen”, which is basic soil sampling. Again, the EPA can probably suggest accredited companies that can do these tests. This isn’t cheap, and will depend on the site’s size, how deep the sampling goes, and how many samples are taken. Following this, you can make a more informed decision as to whether to do groundwater tests. Enviro consultants can also advise as to the likely clean-up costs and timeframe involved, and whether an Environmental Audit will be necessary.

PM me if you need clarification or a consultant recommendation.

Good on you for doing your investigations – and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that this site turns out to be a ‘goer’for you.

Leila

Hi Alex,
Here are my thoughts:

For a bathroom – keep the colour scheme very neutral – white tiles are always good (when I was renting, I really preferred these as you can easily tell when they’re clean). And, of course these are easy to match. Avoid mosaic tiles – more grout = more cleaning/dirt showing. Taps/showerheads are best in a silver colour – just try and find one that doesn’t show finger marks/scratches too much.

Kitchen fittings: For door handles – keep them small unless you’re trying to make a design statement. Brushed stainless steel-look handles for kitchen cupboard doors are a good look. I love the look of timber benches, but would choose laminate for an IP based on price. This choice, of course, depends on your target market.

Cupboard doors in vinyl wrap are about middle of the range in cost, and are fairly long-lasting. New Antique White is a colour these come in, and it ties in really well with both modern and traditional styles of home. The colour is very close to Dulux Fair Bianca, which makes it easy to match it to neutral walls if needed. Also matches virtually any bench type/colour. And make sure you get good hinges on the doors, and don’t forget the little plastic dots that ‘silence’ the doors when they close.

I’d be interested to hear what you choose. Hope all goes well with your reno!

Leila

Hi Wayne,

If you think it’s worthwhile to pay the $185k, perhaps you can negotiate more favourable terms – maybe a longer settlement to allow you to get the funds together?

Other than that, I know it’s easy to say, but try and be detatched. It’s just one deal, another one will come along.

Good luck!

Leila

Dates on the Section 32 docs can also be a giveaway. Recently saw one with docs issued a year ago!

Haven’t heard of any websites that can tell you this, but if you find a source of this info, I’d be interested to know!

Sometimes it can really help to have that little extra bit of info to help the negotiations along!!!

Good luck,

Leila

Hi Woodsman,

On the whole, I would say that the intentions of Melb 2030 are good. I particulary like the intentions to prevent urban sprawl and protect Green Wedge areas. Obviously, there are flaws – such as highlighted by VCAT decisions relating to development in “Activity Centres” – and government has not responded well to community pressure to act on these.

In my job, I’m involved in undertaking land rezoning, subdivisions and planning permit applications and I can say that the one definite impact I’ve seen as a result of Melb 2030 is an increase in time taken to respond to all applications.

Also, Green Wedge Zones have created issues due to the 40ha minimum lot size (unless Council schedules say differently). Even a boundary realignment subdivision in a GWZ is gone through with a fine tooth comb.

That’s my 2 cents.

Leila