I am looking to buy a house with a large amount of land in the country. I have found one I particularly like, good location and sturdy house, but the house itself is STCA!?
What I would like to find out is if I do purchase this property will I be subject to the whim of the council and could they potentially pull down the house? It sounds ludicrous to me but councils are ludicrous in nature so I’d rather not assume that common sense prevails here. Any help is well regarded, cheers
Hi Thomas,
and a big welcome to you. Your question has me scratching my head, but lets ask a few questions of you, and see where that leads…..First off, I guess I need to ask “How did you hear this? e.g. Did an Estate Agent say this? And what were their exact words?”
See, I have never heard of a house being Subject To Council Approval. Usually it could be its CONDITION is STCA, but then you say it is sturdy. Or, any plans to develop a house (add an extra bedroom, lift it, shift it, etc) might be STCA.So it all comes back to WHO said this, and exactly WHAT did they say? Was it posted in an For Sale advert? If so, please copy the advert word for word.
The other thought is (of course) to ask the Council….. Good luck – do come back with some answers, and/or even the outcome,
Benny
Hello Benny, thankyou for your help so far and I am left scratching my head. I haven’t seen the house or talked to the real estate agent. I say sturdy just so from the pictures but to call a spade a spade I’ve got to say it’s sturdy.
Among the general plethora of dot points promoting the house comes this statement:“House and pool subjected to approvals”
I’m not sure if I’ve mistaken the tense of this statement, that if they mean everything is a-okay with the council or if it is to be subjected to approvals, but I don’t want to waste the time of the real estate agent with querying things that may be assumed knowledge? I am entirely new to the housing market so I’m unsure of the decorum with myriads of questions to them, so thankyou again for lending me a hand.
Ask the agent. That’s what they are paid for.
Hi Thomas,
Ah, THERE is the big clue !!“House and pool subjected to approvals”
It seems to me like the house might’ve been moved there, or even built there, without getting all of the Final Approvals done. Same with the Pool. Maybe an Owner/Builder did this….. ??
Now, depending on the Council, this might be a minor, or a major, problem. If you are even thinking of buying this, do ask around. As NewGuy says, ask the RE Agent, and (if you ARE considering purchasing it) then DO see the Council to get an idea of just how much of a problem this might be.
Depending on the age of the house, this may not be a big issue – i.e. if built 60 years ago, when building codes were less strenuous, it might be a simple matter of “ticking a box”.
Keep in mind that, if major work needs to be done to get a “Final”, then this could be a good bargaining chip with the Seller to get the price down. Other option, pay near full price, but demand that the Seller makes the moves to get Finals on both the house and the Pool. (They might not want to do that – in which case, tread softly – maybe they know something that you have yet to find out).
Just a thought – this might be an ideal buy for a builder – someone who can size it up, and even do the work necessary to bring it “Final”
Benny
You’re a mad dog! Thankyou for the help. Should everything go according to my plan, I will file through the riff raff and hopefully get this place to my own.
Touch wood, I will reply in months time if I end up getting it, thankyou again.
Yep, sounds like the owner has taken the law into their own hands and built a house with pool with no approvals in place as an owner builder.
Get a building and pest inspection done to see what the quality of the work is like and whether it will have a chance of passing council approval?
Also ask agent how long the property has been on the market? If an extended period then likely others have looked and bailed for a reason.
Could be a demolition job otherwise and you dont want to find this out post settlement!!!
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
Colin Rice.
Colin Rice | CDR Finance
http://cdrfinance.com.au/
Email Me | Phone MePerth Based Mortgage Broker - Investment Property Finance Specialist | E: [email protected]
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This reply was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by
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