buying to rent out a house near huge powerlines. will it disuade alot of renters?

buying to rent out a house near huge powerlines.

will the proximity to the powerlines dissuade alot of renters or do you think if it has many other desireable features both in the home and nearbye that it should rent ok in a fairly major suburb but not very close to the city.

 

Depends but maybe. Be careful if you're borrowing above 80.. LMI might be an issue. High Tension Power Lines

 

I think there was a similar fairly recent thread on this. Would be interested in what others think but it would have to be extremely cheap for me to want to rent it, as in absolutely no other options. Wouldn't buy unless it was an undisputed absolute bargain. The presence or lack of power lines close by would outweigh most other factors for me, unless it was a total bargain. I may be in a tiny minority though and clearly many people happily buy and rent close to power lines. I think these people are in major cities though, depends on what other options there are in the price range and location for these people? As a buyer, for me the numbers would have to offset the financial risk. Many desirable features of a property can be added with the right purchase but you can't change the close location to power lines. Personally, I don't really care how much anybody tells me there's no health risk, provides stats etc. Combination of horrible aesthetics along with mistrust of any information about how safe they are makes it a big zero. If there was nothing else to buy on the planet I'd consider it, but that's not the case is it?

 

Power lines are a real put-off for tenants and buyers. Not to mention the health effects of EMR.

 

Someone will be around in a minute to say its okay but for me, no way. Actually years ago we went to look at a house for sale. We'd seen the advert online and went to the viewing. As we drove in we saw horrible power lines right over the house. No way we were going to buy it after seeing that but we went to the viewing as we'd arranged it. An elderly man answered the door and showed us around. Said he was selling because his wife had leukemia. Probably nothing to do with the power lines but who's to know (why take the risk?) Totally gave us the creeps. Horrible aesthetics and leukemia....I'll pass thanks.

 

The only truly independent Danish study proved a 4 times greater risk of childhood leukaemia. 100 m away and you are fine. But electric blankets, living near the transformer or being near the wall where your meter box is , is a great risk also. All these will exceed the dosage that caused the leukaemia in children. Apart from that it weakens the immune system. I noticed this myself. Electromagnetic fields are very dangerously. Get a meter off eBay and see how crazy it is under power lines even street lines. Check out your phone electric blanket.
Remember for 100 thousand years we had none of this in our evolution and yet we are full of electrolytes.

 

Oh dear... this is all BS, A single data point does not a scientific conclusion make.

Are you sure you're not getting confused with Ionizing Radiation ?

IR will breakdown cell and DNA structures, IR _IS_ nuclear radiation.

EMR, the most fundamental form of which is light + all radio waves, the natural fields of the earth and more.

Did you know you emit EMR ? yes you - EMR in the infra red region

 

Agree - in a previous life I had to front up to a few council meetings to talk on the impact of mobile phone towers (non ionising). Very emotive of course and whilst the arguments start around health impacts (none proven and at distances that make the levels irrelevant and much less than holding a phone to your head) the underlying issue was almost always the aesthetics (and sometimes a fair point)

For me, Power lines are even worse - cant comment on the health issue but they are certainly ugly buggers and even if you pick it up for a bargain, I think you will suffer in yield or capital growth to the point of "why bother"

I wouldn't do it

cheers

 

Talk to your Cancer council in Perth Ald.

Power lines and cancer myth - Cancer Council Western Australia
extract;
Summary
There is limited evidence for a weak link between intense and prolonged exposure to magentic fields and childhood leukaemia. To date a definitive link has not been demonstrated, but it remains an active area of research internationally. There is inadequate evidence to support an association between exposure to ELF electric and magnetic fields and other types of cancer in adults or children.

I have done a lot more research into power lines than most people have as I was selling one that had them at a stone's throw away and it was constant critism. However there is rather limited EMF but this is not only done by powerlines but also mobile phones, tvs, computers, microwaves, ovens, electric balnkets, alarm clocks, lights, radios etc etc. They have done studies of people who serviced these powerlines who were closer and probably spent more time (e.g. 8 hours a day) within 100m compared to people inside a house 100m2+ away and none provide a direct link.

You are purchasing a property at a lower price point due to the stigma associated with it however if the median house is 1M and you get it for 500k then you also cannot expect the house median rent of 1k to also achieve that as you only paid 500k so you might get 450-550 pw, maybe more? Also when you come to sell in the future if the median house price is now 2M maybe you get 900k maybe you get 1.1M who knows but would the house be worth 500k with the median being 2M I doubt it unless it has been proven that there is a direct link.

 

If you have to ask the question - then it is likely that potential tenants (and more importantly - future owners) will ask the question.. just something to keep in mind.

 

You are only looking at half of the picture.

I would be more concerned about resale value.

Yes, I know many people trot out the "never sell" card, but life has a funny way of being unpredictable, and you really don't know when you will need or want to sell.
Marg

 

This is my home, we got a discount of around 20% when we bought. The house two houses up that actually has the transmission tower in the back yard is rented out and it seems to have quite low socio economic background people in it for the area. Don't know whether the rent is reduced that the same rate as the purchase price or not, but I would assume that there is a reduction.

Fun fact: As I'm an engineer, I measured the EMF in my backyard and it wasn't all that high. In fact I measured it at Westfield and it was higher there than right under the powerlines.
It's also funny that people don't worry about living in the city when there's underground powerlines and they only do when they're visible.
Personally, I'm not worried about non-ionising electro magnetic radiation.

 

Hey - don't let truth get in the way of a good story.

Is this what they mean when they talk about 'post-truth'?

'Post-truth' beats 'Brexiteer' to become word of the year

I wouldn't be keen on the house. Unless they pull the power lines down, the resale value will still have to be 'discounted' in the future. Admittedly, there may be other reasons why the house seems like a bargain now.

 

This is what I am getting to is that you might buy for 20% less but when you sell you might also get 20% less compared to ones without it.

It is a stigma that is associated with it and until the population changes their perspective it will always be a less desirable which just leads to reduction in price (but you did buy at a reduce price).

If the stigma goes away from the power lines then everyone who has property near them will get extra money from them. However if it is proved they do have health implications then they will become even less desirable.

Personally I wouldn't buy them or live in one but my wife lived next to them since she was a new born until about 28 years old and both her heads seem to be fine.

 

This is a good example of a house on a decent block of land in a suburb where house prices are in the high $600k and above. This place was passed in at auction a month ago:

80 Frensham Road Watsonia Vic 3087 - House for Sale #123782298 - realestate.com.au

This place has both High-Tension-Power-Lines and an electrical Substation across the street. A double whammy.

 

I did think of this property and it is in a horrible location with power lines running parallel with the property and the substation as you mentioned.

To give people an idea the house below sold for 702k and is 280m walk (according to google). So we are talking about a 200k difference or about $1,000 difference for each metre a person has to walk.

4 Papua Street, Watsonia, Vic 3087 - Property Details

@TheRayTracer did you actually go to the auction for it?

 

In Sydney market, everything sells. Carlingford and Beecroft have loads of houses under massive powerlines and because they happen to fall under prestigious catchments, people do end up living in them.

Having said that, they do come with 20-30% discount vs regular houses in the area.

 

I think it is overblown, but my op is not worth much as I am not a renter, ask a/the PM your thinking of using.

More worried about too much sun on my skin.

 

All the arguments and scientific evidence is fairly irrelevant. The bottom line is a property in close proximity to power lines is going to be harder to rent and harder to sell. They're best avoided.