House sold 3 times in 4 y

I am looking at a house for sale. I have done my DD, and it looks ok. No major Reno. Very near to shops and schools, been on the market for 3 months, spoke to REA, and the price is negotiable. I think I can make an offer of 10% less than the asking price. I spoke to town planner as well. There is granny flat potential not included in the ad. It really looks OK. Even I spoke to the REA who sold the house last time. And he mentioned that there was nothing wrong with the house. But the house was sold in 2010, 2011 at a loss of 10%, and in 2014 for same purchase price which is a loss if I include purchasing and selling costs.

I do not want to leave it if it is a good opportunity, and I am worried at the same time that there could be something hidden that do not appear in build and pest reports.

I am thinking of asking the agent for the last build and pest report as those are less than 12 months old.

Did any of you guys go through a situation like this. What kind of extra DD I should do to make sure it is good opportunity. Or I just leave it and look for something else.

There is a side walk to the right of the house leading to the shops. Could this be the reason?. Last tenant was a single mum with 3 children who made all the mess and ended up with eviction, she was there for 3 years.

Please advice from you experience

Thanks
Ramez

 

Get title insurance. That way if there's major hidden issues you can be covered for it.

 

How are the neighbours?

 

Neighbours
Laneway
Road
House problem that only became apparent after purchase
Professional tenant who got out of rent payment due to technicalities or complaints

All of these need analysis as they are likely cause

 

"There is a side walk to the right of the house leading to the shops"

Is there any graffitti on this sidewalk?
What about noise at night coming from this ?

 

Go and spend a few hours there in the middle of a Friday or Saturday night. Or pension night.

 

Classic case of a haunted house. Call Ghostbusters.

 

In all seriousness though I don't think bad neighbours would be the reason for a landlord selling especially if tenants were there for three years. It could just be coincidence. Good luck and looks like you've got some legwork done with the vendor discounting

 

The house probably just brings bad luck to the owners Feng shui and all that

 

Also maybe check nearby houses and whether they've been sold frequently as well. Way I'd do this is google your house address (incl suburb) + ozhouseprice and click on any ozhouseprice results returned...the actual result not that important as long as your suburb. When the results come up, on the right hand column if you scroll down there will appear another search form...in the address keyword put in the street name and in the sold year maybe put a relatively recent year for min year, say 2010 or so.

 

We have one up the road sales were:
Dec 2011 - owner deceased
Jul 2013 - Extensive refurbishment (gutted)
March 2014 - Extensive refurbishment (pool, dbl glaze windows)
Nov 2015 - Minor works (fencing)

No apparent reason for the last two sales and they'd barely make anything over stamp duty, holding and selling costs (sales over $1.2m)

 

@DaveM , This is in my mind, however the tenant already left, so why they are selling if the problem tenant has already gone, also I can see some fixes to the fences. the neighbour to the back. put a new higher fence, and the current fence is still there, not in a bad condition.

 

@Steven Ryan How can I check about the neighbours?

 

There is no graffitti or anything like that.

 

The house could be rock solid,with all the high fences ect,just ask yourself one question if i were to buy this property would i live there myself,because who walks outside the property
is maybe why it's had a high title turnover and zero c-g....imho

 

Go door-knocking and see what each of the other neighbors think, and if it's consistent. Ask the old tenants, ask the RE agent etc.

 

@willair
The area started picking up, nice properties are selling fast these days, however, I like to buy properties that needs a tidy up to get some equity gain, and a little bit of negotiation power. the shops nearby is undergoing a major expansion. There are couple of houses this way around the area, but I like this one most because of the bigger block and the granny flat potential.

Thanks
Ramez

 

We sold one interstate due to bad neighbours. They were Housing Commission Tenants, so unlikely to leave any time soon, and they had feral kids who threw rocks through my windows & did other malicious crap. Police knew all about them, and did nothing. Easier to just get rid of it, and move onto something better.

It could be a newbie LL that was spooked & decided rental properties is a mugs game.

 

May be check out rent vacancy rate for the house. Google any murder / accidental death around the area, possibly the house itself. And also, drive around, see if there are any boarding houses nearby, syringe on the street etc.