Hi all, I need your experience and advice. 1. Which one would you buy? - bigger sized Apartment in 10km radius from Brisbane city - small size (400m²) House in 30km radius from the city 2. If the house has council storm water easement access in the back yard (close to the back side fence), would you still buy the property? Will it be affecting house price in the future? Thank you in advance.
house. Stormwater is an issue for flooding and flash flooding. Is it open drain (therefore flooding) or underground pipe (maybe less vulnerable to flooding. Access to stormwater drain doesn't seem as bad as other things (sewer, power, right of way) Good luck
An easement of an underground pipe will restrict what you can do if you ever want to build (you can't build over it). The water authority could impose access to it at any time. We have one in our backyard. We had to take it into account when rebuilding, but beyond that it hasn't been an issue in almost 20 years.
AMC, I have seen houses sell for well over $1mil with easements, it does not really affect things unless you need to build over it. Even then you can "bridge" the storm water with concrete or building a suspended floor. It is not as big a deal as some think, especially if the house has owner occupied appeal. For example if you had a nice, neat family home with a small, flat backyard it will sell for the same price as the one without an easement unless it was obviously affecting the property. People hear 'Brisbane', they hear 'flood' but is it a flood affected area? The storm water should make zero difference to the flood risk. As for which is better, it will depend on your strategy. The apartment will get higher yield and the body corporate takes care of a lot of maintenance. They are just easier to own. The house will get a lower yield and any and all maintenance is on you as the owner. People will argue with you about houses and apartment growing at different rates but it all comes down to timing. It also comes down to whether to are trying to sell and make a profit or are you planning on keeping the property and paying it off. In that case you need to think about which would be the better fit for you once you pay it off. For me it is all about making sure the property fits with my strategy, not everyone else on this forum. Hope that helps a touch. GT