I have a problem

[mexican]

I have bought a property in the Frankston area.
Now I havent moved as yet but went there today to get quotes from tradesman about renovation.

The property is in a good looking complex and we had some teenage girls walk in the complex and scream obscenities at another resident. Then after the drame subsided where it got quite heated I spoke to another resident.

She told me the previous owner moved out because of disturbances with other residents, and had been keeping quiet about issues in the place so she could sell it.

AS it turns out I can VERIFYa unit near me is a government owned kind of 'half way house' for prisoners on first release and another unit has a drug addict who goes around asking other residents for money and has broken a few random windows. He is prone to fits of rage and lives with the owner his mum.

Police get called regularly for domestic issues as the drug addict and his friends hate the former prisoners (5 of them ) living there.

I checked the place out with 2 local residents who claimed all is well before I bought it but I have already seen drama already.

I just bought it and I am not living there with this type . I want to sell but I would make a little loss so I might rent it out.

THis is a nightmare scenario for me.

 

[Propertunity]

I can VERIFYa unit near me is a government owned kind of 'half way house' for prisoners on first release and another unit has a drug addict

It is a moot point now, but perhaps you should have verified this before buying rather than after?

I just bought it and I am not living there with this type . I want to sell but I would make a little loss so I might rent it out.

Is there a problem with your plans if you rent it out rather than live there?

I'm sorry this has happened to you but these types of posts seem to have a common thread of either Frankston or Melton running through them. That is not to say all of these suburbs or only these suburbs have these issues. It can happen anywhere.

 

[WinstonWolfe]

approach the govt dept that runs the half way house operation and see if they want to lease yours. they'd probably pay well and throw lots of money at repairs when it got wrecked. your capital growth will probably be compromised though.

 

[Rixter]

I take it you didnt speak to any of the neighbours as part of your due diligence processes prior to signing on the line?

 

[Kristine..]

Hi Mexican

Welcome to the Forum!

Sorry to hear that you are feeling disappointment at your purchase, however let me remind you that no situation remains the same for long

you could rush out and list the property for sale, and end up being very miserable about it all, when really the problem may not be as it appears

For starters, the half way house occupants would be - I assume - on their 'best behavior' because of their circumstances and not enjoy being baited by the addict any more than anyone else would be

The addict, well, you don't know anything about him as yet and he may be there only temporarily.

We all have to live with neighbours, and we can't pick who those neighbours will be or how they will behave.

Why not give the place a go for, say, three months and see how it really is during that time? Everyone else may move out or the situation may stabilise within that time. Of course, it could all be quite dreadful, but one afternoon’s visit is not going to tell you the whole story, and you have heard conflicting reports from the other neighbours, some who tell you every thing is OK, and another (who, don't forget, still lives there) tells you that your vendor moved out because of the disturbances.

We had very noisy neighbours over the back fence for a while, but they are now gone and the current occupant is very quiet, only goes into the back yard to hang out washing. The other neighbour was previously an elderly couple, and although quiet he drove us mad with requests to prune trees, now there is a family who is not there most weekends but are quite boisterous during the week. It all comes and goes

Good luck with this but until you really experience it for yourself, you won’t know whether living there is good or bad

Cheers
Kristine

 

[Luv2Travel]

These sorts of situations really anger me. Decent hard working people, saving to buy their own home, only to find out it's neighbors to something like this. I know someone who had a similar situation, moved to a nice residential street, no sign of obvious government housing or anything. Turned out the next door neighbor was government housing and they were total drug trash! My friends actually feared for their life after a few months, fled and sold up. Cost them a fortune in buying and selling costs, but they don't regret it at all.

Mexican, I don't know what I'd do in your situation, I understand you must be totally devastated. If there's any chance of this being temporary, however you don't feel safe living there, maybe you could rent it out and you could rent elsewhere yourself for a while. If you can't afford an IP at this stage, and are only after a PPOR and feel this is going to be a long term situation, if it were me personally, I think I'd just cut my losses. I could never live somewhere I don't feel safe in and from what you describe it sounds terrifying. However, as Kristine said, don't rush into anything.

I really feel for you.

 

[mexican]

THanks for the post.

I will comment on the posts later. Well I did more checking than anyone on this place I reckon for any issues. I did speak to 2 residents of the complex and also a factory owner who lives around corner of the place and has been for 15 years. We even asked the milk bar owner across the road and of course the real estate agent who has never heard of anything ( if you believe him).

I took a day off work to snoop around the place to make sure it was quiet enough. In fact I barely saw any resident in the place from my past visits until today when a few dodgy looking people appeared.

I was told by a resident that other residents were told to keep quiet about the place so this person could sell. The previous owner was an old lady being harassed by one of these idiots.

 

[mexican]

What I want to do is rent it out for a 6 months then month by month.
During this time I will know what issue there are and see how they get resolved. I will have to live with my parents.

I am furious that these people are allowed to live here and also by the way we are next to a school. The criminals place backs on to a primary school and surely there must be a law against this!

I am a bit emotional as I have spent years saving and working and this is what I start with.

 

[chasethesun]

Hi Mexican,

It's a shame that you feel you are unable to move into your first home but lets look on the bright side.

You now have your 1st IP!! Congratulations!!

Every man and his dog seem to have an IP in the Franga area, so you have joined elite company.

I wish you well

 

[mexican]

Do I have any rights if neihbours behave bad and they are from public housing 'ex-criminals'. Will the government do anything and do they care?

 

[jezza]

Do I have any rights if neihbours behave bad and they are from public housing 'ex-criminals'. Will the government do anything and do they care?

Mexican

No not really, although I am sure if you know they are ex-criminals the police will. In relation to your original post places change over time but not overnight so there is a reason why places like Funkytown and Melton have these reputations because they do exist. Criminal live in every suburb and there is housing commision houses in a number of the inner suburbs. There is a few threads on here about funkytown I would read through them to find a quality and stern PM, Be firm about the type of tenant.

Congrats on your 1st investment property and good luck.

Jezza

 

[mexican]

well ex-criminals living next to a primary school and getting friendly with the drug addict next door isnt exactly 'nothing you can do territory'.

I wonder how the Principal of this school will react if this was made public to parents of the school. I wonder if he will just 'do nothing ' and not care about the effect on enrollments. I work in education and let me tell 'panic' is an understatement when the possibility of this news being made public..

 

[Luv2Travel]

Trouble is, make it too public, and if you choose to sell, who's going to want to buy it?

 

[mexican]

it is not making it public that stirs action it is the possibility

 

[leopard80]

Mexican that is really bad news, but perhaps tempers were at a head that day and things will settle down in time.

My only concern is, did you receive the fhog to purchase the property? You may have a requirement that you need to live in the prop for first 12 months before renting it out?

I may be wrong (hopefully i am) but worthwile checking up on.

 

[mexican]

I just got the FHOG but cant live next to ex-cons,druggies as I wouldnt feel safe.

 

[RumpledElf]

I had huge issues (not) selling my old house for the same reason, noone wanted to live next to the neighbour. Shame as the house is so nice.

The tenants I have in there now were/are selling drugs, aren't the brightest sparks and absolutely love the neighbour, who was there making them dinner last time I was visiting. Minor damage to the house from the neighbour's visiting kids that they didn't report (which meant they probably provoked it)

I'm still undecided as to if this is a good thing or a bad thing but it does mean there are no 'neighbour issues'

 

[mexican]

The issues are with properties 20-50 meters away and are not physically next door neighbours.

I am trying to resolve the issue quietly.

 

[marg4000]

I just got the FHOG but cant live next to ex-cons,druggies as I wouldnt feel safe.

I suggest you contact your solicitor to arrange to repay the FHOG immediately. Better than having them chase you when they find out you are not fulfilling the requirements of the grant.
Marg

 

[schweedy]

Not sure what part of frankston north your talking about, but surely you could bring yourself to live there for the 6 or 12 months required to keep your fhog?

Let also put it this way.....by living in it for that amount of time, you will know exactly what your expecting your tenants to pay for. If you visited on a bad day, you may have seen the worst of it. You also have to look at half way houses are just that and people will change over in that property, probably at the same rate your tenants might rotate, or more often.

Seems you have a lot of homework to do. You might look into securing your property a bit better, so you would feel safe staying there, and looking into the purpose and likely tenants of the other flats. 6 months isn't that long. I lived in the area for 2yrs and only met a handful of people in my street. They were also being bought and sold at a regular rate in the area, so as the people rotate in and out of the area, it becomes only for those who can afford it (for those renting and owning), and the area is consistantly going up.

Maybe its time to stop thinking about the here and now and look at your possible short to long term gains. Live in it for 6 months or a year (not sure how long it has to be), getting it ready for happy tenants, then rent it out at the going market rate. Unless the market totally falls down, prices will go up and some predict quite nicely in the next few years.....something well worth thinking about.