Post-war Fibro

[krgambling]

Hi folks,

I've been looking at buying a small house. For my price range, I've found a few nice houses in a suburb I like, but they're all post-war Fibro homes. I.e. will most likely have asbestos in the wall sheeting, possibly the roof as well.

As an alternative, I could buy a similar size home at the same price that's brick/tile, but it's about 20 minutes further out from Brisbane (I work in the city).

I'm wondering, has anyone here had experience with owning/living in/renting out a Fibro home? Does it affect potential re-sale value? Would there be a need to have the asbestos-affected material removed (at what cost)?

Any opinions appreciated.

Thanks,
Keith

 

[Tesla Rules]

Fibro is only a problem if you are renovating.

 

[porp_e]

The current house I'm renting is a fibro, and actually the last one was too. Personally I'm not a fan of the look (maybe I have just seen too many fibros, most of the town I live in seems to be made of them!) Though I'm pretty sure you could add value fairly easily to a fibro by cladding or rendering the outside. Might be a useful cost to factor in.

The only issue I've had, with both houses actually, was vandalism to the external walls (ie someone kicking holes in the walls!) but the area I live in is not so great, lots of petty crime and vandalism so that might not be an issue where you're looking to buy.

 

[Jacque]

Hi folks,

I've been looking at buying a small house. For my price range, I've found a few nice houses in a suburb I like, but they're all post-war Fibro homes. I.e. will most likely have asbestos in the wall sheeting, possibly the roof as well.

As an alternative, I could buy a similar size home at the same price that's brick/tile, but it's about 20 minutes further out from Brisbane (I work in the city).

I'm wondering, has anyone here had experience with owning/living in/renting out a Fibro home? Does it affect potential re-sale value? Would there be a need to have the asbestos-affected material removed (at what cost)?

Any opinions appreciated.

Thanks,
Keith

Hi Keith

I've owned (and sold) several fibro homes over the years and had no problems. Asbestos fibro sheeting only becomes problematic when its broken/split/cracked and if you want to remove it (expensive). My best performing IP is actually a post-war fibro home that I paid $85K for 11yrs ago and has the tenant from heaven residing there. House is cheap and cheerful to maintain, with very few issues over the years.

Another home that I bought had an old fibro shed with cracked sheeting which we paid to get removed (luckily I have friends in the industry who did it a lot cheaper for me) but all up it was less than $1000 and we now have a lovely mini- orchard in it's place

Don't be scared of intact fibro homes- if the price is right and the returns look good. Best of luck in your quest.

 

[Andrew_A]

It's usually fine if the building is in good condition, and sometimes not much of an expense to replace even if it isn't.

Shouldn't have to go an extra 20 minutes (peak hour travel?) further out to get a comparable brick and tile!? Can't be more precise without more info here.

As a tip try asking.. firstly for a building report, and if there hasn't been one done recently on the house ask the owners either directly or through the agent about their building report they had done when they bought, possible issues now most likely will have been issues back then. A lot of sellers don't bother to inform the selling agent of issues with the house and a lot of agents don't bother to ask, but this can all be bought to light with a few direct questions.

There is always the building and pest report which can be a buyers best friend as well when purchasing.

 

[NataleaK]

If you do buy it, make sure you obtain insurance that covers injuries arising from asbestos inhalation (Terri Scheer does).

Likely you'll never need it, but to be sure..

 

[Propertunity]

If you do buy it, make sure you obtain insurance that covers injuries arising from asbestos inhalation ...

Who will promptly offload any possible future claims to the James Hardie compensation fund no doubt .....very clever marketing

 

[marg4000]

I'm doomed....

Spent my childhood (1950s and 1960s) making cubby houses out of fibro off cuts. Cut them, broke them, nailed them, threw them at my brothers.....
Marg