Settling on a house that might be flooded...or worse

O

orbitor

Hi guys,

I'm settling on a house in Toowoomba on Monday (the contract is unconditional at this point). As you have all probably heard, the town got absolutely smashed by horrific weather yesterday.

Now I feel kinda bad being preoccupied about a house while there are dozens of people missing, but is there something I should be doing to protect myself? Kinda freaking out here. I don't know if the house is full of water, slipping down a hill, who knows. I will try and contact the agent but who knows how receptive they'll be given a disaster just happened there.

I do have insurance on the property of course.
 
Which street is it in? I know Toowoomba pretty well - my ex stamping ground & still have relos there.

Properties in the Range area have suffered landslips. The CBD was hit but I suspect that most properties not around East Creek are OK.
 
Propertunity said:
Which street is it in? I know Toowoomba pretty well - my ex stamping ground & still have relos there.

Properties in the Range area have suffered landslips. The CBD was hit but I suspect that most properties not around East Creek are OK.
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Windemere Tc, Mount Lofty. I would think landslips and water running down the range would be the major concerns there...

Thankfully the insurance cover I took out does cover flood and even landslides (it's with ANZ), but it's still all very concerning.

Belu: buy and hold, in fact the plan is to move into it in a few weeks!
 
Best of luck. I settled in Rockhampton just before Christmas and went through this also.

I bought outside of the 100yr flood area, but it's still very confronting.
 
Does the contract state that the property has to be in materially the same condition as you inspected it or something like that?
 
yep going to call my solicitor now and see where I stand. I have been in contact with the REA but it seems they have not been able to get in touch with the vendor. Who knows what's going on. Relatives in the area were able to drive past and have a look from the road, and said everything seemed ok. But the house could have significant internal flooding.

I would think I have a valid reason for delaying settlement if I have not been able to organise pre-settlement inspection despite all reasonable efforts. you can't even drive between Brisbane and Toowoomba right now.
 
I think people have to realize that the media will exhagerate at times disasters such as floods etc.

Most of Toowoomba was unaffected by water inundation.

Most of Rocky was and still is unaffected by flooding.

Most of Brisbane will be unaffected by water inundation.

I heard a Ch 9 reader say on TV yesterday that the whole of Rocky was underwater becuase the whole town was flat with no hills......talk about a total fabrication..Rocky has plenty of high ground and only 5% of the city has wet feet.

Dont stress about property until you see first hand what is actually take a look and sort out fact from total fiction...
 
csc2 said:
I think people have to realize that the media will exhagerate at times disasters such as floods etc.

Dont stress about property until you see first hand what is actually take a look and sort out fact from total fiction...
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This is true, but the fact is because of what has happened, it's hard to get in contact with the relevant parties to get information.

I have spoken to my solicitor who advised they were having trouble contacting the vendor's solicitors (in toowoomba) who have lots of staff away and who knows what other issues.

But they believe if I cannot get a pre-settlement inspection done, then I will have grounds to delay settlement.

I will continue to try and organise to get up there and look at the property as soon as is reasonable.
 
I've heard back from the vendor's solicitors that the house is ok according to the vendor. obviously I still want to get up there and do my pre-settlement inspection, but don't know when that might happen.

The other issue is banks in BNE (including mine) are only running a skeleton crew and are unlikely to have everything ready for settlement on Monday.

It looks like I'll be forced to ask for a delay in settlement :(
 
Toowoomba being very high up is a blessing...

YES the amount of rain that fell from the sky did create some damage, mostly in the CBD...

BUT all that water drained away very quickly...

Your property should be okay.
 
orbitor said:
I've heard back from the vendor's solicitors that the house is ok according to the vendor. obviously I still want to get up there and do my pre-settlement inspection, but don't know when that might happen.

The other issue is banks in BNE (including mine) are only running a skeleton crew and are unlikely to have everything ready for settlement on Monday.

It looks like I'll be forced to ask for a delay in settlement :(
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The banking sector is wrestliing with this issue as we speak. No-one will be keen to settle on a loan whereby a significant part of the security value has been washed 300m down the street.
 
ok i have managed to hear back (via the REA) regarding the property:

- there was some ingress of water into the open plan upstairs living area, apparently only minor. perhaps the guttering/downpipes were overwhelmed.

- there was a more significant amount of water that got into one of the downstairs bedrooms and flooded the carpet. the carpet will probably need to be replaced and maybe other minor works.

Anyway this is what I've been told. It could be accurate or it could be an optimistic report. The REA said that while the vendor was trying to make a report to their insurance co, I should claim this on my insurance. Does that sound right? I don't even own the house yet.

Also I requested and was granted a few days extension on settlement.
 
Have registered a claim through my insurer, who will go out and assess the property.

They have informed me I'll be up for the excess payments.

Does this seem right??? It seems a little strange and unfair to be forking out for damage to something I don't even own yet.
 
orbitor said:
Have registered a claim through my insurer, who will go out and assess the property.

They have informed me I'll be up for the excess payments.

Does this seem right??? It seems a little strange and unfair to be forking out for damage to something I don't even own yet.
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This doesn't sound right to me either. I have only ever arranged insurance just before settlement, which links back to the comments Alex made about the material condition being the same/similar to when you first inspected. This is from a NSW conveyancing website, however says similar to what I believe:

http://aicnsw.com.au/aicnsw_cms/index.php?page=cost-of-buying-a-home

Your insurable risk commences as soon as settlement is effected therefore it is essential that the policy of insurance be in place before or on the day of settlement. If you have borrowed money this means that you will have had to arrange the policy well in advance of settlement so that a policy is in the hands of your lender so that their insurance requirements are satisfied before they advance any money at settlement, your lender usually requires the insurance at least two weeks before the settlement.
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Thinking out loud, why would you place a claim if the existing owner has already done so under their policy? It just doesn't make sense to me.

I am not sure if it would be possible to delay settlement until after any repairs had completed too, as I am sure that once the existing owner is gone they won't have any motivation to try and speed up the claim process.

Maybe my ignorance here is showing and I have left a massive hole somewhere!
 
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