Yeronga Townhouse - On flood map! What to do?

[Amadio]

,i can never understand why people worry about floods in Brisbane,as quick as it comes up it goes down,.

Thanks for the info - have taken down that phone number. I worry because I've never experienced flooding -the only stuff I know about it is the post-flood mess that I see on tv.

But it would be better than earthquakes of which I know far too much about - at least you know a flood is coming, right?

 

[marg4000]

,,i can never understand why people worry about floods in Brisbane,as quick as it comes up it goes down,t..

Hubby's parents lived in Chelmer and their house went under up to the tops of the windows in the 1974 floods, stayed that way for 3-4 days till the water slowly drained away.

Yes, the water eventually goes, but leaves behind a grey stinking smelly muddy mess, all your possessions are ruined.

The emotional impact can be even more enormous.
Marg

 

[WinstonWolfe]

Will, I doubt seriously you would pay me the same for a house a month after a flood as a month before, with $2000 discount for clean up.

Homes can be moved off stumps, walls warped and pushed out of plumb, gyprock destroyed, mud left in walls, sewerage backs up and flows into house, the moisture attracts termites, electrical shorting demands replacement, etc etc etc.

Apart from that, the potential material use of a site susceptible to flooding is compromised severely. And it isn't necessarily overcome by clean fill, as that usually interrupts overland flow and is not allowed.

 

[Semiotech]

I am thinking that with Wivenhoe dam, we can assume that any further flooding won't go up above the roofline. It would take a monster deluge to bring back that kind of flooding.

Anyway, just went to have a look at the townhouse and confirmed that all of them are built on levelled ground which puts it safely above the flood level.

Wonder why this was not how the map reflects it.

 

[brrmm]

Having lived in Bne thru the '74 floods I would never buy anything in flood prone areas.

BCC talk about the 1 in 100 year flood, which is something that engineers use to "predict" certain event.

My question is, how do you know when is the next flood event going to happen, or how big it will be ???

 

[Semiotech]

brrmm: That's a very valid point. The longer I live there, the higher my chance of encountering that monster flood. We really like the area and the property (which is probably why we haven't just given up completely on the idea), and we figure insurance should make good whatever damage takes place as a result of the 20cm of flooding.

The other way I am approaching this (rightly or wrongly) is that the property is surrounded on 2 sides by multi-million dollar homes built on a similar elevation. One of which was built only a year or 2 ago, so they would have factored this in their planning as well.

 

[willair]

Will, I doubt seriously you would pay me the same for a house a month after a flood as a month before, with $2000 discount for clean up.

Homes can be moved off stumps, walls warped and pushed out of plumb, gyprock destroyed, mud left in walls, sewerage backs up and flows into house, the moisture attracts termites, electrical shorting demands replacement, etc etc etc.

Apart from that, the potential material use of a site susceptible to flooding is compromised severely. And it isn't necessarily overcome by clean fill, as that usually interrupts overland flow and is not allowed.

Yes i know where you are coming from,and yes the water did stay for a few days in the street my parents lived in but the way houses were build back then was different,hardwood frames,gal plumbing,heavy gauge roofing,fibro walls,if the house were set and tied down as most were back then the walls stay as they are there was not much use of gyprock back in 1974 as today it's all chemtreated pine frames gang nailes-plates ,a few months ago when one of the tenants rode a mini bike through the internal laundry wall i had to reset the elec-wall sheets
back to the hardwood frame,that house went under by a 5 mts above the top of the roof line on the propertry and there was still river mud in each section of the hardwood frame but the frame and timber was straight as a die,i know full well what would happen if the house was built now in pine and plaster board it would be a demo bin job total ,,if you ever want to see some good photos of the Brisbane floods drop into the Brothers St Brendens Football Club at Rocklea all you can see in water,and both the properties we control and manage were 5 metres below the water surface
,plus Winston people came frrom everywhere back then to help my Parents,people we never knew and never saw again,i often wonder if all the new people that come to this great free country would do the same only time will tell..willair..

 

[Peterw]

Sem, the building code has had the requirement for buildings to have their "habitable" floors, at least 300mm (now 500mm) above the 100 year flood line for some years now, so if this building is not very old, I believe that you will be fine. Again, this can be checked with the Brisbane City Council when you either ring, or visit one of their offices. The staff are alwasy very helpful.

 

[WinstonWolfe]

Yes i know where you are coming from,and yes the water did stay for a few days in the street my parents lived in but the way houses were build back then was different

I personally think there will not be another '74 flood in the next 50 years, (and possibly the next 100 years). I'd bet $10 million bucks on it, which means I'd be happy to own that much property below those flood levels. The Wivenhoe dam makes it virtually impossible, especially when you consider the higher number of people using it as a water supply.

You make a reasonable point about construction techniques, and if I was doing a new multi million $ river front home, I'd include design features to minimize damage.

 

[brrmm]

Million dollar homes get flooded too !

Think about this: When we have some heavy downpours, or even whenever it rains - are you going to worry ? If so, get a different place. If not, go ahead.

It's that simple.

 

[willair]

I personally think there will not be another '74 flood in the next 50 years, (and possibly the next 100 years). I'd bet $10 million bucks on it, which means I'd be happy to own that much property below those flood levels. The Wivenhoe dam makes it virtually impossible, especially when you consider the higher number of people using it as a water supply.

You make a reasonable point about construction techniques, and if I was doing a new multi million $ river front home, I'd include design features to minimize damage.

Winston some of those brick-tile houses that had to be leveled after the 74 flood stayed vacant blocks for 15 years,and it was only 5 years ago that i told a few people in this site that there was several very old staco fibro cement 3 bedders x uni student rentals on lagre "lmr"multi story sites that were less that the rateable land value,one person in this site bought one and built a 2 level walkup,and i have tracked that site and the all the unit sales,i know the numbers she took on,and i very sure she has never worked again and it did not cost her one cent the info i gave was free,about the same time we had that simple half hour chat in the chat room when we were talking about West End,and what happened there and still to happen is history..willair..

 

[WinstonWolfe]

Winston some of those brick-tile houses that had to be leveled after the 74 flood stayed vacant blocks for 15 years,and it was only 5 years ago that i told a few people in this site that there was several very old staco fibro cement 3 bedders x uni student rentals on lagre "lmr"multi story sites that were less that the rateable land value,one person in this site bought one and built a 2 level walkup,and i have tracked that site and the all the unit sales,i know the numbers she took on,and i very sure she has never worked again and it did not cost her one cent the info i gave was free,about the same time we had that simple half hour chat in the chat room when we were talking about West End,and what happened there and still to happen is history..willair..

You might remember I was set back in 2003-4 by my involvement with a company based out of West End. The only site they could have done better on was the old G James glass works site in South Brisbane, which the BCC decided they needed to build a bridge through, 3/4 of the way through a DA.

And back in the early 90s, I got quite familiar with the O street part of Yeronga, and probably some of those shabby stuccos you mention. Nevertheless, I was getting over CFS and back at uni, and the lenders weren't as loose in those days....and my stock broker brother convinced me to stay in shares, which I don't regret. Brisbane was pretty flat in that period.

Anyone who didn't see the advantages of the UQ green bridge to Fairfield Dutton Park and Yeronga, as soon as it was first mooted just wasn't in the game.

Nevertheless, I've said before what has happened with property growth since 2004 is unprecedented. There's been a fundamental shift in how Australia finance property that most don't get. And the risk:reward calculus has changed.

 

[Semiotech]

Thanks for all your responses everyone. Finance has been approved! I'm looking forward to moving in sometime in the near future!

 

[WinstonWolfe]

Thanks for all your responses everyone. Finance has been approved! I'm looking forward to moving in sometime in the near future!

If it is unconditional Semi, do you mind revealing the street?
I have no doubts you'll enjoy living in Yeronga. it is certainly one of my favorite south side suburbs. The demographic is very good and to have a unit surrounded by large LR sites with restored qld'ers and contemporary homes is very astute.

 

[WinstonWolfe]

Great location. In my books, adjoining Feez St is the best southside river street after Sutton St, Chelmer.

 

[Semiotech]

Yeah the street was one of the big draws for us. Looking forward to moving in!

 

[WinstonWolfe]

Yeah the street was one of the big draws for us. Looking forward to moving in!

Do you mind me asking what the vendor accepted and if you know why they are selling?.... rpdata says they had it on the market 20/11/09-16/1/10 and recently since 12/6/10. UCV is nice.

You wouldn't believe some of the dodgey areas that are asking 10% less and getting it. This is where I think you can do well in a good location. At some stages of the cycle, people bid up shabbier 'hot' areas so far that the differential with much better nearby burbs is eroded dramatically. A lot of people don't do enough comparative research into differentials, or they think they can't afford a better area so don't even bother looking. We looked at an original Qld'er in good nick (186 Laurel Avenue Chelmer) in 2006 we could have got for 800k after auction, when much shabbier locations were asking 150k less. Laurel was definitely worth a higher premium than 150k, born out in its latest ucv.

 

[Semiotech]

Winston: PMed you with more details!

 

[WinstonWolfe]

Let me know if you want a RPData CMA.

 

[willair]

Yeah the street was one of the big draws for us. Looking forward to moving in!

I went for a walk up the street yesterday afternoon,I think you will do well,when you look up the road at what happened too the old power house site and the price that some of those upmarket top floor units are for sale at plus the very very old QLD on the corner block back from the car wash is gone don't know what happened with that old house but it would have been a good removal ,,plus your c-g will bounce off those values,there is a property just up from yours on one of those large riverfront blocks that was once named ,"Tipan", it was a stunner 40 years ago Yeronga is one of those solid old money blue chip sleepers..good luck willair..imho..