2 July 2013

Is there something wrong in Hawker?

| zark
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My friend lives in Hawker and I have noticed that a particular group of units on Springvale Drive all seem to be selling up. What gives? Is there something wrong with these units? Are they falling to pieces? Asbestos? Termites? Fear of a property bubble? (so many new units being built that this last fear may be quite reasonable)

I had taken an interest in some of these units being sold and considered even buying one as an investment / or possibly to move into later but I’m unnerved by the constant rotation of for sale signs.. it implies that something is wrong. They sure aren’t selling for a decent profit as I can see that unit prices in the area are very flat, even perhaps dropping.

I hope someone can shed some light on this for me.

Here are the recent units for sale since for past 8 months. Note that all these are in 4 adjacent unit lots with almost identical design:

22/32 Springvale Drive, Hawker
15/32 Springvale Drive, Hawker
2/30 Springvale Drive, Hawker
12/30 Springvale Drive, Hawker
22/30 Springvale Drive, Hawker
10/28 Springvale Drive, Hawker (OFFER)
23/28 Springvale Drive, Hawker
4/28 Springvale Drive, Hawker
19/26 Springvale Drive, Hawker
14/26 Springvale Drive, Hawker (SOLD)
3/26 Springvale Drive, Hawker

See:
http://www.allhomes.com.au/ah/act/sale-residential/hawker/121457010
http://www.allhomes.com.au/ah/act/property-research/hawker/121457012/sale-history?year=2013

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I knew some people who lived there and moved out after only 3 months because of ongoing vandalism to their car. I wouldnt be surprised if they are hard to keep rented.

The Antichrist6:44 pm 04 Jul 13

I loved my time at 16/30 Springvale Drive in the very early 80’s – first flat out of the family nest, at $60 per week between 2 of us it was heaven on a stick.

Saw plenty of lounges get thrown out of top-floor windows and sacrificed in firey pyres even back then – nothing much changes in low-cost shitty accomodation, even after 30 years. Even learned to do roll-back burnouts in the carports – gotta love the Springvale flats. They were a step up from Baringa Gardens !! 😉

With the rental market the way it is and a lot of people feeling a bit of pressure from financial stress, all those young investors who bought the units a number of years ago and have just had tenants move out to newer units in Gungahlin now have to make the decision to either drop the rent to meet the market or flog it off to the next lot of first home buyers.

Nothing really wrong with the units themselves, they’re cheap, average accommodation for an enormous amount of Canberra’s taxi drivers. I lived there for 2 years from ’08, they’re quite thick brick walls actually, we could never hear anything from our neighbours and we were on the middle floor. We did however hear when someone got stabbed in the car park. You can’t beat the proximity to the Belconnen Soccer Club down the road though!

I have found a very similar situation with the flats behind Southlands in Mawson – they are incredibly ugly and dare I say dodgy – there is a constant stream of flats for sale there. We also considered buying an investment flat there but were turned off them by the number of flats that were being sold.

I had a close friend who was renting a unit at 28 Springvale Drive (until she bought her own place) just last year. As far as I am aware, there was no govvie units (not sure about 26, as there was huge increase in population, mainly by loud arabs and indian taxi drivers, with me witnessing many fights amongst those groups in the evenings, when I was visiting my friend).

There was one huge problem at 28 Springvale Drive: in 2010 they have got a sudden invasion of rodents, in roof space and wall internals, she had contacted her real estate (Ray White Belconnen), they said that it is not their problem, they only manage a unit, not a whole complex. She was setting up traps and catching rats (they were coming from underneath the kitchen sink’s pipes).

Ray White got in touch with a landlord (they claimed that they were unable to contact body corporate) only after she had written to them, stating that she will be taking action (almost 6 months after the problem started and my friend had contacted her agent many times). Pest controller came, placed some baits where the rats were coming out (hole in a wall near the pipes) and this was it. He could not guarantee that it will help much, as it was a band aid solution. She moved out month later, as by that time she was on month by month basis.

As far as the units go- they are tiny, old and fugly.
Anyone interested can go there for a drive and check out the state of both 28 and 26.I am sure that it is a ghetto by now.

PBO said :

And to top off this sad tale the apartments are of a shit quality.

Post of the month – perhaps of the year. 😀

We inspected a unit in that location to rent a few years ago (2010). It was really noisy and old, the walls were thin brick, and the place in general was a little depressing. The area was up on the hill above the (Shell?) service station. Just a lot of traffic moving through that area because of Hawker shops, schools and other facilities.

No doubt there’ll be some Housing ACT lowlifes living there. It is such a pity the gov’t doesn’t move them out to Uriarra and save everyone a lot of hassle.

Thanks guys for your feedback, it has been entertaining reading and occasionally informative 😉

Like Comic and Gamer Nerd @ #7, expect there is a high quantity of Housing ACT stock involved.

thebrownstreak6911:57 am 02 Jul 13

There’s obviously a problem when you see this happen. It could be anything from a local drug dealer to an invasion of hipsters.

Is there something wrong??

1, Its Hawker
2, Just look at them! not an attractive block of flats are they?

Comic_and_Gamer_Nerd10:53 am 02 Jul 13

Govvies being sold off as they become vacant is possible.

Madam Cholet said :

Well whatever the reason, don’t ask for the truth from the agents in charge of number 22. They sold us our house. On exchange, and when showing us back through, they claimed they could have sold it ’10 times over’.

Right….that’s why it had been vacant and on the market for three months before we came along. It was overpriced that’s all (and we didn’t pay anywhere near the original asking price).

Real Estate agents over-exaggerating? Say it isn’t true.

Madam Cholet10:40 am 02 Jul 13

Well whatever the reason, don’t ask for the truth from the agents in charge of number 22. They sold us our house. On exchange, and when showing us back through, they claimed they could have sold it ’10 times over’.

Right….that’s why it had been vacant and on the market for three months before we came along. It was overpriced that’s all (and we didn’t pay anywhere near the original asking price).

As a resident of the surrounding areas, I can confirm that there is something very, very wrong with that area.

Some say it started in the late 80’s with a local coven of Pogan’s (Bogan Witches) casting a spell over the area to widen the demographics to the point where the social services structure collapses in on itself and everyone lives in a great big, lawless heap.

Others will tell you that it is merely fresh covering built over an even older set of flats that was said to be so run down and lawless that even TAMS wouldnt claim ownership of the land because even that was said to be built on the top of an even older housing estate that drove the original designer mad trying to develop nice, safe AND affordable housing.

Myself? Well, my story began in the summer of 1993 during my college years. Loife was good and ciggy were still somewhat cheap to a young boGan-Riche’ like myself. I was always told to stay away from those flats and to never go near them after dark otherwise…”Something”….may happen. I took heed to these warning because in those days before mobile phones, people were more honest. If you said you would meet someone at a certain time then you damned well had to be there 10 mins early dagnabbit! And if someone said that somewhere was dodgy then by god it was dodgy!

I knew something was strange with that place when I met Jesus for the first time……..Thats right Jesus. I have met him. Jesus of Hawker Flats was what he was known as at the time with his long hair, beard, sandles, shepards staff and robes that flowed in the wind as the traffic went past. Just looking at the guy would conjure up mental images of him rocking out in a biblical fashion to a rockin guitar riff played by a much smaller Jesus clone supported by Satan on drums and Bootsy Collins on Bass.

Apparently his real name was Barry but I wasnt going to let that sway me. I went to his apartment seeking salvation and I left with 2 foils (yes it was that long ago) of really good weed. Whenever I saw Jesus from the on he would say Hi. I often wondered if he was greeting me or asking me a question and then I would forget what I was talking about and be left with a weird, confused look on my face which would be mirrored back at me by whomever I was talking too.

One day the local garrison of coppers took him away and did him for possession and he was absolutly crucified for having that staff which someone thought was a weapon. Never saw him again and from then on Jesus had left my life. From then on I have had no reason to go anywhere near that area as I believe that there may be drugs around there judging by some of ther folks that live there.

But thats straying from the point.

The whole area was built on top of a rift like vortex of and interdimensional nature, this was an unwanted by product of the secret architecture of Canberra that Walter Burley Griffin incorporated into the city plans. TAMS learned of this and tried to cover it all up in the 70’s with waste asbestos and topped off with waste people. Mix up the demographics a little and then no one will believe any complaintabout conditions that come out of that area.

And to top off this sad tale the apartments are of a shit quality.

Mike Bessenger10:11 am 02 Jul 13

So 11 of 116 units go up for sale over a 8 month period and something must be wrong?
The only things wrong with those units are they are ugly and mostly full of scum bag drug using thief’s.
I said mostly.

That is mildly intriguing. If they were all being sold by the same real estate agent I would say it’s someone selling off their investment portfolio. Not the case those, seems to be a mix of agents.

Request a copy of the building inspection report from the seller / agent. That should tell you if its falling to pieces or infected with termites.

Apart from that, it could be anything.
Investors preferring to invest in newer apartments in the Gungahlin area – property prices there are expected to go up if and when the light rail kicks off.
Investors getting spooked about the impending Public Service cuts and minimising their holdings.
Owners moving to newer or bigger houses. Or retirement homes.
Investors reducing their exposure to Canberra and investing instead in Sydney where prices are expected to rise faster over the next 2-3 years.

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