Yeah, I'm looking out east at Ferntree Gully, Lilydale and places like that. I'm not going west because I want to be near my kids.
My gut feel is that apartments in the Chadstone, Oakleigh, Burwood, Clayton area will do OK because of demand from the universities and hospitals in that area. But these new apartments are so tiny, even the 2-bed ones. Not to mention building code violations. Flammable cladding is just the start. Jeff Kennett's decision to allow private building inspectors in the mid 90's has had some terrible consequences. Building inspector's are now too cosy with the developers, so they pass off any old crap.
My ex bought my daughter a studio apartment in Huntingdale to be close to Monash uni. She calls me one day in Dec 2017 crying that her balcony was flooded. How can a balcony be flooded I ask? Doesn't the water just run off the edge or through the drain hole. So I go there to have a look. This block of units, built in 2010, has open balconies built like swimming pools. Rain comes in but water cannot get out. It's tiled all the way from the floor up the wall. There was 2 inches of water with nowhere to go, Another inch and it would flood into her unit. So I started bailing and mopping. How the * did something like that ever pass an inspection? How can a builder be so bloody stupid? It still boggles my mind a year later.
The ex-wife bought that unit for her. I had no say and wasn't allowed to even inspect. The developer was already bankrupt so there's no recourse there. So f*@k the private building inspection regime and bring back some kind of mandatory local govt inspections. Have a read of this story from a few years ago if you want another example.
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https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/townhouses-at-risk-of-collapse-after-excavation-pit-subsides-in-mount-waverley-20150715-gid717.htmlThat high-rise in Sydney is another example. There's going to be hell to pay 10 years down the track when all of these modern, costs-cut-to-the-bone buildings begin to fall apart. What will they be worth then?
So, I'm either looking for something built before the mid 90s, or I or make the offer subject to inspection. They used to have decent overhead clearances in the carparks back then as well.
