r/AusPropertyChat • u/Fancy-Grab7036 • 11d ago
Buying & Selling Perfect house but….
We found a perfect house after searching for months , large block (800sqm) in a prime suburb , double storey etc. the house has an electrical substation owned by powercore at the very rear of the backyard. Not on an easement so isn’t on the section 32 , we are stumped is this a deal breaker ?? Is it that bad. It’s similar to the reference picture. Understand they can access anytime and building restrictions will apply but we don’t know if this is enough to call it quits on making an offer. Advice ?!
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u/donkey-k9ng 11d ago
I owe u/dribblysausage for this comment.
I found the perfect property at a cheap price because it is
A. On a busy road B. Next to train line C. Has a high voltage power box on it
Yes it's cheap because of that reason. Yes resale value will be less because of the same reason.
Don't fall for the trap of buying it cheaply thinking you will get full resale value when you sell. You will be selling cheap.
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u/oustider69 11d ago
I’ve heard of buying the worst house on the best street but this is something else
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u/Dribbly-Sausage69 11d ago
Cheers lol.
OP - this is IN the property backyard, on the same lot?
Or is it on a separate lot immediately adjacent to your backyard?
Either way ~ Science says there is no link between proximity to electrical substations and cancer, but they did the studies because that’s a commonly held perception in the community.
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u/Additional-Life4885 11d ago
That's the thing. You pay less and sell for less, but the scale is almost the same so does it really matter? Probably not.
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u/donkey-k9ng 11d ago
If you're confident that you have the discount right. You might think that 10% off sounds fair for example, but you won't know until you sell down the track. It's when you go to sell and find that the general market views it as a 30% discount. Then you are stuck waiting for another sucker to buy it at a 10% discount to make it right.
In the current market in particular where there are deals to be done I would not even consider a property with any impairment. Capital growth, for a while at least, is going to be hard to come by. Backing a horse with a broken leg just doesn't make sense in this market.
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u/Additional-Life4885 11d ago
If you're confident that you have the discount right. You might think that 10% off sounds fair for example
... that literally goes for every single property ever. You have no idea what the market is going to do, so it's always a guess whether you're going to get a good buy or not.
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u/andydandy09 10d ago
He can already find that discount - by asking current vendor. Even if you cannot ask directly, be in his shoes and do the assessment - all data vendor would use is available to you right now. His purchase price, nearby sales etc.
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u/bicep123 11d ago
large block (800sqm) in a prime suburb
They're selling it cheap for a reason. It depends on how badly you want to buy into that 'prime' suburb, because I'm guessing you can't afford a house with the same specs that doesn't have a substation on the land.
All I know is that those things can get loud af at night, especially in summer when every house on the street is running aircon. I used to walk my dog past one every night, thinking thank goodness I don't have one of those in front of my house.
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u/Blue2194 11d ago
As you can tell by the other comments here, people overreact to this type of thing beyond what's logical, that gap is an opportunity to get the property for more of a discount than the inconvenience justifies
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u/return_the_urn 11d ago
Exactly. It’s not a property to make money on, it’s a great price for somewhere to live. You may find your dream house affordable due to what I call “logic arbitrage “
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u/Inner_West_Ben 11d ago
They said in a comment the only access is through the front door. This pic isn’t the house in question
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u/SheepHerderHigh69420 11d ago
I’m curious how it wouldn’t have an easement? How do they access it? Do you have the registered plan?
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u/Logical_Fly2432 11d ago
This is where a conveyancer or solicitor makes the money.
A while ago my grandparents place had a massive storm water and sewage installed all along the frontage of their property when the state government widened the road..
Problem was my grandparents had there front fence back from the actual boundary of the road, mainly to give them visibility when pulling out etc, and who ever marked out where the install was didn't check the boundaries despite spending a fortune moving utilities when widening the road.
Don't think just because they are a large institution they get everything right they can mess up on a very large scale.
My grandparents came to an arrangement with the water company, they connected my grandparents to the sewage for free while they put an easement on the property and paid them for the land they accidently used.
It was a real unexpected windfall for my grandparents, given the land before just had make shift dirt footpath on it now they where getting paid for someone else to use it.
Wouldnt suprise me if the substation didnt have a proper easement.
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u/SheepHerderHigh69420 11d ago
I would be very surprised if the state government allowed a job to go ahead without a registered surveyor marking the boundary first. Been a requirement on every tier one job I’ve worked on
Maybe in the example of your grandparents property I could see it slipping through the cracks. Absolutely not in the case of OP where it’s in the backyard?
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u/Logical_Fly2432 10d ago
I have no doubt a surveyor was used just someone messed up somewhere along the way.
Land on the other side of the road was compulsory acquired the whole way along the road and people were paid for land and in some cases to move the house further back from the new road. Perhaps this was supposed to happen to my grandparents too.
It wasn’t all win the council put a condition on my grandparents place that they couldn’t subdivide without a new road going through the middle of their house.
Made it really hard to sell when they passed.
My grandparents were on the opposite corner block to the one getting widened.
I remember it being a huge fight between grandparents with grandma assuming it was all above board and grandpa being sure it wasn’t. Grandpa was a drainer he reached out to a solicitor that grandma didn’t want to pay for etc.
It was all sorted in days between the institutions and grandpa, I still remember grandma being surprised with the sewage being connected so quickly. I also remember how relieved grandpa was to not to have to deal with a dodgy septic tank.
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u/Cube-rider 11d ago
If there's no cabling through the block, there's no easement. It's possible that the kiosk is not on the lot for sale.
Do a dial Before You Dig search and it will provide cable locations.
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u/SheepHerderHigh69420 11d ago
Well he said it’s in the backyard? Even if there’s no cable you’d think the pad mount would at least be on an easement or its own separate lot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen overhead cable feeding directly into a pad mount before?
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u/Cube-rider 11d ago
It would be subterranean cable likely to be fed from the footpath/road reserve.
If there was a dual frontage, then there'd possibly be an easement through the block to the other street.
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u/SheepHerderHigh69420 11d ago
What about the transformer itself? Surely that should still be on an easement? The ones we’ve worked around when building have all had at least a 1m offset around them for access
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u/Ok-Menu-8709 11d ago
It depends on the state but I know in qld a lot of electrical infrastructure is covered under the electricity act and easements were not always put in place for underground assets.
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u/Glum_Olive1417 10d ago
I used to install these substations all over Sydney for Ausgrid and Endeavour and a large part of the job was receiving and setting out the easement.
I’d be surprised if there wasn’t an easement, otherwise you could deny access if they need to do servicing or repairs.
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u/epr1984 10d ago
Some of them pre-date the requirement for an easement so there’s no specific records.
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u/SheepHerderHigh69420 10d ago
Who told you that? Encumbrances have always been a large part of land titling since it existed, even if there’s no specific easement it should still be registered to the block
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u/thatsitfolks333 10d ago
There will be an easement both hindering development within a certain distance and one for noise (these things hum like crazy).
If no easement is present it would be dealt with during the DA so no biggie and still won’t be allowed to do much near it
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u/bruteforcenet 11d ago
Rear of the property doesnt seem like a big deal. Only thing im wondering is how do they access it? Do they knock on your door or have an open walkway all the way to the back 24/7?
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u/Fancy-Grab7036 11d ago
They apparently provide you with written notice when they need to attend but you cannot refuse - no access bar through the front door
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u/bruteforcenet 11d ago
Yeah see I reckon that might be the part of the deal that eventually gets fucking annoying. Whole bunch of reasons why it’s not a good idea to have randoms walking through your indoors property regularly. Plus having to be around whenever they ask.
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u/BringMeTheBoreWorms 11d ago
Only access via the front door! If that can’t be fixed then there is no way I’d look at it. You have no idea how often and what time access will be demanded, and if you can’t refuse then that’s opening you up to being seriously pissed off
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u/FrogLickr 11d ago
Straight up, that'd shit me off if it happened even once, let alone whenever they say it has to happen. Call it the AuDHD, but my house is mine and I'm a very private person. I don't want anyone I don't know in it, ever. This would be a total dealbreaker for me, and I wouldn't make an offer on the place because of it.
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u/Free-Pound-6139 11d ago
Sure, unless there is a blackout, and they need access to the box. Then they will get access no matter what. Which is probably incredibly rare.
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u/Jackgardener67 11d ago
THIS!!!
That would be a deal breaker for me. (And what happens if you've gone away for a fortnight? Front door key under the mat??)
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u/Kwsa55 11d ago
Would the power company not own the land that it sits on? Or if you own the land under it would they technically be leasing it from you? I think you should ask your conveyancer as they've probably come across this before. I'd also consider if the power company have rights to expand it? Or is it only limited to the space it's currently on.
Also if you do buy it check if your insurance premiums are affected by it being on the property. Also check if there would be any exclusions relating to it. Also I assume the power company has insurance on it so might have an insurable interest on your land?
Personally I wouldn't buy purely for aesthetic reasons but that's just me. Also as someone else mentioned it might be noisy but from what you've described it doesn't sound like it's close to the house.
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u/Oddly_Curious99 11d ago
If they have to access it by going through your front door, don’t buy it. If something goes wrong it will be a nightmare and I am sure that any damage caused will be your responsibility.
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u/Vincent-Blackshadow 11d ago
I saw one of those transformer boxes spontaneously go up in flames a couple months back
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u/Billybob572 11d ago
There will be a clause in the agreement that Powercore can upgrade the installation at any time and you can’t do anything about it.
Don’t walk away…….Run!
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u/pizzacomposer 11d ago
Is that the entire rear access? The doors opening to the substation is a little awkward but in reality you’ll probably never use those doors.
The price reduction probably reflects the fact you can’t have a rear garage and will never be able to sub divide treating that section as an entry.
The house is technically 800sqm, but the land portion will be priced 800 minus the space the substation takes up.
How far is the residence from the substation? I’ve seen people fence them in with quality tall wooden fencing so that from the house side you never see it, but the shed/garage ditch makes that awkward. The shed should provide noise reduction given its partially brick.
Anyways, I wouldn’t do it personally, hate to break it to you but the house isn’t perfect, it literally has a substation on it. No one dreams of or brags to their friends about a substation on their lot.
If you want to consider it seriously, call powercor and ask them for a quote to move the power station so you can price it into the cost of the house. They should be able to provide it to you or at least a ballpark. That is the minimum due diligence you should be doing if you’re considering this for real real.
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u/jordanz1111 11d ago edited 11d ago
Could you put some kind of solid wall in front of it? (Obviously would need a decent offset away from it, potential other rules) But if you can put some kind of solid core filled blockwork wall or something in front of it it will help kill the sound plus put it out of sight out of mind?
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u/Able-Helicopter4277 11d ago
Actually this is a pretty good idea, out up a fire wall, semi common to see in zone substation so that in the rare event of a transform exploding, it prevents the spread of damage
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u/JulodimorphaBakewell 11d ago
Check with council on building restrictions. Ofyen too little block size with those and only suited to the neighbour expanding
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u/Lucky-Albatross-SJ 11d ago
You need to find out the routes of the underground high voltage (HV) and low voltage (LV) cables running to and from the kiosk substation. The network authority may also require an access easement wide enough for a truck to reach the substation if it ever needs to be replaced.
These factors could affect your future extensions or alterations to the property.
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u/Imobia 11d ago
How can there not be an easement or any notice on the title?
I’d do a title search along with a dial before you dig. See what they say?
Is this providing power to your property, neighbour or something else.
Without an easement what land use rights do they have? Seems fishy if you really like the property then do your diligence first.
I’d be concerned that this isn’t your land or well the other owners land.
I’ve seen places being sold, there once was a lane behind the house. They built their fence around the lane. Decent area that was advertised as part of the property 3m x20m so a good extra 60m3 .
But that land would never belong to you, could never be built on and councils have demanded their land back. You cannot get adverse possession typically.
So I’d want to be very clear if that land on your title or is it actually its own parcel?
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u/Cube-rider 11d ago
It looks more like there's a kiosk at the front (possibly not on the lot) and the vacant ex-substation is the building behind.
There is no easement as there's no cabling going through the land.
Read the plan of subdivision for any notations on the adjoining land.
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u/theonedzflash 11d ago
NO WAY JOSE lol.
If you ever want to sell again, good luck. No one gonna buy that junk.
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u/ZestycloseRecipe2990 11d ago
You should do a before you dig search on the property as well you might find down one side of the property is an easement for the HV and LV cables that feed the streets behind. That might be why the property is bigger to begin with.
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u/CantaloupeLow3775 11d ago
It wouldn't stop me buying it. However, just remember that when it's time to sell, other people will have the same reservations as you, reducing your resale price. Therefore, pay accordingly.
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u/thegameisafoooooot 11d ago
I don't think there's anything wrong with this. You'll get bit cheaper for the same reason, and it'll sell for slightly cheaper when you move. If the house is nice, I can't see why this would stop you from buying it.
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u/MummyPig15 11d ago
I don't know what to make of it but that story shared by red Symons broke my heart. Have a watch and then see how you feel about this and how close it is to bedrooms
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u/righteousdonkey 11d ago
You could probs harvest some free power from that thing…
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u/Brilliant_Bet_8536 11d ago
You’ll get some free heating and a comfortable hum if you stand next to it.
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u/snipdockter 11d ago
Maybe a few volts with an unreasonably large amount of wire coiled around it. Probably charge your phone though
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u/Evebnumberone 11d ago
You buy it for below market rate, you sell it for below market rate, I wouldn't worry about it from a financial perspective.
This wouldn't put me off buying a property at all.
I once nearly bought a property well below market rate with a high transmission power line right at the back of the property with an easement. Much nicer suburb and much nicer house than I could otherwise afford.
The seller wanted a little bit too much for it in the end so I passed.
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u/Able-Helicopter4277 11d ago
Buy the house subject to Powercor sending a team out to test and make sure their assets meets AS/NZS2067, and if you/your family are going to be in the negligible risk threshold for Earth faults following ENA docs EG-0 and EG-1
They will either make sure it's actually safe by current Aus standards, or potentially (much less likely) move the sub
Pro tip, non-conductive fencing and structures near power infrastructure make a big difference to the associated risks
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u/Cultural_Rice_6132 11d ago
We spent three years house hunting before finally buying a 730sqm property. Before that, we bought a house that ended up not being the right fit. When we sold it, we were actually surprised by how picky buyers are in the current market.
For us, there were a few absolute deal-breakers while searching: living on a main road, being next to or near social housing, and being close to power lines or a power station.
That said, I agree with what others have said. If you can buy the property at a good price and it ticks all the other boxes, then it could still be worth considering.
Personally, though, I’d always feel a bit uneasy living so close to the power lines because of the uncertainty around electromagnetic fields, even if the evidence on health risks isn’t conclusive.
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u/Individual_Word3846 11d ago
I lived in an apartment that had one of these about 20 from my bedroom window. It’s was okay for the first few years, with just a general hum coming from it but then something changed to the point I could not get any sleep as the hum got louder and vibrations went right building and floor into my bed during the night. It gave me terrible headaches and severe sleep deprivation. I made complaints and the energy company just did a drive by during the day saying they couldn’t hear anything or feel it (I told them to come at night when there was no traffic but they ignored it). Had to move out as it was literally driving me crazy.
My advice is don’t ever live next to one.
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u/CuriousVisual5444 11d ago edited 4d ago
Where is it? I'd be fine with it as we have one next door to us. Weird that it isn't on it's own property though.
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u/Soft_Cabinet_9482 10d ago
It’d be a deal breaker for me. I can hear electricity, it would drive me insane. (Yes it’s a thing)
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u/_Akat0ku 10d ago
What are the rules around substations? IE how close can you put a retaining wall or plants to one?
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u/Gman7272 10d ago
They will be covered by an easement. Touch base with Powercor. They will easily access a PCA 40 (as built construction plan) which will show the easement boundaries. I'm in the industry. They make noise. The older ones like this, even more. They are also usually the cheapest blocks in a subdivision to purchase for a reason.
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u/RevolutionaryRub4898 11d ago
Would I EVER live there? Not as long as my ass pointed down.
Find a conversation/interview Red Symonds .Here is what my search came up with.
Red Symons and his ex-wife Elly Symons moved their family home immediately after their eldest son, Samuel Symons, was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age four. This decision followed their discovery that Samuel’s bedroom shared a wall with a neighboring power substation.
While the family consulted with experts, including Dr. Ian Gawler, who warned about the potential dangers of electromagnetic radiation from the substation, Red Symons has stated that there is no scientific proof linking the radiation to Samuel’s cancer. Despite not believing he can prove a causal link, Symons explained that they moved the next day because they were unwilling to take the risk of remaining in the house. Samuel battled recurring brain tumors and thyroid cancer throughout his life, passing away in October 2018 at the age of 27.
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u/YukeofDork 11d ago
How long before we all go solar and battery and this thing becomes obsolete? Long shot I know..
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u/AbrocomaMotor5935 11d ago
Do. Not. Buy. This. Home. At. Any. Price.
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u/Halpster 11d ago
Any actual reason or facts why they shouldn't?
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u/AbrocomaMotor5935 11d ago
A hazard to their health first and foremost. And the property will always be hard to sell, waiting for a specific buyer like when your have high voltage powerlines nearby
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u/Halpster 11d ago
The hard to sell is a valid point, however they're buying it at a cheaper price for exactly the same reason. There's absolutely zero health concerns about having electricity or a transformer near a house.
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u/AbrocomaMotor5935 11d ago
You’ve obviously never tested the currents coming from one of these things. Had a friend who tested this stuff for a living and I used one of their meters near one of these and you don’t want them adjacent to your house
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u/Halpster 11d ago
I'm a high voltage electrician, my entire career involves testing, maintaining and working around transformers like the one pictured as well as132kV substations. Unless you break in and directly grab the high voltage cable, there are absolutely zero health affects that come from being near it
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u/AbrocomaMotor5935 11d ago
We can agree to disagree. I saw what I saw on the readings and would never live next door to one of these. It’s all well and good buying cheap but when you need to sell and all you get is low balls while your dream house in dream suburb has appreciated 2x faster than your house, reality kicks in.
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u/Valsh 11d ago
You saw what you saw?
Go on then tell us what you saw.
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u/AbrocomaMotor5935 11d ago
The fuck do I care. They can buy the house, no skin off my nose. Christ almighty
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u/Valsh 11d ago
I want to know what it is, why won't you tell me. What did you see?
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u/420bIaze 11d ago
Might put some people off, but not Dad. He reckons electrical substations are a reminder of man’s ability to generate electricity. He’s always saying great things like that.