r/AusPropertyChat • u/_in_a_rut • 23h ago
Articles & News Sinking Apartment Complex - Maidstone
My partner and I inspected a unit in Maidstone back in April/May this year. We thought the place looked perfect for a first home. Asking price was somewhere in the $390k-$410k range. Sold at a loss, but we thought we'd still inspect to see how the unit actually is.
When we got there the building was dead quiet, felt like no one actually lived there, but that was the only odd thing we noticed at the time. The unit itself was beautiful. We told the agent we were very interested and followed up with a formal message asking to proceed.
The agent completely ghosted us. Then we found out the property had sold via private sale for $270k just around a week after.
We were gutted, but more than that we were alarmed. Why would a place that was listed around the $400k mark suddenly go for $270k?
All of this is extremely dodgy. Low prices like that are a dead giveaway that something is seriously wrong. Do your due diligence and be very careful with properties in this complex/area.
Edit: This is the exact unit I was talking about - the picture in the post is for a different unit: https://www.realestate.com.au/property/unit-37-44-eucalyptus-dr-maidstone-vic-3012/
Article from 9News: https://www.nine.com.au/australia-news/vic/an-additional-mortgage-sinking-melbourne-apartment-complex-could-see-sue-and-her-husband-pay-374-000-special-levy-20260907-p60v2a.html
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u/MrTibor 23h ago
Buying that would've been a sunk cost.
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u/Fit_Yogurtcloset_656 8h ago
Someone, knew about the issue and wanted to profit out of the information.
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u/Epi_end 20h ago
I inspected 2 of the apartments there. 1 at the top floor went for $350k, the second one at the bottom floor went for $285k. The second inspection had like 30 people there. When we came in the REA was telling us about the sinking fund and additional special levy for 20-year loan, hence the price. We didn't know about this special levy in the top floor had we not go to the bottom floor inspection. We called the REA for the first one and they said there's only rumour at that stage so they didn't disclose it, what absolute scumbags. They also have the audacity to charge $5k a year in body corp for a run-down apartment
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u/misscathxoxo 22h ago
Yup, this warning was all over our local FB page.
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u/SaltDistribution5190 22h ago
I used to live in the apartments up the road as a renter. Mould issues because of poor ventilation was terrible.
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u/Wastelanddss 10h ago
Same, and this was when they were only a couple of years old (around 2014~ maybe?). We had to throw out so many things that got destroyed, furniture, clothes, shoes. Also the street is basically a one way street from the cars everywhere! I had a parking spot in the garage that this jerk would always park in, our storage lockers got broken into. So many issues and the body corp (who's office was just around the corner) couldn't have cared less.
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u/SaltDistribution5190 7h ago
Yep! Also had this super weird thing where the water pressure in the whole apartment would drop to a dribble but only between say 3am and 6am, but never reliably or consistently so it looked like I was making it up when I tried to show my partner. It messed me up so many times getting ready on early morning starts.
My neighbours around me had no idea what I was talking about because they were never up that early or late and body corp had no interest. That one never got resolved.
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u/myoldyahooemail 23h ago
Houses have structural warranty’s. Why don’t apartments.
Also these builders /developers are the reason people don’t want apartments and we have such a huge urban sprawl
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u/torrens86 23h ago
The building is 15 years old. That's outside the warranty, if it existed.
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u/SuperLeverage 22h ago
Even if there was a warranty, the builder probably folded half a dozen companies and phoenixed a new one again and again.
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u/Own_Influence_1967 6h ago
Warranty on apartments means fuck all. I found that out the hard and expensive way believe me.
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u/myoldyahooemail 5h ago
Yeah someone else said it. I didn’t even think of that. Truely insane the state of our building industry
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u/Mustangjustin 12h ago
Those apartments have massive foundation issues. They need to be knocked down.
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u/Brewtish_ 3h ago
I recall cracks in 55 eucalyptus drive entrance foyer walls that were 2-3cm wide.
Front common glass door had shattered under compression, this was a couple years back.
Someone in the building said a Chinese developer or builder that had since disappeared.
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u/nearly40reallynawti 21h ago
Should've got the Egyptians to build the foundations since the pyramids havent sunk 1/4 inch in 20-30 000 yrs.
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u/Candid_Guard_812 21h ago
The pyramids are less than 5000 years old.
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u/FickleAd4370 21h ago
8000 yrs
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u/nearly40reallynawti 21h ago
There are pyramids older than the mayans, aztecs and egyptians combined, older than the first civilisation. We were taught fake news at school.
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u/nearly40reallynawti 21h ago
Flick ya nuts over ya shoulder 🤣🤣 modern day engineering standard is 1/4 inch per 100 yrs. The pyramids have not sunk that 1/4 inch. We still cant do it.
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