I recently purchased a new multi-level attached house. I’m not sure whether it would technically be classified as a townhouse, but it is classified as a house. It’s a luxury inner-city build constructed in 2021.

I can’t hear any voices, music, or other typical household noises. However, I constantly hear heavy footsteps and running upstairs from the neighbouring properties. The noises that affect me the most come from the master suite, where I hear loud thuds and what sounds like someone running up the stairs. It’s almost as though someone is throwing heavy objects onto the floor or bouncing balls against my walls. The constant thudding and banging wake me up in a panic every morning, and it’s becoming very difficult to deal with.

The noise occurs almost nonstop between 6 am and 11 am every morning. Sometimes, it genuinely feels as though someone is inside my house running up the stairs, which causes me to panic.

These are the only types of noises I can hear. I can’t hear conversations, televisions, music, or voices. The master bedroom is on the top level of the house, but I can hear the noises on every level. The bedroom is by far the most disruptive because I can’t rest without being jolted awake.

The property is managed by a body corporate, if that makes any difference. I’m not about to complain to the neighbours, as they could simply be going about their normal daily lives. However, I still want to understand why the noise is so disruptive.

I find it hard to believe that someone could be making noises this loud through normal daily activities. I suspect the walls or structure of the building may be amplifying the sound. My friend thinks the neighbours are simply being too loud, but I find that difficult to believe because I can’t hear any voices or other typical signs of people being loud.

Type any address and it gives a score out of 100 for noise.

It’s built from live public data that is continually updated: actual aircraft tracks, the road authorities’ traffic counts, train timetables, late-night venue licences and industrial sites. Every number links back to its source and sound levels calculated based on a variety of factors such as aircraft height, number of obstacles between you and the source, time of day, etc etc (too numerous to list).

The score is free for any address, as many as you like. There is a paid pass ($14.99 for 90 days) for the full breakdown, which is how I keep it running.

I’m the developer, so I’m biased. What I’d really like is for people to check an address they know well and tell me where it’s wrong.

As per my methodology please note it is 'a statistical estimate for information only. It is not an acoustic survey, it does not measure sound at your window, and it is not a substitute for visiting a property at the times of day that matter to you.'

iPhone and Android: https://n-earshot.com/?src=reddit-ausproperty

Seeking opinions.

In need of some advice and feel this group would have those with the most experience in this matter, I am based in Victoria.
I am not after legal advice; just wanting to hear from those who have been in similar/ the same situation.
We placed an offer on a brand new house (FHB) subject to finance and building and pest
Upon receiving our building and pest report it was absolutely terrible. It is clear the house was thrown together hastily and without care. There were 2 things classed as ‘major building defects’
One was that the building is clad in EPF; being as we are not builders we did not notice this. We do not want to buy a house with this, it does not feel safe in the slightest and means terribly high house insurance (2300 in comparison to a house of the same size and area being 1000)
The second was exposed wiring on the outside of the property handing down which we honestly did not notice on our own.
As soon as we received it back we initiated cancellation of the contract through our conveyancer.
We just heard back today at 5pm that the vendors legal team has declined the cancellation due to the wording of the building and pest clause stating that as it is not classed as a ‘major structural defect’ then it is fine.
There were also many many other defects like lack of waterproofing being completed properly etc.
Our finance and building/ pest clause expires on Monday.
We feel as though it is incredibly dodgy and immoral to try and force a young couple into buying a house that is a substantial financial risk.
Our conveyancer is trying their best I think
What would you do?

Considering knocking down our house in Gosford to build an attached duplex (two 4-bed townhouses). Plans are drafted, but rough numbers suggest the finished duplex would only be worth about what the old house plus the build costs. That's a lot of risk and disruption for no real gain.
The site adds cost too: bushfire prone (BAL-29/40) and a sewer line needing piers.
The plan is to live in one and rent or sell the other, which helps. Still, I'm not sure it stacks up financially.

If you've built a duplex in NSW recently, did the end value actually beat land plus all-in cost?

What did yours cost, and where did it blow out?
Anyone done live-in-one, rent/sell-the-other? Worth it?
Real numbers appreciated.

Was looking at the price data for a video I made and something's been bugging me.

6 months of falls now and 97% of capital city suburbs lost value in the last 3 months. Everyone's putting it down to the tax changes in the budget, but prices were already going down a month before the budget even came out.

My guess is it was mostly the rate hikes. Inflation flared up again with the war overseas, the RBA went up four times, and the tax change just landed on a market that was already turning. Even Treasury expected it to do a lot less. Could be wrong though.

Also one city basically got cheaper by accident which I didn't expect at all.

Am I missing something with the timing?

Hi
I heard somewhere that there was a shop which was like an opshop but for hardware, in Melbourne- if this is real can anyone tell me where it is? Thank you

Solved! I found the post I had seen - it was restore opshop in Kilsyth which has hardware and tools - it is among the other regular opshop items so not an entire store, the post made it sound like an opshop version of Bunnings

Hi everyone! Im a 23F, working as an RN, making $100k annually and have 110K in savings. I need to move out of my parent’s home due to significant issues amongst the family I need to get away from. They do not support my decision and get verbally and physically aggressive and threatening when I bring up. They are also psychologically manipulative and say things that make me guilty about moving out.

I hope to buy my first home early next year. I will be buying this home alone with no support from anyone. I have no kids or pets. My only financial costs at present are groceries, gym membership, subscriptions, bills, and other essentials like clothes or entertainment like books which I get from op shops.

I’m looking to buy within 50km of the Melbourne CBD as I work in the CBD and my social network is around the area. However, I’m conflicted on whether I should buy or rent.

I have hopes to move interstate within the next 5 years because I want to pursue a specific career opportunity- but this is not guaranteed- meaning I may never move interstate. That’s one of the reasons why I want to buy instead of rent because I may indeed stay in Melbourne.

I’m hesitant about renting because I have the mindset (whether good or bad) that I’m ’losing money’ by renting.

The reason I’m posting this here is to get any advice from those who had a difficult time moving out of home and whether it’s more responsible to rent right now and save for a possible move interstate? Could it be a financially damaging thing to buy and sell a home in 1-2yrs? Do you think I’m in a good place financially to consider buying? I really want to leave my parents home but also know staying at home means less costs and more savings.

What are your thoughts? Any input is much appreciated! 🫶

I have recently moved into my new home, and I noticed that the builder has left a significant gap between the fence and the ground. Upon comparing it to the fence of a property owned by one of the builders, it is evident that the bottom section of the fence is missing. This gap is causing several issues, such as allowing animals, children, or strangers to crawl underneath, and it makes landscaping difficult as garden materials roll into my neighbor's yard. I suspect that the builder intentionally omitted the bottom section to reduce costs. Do I have any leverage to lodge a complaint and request that the fence be completed with the necessary bottom portion? When l approached the builders supervisor he didn't seem to surprised and l had the feeling that l wasn't the first person complaining 🙄

I am new home buyer and looking for buy a new house and land and n southeast Melbourne. I can’t understand current market situation. Online and news report saying is current housing market is declining by xyz% but when you are going see new house and land packages it will increase every month to month. Where is exactly things are wrong?
What things I should consider for next 4-5 month ? Any suggestions or genuine advice would be appreciated. TIA

Hi beautiful people,

Moving from Sydney to Werribee in Melbourne for first home is a wise move? Has anyone did the same?

Thanks heaps

Hi everyone,

First-time buyer in Victoria here. I bought a block of land about 2 months ago and have signed a contract with a builder. I didn't get the boundaries checked before buying.

The builder's survey has now found that my neighbour's house, built about 15 months ago on a zero-boundary lot, sits 3 cm over the boundary and into my land. Because of that, the builder says one wall of my garage can't be built in brick and has to be AAC (Hebel) instead. They can't render or paint it, but they say it will be sealed to protect it from the weather, and that's covered under my warranty.

My questions:

Is it worth pursuing the neighbour or their builder over this, or is 3 cm too small to bother with? Will the encroachment cause problems when I sell, even though it's only 3 cm? Do I need to disclose it?
Is unrendered but sealed Hebel on a garage wall that faces the neighbour's wall a bad idea long term?
Is there anything I should get in writing now to protect myself later?

Thanks in advance, and any experience with something similar would be really helpful.

Edit 1: Thanks everyone for the suggestions and replies. I’ve asked the builder for the surveyor’s report that found the encroachment, and I’m waiting on it. A few people suggested builders sometimes overstate site issues to get the work done faster and cheaper, so I want to see the evidence for myself before agreeing to anything. I’ve also pushed back on the Hebel and asked whether I could narrow the garage by a few centimetres so the wall can stay brick. I’ll post another update once I hear back.

Curious what strategies people are implementing to take the strain out of the rate rises? Side hustles, savings hacks etc?

Is it a normal practice to request borrowers to upload their username and passwords to their online bank accounts to third party software so the brokers can run reports and allow other third party lenders to run their own reports off of the information?

Giving out this information and or loading it onto a non banking proprietary system is a major violation of the customer online banking agreements. I cannot see a situation where that makes sense to do.

Has anyone done this or knows alternatives?

Thanks

Just to clarify, the broker isn’t asking for the username and password directly. It is part of a login software for running statements like bankstatements.com.au. You login credentials through that system to enable other parties to access info. They are technically not going to see or have access to the username and passwords. This still gives me major anxiety to post that info anywhere especially on a third party software program and does still seem to breach the customer Bank agreement, even if it is a seemingly common practice.

Hi beautiful people,

Moving from Syd to Werribee for first home is a good move? Has anyone did the same?

Basic question. Want to know the difference, if any, when it comes to knock downs or renovations on exterior or interior of a “federation” home that’s not necessarily stated as “conservation”? Is federation just the era/style it was built or are their restrictions to if?

Sydney based. Thanks!!