Land Purchase – Planned Duplex Construction Turned Home with a View.
 

I have found considerable success over the years with buying a problem property and solving it (See also the Jack & Jill, Church Access, Steep is Cheap But Can Be Solved & Solve the Problems for Gain projects). Early on, when such a thing existed, I also found success in the local paper’s property classifieds with owner sellers. Why? It seemed they were either uninformed as to value (which goes both ways, over and under) or couldn’t/wouldn’t afford an agent to assist them sell. As such, they lacked the necessary knowledge on market value and/or buyer activity. 

At this point, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. A Tasmanian-based seller for a Queensland lot that could ostensibly accommodate a 1200m2 duplex at circa $60k (late ‘90s) got my attention. It was a good site with some slope but zoned correctly. Terms were agreed quite quickly and near the asking price. Then it started. I began receiving bizarre letters and phone calls from a seemingly unhappy, unsettled and mentally unstable seller about how she was on the run from various bikie gangs and in a witness protection program. The letters were very odd – sad, but disturbing. They eventually stopped, although I do still have them.

Sadly, we couldn’t make a duplex work on the slope and, after a lesson on slope and slip stability, we settled to a single dwelling that was rented out for a decade. It eventually sold for double its costs ($230k) in less than 10 years, plus some great letters and memories!