A first-home buyer has been left scratching her head after getting the keys to her Queensland house. Vivienne was excited to move into the rural property nearly 1,000 kilometres north-west of Brisbane after the November sale.
But when she arrived at the home after settlement, she quickly noticed the previous owners had removed the small white rocks lining the front yard’s garden bed, which was also cleared of plants and flowers. The 34-year-old told Yahoo Lifestyle that she genuinely can’t believe what’s happened.
“I can say for certain when I first inspected it and made the offer, the rocks were in the garden,” she said.
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“It now looks awful. It’s no longer garden bed. It’s just a pile of dirt.
“To actually pull out the rocks lying in the garden beds… I’m not even angry. I’m amused at the audacity of them.”
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Vivienne paid $360,000 for the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home and the listing photos clearly showed a line of small rocks in the front and back yards.
They also showed some flowers still alive, but the 34-year-old suspected those plants could have been taken out due to being dead in the recent hot temperatures.
It was no small feat for Vivienne to save up enough money to purchase her first home, and while she didn’t want to focus too much on the negatives, she can’t work out why the stones were removed.
She wants to replace them, but because she lives regionally, it’s not as simple as popping to the local shops for new rocks or pavers.
“I have to drive either an hour to Mitre 10 or three hours to Bunnings, which has cheaper prices,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.
What the front garden looks like now compared to the listing pictures. Picture: Supplied/realestate.com.au
‘It’s ridiculous’: Tricky situation for Aussie first-home buyers
Buyer’s agent Dion Marsden was just as confused and shocked as Vivienne when he found out what had happened.
The property expert told Yahoo Lifestyle that this case is “ridiculous” and “disappointing”.
“I’ve never heard of this before,” he said.
He added that rocks like this shouldn’t be removed.
Buyer’s agent Dion Marsden said first-home buyers need to ensure the property sale contracts are ‘crystal clear’. Picture: TikTok/Dion Marsden/Getty
“It depends on the contract, but [rocks] are something that [sellers] would need to indicate that they were removing,” he said.
“Stones are a permanent nature to the property. It’s like mulch, it’s a permanent nature.
“But there’s so much grey area with all this stuff and buyer, unfortunately, do not have enough rights. When it comes to final inspections, it can be very, ‘He Said, She Said’, and the pressure then falls onto the buyer.”
He said buyers can “kick up a fuss” and delay settlement until an issue like this gets resolved, but this can be “costly”.
Lawyers might have to get involved and Dion said once everything is cleared up, it might not be worth the time, effort and money.
What should Aussie buyers do to avoid this?
Dion said the final inspection is a chance for buyers to ensure the home they’ve bought is in working order and has everything that’s agreed upon in the contract.
He told Yahoo Lifestyle that it’s best to schedule that inspection as close to settlement day as possible as it leaves little room for anything to change.
“I’d recommend most people having a final inspection one to two business days out from their settlement,” he said.
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He added that buyers should also express their expectations clearly in the lead-up to settlement.
“It’s really important at the time of purchase to be very clear in writing with what’s staying and what’s going,” he said.
“I’ve just been putting everything into contracts so it’s crystal clear. That way, you’ve got a reference point you can point to the contract.”
Vivienne added that buyers should take as many photos as possible so that they have evidence if they run into a similar situation.
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