'Illegal' detail exposed in $320-a-week real estate listing: 'I'm speechless'
A Melbourne real estate agent has been mocked for listing a "family-friendly" property for rent which is actually just a carport in the backyard of someone's home, it's been claimed.
TikTok user Jordie van den Berg often reviews rental properties around Australia as the rental crisis continues to take hold across the country.
It's not the first time the dwindling quality for Aussie renters has been questioned, but this particular listing left the social media user truly baffled.
The one bedroom and one bathroom studio in Doveton, Victoria was listed for $320 a week, he explained in a video on the social media platform, but doesn't appear to be available any longer. "But if you look closely on Google Maps it’s actually just a carport," he says, offering a virtual tour of the place.
The TikTok user went on to list a number of issues with the property listed by Harcourts, including the fact it's allegedly been "illegally subdivided".
"There are a couple of ways you can tell this place is illegally subdivided, which means you can’t get your name on any utilities or anything, so you can’t prove where you live," he alleges in the video. "Also you have to share internet with the person living in the actual house instead of the carport."
He thinks this because there's only one letterbox at the property, he points out, offering a glimpse of the outside of the property. The listing also states all bills are included in the asking price — both are tell-tale signs, he claims.
The TikTok user said Harcourts is "literally the worst" as he picked apart the agent's listing.
"Personally, I really enjoyed that the real estate agent said that this is ideal for the whole family when it’s literally a studio converted from someone’s f****** carport," he said. "They also said the property will leave you speechless which I guess is technically correct."
He also shared photos of the inside of the property, revealing exposed pipes in the living room.
"I’m not a plumber, but I’m pretty sure all of this plumbing is not meant to be on the inside of the living area," he mocked.
Next, he showed the kitchen which features a bright red splashback. There doesn't appear to be an oven either. He took aim at the rangehood saying "it needs its own range hood" and showed what looks to be a gutter running down the inside wall.
Yahoo News Australia has contacted Harcourts and the listed property manager over the now deleted advertisement.
Social media shocked by Melbourne rental
The video has since garnered over 97,000 views with hundreds of comments from people who were shocked by the listing.
"How is this legal and then nothing happens to the agents?” one commented. Another said they're "speechless."
"'Captivating views' if you love the feeling of being held captive," mocked a third.
"Surprised they haven’t rented out the letterbox to a family of mice for $200 a week," another joked.
One said this agent is "solving the rental shortage one carport at a time," while another admitted they're "so angry that people think this is OK to let others live in."
One user commented to say they came across the listing while looking for their own rental property. "Friends and I were having a good laugh and cry over it like the joke it is," they said.
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