A real estate ad encouraging investors to ‘cash in’ on rural Australia’s housing crisis has infuriated people struggling to find a place to live as prices skyrocket.
Cooktown Real Estate listed the three-bedroom home in the far north Queensland town for $520,000 – but it was the description of property which drew anger.
‘Cash in on Cooktown’s housing shortage and purchase this excellant (sic) rental investment,’ the ad reads.
‘This modern home is in a central location with an existing government tenant.
‘With limited properties for sale and severe rental shortage, well built homes are in demand.’
The ad then lists the features of the home, including its ‘sturdy rendered concrete’.
An ad (above) by Cooktown Real Estate for a $520,000 home encourages investors to ‘cash in’ on the rural community’s housing crisis
The listing was shared to Reddit where users said they were struggling to find a a home because of ‘astronomical’ prices.
Cooktown is about 330km north of Cairns and about 80km off the main highway to the tip of Cape York.
With fewer than 3,000 residents, many commenters said that homes should be cheap and plentiful.
‘I’m shocked they have houses going for $520,000 to be honest. Not the kind of place you’d even buy a shack!’ one person wrote.
‘Cooktown is in the middle of nowhere, I would have thought rental oversupply because nobody wants to live there,’ another commenter said.
A third wrote: ‘520k in Cooktown, tell ’em they’re dreaming.’
Many commenters underneath a post calling out the ad said they don’t understand how the home (above) could be worth $520,000
Locals said a lack of homes in the area is driving the housing market to ‘astronomical’ prices (pictured, the $520,000 Cooktown home)
Other commenters called out the real estate agency for its thoughtless ad.
‘Real estate people are vile and obviously this person can’t even spell,’ one said.
‘Trying to find a house or even a bloody rental in Australia might actually kill me,’ another person said.
A third commenter wrote ‘F**king scumbags’, while another added: ‘Scum of the earth some might say.’
However, at least one commenter was happy to defend the realtor, writing: ‘At this stage we have to stop attacking real estate agents.
‘I can’t stand real estate practices, but to be honest this isn’t really one of the sh***y ones.
‘They’re not a charity, everyone knows what’s going on with the housing market, it would be mad not to use it to sell houses.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Cooktown Real Estate for comment.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
