Murder houses: Is it time for QLD agents to disclose dark pasts?

A global website of “stigmatised properties” lists a number of Queensland houses and units with creepy or criminal pasts, including the former homes of murderers and child killers.

Queensland buyers are warned to conduct their own research to determine if a property has a dark history.

A GLOBAL website of “stigmatised properties” lists a number of Queensland dwellings with creepy or criminal pasts.

Marketed as a “one-of-a-kind resource” for realtors, homebuyers, renters and true crime enthusiasts, thewebsite utilises user generated content, news articles and other public records to document the addresses of properties where murders, crimes or other historical events have occurred.

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Max Sica was given three life sentences for murder of the Singh siblings. Pic Glenn Barnes

And southeast Queensland has no shortage of macabre listings, from the former rental home of wife murderer Gerard Baden-Clay at Brookfield to the Chambers Flat property of Rick Thorburn, the man who murdered his foster daughter Tiahleigh Palmer.

The Bridgeman Downs home where three siblings were callously killed by Max Sica also makes the gruesome list, as does the Surfers Paradise apartment where Warriena Wright fell to her death from the balcony of her Tinder date’s unit complex.

Gerard Baden Clay outside his Brookfield house where

Stigmatised properties are dwellings that have a disturbing past that could have a psychological impact on its value despite the property being structurally sound.

There is no hard and fast rule about what must be disclosed as a “material fact” in Queensland, but in Victoria, vendors and agents must disclose if there has been a murder or even a meth lab at a property for sale.

Rick Thorburn was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his 12-year-old foster daughter Tiahleigh Palmer in October 2015 (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Real Estate Institute of Queensland CEO Antonia Mercorella said there was no obvious set of laws that defined stigmatised properties, or any specific obligations to report a murder or other crime at a property.

But she said there was a duty to report “material facts” that could influence a sale, however the definition of that could be subjective.

“We take a very conservative approach to this issue and we suggest that agents err on the side of caution and disclose it,” she said.

“There is a difference between disclosing to the world and disclosing it to someone who is about to spend money on things like building and pest inspections.

“We always say to have a conversation with the vendor and find out if there is something that should be disclosed and then decide how it should be disclosed.

“It is a challenging one and the law is ambiguous and what matters to one person may not matter to another.”

The Chambers Flat murder scene

In a blog post, Andrew Gardiner, director of Sunshine Coast legal firm Andrew Gardner Law, said the old adage “caveat emptor” or buyer beware applied in Queensland.

“The law in Queensland is murky,” he said.

“As the law stands, there is no positive obligation for the seller to disclose any past events or crimes that might influence a buyer’s decision to purchase a property.

“The onus remains on the buyer to conduct all relevant searches and take it one step further if they want to be certain that their property doesn’t have a sketchy history.”

The former rental home of Baden-Clay, who was sentenced to life behind bars for the murder of his wife Allison

Place Ascot director and agent Drew Davies knows a thing or two about selling houses with a shady past.

Last year, Mr Davies sold a landmark home at Hamilton which was at the centre of a high society murder in the 1950s.

Back then, Hamilton resident Sylvia Joyce Clare Ferguson was convicted of the murder of her rich husband Roy Ferguson.

Two other men, her lover and a friend, were also jailed for the crime.

Sylvia Joyce Clare Ferguson was convicted, along two other men, of the murder of her husband Roy- Photo The Telegraph

But the property’s salacious history did little to deter the new owner, who paid $2.25 million for the statement home.

“There is a ghost that is believed to be the husband,” Mr Davies said.

“The new owner rang me and said he would be at the auction and I asked him if he needed to see the house.

“He laughed and said he was on good terms with the ghost, having lived there previously.”

Mr Davies recalled the time when he first realised it was “that house”.

He said that he sat in one room and noted that it had a “really cool feel” about it.

“The vendor asked if I was just saying that, and then I was told it was where it (the murder) happened,” he said.

This Hamilton residence was at the centre of a scandalous society murder in the 1950s

Mr Davies said there was a lot of interest in the property, especially from people familiar with the story.

“I did speak to a lawyer before launching the property,” he said.

“I did a few stories, TV interviews, where I disclosed it (the murder) but then didn’t mention it at open inspections unless I was asked.

“I think the fact it happened so long ago, it kind of felt more like an old movie.”

The murder trial court inspects the Ferguson home - Photo The Telegraph

Meanwhile, property records show that a house in Burnett Heads, where a pensioner was murdered in 2011 by a mother and son, has sold three times since that gruesome crime.

A Caboolture South house where a toddler was murdered by his mothers partner remains in the hands of Department of Housing.

Both Baden-Clay and Thorburn were convicted and given life sentences for their hideous crimes.

Sica was given three life sentences for the murders of his ex-girlfriend and her two siblings.