A Brisbane woman has admitted to spending hours sitting outside properties, day and night, trying to hear what it would be like to live there.
She’s not alone, many people know what a property is like to live in, but are in the dark about whether the property suffers from intrusive noise problems.
Anne Sweeney is a Brisbane resident who owns an investment property in Jindalee. It was purchased so her three children would have a place to live while they study at the University of Queensland.
“We have always been concerned about ongoing noise levels and have decided not to purchase properties in the past for this very reason,” she said.
Open houses and inspections are often short, and at a time of day when the agent knows the property will be quiet.
Anne says she recently found out about NoiseNet, a Brisbane based startup which offers a free service to rate a property based on its noise levels. The rating (1 being quiet and 5 being loud) takes into account flight paths, roads, commercial zoning and rail networks.
Mrs Sweeney used to service to type in her Jindalee address and was surprised to find out it ranked 2.9 out of 5. A moderate rating, meaning it is effected by noise.
Upon ordering a more detailed report from the company, she said she was surprised by what it showed.
She said: “It highlighted areas and causes of noise I never would have considered. Having someone else provide this information is useful.”
The Noise Rating is the first of its kind in the world and has already provided ratings to over 110 people in the Brisbane City Council area.
NoiseNet CEO Stuart Clough said: “This free information will hopefully help people avoid disappointment and allow them to know all they can about a property – before they commit to it.”