A NEWBUILD four-bed home has sold for almost three times the guide price – but wait until you see the garden.
The detached property had an asking price of just £50,000, but ended up selling at auction for £143,000.
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Having such a small price tag enticed potential buyers despite them having to sign a health and safety waiver to view it.
The Stoke-on-Trent house sits on an infamous sinkhole street – where things got so bad at one point residents couldn’t park there.
One even opened up on the drive of this home and made its way into the garden.
It appeared three years ago and has meant any buyer will not be able to use the drive just yet as it’s still collapsed.
The damage can be seen on the garden patio too – where tiles are all over the place and a manhole cover doesn’t sit flush with the ground.
Pictures of the home show the rest of it is well-decorated and has a spacious kitchen.
The three-storey home has a master bedroom with an en-suite, a downstairs bathroom and a detached garage – which is close to the sinkhole.
However, the home was built in the 2000s so could do with some modernising.
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Stoke-on-Trent City Council was forced to close Boatman Drive to traffic in August 2019 when the sinkhole originally opened up.
It was described by estate agents Butters John Bee as a “fantastic investment opportunity”.
We’ve explained more about sinkholes below.
If you buy a property near a sinkhole, you’ll need to keep in mind that its existence may cause problems when you come to sell.
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What is a sinkhole?
A sinkhole is a large hole that suddenly opens up in the ground – and most times they catch people totally unaware.
They are usually caused by erosion underneath the ground’s surface that is due to poor drainage of water.
Sinkholes have been known to be just a couple of feet across but also so big that they have swallowed up cars and buildings.
The deepest sinkhole to have ever formed is in the Chongqing district of China, and it is 2,171 feet deep and 2053 metres wide.
In February, a big sinkhole forced residents to flee their homes.
Meanwhile, other residents say their lives have been “ruined” by a giant sinkhole that closed the only road into their estate.
