Development learning resource suggestions?

Hi guys,

I am looking to start developing late this year or early next year. Do any of you have good books you suggest for learning ins and outs of developing, both Aussie specific as well as some general things?

I should mention: Preference for starting out with houses, then moving onto multi-unit (e.g. townhouses). I'm gonna have a windfall that should comfortably allow for either though I figured it would be sensible to start smaller and learn faster.

Cheers

 

have you had experience in constuction / building in the past? or renovating?

tell us about your past experience?

from reading the forum here , one would need cash or equity to start developing.

 

Australian Residential Property Development for Investors, Ron Forlee
Profit From Property, Philip Thomas
Property Development Kit over at propertyresourceshop covers spec homes and up to 3 townhouses

There are also a few development courses out there you can look at.

 

"The Australian Residential Property Development” by Ron Forlee

Kindle: Australian Residential Property Development: A Step-by-Step Guide for Investors eBook: Ron Forlee: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

Itunes: Australian Residential Property Development by Ron Forlee on iBooks

Paperback: Australian Residential Property Development: A Step-by-Step Guide for Investors eBook: Ron Forlee: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

Edit: Beat me to it @KDH !

 

@Chabs

for a quick read, you can read our free ebook.

Also, feel free to read some of experienced property developers' log on this forum and somesoft. it will give you good insight of property development.

 

Agree with the above, Ron Forlee books give a good overall picture.

This website also has a lot of info, more so with regards to the actual construction process I think but still good. BUILD

I also agree with starting smaller and learning as much as you can. It's really a crazy process...I find no matter how much you know or prepared you are.. things will just jump out at you and require you to take care of it.

If you have a friend who can mentor you through your first development, it would be a great help imo.

 

Good idea to research as much as you can before jumping in.
There are a couple of threads on here, people above have some good input.

 

Thanks for the replies everybody, I have been reading Somersoft a lot and recently property chat, so far I have been vicariously learning through other's stories. I thought to look into guides and the like that could reduce mistakes and optimise time. Even everyday simple things to break down naivety.

I'm happy to read about the simplest stuff too, For e.g. if I could learn council communication strategies like "best time of the day to call them" or etiquette e.g. "Dont ever leave a message, only try to keep calling and don't take it personally, these guys are busy" or negotiation e.g. "promise to compromise on x/y/z in return for getting a/b/c.

Construction exp:
Currently doing owner builder project on 2 storey home + granny flat. I have minor experience working in a construction company, under 1 year. I have friends who are familiar with construction, though its for larger tier projects like commercial and high rise apartments.

Construction related quals:
If I wanted to, I could get a builders licence in time thanks to some experience as well as a partially completed cert IV (put it on the backburner to focus on my business). I also have a tertiary double degree including civil engineering at USYD.

Development knowledge:
Mostly knowledge through what I've read online or know from off-hand chats from family and family friends who have started these sorts of things. Nothing too specific but I know some fundamental level stuff.

Thank you!!

Again thank you !! I figured this sort of stuff would be a good way to get things kick started

 

Really appreciate, time to get reading!

Thanks Leo, I've luckily seen how so many people have messed up developments. For example in Blacktown, Sydney during the 2002-2003 boom, a lot of developers bought large parcels of land at the top of the market, and were forced to sit on them for literally 10+ years!! There are still lots of pockets of land in the CBD that are finally being touched, now that the market is going strong again. Luckily despite the losses being potentially large, the wins outweigh them in the long run.

I'd love to find people to talk about this stuff to, will try and make developer friends

 

Quite a few on the forum mate who you can chat to and ask for advice etc.

 

How did you go @Chabs ? Any recommendations?

 

FYI for some 'light relief' I listen to the 'Property Developer Podcast' (on iTunes) on my ride home. Definitely deals mostly with 'larger' develoments (5-50 units) and full-time developers but still a few things to learn in there.

 

For something a bit more thorough (but probably targeted more at large-scale land development, though no doubt with many transferable learnings) the Property Council offers a number of courses in different capital cities. Look under Industry Diplomas / Property Development on their website. Upcoming Courses

 

Hi mate, I have done most of my learning through networking + reading somersoft and propertychat. I did skim some books but never been very good at technical stuff, I do understand important concepts now though. Been focusing on Sydney exclusively as I feel at this stage that is best.

Best recommendation is to begin meeting people and the network crawl, leveraging other's expertise has already helped me understand much better, for example looking at an opportunity in Liverpool right now and have a good friend who has frequently worked with multi unit projects in the Council LGA before.

I have noticed that the biggest things to learn are more "what not to do" rather than what "to do". There's also a lot of sage advice on what steps to follow and where to avoid cutting corners. I suppose in development, there are a lot of things to learn from other's mistakes.

Thank you, checking it out now.

 

Learning by DIY and ask questions here

 

For those interested the (paid) property research website Investar (which I don't subscribe to, but have thought about in the past) is hosting a free webinar tomorrow night on how to 'Find, Analyse & Research Sub Division Opportunities'.

[Webinar] Find, Analyse & Research Sub Division Opportunities

You would imagine it will mainly focus on using their platform, but I'm interested to listen in to see what data could be sourced elsewhere (or even to see if they win me over to sign up).

 

x 2 for property development kit by Matt Jones

 

How much does this one go for?

 

Subdivision Kit | Property Resource Shop

 

Different prices if you get a hardcopy folder or just PDF. Pretty cheap though. I think around $4-500