Do land developers ever "pretend" they are developing a site to fish for interest?

Discussion in 'The Buying & Selling Process' started by MissSwiss, 23rd Nov, 2016.

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  1. MissSwiss

    MissSwiss Active Member

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    Is this something that happens?

    I have recently enquired about a brand new release of land. Was told they would be for sale in December and registered approximately a year later, but the development application had not yet been approved by council.

    However, I couldn't find the DA on council's website. When I asked the agent if I could please have the DA number, the response was simply "No, sorry, the developer has it". I thought this was weird, as in person I had been told that the DA was in and I could go and look it up.

    Kind of makes me think that perhaps there is no DA, and that the developer has maybe staged all of this sales crap to fish for interest to decide A) if they will go ahead, and B) how they will prices them.

    Does anyone know if this actually happens? Or am I just a conspiracy theorist??
     
    MissSwiss, 23rd Nov, 2016
    #1
  2. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    May be doing an "expression of interest" like employers and recruitment agencies do to gauge interest .... then screw down the pay to the minimum they can to match demand :D
    Except your developer will screw the price up to fill their pockets ;)
     
    bob shovel, 23rd Nov, 2016
    #2
  3. Ross Forrester

    Ross Forrester Well-Known Member

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    I think that testing the market to determine the viability of a project is common.

    And a lot of guys want to do stuff but it gets held up beyond their control.
     
    Ross Forrester, 23rd Nov, 2016
    #3
    Perthguy likes this.
  4. ej89

    ej89 Well-Known Member

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    They probably have an option on the land and will only go through when they have the sales
     
    ej89, 23rd Nov, 2016
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  5. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    in WA there are quite a few stages at Council before a DA is actually submitted - but people still talk about it as DA. None of which is searchable on the council website - so it might be similiar if it's a subdivision of land over let's say 20 or so lots.
    Did you call the Council and enquire? That will tell you more about the land than searching on the website.
     
    Westminster, 23rd Nov, 2016
    #5
    Ross Forrester likes this.
  6. willair

    willair Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Maybe bypass the agent and council's web page and speak to the council direct,they would know if the da has been registered or not ..
     
    willair, 23rd Nov, 2016
    #6
  7. See Change

    See Change Well-Known Member

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    Trump has a habit of doing that . Floating an idea and then gauging interest to see if it goes ahead .

    Cliff
     
    See Change, 23rd Nov, 2016
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  8. MissSwiss

    MissSwiss Active Member

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    Thanks guys, I have since found out that it was actually all legit, just some suboptimal communication from the agent :)
     
    MissSwiss, 27th Nov, 2016
    #8
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