Dominique Grubisa - Property Uplift program

Hi there,
I wane to a day long workshop in Melbourne from Dominique.The workshop was informative and she presents quite well.10-15 partipants signed up at the end and there was decent uptake.

She has a 3 day 'Property Uplift Program' program in Sydney costing 6500$ that includes

1. The 3-Day Property Uplift Program Immersion Workshop
2. Property development manual
3. Has access to softwares around property valuation,zoning informaiton,building esitmator platform as below: RP Data subscription , Blockbrief subscription - 6 month acces, Cordell Connect - 6 month access , Cordell Estimator Platinum - 6 month access , Archicad software - 6 month access,Feasibiloity assessment software.
4. Four quarterly "Infill Reports" for 5 postcodes of your choice
5. Legal and technical email support for your development deals
6. Legal kit: contracts, forms, templates and special conditions
7. Monthly webinars with Dominique - lifetime accesss

I have moderate understanding of what the property development process ,have read couple of books and explored few areas in Melbourne that may be right for property deveopment.

I was wondering if anyone has attended this workshop and if it's worth the money(cost+flight+hotel stay) and effort involved.

Any relevant thoughts will be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

Haven't attended her workshop but I have for Bob Anderson's development workshop and thoroughly enjoyed his. Cost was $5k at the time for 2 people so got someone else to join me.

Imo if you want to do one of these then its best to do it when you actually have the money to do a development and not years before you are ready.

I do know that DG's background is in law whereas Bob has been a developer most of his life.

 

What do you hope to get out of it?

Are you in a position where you are ready to do developments or just keen because it's a get rich quicker deal

Do some homework on Domonique (or any other spruiky course) there are quite a lot of ex students who did her courses and never did anything because:
1. they weren't ready
2. they didn't have the risk appetite
3. it took actual work and they just wanted a get rich quick scheme
4. the course gave them enough information to be dangerous and they rushed into their first buy and it severely impacted their ability to do anything after that

Starting off a development in a market that is softening/falling might not be the best time.

 

Imo the majority of folks who attend PD seminars probably shouldn't be there. They either don't have the appropriate risk profile, think its a get rich quick scheme and/or don't have the required equity to take on even a small scale project within the next 6 months of the course.

Somehow PD has gotten this 'cool' image attached to it for many newbies and folks who have a small portfolio. I think its insane. The risks are so high that one really needs to weigh up carefully whether their capital could be better utilized via another means of investing with less risk attached.

 

Many thanks Westminster for your thoughts.
I am looking to buy a property with development potential in next 6 months and then go through the planning permit process.I have a property where I can also put one unit at the back.

My thinking was that through this course I can educate mysefl to find:
- Buy the right property with subdivision potential
- Build a good team of townplanners,builders,architects etc.
- Avoid/Minimise any costly mistakes
- Know specific clauses that should be added in the contracts with builder and others to protect myself

The package provide access to a few tools at competetive rates (How valuable these are for my situation, I am not sure though).
I am very much conscious of the points that you raised.

Cooling market will give you good properties at better price but I agree
it may be harder to sell the property and decline in value may eat away any projected profits.

 

Is your intention to buy something, get a DA and sell with permits or actually build the development?

Development finance is getting harder and harder to source and I'd hate for you to purchase an additional site but not be able get finance for a project and be stuck with it.

I don't believe a 3 day course will teach you how to spot a good site with development potential but everyone has to start somewhere. Even if that's learning some skills and having a good town planner that you pay to double check stuff.

As far as outlay is concerned - the course price is not expensive - I would just be wary of the points I raised and think through your strategy and future finance options.

Developing is DG's new flavour of the month. Previously she was all about buying distressed properties flipping and selling.

 

Finance for a dev can get very complicated and banks can and do make construction finance contingent on a whole host of (sometimes convoluted) things.

I know you gotta start somewhere but just make sure this strategy aligns with your goals and risk profile . Overall its very high risk.

 

Thanks Sackie for your views.You gotta start somewhere,the idea was to educate yourself to minimise errors and learn by doing small projects.

What were your key takeaways from Bob Anderson boot camp and when did you attend ?He looks extremely experienced in the industry but has mentoring programs up to 30 grand.

 

Fair enough to everyone saying "you gotta start somewhere", but personally I wouldn't be recommending to anyone that the place to start learning about development are these expensive development courses.

I usually tell anyone starting out to spend at least 6 months solidly reading everything they can on propertychat, looking at properties every weekend, and meeting up and talking to some of the experienced developers on here.

 

I didn't do his mentoring program just his 3 day boot camp.

But long before I started PD I had built up a portfolio where I felt PD could then be a strategy that would fit into my goals and risk profile. I then read everything I could on it and learnt as much as I could from free resources .I also networked with other developers and I'd actually done 2 JVs ( i was the money guy and soaking up the knowledge of the hands on guy) before I even did the course .

Not that its the only way to go about it because it isnt. My main point is every decison you make with regards to PD has to be based around risk and possible rewards.

Is your portfolio ready for it?
Are you ready for it?
Are your finances ready for it?
Is the amount of knowledge and contacts you currently have enough for it?

I would want to be able to confidently answer these questions before I jumped into any high risk investment venture .

 

I suppose my other question would be - is the Sydney course related to developing in Sydney as it would be very different to developing in Melbourne.

With development finance you are looking at less and less banks willing to do lending on 3 townhouses but they are out there. You will need around 20% deposit though so assess your market position and talk to a broker about your future plans so you are aware of what you can borrow against (hard costs vs soft costs), how much deposit you'll need etc etc

 

yep spot on,

even buying standalone investment properties for a buy and hold, 3 days might just be enough,
you need hand on experience, especially development

 

btw. you stole my avatar!!!!!

 

Oops Sorry,Will find another one and change my avatar

What’s the best way to build a good team of architects,builders and other type of people involved in the process?
How do you go about doing your due diligence in that aspect?Thanks.

 

Thanks again.Again not sure who much support is actually provided when she says that there are feasibility study software you can use to workout whether a project is for you and they have a team that can review the spreadsheets and provide a sense check on overall feasibility.

 

Thanks everyone for your insights.Me and my friend decided not to do this course at this stage.

 

Hi all
I’m a non-investor doing a lot of research before (somewhat intrepidly) committing to buying my first home. By nature I’m a bargain hunter and one of those people who don’t believe the rules of life apply to them (haha) so hoping to find a way around signing up to a lifetime of mortgage payments and slavery to the banks. Is it worth doing any of DGs courses just to hope to get a good price for a one off owner-occupied property? We have a good 20% deposit and conditional approval to buy a house to meet our needs, I just don’t like the idea of signing up for a 30-year loan... it seems crazy. But is that the best option for someone like me? We have nil experience in property, I’ve never even watched “the block”. Not afraid of a little hard work but helped some friends renovate a 1960s Melbourne weatherboard house with less than $5k in their bank account a few years back which isn’t a process I want to repeat for myself.
Thanks to anyone in advance who replies..!

 

Definetly dont need to do a development course for what you're after. Just learn some of the basics of 'savvy' buying and buy within your financially safe zone. Doing a dev course is worlds apart from what you need.