How did you learn to develop property?

It depends on the area and the specific type of house you are planning to build but rents really are drastically low. As an example, in 2013/2014 in Cloverdale, a new 4x2 could rent for over $600 pw. Now there is a new 4x2 on the market for $380pw, although it looks like $420 is more typical.

I suggest you have a look at the area and note how many of the type of house are on the market and the typical list price. Drop that by $10-$20pw and see if the numbers make sense.

For example:-
Cloverdale: 4x2
Number on market: 23
Price range: $370 - $490
Typical price: $430 - $440
Assumed rent: $420.

So, I would run my numbers on $420pw rent.

 

Cheers mate got them, not bad.

 

I should have mentioned also property groups with speakers such as surveyors, drafters, development company, wealth advisors, developers have been a wealth of knowledge also Eg. @Aaron Sice

 

Mate all good advice so far. I reckon there is no teacher like experience. Property Development is difficult as there are so many components. It is nearly impossible to know everything. The most important thing is to buy a cracking site for a cracking price, then you give yourself room to move if things don't work out as well as hoped. It always takes longer than you think and costs more, but these are not huge things as long as the margin is there to start with.
Best of luck, Ben

 

Thanks champ, appreciate the kind words.

I think it also comes down to finding someone that can spell it out in layman's terms for you.

Terms and acronyms are a dime a dozen in this industry and it can be very daunting just having to nod and smile with sweet eff-ay understanding of what is being said.

Just understanding things like CertOcc, CDC, POMCE, BAL, etc......all things most people have no effing clue about how they relate to one another or the order they're required or the fact that WP will take 4 months for design stage and needs to be pre-ordered at DA approval stage with final levels (POMCE needed there) from engineers - it all gets a bit much.

But if I said make sure your engineer is across your DA plans before approval so you don't need to change them once approved because Western Power take forever to design your connection so order it well in advance of needing it....

Chalk and cheese.

 

I am a learner too so can't really go recommending too much - although I did think there was some useful information on this course Available Courses : smalldevelopments.com.au

 

Find good people and hang onto them. You can drive the project but sometimes being a professional in the field you are too close. Treat it all as though you were a client. A good planner and a good engineer is a valuable start! Find an architect who understands the scale to the project and get started

 

Thanks @Littlemiss . Out of interest which of the courses did you do?

 

Indeed, the infamous @Aaron Sice sounds like he would be an asset on any team! I can't seem to load his previous website tho. Aaron are you still advising on projects for your own clients or are you full time in the new role now?

 

To be honest I only did the free trial and thought there was some interesting information. Even just reading the case studies was helpful - one of them was explaining how when he subdivied first it released equity for the build and little things like that.

 

Website has a DNS failure - building a new one now. It was up, then down, then up, then down.....email went with it every time.

I still do what I always did but now I get to put things direct to VHG if a client wants me to - cuts out some comms and stuff which can add up in this market.

 

Interesting, and glad to hear it @Aaron Sice. I will definitely be in contact for a chat when I get to that stage of things.

 

So, notwithstanding the favoured PC advice of 'learn by doing' and 'read the PC forum', for those who come across this tread looking for recommendations on ways to educate yourself on property development I have compiled the most popular recommend sources below, taken from this and other PC/SS threads:

Most recommended books:
*Australian Residential Property Development for Investors - Ron Forlee (+5)
*Profit From Property - Philip Thomas (+3)

Other recommended books/toolkits:
*The Accidental Developer - Henry Pollack (+1)
*Due Dilligence - Hans Jakobi (+1)
*Property Development Kit -propertyresourceshop. (+2)
*The Property Developmemt Process: Western Australia by H.L. Reynolds & P.L. (1998) ISBN 0 646 35442 6 (out of print)

Recommend courses:
*MBAWA - Planners guide to subdivision (half day). (+1)
*Available Courses : smalldevelopments.com.au (+1)
*Bob Anderson (+3, -2)

(+# in brackets = #people who recommend; -# = people who recommend against)

 

FYI for my partner we (I!) have decided on Margret Lomas' 20 Must Ask Questions, for a quick overview of where to buy, followed by Ron Forlee's book on development.

As for me I will read the above and a just about anything else I can get my hands on (a few forumites have generously passed on some other material, and I have a long list of websites to trawl through). And of course LOTS of reading and question asking on PC!

Seems like a lot of reading and not much doing, I know, but I think given how few development sites seem to be stacking up in WA at the moment it is probably the perfect chance to get some knowledge under the belt so we are ready to hit the ground running if (when?) conditions are looking more positive around the turn of the year.

 

Start practising on sites doing feasibility now to get a feel for it. Get out excel and list all the costs you can think of down one side and the possible scenarios on the other axis and start playing.

So take this under contract one for example
90 Crawford Road Maylands WA 6051 - House for Sale #123099554 - realestate.com.au

Possible scenarios are
1. keep house and sell off rear block
2. keep house and build a townhouse in rear
3. keep house and build 2 x single bedroom dwellings in rear
4. demolish house and build 2 side by side houses
5. demolish house and build 4 x single bedroom dwellings
6. demolish house and sell 2 side by side blocks of land
7. demolish house and build apartments (not really possible as there is an overlay but you get my drift)