Keys to Property Development course [review]

Discussion in 'Development' started by wombat777, 6th Feb, 2017.

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  1. wombat777

    wombat777 Well-Known Member

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    I attended the NSW Master Builders Association Keys to Property Development course today.

    ( will qualify the below by saying that the course is targeted primarily at builders which should already have reasonable project management and planning skills )

    These are my thoughts on the suitability of the training:
    • Property Market Economics
      • Discussion of property value ( i.e. Basic human need for shelter ). Perhaps useful for those that aren't previously familiar with these concepts.
      • Some discussion on property market economics relating to supply and demand focused on new housing. Was focused on looking at ABS stats. Perhaps another tool to use in addition to using local, state and federal government economic forecasts ( which surprisingly weren't discussed )
      • A good discussion of lead and lag market indicators, but this is really just basic economic and property market theory which you will pick up just by following and contributing to discussion here, keeping up with economic / property market news and by attending seminars.
    • What skills do Property Developers require
      • Technical skills - primarily feasibility costings and high level coverage of risk management
      • Sadly there was not much coverage of estimating skills or the importance of contingency. No comments on the importance of accurate/reliable estimates. Only a single high-level discussion of the structure of a feasibility costing ( no actual costing example provided ). Very brief white board discussion of cashflow.
    • Property development
      • Overly brief discussion ( rules of thumb ) for project timelines
    • Planning
      • Very Brief discussion of planning legislation, instruments and development control plans
      • No coverage of the actual design / planning process ( to be fair, the course is targeted at builders which should already have some of this knowledge )
    Was it useful? Kind of. Only reinforced my own research. Quite a few builders were there which would have been useful if I have sites in NSW ( although one of the builders does do projects interstate ).
    Would I recommend it? Kind of. Only as an intro. You will need to put quite a bit of time into developing investment/economic, feasibility, estimating and other technical skills. There is certainly no silver bullet.

    Criticism:
    • The trainer arrived 15-20 minutes late, did not have cables for his laptop and hence was not able to show us the PowerPoint material. Not great form, particularly for someone that should have contingency and organisation skills. Fortunately we were given course notes, but unclear or no idea if the PowerPoint slides would have added much value.
    • Rushed through some of the material, perhaps because he didn't have the PowerPoint slides. Examples would have hopefully been more effective, if the PowerPoint was available ( e.g. Proper worked examples with semi-realistic numbers ).
    • You would expect a course of this nature to provide
      • An example work breakdown structure or level 1 / level 2 schedule
      • An excel template to take away and use as a starting point for Feasibility costsings and cashflow
    • Sent us over the road for lunch, when it turned out the course was actually catered. Hence I purchased my own lunch when I didn't really need to.
    • Any experienced trainer discusses expectations at the beginning of the course, which he didn't. At least allows them to make progressive improvements to the course!
    I have an engineering background so have quite strong estimating and risk/project management skills. If you have a similar background maybe just buy a book and spend as much time as possible digesting the development threads here.

    Can anyone recommend any good books or resources? ( more for those that might be looking for an alternative to training ).

    @SmileSydney - what are your thoughts on the usefulness of the course???
     
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  2. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    Interesting feedback @wombat777 - send it to the training guys at the MBA because their courses are usually of a high standard (I have attended several and do at least one or two with them each year).

    They should have the powerpoints available. How were the coursenotes?
     
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  3. wombat777

    wombat777 Well-Known Member

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    I was mainly listening to the presenter and I had screaming jaw pain/migraine most of the day so didn't pay much attention to the notes.

    Might just send some high-level comments.

    I definitely got more out of attending the 3 development meetups that were run by @Be Developer, @Paul@PFI, @Shahin_Afarin et al about 12-18 months ago. Similar duration for material covered but a better outcome in terms of learning.
     
  4. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    The course is on again


    Keys to Property Development
    Are you thinking about branching out into Property Development? This one day training course will educate participants on the driving forces behind property value, understanding property supply and demand, identifying investment opportunities and more!

    Training dates:

    • 5 April 2018 - Master Builder Education Centre - Baulkham Hills
    • 27 April 2018 – Master Builders - Wollongong
    http://mbabm.mbansw.asn.au:8080/r.html?uid=1.20t.28fd.e1f.g9d6z0nwi4
     
  5. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    There are still plenty of threads for people considering getting into development.

    The Master Builders assoc is still sheduling its courses (they're not selling you the next course from this one, they are the industry body representing builders & developers and lobby group to the government on reform

    Extract


    Are you thinking about branching out into property development? This one day training course will educate participants on the driving forces behind property value, understanding property supply and demand, identifying investment opportunities and more!

    Training dates:

    • 6 June 2018 - Master Builders - Gosford
    • 7 June 2018 - Master Builders Education Centre - Baulkham Hills
    • 19 June 2018 - Master Builders - Ballina
    • 3 July 2018 - Master Builders - Newcastle
    • 11 July 2018 - Master Builders - Orange'
    More info: Keys to Property Development LINKY