Lots to learn

Hi all. I'm glad to have found you.
I live (rent) and work in Melbourne and I have an IP in country VIC. I bought it 5 years ago and through dumb luck it's doing ok... Not great, but ok. It's cash flow neutral but only because I have dumped extra money in its offset account. What is exciting me about it though is that it's a 1100m2 corner block that's screaming out for something to be built on the back of it. I've even been lucky enough that the local council have sealed the road along side of the block. The problem is that I know nothing about building and very little about investing.
I'm the kind of person that does hours of research even before buying a toaster, so needless to say that the thought of signing contracts for a building project that I know nothing about is a wee bit daunting and stressful.
I hope to learn some things from this forum so that I can get on the right track.

Dumb questions to follow.

 

Sounds promising!

 

What's your plan of attack to investigate this?

I'd start with some of the following things:

Read council zoning rules
Talk to the council town planner
Talk to a real estate agent and peruse for possible end values
Talk to property manager and get a handle on the local market - what is the most in demand end product? Vacancy rates?
Once you've done that, you can talk to a builder in broad terms, crunch some rough numbers...

If its already cash flow neutral, a 50% investment on your purchase price to nearly double your yield is probably going to be worth considering!

 

Thanks Bran.
I'm speaking to as many professionals in the field as I can, including some of those you mentioned. You have given me some ideas for more research though, thank you.

I'm speaking with two 'do it all for you' build companies in the area. Not sure if I can name them here.
I suspect that some people are cringing at the mention of 'package build companies ' but I'm not knowledgeable enough to manage planning and trades etc etc.
the build will be 3bed, 2bath, 2car and they're "estimating" $200,000. They don't give me a fixed quote till I pay them something.
My research thus far leads me to believe that it will be worth 250,000-270,000 completed and rent for $320-$340 per week.
More research to do though.

 

I'm already aware that the estimate doesn't include driveway, landscaping, blinds, letterbox, but seems to include everything else.
We are looking at a clause 55 application on the block. Whatever the hell that means!