My latest Brisbane property development

Hi All,

Those that know me from SS would know that I enjoy a little bit of property development. My Mona Vale unit build on Sydney's Northern Beaches was well blogged throughout the process and still represents a good introduction to development for those thinking of starting down that path. This was my first development so had all the usual first timer learnings in it:

My Mona Vale Development Thread

I thought I'd start this new thread to answer any questions about my Brisbane development that I've just completed. I didn't blog it as well as the Mona Vale build because life got in the way, but it has proven quite lucrative as well.

My Bardon Brisbane Development Site

We've now finished developing that house as owner builders. It took a long time, as owner builds typically do, but has worked well for us. We had trust issues with builders following Mona Vale...

At a high level we achieved the following:

Land $380K ($300K loan)
Build $370K (No loan)
TOTAL $750K

We've just had the REAs through and the completed valuations in a flat Brisbane market have come back between $1M and $1.3M.

The best thing is I now have a good team of trades that I identified through this build that I can use on any further work in Brisbane. My plan now is to refinance the Bardon house to 80% LVR then buy some cheaper reno to flip type properties in Brisbane, use the trade team I have identified, fix them up and sell them or rent them depending on where they land.

I've now got a solid portfolio of top end properties. I've held all three of the units in Mona Vale that recently valued over $1M each, and I know have the Bardon PPOR which is also over $1M. I think its time to diversify with higher yielding cheaper properties in the growth suburbs in Brisbane.

We've got a good base and have used our development skills to get us here. We'll keep using those development skills as renovators now to maximise the potential from under-valued entry level properties we acquire. Might be time for my beautiful wife to quit work and become the reno queen of Brisbane!

Cheers,
Michael

 

Dear Michael

Well done. It takes determination and looking at the big picture to live on site and pull off this kind of development. I have lived on site during the build of the very first house and swore I would never do it again. Was handy to be on site though.

I followed your very detailed Mona Vale thread with great interest. Great achievement.

 

Thanks Charlotte,

We've also sworn never to live on site again. Never, ever, ever again...

But it certainly did help on the financial front. We built the house pretty much from surplus cash flow for the last 12 months, so the lack of rent payable made a BIG difference.

Cheers,
Michael

 

Well done Michael, followed your Mona Vale thread closely and glad to hear there were much less issues with this one.

 

Hi Wylie!

Might be because it wasn't quite finished and they were still anticipating a bit what it would be like when fully complete. I'm confident once the Hard and Soft landscaping is all done, it will be at the upper end of the range...

Cheers,
Michael

PS. Feel free to post any questions about either of the builds in this thread if you're looking for answers or assistance.

 

Hi Michael,

Great thread. From my research/feasibility of my own project in HPW, i would think that with your valuations on Bardon and its proximity to the CBD surely you'd be looking at the higher valuations quoted to 1.3M+ mate! Well done!!

 

Thanks mate! You're going to have to throw me a bone, where's HPW? Is P a Point perhaps?

 

Hi Michael,

It was absolutely fascinating to read your mona-vale story (I just read the entire thread over the last hour and a bit) and learn vicariously through your experience. Things just kept going wrong and you really opened my eyes to the importance of minimising ambiguity and concreting your contracts more decisively than your slabs!

Perhaps the most important lesson I took out of your story is that time is not money, but rather money is time, and thus time shouldn't be wasted. We always try and focus on saving money or looking for economical value (returns on investment) but when I pursue development I will invest considerably in time value and reducing headaches and complexities.

 

Thanks Chabs, you've made my day! If there's one person that has benefited from me blogging that journey then its been worthwhile!!

It was a protracted and at times painful affair but goes to show that even the hardest property investments can still be extremely lucrative. That one has certainly stood me in good stead and is now the anchor to my portfolio.

Thanks for sharing your comments...

Also, if you're looking for some tips on starting a new development then this list I posted on SS might assist too.

Cheers,
Michael

 

Hey Michael,

HPW = Holland Park West mate It's about 10km from the CBD and new high end homes are fetching around 1.1.m depending on views etc. So with Bardon at 5.3km to the CBD...you'll be laughing mate

 

Hi Michael, very inspiring!
I just read your Bardon thread on SS. I assume you are living in the 4 bed main house and renting the 1 bed unit as planned? Could I ask what level of rent you are now getting for that 1 bed unit? You were estimating toget $250k a week from SS back in 2011. Thanks!

 

@MichaelW

i loved reading your monavale thread..

good luck with new venture!

will be following this thread to see how journey goes...

 

Don't See @MichaelW on PC these days.....but I followed his brilliant development thread on SS on Mona Vale project. Pretty sure he kept them all, brilliant result considering this was his first development project.

I would really like to know what these townhouses would be worth today, guestimate??

MTR