Starting with Property Develpoment

Discussion in 'Development' started by DareDevil, 26th Jun, 2015.

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  1. DareDevil

    DareDevil Well-Known Member

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    Hi All
    How did you all started with property development, I mean is there any mandatory training/certification requirements needs to be done from different state/territory laws, or is there any specific training that is good to have.
    And how did you all started, Just trial and error or did you guys had a mentor?
     
  2. HD_ACE

    HD_ACE Game-Changer

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    SS + PC. Talk to others developing in the areas your targeting. Countless hours of researching planning schemes, finance, building/development costs, looking at end products in your areas, reading books.
    And most of all having a go and you can always tweak or improve the next one.

    Theres some tafe courses and short courses that could be helpful in your chosen state.

    Cheers
     
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  3. alexm

    alexm Well-Known Member

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    Like HD_ACE says, lot's of research and trial & error. Starting small before moving onto bigger projects. Also having access to experienced mentors and a good team around you (which takes time to nurture).
     
  4. Westminster

    Westminster Tigress at Tiger Developments Business Member

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    Mandatory a lot and lot of reading :) You need to understand the Residential Design Code and Council Town Planning Schemes to understand a good site. Then when you can pick a good site you need to understand how to do a feasibility so know how much things cost to construct, council charges, utility service charges etc

    You can help learn this by joining here, going to group meet ups, chat with other developers and reading about their developments.

    Then you need to grab some balls and put your life on the line and get the first one done.
     
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  5. 380

    380 Well-Known Member

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    @DareDevil

    Do lot of Due diligence and read posts on Property chat.

    needless to say.. feel free to use our Free guide.

    Good way to start is pick a up small project that you can handle yourself (finance/time)

    There is lot more to Property Development.

    After managing and building number of development projects myself, i still discover new thing or two everyday.


    I just found that one of our development project will need this :cool:
     
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  6. Joshwaaaa

    Joshwaaaa Well-Known Member

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    Reading lots if reading, mainly development plans
     
  7. Aaron Sice

    Aaron Sice Well-Known Member

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    Personally, I think the best way to identify a good area for developing is to understand a council's decision making "thought processes" and to read council minutes and view the plans and reports on the agenda.

    It sounds quite a laborious process, but it's actually not. It's very easy to google the agenda and most of the time the plans are attached as a PDF - so you can do all your research from home or your phone.

    Then you get a rounded understanding of what is possible with a number of lots, what is acceptable to a council, what a variation and justification is, how a planning dept view a proposal versus the councillors etc.

    This process is applicable country-wide - then you can start to drill down further into the actual planning codes at a state level.

    Then, obviously, you would have selected an area you would like to develop and only have to "refine" your thinking by looking up a local govt's town planning scheme - again, check out agendas / minutes, upcoming zoning changes etc. Hopefully through your watching and learning and reading you will have pre-identified a majority of the headaches you will have to navigate to see a successful development through to the end.

    This is how I started, anyway - and has been a reasonably successful approach for myself and my clients. Gauging a council's 'appetite' is something often overlooked - with most people happy to argue what is right until they're blue in the face.

    I prefer the other method. Sometimes I get laughed at by others in the profession for taking this approach, but then, I'm the one getting the results.
     
    Last edited: 29th Jun, 2015
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  8. Egga

    Egga Active Member

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    I seen a lot of those setups in Tokyo, commonly used in parking lots.
     
  9. DareDevil

    DareDevil Well-Known Member

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    Hi Be Developer

    Thanks for the the resources on your site, I have alreday started reading the mini guide on development.
     
  10. DareDevil

    DareDevil Well-Known Member

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    Thanks everyone for valuable advice, the idea to open this thread came from one of my colleges who finished some certificates at builders institute and highly recommended them to me, i was wondering whether it was a good to have qualification or mandatory. Anyway based on all the replies it seems it is not necessary to have a formal education on development.
     
  11. 380

    380 Well-Known Member

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    I hope it gives you insight of property development.

    feel free to pm me any feedback!
     
  12. 380

    380 Well-Known Member

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    @Egga

    we used the same technology in tokyo and as you said car stackers are pretty common in all over japan/taiwan.

    But to see in Melbourne:eek::eek::eek:
     
  13. MTR

    MTR Well-Known Member

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    I started looking at simple projects that did not require huge funds that I knew I could manage and if everything went to pot I could hold comfortably.

    Best way I learnt was just doing it, sure I made some mistakes am sure there will be plenty more along the way, but nothing too major that could not be resolved and move on.

    Learnt a lot from the builders, draftees, forum, re agents, reading council documents etc.

    Also just as important for me is to understand the market I am playing in, what to build and what will sell. Also timing the market, no point developing if there are no takers or on completion your 10% down. Market conditions will impact on final numbers whether I am holding to access equity or whether I am selling.

    MTR:)
     
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  14. Blacky

    Blacky Well-Known Member

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    This basically.
    A lot of reading, studying and blind belief. Spoke to a lot of 'industry experts' and then ended up using a project management company who steered me in almost the right direction.

    Then at some point pulled my big boys pants on, grew a set and took the plunge. A lot of mistakes later and I had a finished development. You can read all about it on SS - it wasn't pretty!

    http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81774&page=12

    Blacky
     
  15. stumpie

    stumpie Well-Known Member

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    Don't be afraid to pay for professional advice.

    Read the posts made by the seasoned developers on this forum.

    Hold your breadth, jump in and start swimming.
     
  16. OC1

    OC1 Well-Known Member

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    ^ This. But most people are lazy, Aaron ;)
     
  17. Aaron Sice

    Aaron Sice Well-Known Member

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    That's why most people don't develop property, then.
     
  18. Ace in the Hole

    Ace in the Hole Well-Known Member

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    I don't think anything can beat some real life practical experience on building sites.

    My days working as a labourer on some residential jobs building houses from start to finish did not pay well financially at the time, but the knowledge/experienced gained gave me the confidence to deal with trades and builders when I did start with small development.
    This counts for a lot as builders and trades will generally take any shortcut they can to save money and get the job done quicker, but if you know something's not right, you can speak up with confidence.

    So if you get the chance to do some practical experience on a job site, it will be well worth it if you only have theoretic knowledge.