Property development

I’m pretty happy with myself!  Following the property development workshop I attended on the weekend I have already taken some action!

We have a property on a corner block with a reasonable size backyard and we’ve always had in the back of our minds that perhaps we could do something with the property – such as build a unit on the back and subdivide the block.  Hey, voila – instant profit!  We’ve had this place for over 18 months now and although I made a few phone calls sometime back I just haven’t followed up.  There are two reasons for this – or should I say excuses?

  • The perception that property development is hard and scary.
  • The perception that I don’t have time to follow up on things.

Going to the property development workshop on the weekend has really given me the strong belief that I can do it.  That property development is not scary, it’s just a bit of a hassle!  But a lucrative and profitable hassle if you can be bothered – and that’s the reason most people aren’t doing it – they can’t be bothered with the hassle!  So with my new found belief that I can do it and that all the hassle and the issues that you may face are just part of the process I took action!  I called a company local to where the property is and spoke to a draftsperson.  The draftsperson said they would assess the block ‘on paper’ first at no cost, so I just need to send them house plans and the land title to look at.  I then called the local council and spoke to them about getting houseplans.  Two phone calls, one form and $80 later I have submitted my request for house plans which will be sent to me in the next week or two.  I found the land title from when we purchased the property and have scanned that ready to send.

And you know what, it wasn’t a big hassle, it was just a few phone calls – and it wasn’t scary at all!