Recently I looked back over the past eight years of project managing developments at Plan Assist, and I realised that most of the highly profitable property developments had a common pattern.
The most successful transactions are the ones that act on creative solutions, which do something that most other people couldn’t see.
One example was a Blacktown property purchased by a client that was close to shops, yet still in a single storey zoning. The position close to shops was the key, and based on other similar growth suburbs, a rezoning to medium density was on the cards. And right after the purchase, a rezoning to medium density was proposed by council and a few years later it was finalised allowing 5 storeys to be built. Within the space of 2 years, the property purchased at $376k quickly turned into a $1m sale. And that is pretty quick wealth building.
Not all clients are that lucky, yet the ones that hold the most valuable property with “development potential” make their own luck by owning in the right location at the right time.
Of course it’s very important to make sure that your vision for a property is achievable. There have been occasions where we have been contacted by prospective clients to help them with a development application on a property they already purchased, only to find that there is no further “potential” in the property they bought. Agent promises and council rumours of rezoning do not always eventuate, and that is heartbreaking to see someone wait for something that will never occur. Especially when just a simple phone call to us or to council would have saved them tens of thousands of dollars in lost investment.
At the end of the day, it takes a little patience and skill however if you know a specific area of council codes really well, and can understand the council codes and how to apply them to a specific area, then you are bound to see the opportunities present themselves.
Happy developing.
Christine Xegas