Playing with property

Some of the world’s wealthiest people are in the property business, so it seems like a pretty good road to riches. Libby Lombardo talks to you about her journey through real estate and shows how you can get started.

Property development is a game with no set rules. You look at it deal-by-deal, scenario-by-scenario, and you figure out the best way to make each one work. You have to think outside the box and make it up as you go. You essentially build your own set of rules.

I get quite silly when people say things like, “So and so made $150,000 in three weeks by doing this property deal.” In reality, to get that one deal, the person had to learn about the business, knock on countless doors and try and fail on hundreds of other deals, so it didn’t take three weeks at all. Don’t be fooled by marketing pitches and crazy claims in property development. It just doesn’t happen! Property development is not an easy game or a get rich quick scheme. It takes dedication, contacts, and trying many deals before you find the one that will pay off. When it finally does pay off, you get immense rewards for your hard work and investment.

I didn’t get into real estate because of a sales pitch. I’ve always loved property, so I figured if I was going to become an expert at anything, property would be it. Before you get started, be sure this is something you interested and passionate about. You have to learn as much as you can and minimise your risks. The property you’re working with has to be sellable, because in the end, that’s what it’s all about. Potential profit margins are pointless if the property is in a bad location. I’ve worked in property development for over 13 years now, and I’ve had many ups and downs in the business. I know what work and what doesn’t

So put your stack hat on, put in the hard yards, keep it real, and get your self stared on your way to property success today!

Leverage Property - Libby Lombardo is a post from: Property Development Libby Lombardo

Leverage Property latest project 76-80 Virginia Street Rosehill, NSW Australia

The Leverage Property team are  happy to be announce our latest property development project for investors.

16 Townhouses – 14 -  3 bedroom 2 bathroom 1 car space and  2  – 2 bedroom 1 bathroom 1 car space.

Leverage Property is in partnership on this site, construction has started using Dyldam Building Company

Completion date is December 2011

If you would like to invest in any of Leverage Property deals, please register your interest today, simply fill out your details on the home page email form and you will be keep up to date.

If you would like to also buy off the plan please call the office today : +61 2 9037 4666

If your in the area drive by and check it out its in a great location.

Leverage Property - Libby Lombardo is a post from: Property Development Libby Lombardo

It just so happens that I have been waiting for a high yield investment opportunity to come along – and it and it finally has.

Just last week, we found a property development site in Homebush, NSW for 38 townhouses that has an extraordinary 35% return on investment.

This is a distressed asset investment opportunity from another developer that has come to us through our exclusive network of property development contacts.

There is only room for a limited number of investors.

We have already raised $2.5 million of the $4.5 million purchase price in the past 7 days and we expect the offer to be oversubscribed.

We wait patiently for distressed assets for our property development deals and when they come up, we have to move fast.

I hope you can come along to see just how we find these extraordinary property development deals and how we put them together so we and our investors can all profit.

We are having an information evening at our office this Wednesday 27 October at 6.30pm.

If you are interested in investing please call (02) 9037 4666 or email your expression of interest asap.

Click here to RSVP to the event, I look forward to seeing or speaking with you!

Libby Lombardo, CEO

Leverage Property

Leverage Property - Libby Lombardo is a post from: Property Development Libby Lombardo

5 tips for buying a development site!

1) First of all make sure that you buy in a good location where there is transport and access to employment. This seems like a no-brainer, but many people fail to heed this warning and buy a site that ends up taking a long time to turn over.  Follow my advice and it ensures that you will have access to a large buyer pool and you can sell your stock quickly and move on to the next development.

2) Do a feasibility! Start with what you can sell the finished properties for and work backwards.  Do your research on similar properties in the area and compare square meters, aspect, indoor/outdoor space, finishes, etc.  Be realistic and use TODAY’s prices, not prices that you think may eventuate in 12-18 months on completion. This has sent many a property developer into strife!

3) Know your target market and understand who is going to buy the finished property, for example are they young families?  Students? Investors? This gives you the price range you can sell the units in your development and ensures you do not overcapitalise on the build.

4) Talk to several local builders and ask about getting a ‘fixed-price building contract’. This ensures that the builder will not overrun on cost or timeframe – both of which will end up costing you money! Get several quotes and ask if the builder has included a ‘contingency’ of at least 5-10%. Is there any incentive for the builder to come in under cost?  These are some important questions for you as a property developer to ask.

5) If you have any gaps in your knowledge, talk agents, experienced builders or local property developers to fill in the gaps.  Try to build a network of experienced property development people around you.  You can find millions of companies and people on Google, but it comes down to who you can trust.  Having a team of like-minded people you can trust around you, who have been there before and who have your best interests in mind is my best tip to becoming a successful property developer!

Call me or email me if you need property development advice – or click here to come along to one of my free property development seminars!

Good luck!

Libby Lombardo – CEO of Leverage Property

Leverage Property - Libby Lombardo is a post from: Property Development Libby Lombardo

If you have ever wondered about buying a development site at auction, well here is a video for you!

We did our research on this site and went to the auction to bid. Our limit was $3 million.

Check out the video to see what happened!

The Big Deals Boardroom members were there taking part in the auction action!

If you would like to get involved in the excitement of property development and learn from me as we do deals and make money together, then send me an email or sign up for one of my free property development seminars.

See you at the next auction!

Libby Lombardo

Leverage Property - Libby Lombardo is a post from: Property Development Libby Lombardo

We all know that you can make millions in property development.

But, you need to ask yourself, what type of property developer you want to be?

There are so many different things you can do in property development, that’s what makes it so exciting!

To someone just starting out, I think it’s a good idea to concentrate on one area of property development and specialise.

Once you have mastered that one thing, then you can move on to the next idea and once you have done a few you can really take on any type of property development deal!

Here is a list of 10 ideas for property development deals you can get into:

1. Raw development sites – meaning the site does not have a development application approved yet.

2. DA (Development application) Approved Site – all ready to go to build (check section 94 amendments and if the Construction Certificate is done).

3. Rural land subdivisions – doing subdivisions of acreage into say quarter acre blocks.

4. Metropolitan land Subdivisions – find a large block of undeveloped land in a metropolitan city like Sydney then add streets, electricity, water

5. House and land packages – similar to land subdivisions, but you bring in a builder and make a margin on the construction. Unlike building unit blocks, the best part is about this for a developer is that you don’t have to build anything until the customer buys.

6. Land banking for re-zoning – holding the land for long term, bigger profits in the future

7. Renovations – yes, this is property development! Think about it, you are adding value to a property for a lump sum gain in a short time – you can do warehouse conversion into units, renovate an old house into an executive home, use your imagination!

8. Strata subdivision of unit blocks – company titled unit blocks are scattered everywhere. This type of development can be tricky, but there’s good money in it if you start working with one council and get to know their requirements.

My best recommendation is to start small and grow from there. Try something and if it works, do it again until it becomes second nature to you. Jack Cowan from Hungry Jack’s told me a long time ago to start with one brick and then add another brick just like it and another until you’ve you are able to start stacking bricks on top of each other. That was good advice.

If you’d like to know more about each of these areas of property development, click the link on the sidebar to sign up to attend one of my free property development education seminars.

See you there!

Libby Lombardo

Leverage Property - Libby Lombardo is a post from: Property Development Libby Lombardo

Hi, I thought I would give you a few of my tips on analyzing a development site.  After some time these things will become second nature to you and won’t even realize you’re doing them.

First, go and walk the site look at everything at different times of the day, early morning and late at light and lunch time during the week and on the weekends and see whats going on in the area. Check the site at various time of the day for noise, If its noisy you may need to get an ‘Acoustics Sound Report’ engineer will do this and you may need to put in thick glass to block out the noise, and it may affect your resale figures

Look to where the land is sloping,  does it slop to the gutter and the water will run off easy to the street or does it slope to the back of the land an you may require an easement, so simply finding out does the water run to the back of the land or the front,  because you need drainage

Architect can look at this for you so you fully understand the situation and whats required.

Does the land have an Easement on it? Be very careful of this before acquiring a site because sewer easements cannot be built on, they can not be built on in case some one may need  to access it and may need to drill it to do sewerage works.

To get an easement through you  need to run an easement through your neighbour’s property, may want to ask them first and they generally want to be paid about form $10k – $30k if they are unreasonable the council can make them give you access and if they don’t then you can be stopped from building there, check this out fully

Check if there is asbestos in the roofs ? This adds to your demolition costs

Big trees you may need to get rid of, or may not be aloud to cut down, also not the trees on the site and if you can transfer them to the site to re use or sell them to a nursery is another good idea to get rid of trees and make some extra cash

Neighbors, what is there and is this a hindrance to the site?

What’s the aspect, looking at this for when you build, and how the council will view your plans

What’s happening in the neighbourhood around the site and up the street, is there much development happening in the area, is the over supply or under supply of what you are going to build? Is the area moving ahead?

Check to see where the nearest housing commission is to your site, is it across the road or next door, or going to built there in the next couple of years, this can make it make it hard to sell when there finished, and under value your site

Check with council and see what other development applications are in council, and what has been  lodged in the area you are buying, are you going to be built out of the views, do you have a other competition coming on the market similar to what your building

Check if its on a really busy road? or if council require you to add in any roads to your development site or if they are carring out any road widening  on your site?

You have to think about all the things that can go wrong when your looking at a potential property development site, imagine you bought a site and you found out any one of the number of things here we have mentioned, it could make your development site very unprofitable

There are many more things to look out for, so come back again or come to a free property development seminar and ask me in person.

Libby Lombardo, CEO, Leverage Property

Leverage Property - Libby Lombardo is a post from: Property Development Libby Lombardo

Doing a joint venture is one of the most powerful ways to get started in property development!

You may not have any funds, but if you are well educated in property development, you can put together a profitable deal and do a joint venture with someone (or a group) that has money.

Let me tell you, finding profitable property development deals is hard work!  If you find one, then money is sure to follow.

I can tell you from personal experience that I have put together many property development JVs with NO MONEY!

These are some of the best deals I ever did. I risked no (or very little) money and I made literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on these deals.

It just goes to show that a good property development education coupled with real hands-on property development experience can always make you money, whether you are having tough financial times or not.

If you would like to get started in property development as away to give up your day job or even if you are already involved in property development, then property development joint ventures are a tool that you can use to your advantage.

If you’d like to know more, drop me an email or come along to one of my free property development seminars.

All the best

Libby Lombardo, CEO, Leverage Property

Leverage Property - Libby Lombardo is a post from: Property Development Libby Lombardo

Leverage Property - Libby Lombardo is a post from: Property Development Libby Lombardo