As I finalise the Project Analysis on one of our last development projects for 2016, I've realised we've broken our equity creation record for a dual occupancy project. We've manufactured just under $200,000 in equity within a year which represents an 18% return on investment (ROI).

Christmas always puts a deadline on things. For Property Bloom this year it's completing four development projects before the big man with the white beard arrives.

If there's one thing I've learnt from developing property, it's that you definitely need a 'can do' attitude.

It still amazes me the sheer potential the Hunter Region has to offer.

Last week one of my project managers used an interesting story to illustrate a point about being  patient when developing property.

One of the biggest things to consider before you start a property development is not just the entry costs, but what your intentions are at completion of the project.

Developing property in a way can be very 'taking'. What I mean by this is that you are always trying to get something more like a better deal or cheaper cost, a faster timeframe or a better sale price or rent.

One of the first things to look at when starting design work on a development project is a lot less glamorous than you might think.

It's pretty much a given in property development you will encounter problems. But problems can often be turned into opportunities.

I've found that spending time on key areas like front façades, kitchens and bathrooms can add a wow factor without breaking the budget.

As I sat eating dinner with my two sons, the perfect opportunity arose to explain why investing early is so important.

The telly was on and the news story was about uni students degree costs increasing with some changes that the government was proposing to introduce.

It's hot, I'm sweating and in the middle of cutting a very good deal.

This time it's not with a vendor or real estate agent  - I'm not buying a development site - but the negotiation is fierce and taking place with a Thai business woman who owns the stall where I'm buying a much wanted ornament.

You’ve found what you think is a brilliant development site.  Now it’s time to jump on that roller coaster and start the ride of your life as you commence the analysis process.  Will the project be feasible?  What is feasible anyway?  

With each property development we manage, we'll fine tune the process so that on the next one, we'll do something a little differently to improve the results.

After completing over 80 developments, our process has become pretty refined. But there is always something we can improve on. 

We're at the pointy end of a development and I'm in the middle of coordinating the last three weeks so everything falls into place efficiently. Our job as project managers is to save our clients time and money and sometimes a development can really drag out at the end of construction.

Getting a development project off the ground is one thing, but keeping the momentum right until the end is another. It's important to stay focussed as there is a lot of work to hand but it's also good to take some time to reflect on what you've achieved. 

Whether you are building a single house, duplex or multi unit development, there is one essential building material that we always include. This item is not mandatory or compulsory in most cases, however Property Bloom has three good reasons why we include it. 

We are talking about sarking beneath a tiled roof.  Sarking is a pliable membrane that sits under roof tiles, usually silver in colour. 

Getting started on your property investment journey can be daunting. I'm reminded of this when I hear from people who haven't yet been able to take that step forward.

It's something that comes naturally to me now after sourcing many properties and development sites for our Property Bloom clients but I can still remember very clearly my first investment  property purchase. Man, was I nervous!

Last week's article generated a lot of interest and several phone calls. It was about comparing the numbers on a larger development with a dual occupancy project. The main take out from the people I spoke to was that whilst it would be nice to be able to fund an eleven unit project, the reality is that a two unit project is much more achievable.

This week I had the opportunity to run the numbers on an eleven unit development project.

Normally, Property Bloom clients ask us to source lower density developments such as dual occupancies or three to four unit developments.  Whilst crunching the numbers on this big boy, I started to wonder how many smaller projects we'd need to complete to achieve a similar financial outcome. The answer surprised me. 

Subdivision is one of the many ways you can develop property.  It involves converting one piece of land or existing dwellings into several. 

Raw land subdivision entails legally and physically converting raw, undeveloped land into developed land so that one or more buildings - residential, commercial or industrial - can be constructed.

You know it wasn't that long ago that we lived in a totally different world. We had jobs for life. If you started work after leaving school in a bank, then you worked for a bank for the next thirty years or so.  It was the same as buying a house and living in it for the same thirty years or so. That one house was deemed your 'investment for life' as superannuation was not yet invented.  

This week whilst finalising some new floor plans for our clients, I started to wonder what we could add to give them a new twist on modern living.  I asked, "do we really need the formal dining area or separate lounge room anymore and what could we replace them with?"

One of the newer additions to the home is the theatre room which is a space dedicated to watching movies....but could there be other needs we can meet with a specific room?

Coming to the end of June is like closing one chapter of your property investing journey and opening the next.  You cannot change whatever happened up until 30 June but July is a good time to start thinking about exactly what you are going to make happen over the next twelve months.   

This week I met with a lovely couple wanting to understand more about property developing and if it was the right strategy for them.  They asked a simple but very good question which is relevant for anyone looking to take their first steps into property development.

They wanted to know what the main risks were in developing property.

I think most people understand there can be risks associated with any investment whether it be buying shares (to me the volatility of the share market is scary), even putting your money in the bank in some countries (particularly Greece!) can be risky. In Australia, our banking system is very stable but the return on cash term deposits is hardly worth the effort right now.

I received a call from a novice property developer the other day and thought I'd share his dilemma.

He'd purchased a duplex site and had just received a set of plans and had a builder quote on the plans. He couldn't understand why there was so much allowed for in "site works". 

I looked over his quote for him and could see that his builder hadn't itemised out many costs.  Our builder's quote or tender has about 75 itemised inclusions.

What a hoo-ha we experienced this week with Treasurer Hockey's comments when he dismissed suggestions that property in Sydney was unaffordable when he went on to say "If you've got a good job and it pays good money and you have security in relation to that job, then you can go to the bank and you can borrow money and that's readily affordable."

and "...if housing were unaffordable in Sydney, no one would be buying it," he said.

Over the years I've refined the fittings and fixtures that we include in our villas. When we first started off many years ago, we'd just run with the basic builder's range.

When I look back on the fittings in the basic builder's range I'm horrified. You see, the basic range is usually selected by the builder. The builder is very good at building homes but may not have a very strong sense of style. Large building companies will usually employ interior designers to make selections but if you are using a smaller building company, double check their fittings and fixtures

I was watching a news program recently when on came Sir Richard Branson. I find him such an inspiring entrepreneur and so my ears pricked up. 

Sir Branson was talking about how he suffers from dyslexia and has trouble understanding some information. He went on to tell the story of at the age of 50 after building up Europe's largest group of companies, he was sitting in a board meeting when results were being discussed and he looked up from the spread sheet and asked if that was good or bad result?  

We are moving away from 9-5 and Monday to Friday work to a "work when, where and how is appropriate model" according to Morris Miselowski  of Business Futurist http://businessfuturist.com/ a forward thinker and forecaster.

In this new world, he says many of us will have 6 careers and 14 jobs, work into our 80's and have a "work portfolio" rather than a "job".

There are times in the development process that just seem to drag on and on. One of these irritating drawn out processes is the period after the Development Application (DA) and Construction Certificate (CC) are approved but before construction can commence.

After the approvals are received, our clients are then able to finalise their construction loan. Prior to this they have received a preapproval from their bank. For their construction loan to be unconditionally approved, the bank requires all supporting documentation.  This includes stamped plans, consents, signed builder's contract and insurance along with other personal documentation confirming your income.

Mother's day always makes me reflect not just on my beautiful family but also on where I'm at on my property investment and business journey. You see I started investing when I was pregnant with my first son and launched Property Bloom, my development project management business just after he was born.

He's turning fourteen this year and my youngest will be eight soon. Setting up an investment portfolio, running a family and a business has been my labour of love during this time and I've had a good time with it.  

Recently I've had to really think about my future. Due to a change in my personal circumstances I had to sit down and review my life's road trip plan to retirement.

The road trip I had been on whilst full of many great things, also had some very bumpy bits and even a few dangerous conditions. Despite this, along the way I'd been able to build up a portfolio of five investment properties. 

It's been one hundred years since the landing at Gallipoli, I thought that I'd pay tribute to those who I knew or know that are serving their countries or had to live through wartime.  

Reflecting on these stories reminds me of how lucky we are to be living in such a peaceful and free country. It gives me inspiration to keep working hard to achieve my goals and dreams. 

One of the most common questions I am asked these days comes from investors looking to use their Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF) to invest and develop property.

It's no surprise that people who've had good experience with property investing want to apply the same strategy and take control of their superannuation investments.  But it's not as easy as it seems and you need to be clear on what tactics are permissible when investing money from your SMSF. You also need good, qualified advice. 

Generally, in a builder's tender/quote, you will see some items marked as Provisional. This means an estimate has been calculated and included. This sum is an allowance for an element of work that cannot yet be calculated accurately or fixed in price.

On a provisional item, you will pay the actual cost, whether it be more or less than the amount allowed for.

A good example is the sub concrete slab piering.  A slab needs to be supported by piers below the ground to prevent movement and increase its strength.

My last Saturday was spent by securing development sites in a new land release, then meeting with a potential new client, followed by working on the lolly stall at my son's school fete and then finally casting my vote.  In New South Wales, we had a state election and the Liberals won.

I was happy with this result. Now they say never to discuss politics or religion at a party, but there's no mention of what to include in a blog.  Look, I'm not very politically minded and I know there are great things that other parties stand for. I was interested to see a party by the name of No Land Tax, that tickled my fancy and I believe they got a fair whack of votes. But I have to say, the when the Libs are in it usually means that some big infrastructure funding will take place. 

This week we did a little back flip on a development project and I thought I'd talk about what to do when things don't necessarily go your way.

Property Bloom had found a wonderful property for our clients well located right in the CBD of this town.  The project would eventually end up as a three unit development which would include the existing house. Our plans are to renovate the house (which we have now completed) and build a duplex (two attached dwellings) behind the house. It's termed 'three unit' by council as when you lodge your Development Application (DA) they assess the house as one of the units.

This week I experienced the hot Sydney property market from two different perspectives. The first perspective was from a friend buying her first home and the second from a friend selling one of her investment properties.

I'll start with my first homebuyer friend who, with her husband, have a budget of around $750,000 and on Sydney's northern beaches this should buy them a two bedroom apartment. It wasn't that long ago that they'd get a small house for this budget but now we are seeing many median prices reach and exceed the magic million dollars. In the Hunter $750,000 would buy them a fabulous mansion or Property Bloom could build them two x three bedroom villas, but they want to live in Sydney.

I just love my job and sometimes it feels like the Universe is aligning with me. This seemed to happen the other day when I was delivered an awesome development site right into the palms of my hands. 

This Sunday we celebrate International Women's Day and the theme this year is MAKE IT HAPPEN.

What a great theme. Yes, us ladies really need to make things happen for ourselves and for our families.

I've been working with our builder on a new range of duplex plans. We wanted to offer something different to each of our clients so their duplex would have a point of difference in the market.

Firstly to clarify, a duplex is two attached villas/units. A duplex can be single or double story. Property Bloom duplexes are predominately single story, three bedrooms, two bathrooms with single garages.

We also build a lot of dual occupancy projects with two freestanding dwellings but today we are just talking about duplexes. 

With all the talk on the impact of the mining slow down, let's not forget the other strong Hunter industries that are quietly achieving and employing the locals: Tourism, business conferences and wine production.

Property Bloom has been project managing property developments in the Hunter region for over fourteen years now and my research began with a study on the local wine and tourism area and their contribution to the local economy.

There's nothing like sipping on a chilled glass of Hunter Valley Semillon whilst studying economics!

When running your feasibility on a development project, it's important to make sure all costs are covered off.  There are set up costs, design costs, planning costs, construction costs, selling or leasing costs and of course, the dreaded holding costs.

You must calculate holding costs correctly. I've spoken to many novice property developers about their holding cost calculations. The most common mistake is to simply calculate the interest cost over the total cost of the project for the total time a project will take. 

This results in a gross over calculation of interest costs. In addition, they then don't take into consideration the tax benefits on the interest payments.

Creating a system can be quite simple and let you achieve more in less time.

Recently I met with one of my builders.  The builder and I only started working together fairly recently when I introduced this particular type of development earlier this year, and over a short period of time we were now up to our sixth project.  I knew we could fine tune our process.  He’d had some recent staff changes so it was the perfect time to gently tell him exactly how I wanted my developments to run. 

There is always something to learn when it comes to property development and this week was no exception.

My new lesson was to do with drainage and subdivision. We'd designed what I thought was a fabulous looking duplex (two attached dwellings).

My brief to our draftsperson was to make the duplex look exciting and interesting from the street, making sure each villa/unit whilst attached, has a different front façade.

I am considering converting an existing block to dual occupancy.

I own the block (and house on it) outright.

The block is 1100 square meters in area.

The existing house is at one end of the block, and dividing the block in half would still leave a meter between the existing house and a dividing fence.

The block is a corner block, and there is provision for a second driveway in the other street.

The zoning in ACT almost precludes sub-division from most blocks. On the ACT Land map it actually has an address for both halves of the block, so my guess is that it was originally proposed and two blocks.

I have verbal approval to commence “the journey” from the ACT authorities.

But I have a question: Where to from here?

Have you had experience in dual occupancies in Canberra, or can you recommend someone?

Happy New Year - I hope you have made some awesome New Year resolutions around property.

My year is off to a great start I'm happy to say. Do you remember the apartment I was selling late last year?