Hi from Be Developer

Hi i am Be Developer (ss: Mflying)

here is my about me (From SS)

There are few threads on currently on how to grow multimillion $$$ portfolio or What strategy or lot of newbies asking question what should I buy.. so I thought I ll share my story..

Conclusion: started with $58k cash in 2012 and have around 2.5 M portfolio now across the country!
(Sounds good.. but not as easy as it reads)



Here it goes.


Bit about me:

I am 30 and arrived in Australia with little English and $2000 in pocket to study in one of highly regarded university to study.. 3-4 years later I got degree and started working in SME and Corporate world like everyone else. Everything I earned, I saved some and spent most on travelling and seeing different part of this amazing country.

late 2011.
Decided to invest in real estate market.. Bought a land (that nobody wanted it for last 6 months) with in sydney metro area. Paid $56K deposit and $1000 for conveyancing cost.


Deal:
$280k land (no stamp duty as it was vacant land and NSW had no stamp duty Under $300k for land)

$600K Build cost (duplex build cost inc sell, hold, design)

$880K total cost

Sold for $1.2M (Completed in year 2014)

Year 2012:

Refinanced above land and bought a house on 1/4 acre block in regional NSW.

$250K purchase and has potential to put townhouses on it.. current market indicates that circa$300k townhouses are flying out of door at the moment..
To the the date, haven?t looked at what and how many we can fit on it.
I have left this site for rainy day development.

We funded this purchase from equity draw form land above.

Mid 2012
Bought 1/4 acre with full brick house in Brisbane metro. We can subdivide this in two lots and retain front and build at back.
It was a deceased estate. I picked it up at right price. Used equity to purchase this site and used our own funds to complete reno.

Year 2013
Spent time learning and developing Sydney site. It was a steep learning curve. Developing properties is not easy and not for faint hearted ppl. It requires time, effort and money (lots and lots of it). Ppl who develop can back this up. It is not easy to develop and to make matter worst, I picked up worst site ever to develop on .



In way it was good, because now I learnt all tricks in a book and went thru hell and back. It took toll but in a good way. It will pay off for any future developments.

Around AUG 2013, We bought a potential triplex site in Perth metro and I am pretty happy with it so far..


Nov 2013, we bought a site in Melbourne metro with vision of developing in to 4 townhouses, asked for longer settlement and settled on it on feb 2014.

I started to educate myself about different planning code and requirement related to development for most metro areas around major metro city in country (Except SA, Adelaide)

I was no longer in market to buy as i maxed out our borrowing capacity. However, I was still assessing and scanning properties that I can develop on. That lead me to suggesting it to friends and some SS members.. Needless to say they are happy with their purchase and they did pay me handsome Spotters fee, which really came handy as I was paying mortgage for construction loan (that wasn't producing any income)

Year 2014:

We settled on Melbourne deve site on early 2014.
Sold Sydney development in late 2014.

Year 2015:

We are about to knock out house on Melbourne and start 4 townhouse project.

Bought a new site in Melbourne with view of potentially developing 3 story +basement apartment in bayside suburb.

This is my development journey so far and it hasn?t been an easy one.

I am glad I found SS and my broker (now good friend) to get me where we are today. Before I move on to what I had to scarify to get here, I must credit few ppl

Shahin from Elite property finance (broker here) for crunching numbers and getting unbelievable deals thru in lightening fast speed. It is a tedious work of getting loan thru but he makes it look really easy

i must say most of my success credit goes to shahin..
.
MTR for sort of being helpful in most deals and assessing numbers and market and provide excellent and honest market commentary

RPI for doing all legal framework and planning report for Brisbane purchase.

Oc1 for doing hard yard to get thru Melbourne deal, plans, permits and construction now.

I have met few other amzing ppl thru forum, MsAil,monalisa, nhg to name few.

Needless to say my wife and my family is been backbone of above story.



What did I scarify (Sort of)

No PPoR
No Kids (As yet)
No fancy car (I just rewarded my self with new $25k car)
Frugal lifestyle for 2-3 years (And counting)

Why chose above journey/strategy?

We are young couple and don?t need a big house and cant afford to live far off city, so never felt a need of McMansion.

Everything I bought for my personal use, I paid cash for it (Car, furniture, overseas trips around the wold) that allowed us to borrow money for IPs.

I say to ppl that all our properties are female properties, it can produce more dwellings and mitigates risk of negative market movements. I chose to manufacture growth rather than Mr Market dictating my journey and path.


It may seem that 2.5 or 3m portfolio is big or makes us look rich? it is hardly the case.. i am just average joe.. still work for someone, spent most of time travelling around country and world for work.

most days of the week I hardly have around $100 to $200 in my savings account. Our PAYG jobs helps us to pay our living expenses and ongoing property expenses and whatever we earn thru development just get reinvested in to buying, developing more properties.


This is my story and I am sticking to it.... (mental note for me)

 

Many Many thanks to this forum for providing a platform to learn ,in and out of property related transactions. with out help of this forum and its members, i wouldn't have achieved what i have achieved so far.

I understand simple things in life and i really believe in give and take, so i have decided to document my experience in property development field in
e-book /Guide, it will be available for everyone at no cost at http://bedeveloper.com.au/resources/

I also came across lot of aspiring property developers that aren't aware of cost associated with property development, so i have developed a basic feasibility calculator . If you get bored of filing out most details on that calculator, please re think your property development venture. some of those cost are must for property development and i have seen some of property developers aren't aware of it.. it will cost you lot of $$$$$ and you may loose money

calc is here http://bedeveloper.com.au/resources/

At Be Developer, we cater Domestic and International clients, so
e-book/guide talks about property course... but please, i urge you to SSers to re think of spending few thousand $$$$ on so called courses..my free guide and calculator will give you lot more information and will put in right directions.

this is my first business venture, so any constrictive feedback is welcome, please feel free to pm me and i will take your feedback on board.

I must say, idea and philosophy behind this business is to build stronger network of like minded property investors.. Again, it is a simple motto here: Together we will go far!!!

along the way, i have met very successful property investors, bankers, equity manager,stock brokers, US property investors, Lawyers. Their combined experience and knowledge in various industry is priceless to me. i don't think any money can buy that (okay if you are billionaire, different story)


Most people associated with "Be Developer" are property developers, successful property developers i should say. so if you decided to hire us, i can assure you, that you will be in safe hands!!!!

once again. Many thanks to forum members!

 

nice comprehensive 32 page development guide. highly recommended for PC members.

 

cool website. is that you in the youtube video?

 

You've done well. Congratulations

 

Hi Be Developer.... site looks fresh but I notice there's no name/s anywhere on there for us to identify who's running the business- who are you? Also given that you are advertising buyers agency services it would be a good idea to put your licence details as minimum so potential clients can check your credentials quickly and efficiently. It all helps with reputation and providing comfort to buyers/users of your services. Best of luck!

 

@RetireRich101

I am glad that you and other members find it useful. feel free to check out other free resources too.. we will be uploading few more free information too.

 

@jafeica , we opted for professional male mode for this one..

 

Thanks @Jacque , BD site is as fresh as PC website and fully functional website will be ready by end of month along with corporation licence details.

OFT is in process of amendment of CoA for personal licence.. once that is done. it will be up on website.

 

Great to see you almost up and running. Look forward to your contributions through here

 

Congratulations! There is a huge demand for buyers agents that specifically source devo sites and can provide a start to finish service.

 

A next Chapter:

Be Developer:

@Mflying is a founder and major shareholder (as at the time of writing this)of Be Developer. Be Developer is focused on on “Property Acquisition and Development”. We specialize in Property development and its related transaction from concept to completion. Be Developer is actively investing and developing properties in NSW, VIC, QLD and have an expert team on the ground to assist our customers.

Be Developer recommends and have strategic alliance with following (Forum members)

@Shahin_Afarin : Shahin is an expert at sourcing funds for property development projects through panel of lenders and have sound knowledge of bank’s policies and product. Along with his thriving mortgage broking business, he is professional and successful property developer.

@RPI : Darryl is a lawyer, Town Planner, Property Investor/Developer and his vast knowledge and combination of professional skills are unmatched in the industry.

@Depreciator We personally use and recommend Depreciator. We are fond of his eye for renovations and his willingness to do help fellow investors.

@MTR Marisa is a seasoned investor and has a vast knowledge of property development, investment in local and US property market. We believe our domestic and international clients may benefit from her expertise in various strategies she employees to make money through property.

There are couple more property developers on board, however they want to remain private. We respect their privacy and appreciate their commitment to Be Developer.

Outside of Box Approach:

• We are closed everyday 11:00 pm to 6:00 am (our reception takes calls 24x7)
• All above forum members and others are successful Property Developers/investors. If you are dealing with us, your file most likely end up at their desk (with your consent). They have proven track record of helping fellow property investor.
• Instead of hiring employees, we opted for the strategic alliance with best in business in relevant field.
• We only do Property Development!
• We have network of REA, Architects, Builders, Property lawyers, etc
• In most cases, our customers will save more by utilizing our experience and network of property development related professionals.
• We exclusively work for our clients, meaning we don’t receive or take any kickbacks from our recommended professionals.

Numbеrѕ:
Currently, we are involved in 10+ Development projects in NSW, VIC, QLD at various stage of development ranging from on Drawing board to council approval to out of the ground.

We are building and managing projects ranging from 3-4 townhouses to 3 story apartments (well, Technically we haven’t started apartment building yet, but very soon)

We believe based on our current book ad if all projects are developed, it will be in excess of $20 million+ in end value (Not a bad start from what originally started with $58K)

Breakdown of Projects
$5.4M out of ground and on a market for sell
$9M at council awaiting advertisement and approval
$5M on Drawing board
$2M awaiting builder quotes and finance approval
$1.5M “under contract” awaiting settlement and design work

Individual project details, if and when available, it will be on our web page, under portfolio!

What's Next?
Be developer is looking at acquiring strata management company to incorporate with our current business. It may be beneficiary to our existing and future clients

We are a young company but have a wealth of experience on board and slowly but surely will kick few goals!

Again,, we will stick to our original motto ,“Together, we will go far” and anticipating to build bigger and better network for Property investors/Developers. If you think you can add value to Be Developer or we can to your business, feel free to drop us a line!

Few forum member got a preview of our current projects at meetup last night!

Happy Investing

 

You have done good mate.

 

Thanks for the links to the resources! Interesting stuff!

 

Oh, and congratulations for your success to date!

 

Thanks @legallyblonde And @Jonty !!

 

Love this intro @Be Developer - inspiring story. Have done A lot in a short space of time!

Good luck with the new venture. My partner and I have ready your book inside out and highlighted throughout it - great resource. Thank you!

 

Can we have an update on your progress??


MTR

 

Hi All,

Its been 1 year since I started Be Developer and think its time I posted an update on what has been happening and where we are go from here.

We have 14 residential development projects currently on the go..... 6 out of ground.. 4 about to break ground, rest awaiting various approvals. (inc our own projects)

Also, completed Small Warehouse to Medical centre for one of our client. That was first commercial project and has been some good learning lessons.

Sydney and Melbourne have been our target markets, these markets have been running hot, and this is where we have seen growth and opportunities to maximise profits for our clients.

I have personally spent most of the year travelling between States sourcing the right sites for our clients and networking with various professionals. We have a brilliant team on board ie town planner, architect, project management, builders etc.. and we have streamlined all processes to achieve best results possible for our clients.

We need to utilise and understand what can be achieved with the raw site and the building design, how to maximise space and save money. This skill has certainly giving us the edge and as markets change we need to ensure we keep costs down.

Personal:

Property:
I would like to update you guys on couple of my own projects and deal. however, will have to wait for few months as we have exclusive with print media.

Education:
Still going thru piles of books for Law and business degree. nearly there but not there as yet

Thank you:

Let me take this opportunity to thank you and acknowledge somersoft and property chat community. without such platform - Be Developer wouldn't exist.

@Simon Hampel - Congratulations to you too and thanks for keeping somersoft alive in from of property chat.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank our forum clients.

Where does Be Developer go from here?

The plan is to continue sourcing great development sites for our clients and to provide our clients with the best service possible utilising our expertise.

Be Developer Strata:

from 1st of july, we will be incorporating starta business for our NSW, VIC clients.

Be Developer USA

We are also now looking at expanding in to the USA market. The USA market provides an unique opportunity for investors who are looking for high yields in a property market that is growing.

We have right team on ground and plan is replicate Be Developer Aus model.

Pick up a development site- go thru joy and pain of development. rinse and repeat.

Be Developer LLC was formed some time in april when i visited US and been working in background for setting wheels in motions!

Be Developer LLC is backed by High Net Worth Individuals and passive investors. It will run as syndicate-Partnership company for time being till we have clear direction and course of action.

I look forward to the next 12 months…. Watch this space

 

Awsome.

How about posting a deal that has been completed.
Edit, I understand you have an interview with media, disclose numbers when you can.

MTR