10/05/2018
Bob Andersen is a passionate pioneer in the world of property development education. A self-made property developer with three decades of experience, Andersen has seen firsthand how property development projects generate the fastest and most rewarding profits in real estate.
And he knows even brand-new investors can be property developers. The idea that development projects are only for the bigwigs in property is just a myth, Andersen says.
“Most people wouldn’t baulk at the idea of doing a renovation, but the term ‘property development’ really spooks them,” he says.
“They think it’s big-time, that you’ve got to have a lot of money and that the risk is too high. I’m showing people that the average person can do a development and do it well, because it’s all about following a system rather than having big money and lots of knowledge and experience, because you really don’t need any of those things.
“There is risk in any kind of property venture, because wherever there is a big return, there is risk, but I show people how to mitigate it. It’s really no different to any kind of property purchase. The biggest risk in property development is simply not investing in your own education first.”
Having been involved in more than $1bn worth of development projects in his career, Andersen knows full well that developments are a powerful vehicle for quick portfolio-building and speedy cash income. The biggest advantage for investors, he says, is purchasing at raw cost rather than paying full retail price for properties.
“You’re creating properties 20% below market value, and that essentially means your profit is your deposit that you leave in there if you choose to keep your assets,” he explains.
“You don’t have to wait for the market to keep rising to harvest equity over a long period of time – you can get straight into your next project. The end result is that you can either build a large portfolio very quickly, or replace your full-time job with a part-time job as a developer that’s making you several times more than you used to make. That’s why people are doing it.”
Andersen adds that development projects can be started with little or no money, and he offers a variety of strategies to help those with very little in the bank.
Small, medium and large developments are so accessible that Andersen has taught students as young as 17 and as young-at-heart as 70. Savvy parents are including their high-school children in their education in the same way Andersen himself teamed up with his 23-year-old son, Luke, in 2006; together, they wrote their first book on property development, Residential Real Estate Development: A Practical Guide for Beginners to Experts. The bestselling book became a serious tool for investors at a time when credible education on development strategies didn’t exist.
And there is no question that Andersen knows what he’s talking about. Reconsidering his future as a young man after a car accident, he jumped into real estate, quickly moved to property development and then founded his own property development consultancy firm, Positive Property Strategies. With more than three decades of industry experience under his belt, Andersen’s mission is to teach the system he has used successfully for decades.
“At the end of the day, property development is about two skills: coordinating a process and coordinating people,” he says.
“You don’t need to have skills or prior experience. Rely on other people to have the skills – your architect, your builder, your real estate agents; they have the years of experience that you don’t need to have. All you need to do is follow the system and utilise the skills of those people in your team.”
The system is composed of six steps; in its simplest form, it involves looking for a site, doing your due diligence, arranging finance, getting development approval, finding a builder and completing construction, and then using a marketing team to sell or rent the properties.
“You don’t need a university degree – in fact, I’ve had students who never even completed high school, and it’s all irrelevant. None of that holds you back,” he says.
While Andersen used to tour Australia to share his knowledge, his Property Mastermind program is now online, making it even more accessible. The program gives aspiring developers options from basic fundamental teaching all the way through to three-day workshops and one-on-one mentoring.
Bob sharing his strategies at the Property Mastermind bootcamp.
“You don’t need a university degree – in fact, I’ve had students who never even completed high school … None of that holds you back”
“The take-home message is that the opportunity to become a property developer is open to anyone,” Andersen says.
“You just need to invest in yourself first, so do it well and don’t leave money on the table. And once you’ve got the knowledge, you’ve got it forever.”
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Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed in content marketing pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property.
