Property Development Making A Living From Developing

Date Published:

04/06/2008

For many years now property development has been offered up to frustrated, over-worked, under-appreciated wage slaves as the perfect way to improve their lifestyle. The reality however, is that unless you truly love property, like the work, and like the people you'll be working with then it can be exactly like any other job - a chore.

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Dabbling

One of the simplest ways to make a little money out of property investment is to buy a new apartment off-plan in what you expect to prove a popular development. Off-plan purchases are how major developers keep their cash flow going, and they will often offer discounts to investors in the early phases of a new development. Buying off-plan, that is before the apartment is completed, means you will be getting a property at the cheapest price the development - assuming it is a good one - will offer. Subsequent phases will almost certainly be more expensive, and even modest appreciation should ensure you a few thousand pounds of profit when it comes to sell.

Part-time or occasional developers can bring in some extra cash by keeping their projects very simple. There is nothing to stop you, for example, buying a two-bedroom house and then converting a loft space to create a further bedroom, which, if done properly, should net you a healthy profit for the minimum of stress.

Multi-Tasking

Few of us have the financial security to be able to simply throw in the day job, buy our first investment property and just get on with it. The reality for most first time developers is the difficult and precarious task of balancing the known demands of the old way of life and the unexpected demands of the new.

Consequently, most novice developers will have to endure the challenges of their day job as well as lunchtimes, evenings and weekends of trying to co-ordinate what might be a tricky development process. Employing a project manager can deflect an awful lot of the stress of a project, but at the same time is guaranteed to eat up 10% of your costs. If you decide to project manage yourself, you will spend a lot of time on-site, a lot more time on the phone, and will be expected to make quick decisions and cope calmly with difficulties as they arise.

Even when you have reached the stage where you feel confident that you can jack in the day job, your free time will be eaten up by the need to seek out and prepare future projects.

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