DA approved sites...how do you find out?

[DanielG]

I am looking for blocks of land that I can afford in which I could possible develop townhouses on in the future. Here is my problem, how do I know if it is allowed on the block of land that I may wish to buy?

For example, I am currently interested in North Ipswich, but I dont want to buy if the local council will not allow me to build on that land. I dont want to buy it and submit a DA approval form only to get knocked back, then I have to sell the property or land for possibly a loss.

I guess what I mean is, I want to know BEFORE i buy a property that I can develop on it, not afterwards. And since DA approval takes months, if it gets accepted for a certain block of land, it already may get sold to someone before I get the chance to buy it. Can someone please explain to me how this works?

Thanks.

 

[LynnH]

Daniel

Talk to the local Council - if you give them the details of the property, they can tell you whether a DA is likely to be approved. Formal DA will still be required down the track, but it should knock out a number of properties which are non-contenders (e.g. too small, wrong zoning, mining area etc).

I haven't dealt with Ipswich City Council, but have had lots of deallings with BCC (Brisbane) and they have always been extremely helpful. The Ipswich mayor, Paul Pisale, is a real go-getter (he recently addressed a BIG meeting re development in Ipswich - the Council has big plans), so I would be surprised if you couldn't get the information you require.

Cheers
LynnH

 

[DanielG]

Daniel

Talk to the local Council - if you give them the details of the property, they can tell you whether a DA is likely to be approved. Formal DA will still be required down the track, but it should knock out a number of properties which are non-contenders (e.g. too small, wrong zoning, mining area etc).

I haven't dealt with Ipswich City Council, but have had lots of deallings with BCC (Brisbane) and they have always been extremely helpful. The Ipswich mayor, Paul Pisale, is a real go-getter (he recently addressed a BIG meeting re development in Ipswich - the Council has big plans), so I would be surprised if you couldn't get the information you require.

Cheers
LynnH

Thanks Lynn,

I emailed the Ipswich council over a week ago and never got a response...go figure

 

[LynnH]

Daniel

Have you tried telephoning them? I often find that businesses ignore (or take ages to respond to) emails - whereas a telephone call is a bit harder to ignore.

Cheers
Lynn

 

[Player]

Hi Daniel,

Lynn offers very good advice above. Firstly as you've identified a region that you're keen on, I suggest you visit the council web site and make some calls.

As an out of towner myself and with some interest in Ipswich for potetnial future purchase along the lines of what you are looking at doing, the Ipswich council town plan is one of the easiest to understand and navigate.

You can become an expert on a suburb or two and which precincts or indeed streets have what zoning and then correlate that to prices achieved or asking prices. The council town plan has various filters that you can use to look at different elements of the purchase and to mitigate risks.

No one can guarantee what is achieved in the future, however the more informed you are the better your chances of achieving what you desire, especially as an interstate deal.

Safest bet is to get a DA'd site already. You will pay for that privilege and there are plenty around. Difficulty today is securing finance for these to construct.

This is a good site for development land:

http://millarslist.com/

 

[Propertunity]

I want to know BEFORE i buy a property that I can develop on it, not afterwards. And since DA approval takes months, if it gets accepted for a certain block of land, it already may get sold to someone before I get the chance to buy it.

The others have given good advice and now my 2c worth

You, as a developer, would normally buy land like this on an 'option to purchase' subject to DA approval. This works where you pay a nominal deposit - can be anything that you and the vendor agree on - $10,000 say. The vendor can't sell to anyone else while you get DA approval. If you can't get approval for whatever reason, the vendor keeps the option premium of $10K as compensation for having their property off the market for 6 months. You get to walk away - no committment to purchase.

 

[wallace]

propertunity has the idea...

a very successful client of mine does exactly this. Deals alot from ipwich - fernvale and lowood. Has been in the industry 20+ years.

By far the best way to ensure less risk. The key to this is to due alot of homework first to ensure your not giving away your "$10k" on a regular basis.

 

[Jacque]

Agree with Alan and Wallace too. Option is the best way to go here. Trick is to know how much to make it, as it's got to be enough of a "sweetener" for the vendor to agree to keep the property off the market, whilst you do your searches. Time is also a factor in negotiations.

This is actually the way many developers obtain their sites, but by directly approaching (or via an agent) owners rather than waiting for properties to come onto the market.

 

[grossreal]

hi
for me do it this way and you will find a bit more sucess.
do a 1 dollar option and you make the option for the time you think it will take.
give the person 1.25 or 1.5 time the value of there today price but in end product at market value ( you get a presale and your end value includes profit so your cost is 35% less)
the site is controlled by you but they stay there until the da is approved
spec the da so if it comes thru they get paid if not they lose the da costs
and you are not up for any costs
depending on the invoice when da'd this can be very good.
use a silo or spv so any cost are for this and only this project
to find site talk to real estates or even liquidators they have heaps
I have not as yet paid over 1% as a option and even then was to pay his outstanding costs and that was for 16 months
I have done $1.00 for a 1 mil site and thats was for 6 months
now I can buy for less then construct cost so no need to option
but if you want to build then a 1.oo option is the way to go hope this helps

 

[ems]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to all this so excuse the question but I've been looking on the millar's website and I've seen a few which says <$100k/s....What does the k/s mean?

Cheers
Ems

 

[Player]

Hi Guys,

I'm new to all this so excuse the question but I've been looking on the millar's website and I've seen a few which says <$100k/s....What does the k/s mean?

Cheers
Ems

Ems, in that instance they are selling for less than one hundred thousand dollars per site. i.e: the land/site required per dwelling.

Sometimes price is quoted per site so potential buyers who know their building costs per unit able to quickly establish a rough feasibility in their heads before committing time to doing more detailed numbers.


Agree with all the option info above also. I get the impression however, that Daniel is seeking a property to develop in the future, as in several years time, whilst receiving some rent from an IP. I could be wrong in this assumption. Daniel could clarify this so that opinions are more relevant.

Grossreal also makes a valid point with buying now representing excellent value, it would need to be a lip-smacker of a site to go down the road of developing and constructing yourself. Subdividing land and onselling with DA's may be another issue although in this market there is no shortage of those either.

 

[eggnog]

hi
for me do it this way and you will find a bit more sucess.
do a 1 dollar option and you make the option for the time you think it will take.
give the person 1.25 or 1.5 time the value of there today price but in end product at market value ( you get a presale and your end value includes profit so your cost is 35% less)
the site is controlled by you but they stay there until the da is approved
spec the da so if it comes thru they get paid if not they lose the da costs
and you are not up for any costs
depending on the invoice when da'd this can be very good.
use a silo or spv so any cost are for this and only this project
to find site talk to real estates or even liquidators they have heaps
I have not as yet paid over 1% as a option and even then was to pay his outstanding costs and that was for 16 months
I have done $1.00 for a 1 mil site and thats was for 6 months
now I can buy for less then construct cost so no need to option
but if you want to build then a 1.oo option is the way to go hope this helps

Hey GR, what do you mean by "spec the DA". How do you get it so that the vendor pays for the DA and if it fails to get through you are not out of pocket.

 

[reeco]

Hey GR, what do you mean by "spec the DA". How do you get it so that the vendor pays for the DA and if it fails to get through you are not out of pocket.

i:e Find out for yourself.

You'd have to "spec the DA" yourself. Thats why its tricky guessing the amount to put down for the lease option. You have to have enough cash to pull in the vendor... but at the same time not put out too much if it doesn't workout.

As for getting someone to do the DA. Not really possible unless you are actually gonna go unconditional.

 

[battler]

The first thing to do when aproaching council is to make sure the Planner, that is going to handle it, does everything in writing from the start.

The second thing is make sure the Planners father inlaw is not a neighbour.

I've had it happen where we have had approval in principle, and then made impossible after purchase, as FIL didn't want tennants living next door.

Cost me a lot, and you can't fight City Hall.

 

[alplant]

DanielG. The Ipswich City Council website will give you a lot of information about any property you are interested in. You go to the website click on PDonline down the right hand side and it will bring up a page where you have to click on the I agree button and then you can do a property enquiry search. The search gives you the zoning as well as lots of other information, such as flood overlays, mining overlays etc, but the zoning is probably what you are looking for.

I'll give you a couple of links.

Heres a link to the opening page to get into the property enquiry. Like I said you have to click on 'I agree' to the conditions to get into it.
http://pdonline.ipswich.qld.gov.au/pdonline/user/home/default.aspx

If you are uncomfortable just clicking that I'll give you a link to the home page (or you can access it from the other page) and you can look through it yourself.
http://www.ipswich.qld.gov.au/index.php

Edited to add .. Oh and I forgot to mention, it's all free.

 

[propertyVIC]

In person

I've previously (in Melb) gone in person to the relevant council with a sketch plan of what I would do, the address etc. While they will never say anything absolute, they have steered me away from several prospects and given me a feel for what is acceptable. Once they got to know me, they even suggested an alternative layout by giving me an address of a project they'd approved on a similar sized site.