Hi Everyone,
It feels that this thread is slowly winding up.
Before I start writing about my own experinces with Metropole properties, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all posters for their questions and opionions for this thread alone has been such a valuable resource for anybody who has thought about developing. My biggest thanks and appreciation of course goes to AL who has been generous beyond belief in sharing his journey on a public forum.
Back when this thread first started, we had dabbled with the idea to buy a block and develop etc. Mr Bird was not keen at all I must add but finally managed to convince him to look at the idea. He had already been burnt by one IP mistake therefore did not want to go down that road again.
Then came along the thread about Metropole Properties.
Perfect, I rang up Metropole Properties for an appointment to discuss what services they offered etc.
I did not go into this blind at all, to me reading about MP on the forum gave me a resource to look at. It is totally up me to do my Due Diligence.
Anyway, I dragged Mr Bird for our 'Developers Meeting' We met with one of the consultants who would have dealt with our development from start to end. He spent 3 hours with us explaining the services they offered, fees, areas in Melbourne they would recommend, different strategies we could look at ...the one we had talked about was buying a property for 220k, get permits, sit on it for a few years and possibly sell with permits without even building.
These different scenarios impressed me because they wernt just interested in building if there was no profit or too risky...Ironic that at the same time AL's dev was having difficulties
Our consultant was very generous with information he gave to us and he gave us a very detailed feasibility study done for a previous client in a area and price range we were looking at.
Ironically, it was this feasibility study that influenced our decision to not go ahead.
Our consultant also made it very clear that it was not a good time in the property cycle to start a development because Melb house prices were adjusting after the frenzy in 2003.
At no time were we pressured into signing up and I felt the experience was a positive one. Our consultant made a courtesy phone call one week later and I explained the only reason we were not going through MP because the profit margin was too tight( going by the feasibilty study for a similiar project) and there was no room for error. He excepted this gracefully. No pressure or sales pitch etc exactly the way you should do business
We had decided that there was just not enough profit in it. Yes, there was alot of money to be made in dev 3 or 4 years ago, but inner city, land was much cheaper and building as well. I would have to make at least 100k on each town house for us to go ahead with a project. This is my "sleep at night factor" the 100k is a buffer zone to allow things to go wrong
Thankyou to the posters who asked the hard questions about soil tests and other development issues. Inexperienced investors need to be aware of the immense risks they are taking on when considering such ventures.
I must admit after reading AL's experiences has put me off the idea for quite a while. However, I admire AL for the courage he has displayed in taking action and not just always dreaming what if....
All the best AL
Mrs Bird