Michael Yardney's Property workshop

[stan]

Just wanted to post a quick message of thanks for Michael for organising a fantastic weekend workshop which gave us all more than we ever expected!

It started off with fairly light discussion on goal setting and general property investment (which i fortunately missed as i chose Matrix Reloaded instead) - but the Saturday and Sunday were well worth the investment and then some.

Saturday was a run through on Contracts in Real estate with Michael's solicitor (coincidentally brother in law - good to keep the trust in the family i suppose discussing finer points of caveats and how property purchases should be handled - i got lots out of it even though i've been in property for quite some time now.

it went to Auction negotiating techniques - we reviewed a video of Gary Peer's auctioneer (very humourous) - but the point of it was to analyse various techniques that RE agents use to bring the price up and what to watch out for - definitely an eye opener!

after that there was a fairly stragithforward session on how to analyse property and where the new trends are lying - how to select the better performing properties - i guess this is open to subjective discussion - but its certainly a point of "history repeating itself" and how we can predict where the ageing population will settle and where the real capital growth will be.

and then by the close of the day we were discussing property development where Michael and his partner, Gavin Taylor going right through the process of pre-purchase qualification of the site and analysis of what could be fitted on a typical sized block - turning circles for garages and base floorplans for units are key - this also included a criteria of a number of suburbs with their requirements for private open space, etc. further to this we did an analysis of the site in a package specifically designed for feasibility studies - and all the meanwhile anybody could ask whatever of interest in regards to this - both Michael and Gavin did not hold anything back and i think that session was absolutely invaluable to budding developers.

i also ended up going to the dinner with most of the people from the seminar - nice entertainment by a magician - and i think michael will remember for a while his guinness book of records joke

the sunday session was once again right into the heavy stuff and after a short presentation by finance brokers we got into the part i awaited the most - Dale Gatherum-Goss - and all i have to say is - WOW!!! whatever you do in property - go see him. definitely one of melbourne's most innovative accountants.

this covered a better part of the day and at the end there was a fairly quick session on how to deal with estate agents in negotiation - actually had quite an involving game session of having to negotiate with another person and then as a group we analysed different techniques in negotiation - basically never be the first to give away information was the tip.

this then went on to property management and the common pitfalls and what to look out for in selecting the right property manager.
this i think pretty much tied up the day.

but overall - i'm extremely happy for the workshop - i'd say the rest of the gang were just as satisfied and maybe a little overwhelmed with the amount of information provided - certainly a whole lot more down to earth info than some of the more expensive courses i've been to.

so a huge thanks out ot Michael and his team!!! Well done guys and i look forward to the cds of the workshop in the mail )

cheers,
stan.

"There is no try! Do or Do Not!" - Yoda

 

[always_learning]

Stan, Thanks for the posting, I was very interested in attending.

Before I read a book, listen to an instructional audio or attend a course/seminar I think gWhat will I get out of it? And would I use it be one I got it?h Do you think you have taken home skills and knowledge that will put to productive action immediately?

ie. Do you feel confident enough to do a feasibility study, negotiate a purchase and subsequently redevelop lets say a small dual occupancy development? (If that is what you wanted)

 

[brains]

Gday Stan the Man,

Interesting first post to the forum.

What's the damage for the weekend seminar?
How many attended?

 

[stan]

Always learning:

i thought about what was going to be the most important to get out of the seminar - and prior to attending it seemed that it was more the taxation and legal topics covered.

however in the course of the workshop, the development concepts divulged were quite a bit in depth - so yeah if i now wanted to - i could go on from here - buy a copy of the feasibility program, analyse a site with planning requirements for the appropriate council, negotiate with some useful tactics and etc - obviously a development requires lots and lots of thinking behind it - but anything is possible if you put your mind to it. its a matter of being there day in and day out - there is always the opportunity to engage metropole as the project manager and sit back and watch the process. for me though i like to be in control of things - so when i'm ready, i'll probably have a more active role in the process.

brains:

for your record - "first post to the forum" - you're right i don't often post - but i've been to this forum ever since the early days when TW and a few others that arent any more were posting - the original forum on the somersoft website - and i've learnt lots since then. its the quality of the content that counts - not the mere posting for the sake of it. this time i felt the contribution needed to be made and i did.

how much was the "damage"? - considering the content provided and especially the caveat techniques - i'd say this will potentially save me thousands if not hundreds of thousands in the future of being gazumped. a bus. partner of mine recently has just had a very similar situation with somebody else who came to him with a proposal and if he knew this particular technique - he would not have only not lost a friend but also kept his part in a very profitable deal that he was "pushed" out of - because he didnt have any interest registered on it. so i guess the benefits of being there far outweighed the investment - and this will obviously take time to see a return from it. but for what the seminar was worth - it was worth every moment of it.

how many attended - don't know, didnt count - not more than a hundred i guess - because every speaker was approachable and there was enough time to mingle with everyone during the breaks.

cheers,
stan.

"There is no try! Do or Do not!" - Yoda

 

[brains]

Hi Stan,

I thought it was your first post because of the number of posts next to your name which said "one".

I made no comment either way on the quantity or quality of your posts.

"Whats the damage" is an old fashioned Australian way of asking "how much did the seminar cost you"? I dont know what all the other stuff in your reply is about.

So to rephrase: How much did the weekend seminar cost?

I did a small dual occ./sub divide development years ago before i knew what "property investment" meant, i made some good money and i didnt have a clue what i was doing so its not that difficult.

 

[XBenX]

hrmmmm and whats going on here.....

interesting

 

[stan]

hi brains
maybe i misunderstood you - guess for me "damage" has more a negative connotation than a question of what was the value of the seminar. i've been to the infamous seminar by a well known marketing company two and a half years ago when it was still appropriately priced and felt that comparing the value of the two - this one was far better because it was a lot more practical with far greater depth into actual techniques of investing.

well done with your development - could you share a bit more of the details of dual occ that you've done before? ie how big the block, how did you go about choosing the consultants etc?

look forward to your reply,
stan.

 

[brains]

Sure Stan,

I bought a big suburban corner block (1087 sq. m) with a fibro house on the front of the block.

I divided it roughly 55/45, built a fence down the middle and got a house built by a project builder. Landscaping, turf, driveways, fences...etc..were done with a friend who has a business with that sort of stuff.

I organised the DA, BA, subdivison of title (torrens title), drainage & water retention engineering myself.

Feasabilty study took me about half a day.

Already knew the zoning when bought property.
Research property values in the area.
Get RE over to estimate selling price of existing and new house.
Get quotes on everything to do with project.
Do figures, looks ok.
Arrange finance.
Away we go.

Somehow i ended up with a $8000 captital loss on the project even tho i made roughly $90k profit .

Im not sure how that happened, i'll have to ask my accountant one day.

As for consultants, what are they?

By the way, how much was the seminar?

 

[XBenX]

is this like a $3K set of saucepans ?

the salesman runs a mile whenever you ask how much the thing costs......but it will save you THIS much... so it really doesnt cost you anything !!!!

hopefully im wrong

 

[BUNDY]

Stan,

Just curous, you said "buy a copy of the feasability program". Does this mean Michael is selling a program? If so do you know waht it entails and how much it costs?

BUNDY

 

[perky29]

Hi Guys,
I have been in a bit of a daze for most of the day. That happens when I cannot sleep....just had a nap in my lunchbreak.
I couldn't sleep because I flew down to Melbourne to do the course - and have had more "property dreams" than I care to remember....
Michaels course was well worth the 3k. I enjoyed it, got some great ideas out of it and also got to network with more similar minded people (such as those on this forum
Expect an influx of newbies on this site as I told many of the people at the course how good this site is....
So, IMHO the course was terrific.
The property development part was concise - I dare say I may be able to do it one day.....just gotta find the time !!!
Thank-you Michael !!!
PS, In the meantime I will be considering (as Always Learning has done) having Michael do a project for me too......and there was no hard sell to do this. Having spoken to Michael (for about 1 hour after dinner) I can see he is genuine and trustworthy.

 

[always_learning]

When Metropole sent me a feasiblity, it was study based on Feastudy.

On the above web site they you can download a test program. A full program is $550, I suppose not much if you are considering a $1M project!

Like all software, it is a productivity tool, not a necessity, you don't need to buy it, you could do it all with MS Excel or even pen paper and a calculator, it would just take you a bit longer. But Feastudy output would look very professional if you had to "sell" your idea get finance.

 

[stan]

hi brains

fantastic - seems like you had yourself a pretty good project.
also thanks for the details - we all like to deal with facts ..
couple of questions if i may:

if you tried, could you get 3 units on that block?
seems like if it was a corner block - depending on the crossovers - you could've gotten two side by side and another at the front?

consultants - you took care of most of the stuff - i thought that a geotech engineer prior to building and a surveyor would've been critical?

and finally - 8k capital loss - could you clarify?
did you keep the units or sell them off?

and about the cost for the seminar - somebody else has already answered that question

cheers,
stan.

 

[zakstoja]

Like Stan, I would also like to thank Michael and his crew on putting on a great "real world" workshop.

I attended Michael's Real World Workshop last year and got a lot out of it. The property development process was presented but not to the extent of this years and I wanted to now the fine details, to Michael's credit he did invite me after the workshop to ask as many questions I had in regards to developing regardless how long it would takes for him to answer them.

I decided to attend this years "Real World" Workshop for the second time in 2 years (from the faces around the room there were several attendee's from last years workshop) after speaking to Michael & Gus and being advised that the development process will be presented by Michael & Gavin like never before - from selection of property to post constuction.
I knew these guys would keep their word and deliver. Deliver they did, but I was not ready, nor did I expect the detail and contents in the notebook which includes check lists for the complete development process and to me that means the difference between success and failure when you are looking at a $ million dollar development.

In my case who better to learn from than someone who has over 30 years of experience and approx 45 projects at different stages on the go. It must count for something.

Not only did he let us pick his brain he literally put his brain contents in the note book and resource manual and handed it over to us.

Over the years I have attended many workshops and seminars
and spent many $ educating myself to purchase good performing properties and I rate Michael Yardney's "Real World" real estate workshop as "The Best Of The Best".

I brought along 2 of my close friends to the workshop and they could not believe what the had learn't in the 2 days.
At about 3:00pm Sunday I think we all needed a memory upgrade.

As well as all this, I got to network with some great investors.

What was important to me is the knowledge they gained and kept telling me how greatful they were that I brought them along to the workshop and had no regrets in spending the $2,995.

The $2,995 will be forgotten but the knowledge will be around for ever.


Regards,

Zak Stojanovski

 

[Sunstone]

Dear Brains,

I share your sceptism.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

 

[Michael Yardney]

Originally posted by Sunstone
Dear Brains,

I share your sceptism.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

Sunstone
I'm surprised at your comments or suggestions. I have been posting on this forum for 3 years now and have never had to blow my own trumpet.

Iv'e taken the occassional compliments as well as baggings. I have had people compliment my good services as well expose the problems from my past. I don't think anyone has ever had anything bad to say about our property services

I've been around long enuf and I'm not that silly to write complimentary posts about myslef as a first post or in any other way!

Maybe you should send a private email to Perky, a regular poster who atttended from Sydney, who will tell you that the other posters to this thread are real people who attended. I assume he will recognise the names.

I know one of them emailed me after his post and said considering the bagging I got for sending out long emails advertising my workshop he thought he would do me a favour and write something complimentary after he was blown away with the wekend.

While Stan is a lurker on this forum; I believe he is a contributor to the MSN property forum and I know he is a big contributor to the Yahoo Anthony Robbins groups. He is well know there

I do understand that it difficult to accept that some people in this industry provide a quailty service that is value for money as there are so many "cowboys" in the industry.

I found it interesting that there were 2 groups of people at the workshop who were prepared to pay a considerable amount of money to learn something.

More than 1/2 already owned substantial portfolios - over 8 properties and were what most people would consider wealthy. These people didn't think twice about investing in their future. (In fact 4 of them came back for a second time.)

The other attendees were beginning investors who took a leap of faith investing 3 days of their time and a considerable amount of money to come to learn how to be like the first group of people.

We offered a money back guarantee - not at lunchtime like some but at the end. NOT ONE person even brought up the subject and they had a guarantee certificate in writing in front of them.

As Perky said, most of the attendees were not memebers of this forum otherwise there may have been more posts.

We had a great weekend and I learned a lot from Dale Gatherum-Goss and some of the other speakers. I believe the attendees had a great weekend and felt their time was well invested. They sure went away with lots of knowledge, a 400 page work book a 100 page resourse manual and all our internal checklists and worksheets.

If I ever do it again, and if I do it won't be for a year, I hope other members of this forum come along because it was a great learning and networking environment.

 

[DaleGG]

Hi

I was present for a good part of Michael's seminar and have had the opportunity to talk to a number of people who were there. I personally learned something very valuable from Michael which I believe will make me money in the future and for that I am very grateful.

In talking to the many people with whom I have spoken, I can honestly say that each and every person had kind and generous words to say about the seminar and what they learnt.

One was here this morning and I can say that he is a very successful and wealthy investor who had a massive shift in his thinking as a result of the seminar.

Of course, I know that Michael Yardney's seminar was not for everyone and was not cheap. However, I applaud Michael for the professional way in which he presented information for people to take away and use.

Skepticism is healthy, but, this is an extraordinary forum where we share information, knowledge and views and I hope that the focus remains positive . . . .

Dale

 

[XBenX]

Originally posted by XBenX
is this like a $3K set of saucepans ?

the salesman runs a mile whenever you ask how much the thing costs......but it will save you THIS much... so it really doesnt cost you anything !!!!

hopefully im wrong

MY seems I was wrong - my apologies ........certainly smelt like a rat though......

 

[Mrs Bird]

Hi everyone,

Well done Micheal, you have weathered the storm over the last few weeks and you have nothing but praise from people who attended your workshop.

My only whinge is.... When are you having your next one?

I have never been to any seminar or workshop, but my way of thinking has changed in the last few days. I had one of those 'light globe' moments and realised that you must be in a financial position to use and act on information given to you at these seminars.

If you were just about to venture into a million dollar development, $3000 for a total professional and relevant seminar is a very small price to pay.

Mrs Bird