The majority of these interviews have a few things in common, but one of the main things I get out of them is, despite set-backs etc, everyone involved seems to still take it on the chin and move forward.
Resilience is an extremely valuable characteristic. I think it's OK to give yourself
some time to "vent", but not so long that you start moping. Vent, then move on with problem-solving, and work at fixing it.
I currently spend my time on our property investments and we are currently looking at the student accommodation area for our next investment.
I didn't particularly set out to do student accommodation; I just found a property that I thought was a good deal, which was ideally suited to this use. So I kind of got into it by accident, but as per my PM, happy to share what I've learnt about this sector.
Did you have many objections while applying for the redelopment? What were they? What were the problematic ones?
Does the property require any special permit (or land use?):
- To be used as a large share house?
- To have multiple kitchens?
- To have multiple toilets & showers?
- To use Commercial-like in a residential zone?
- On-street / off-street parking requirement?
- Anything else?
Apart from construction work, what is required to turn a normal Residential 1 Zone property into a student accom house like yours?
In Brisbane City Council, you do need to put in a DA and get a Material Change of Use (MCU) approved for the property to be multi-tenancy, and yes, that involves notices, consultation with neighbours, the works. In my case, this was already in place prior to purchase, and all the issues you outline had been addressed in that DA. The previous owner owned all the immediate neighbours, so I guess that's how they found it a bit easier to get through. I think that it would generally be easier in areas where there are already properties of this type (eg St Lucia, Spring Hill, West End, for example) than in the middle of a group of single-family households.
So to be honest, I can't help you very much as I had it easy - it was all in place
I must say, though, that my experience with the BCC town planners was very positive - I found that you can ring the town planner, tell them what you want to do, and they're only too happy to run through what's required with you. The planner responsible for my area was extremely helpful.
was this the interview in Property Investor magazine? I read this with SUCH interest, i would love to do what you have done minus the whole combine drain bit.....
Yes, that was us in April API, and yes, I'd highly recommend doing this again WITHOUT the combine drain
Onya for not caving in to the universe and sticking thru it. It's great to have that deep down feeling that no matter what happens or continues to happen it will all be worth it. Nothing beats that self-motivated drive.
Necessity is the mother of invention. The thing is, in all honesty, if I'd known what I was in for, I wouldn't have gone into it. Once I was in it, I had no choice but to find a way through it. I now understand what Kevin Doodney (
www.propertygame.com.au, highly entertaining speaker) meant when he said "The best way to learn about property is to get yourself in a ****-load of trouble and dig your way out!"
Love yor work. would love to pick you brains about that snags and catches.
Aw shucks, thanks (blush) Welcome to pick my brain anytime, for whatever you can find.
Result was they had to stand by the documentation they had issued and do the drain at their cost. However, it kicked around in council for about ten weeks while everybody passed it into somebody else's in tray for action.
Glad yours was sorted out in your favour. We were also fortunate to obtain our dispensation - though ours took 5 months
- but I just want to highlight to anybody who may be getting the impression that a combine drain is not that big an issue - it CAN be. A dispensation is far from guaranteed. There are hundreds of lots around Brisbane - many on what would otherwise be absolutely prime real estate - where Council refuses to grant a dispensation. You can get, for example, a situation where a combine drain was put into a group of, say, 8 houses in the 1930s, but for some reason one of the houses didn't put a toilet onto the drain (couldn't afford it or whatever). Fast forward 70 years, that house now can't install a modern flushing toilet unless they pay for all 8 houses to have a separate connection to the sewer, at a cost of about $25-30K each (these days). AND you have to have every property owner's permission, which they can withhold at their absolute discretion (eg don't want garden dug up, or just to be difficult). According to my hydraulic consultant whenever you drive around older parts of Brisbane and see, for example, an old QLDer on an acre in Albion or something, and it's derelict and abandoned and wonder "why the heck is that prime real estate sitting there neglected?" - it may very well be because it's on a combine drain and one of the neighbours has refused permission, so for the forseeable future - no inside toilet... And most people seem to want a flushing toilet these days.
It's a ridiculous policy. So be very wary of "cheap", way underdeveloped real estate in older parts of Brisbane...
