How Smart Investors Buy Property in a Falling Market

Two weeks before the budget, I turned up to an open home, a building I was trying to sell, and, um, we had no one turn up, and I thought, "Oh my God, w- where is everyone?" Yep.

It's been a very quick drop, hasn't it? It's been a quick drop. Have you ... Like, you've been through a lot of cycles- Yeah ... obviously.

Yep. Is this the quickest turnaround you've seen?

Um, I've got two properties. Two of those properties I sold three times. They fell over twice, buyers changing their mind, wanting to negotiate discounts, couldn't get finance, or just got plain scared. So- Tell

us what's going on with your portfolio. Give us a bit of an update ...

as I've matured in the last couple of years, I think back and think, "Well, hang on.

It's not the end of the world." I feel sorry for the young buyer's agents, actually, 'cause they've just had such a good run for five years, and everything they recommend goes up and everything, but they're gonna find out that it's -

Yeah, 'cause that- ... life's

not

always like that ... that's an industry that's gonna be a really interesting one- Mm

because, um

Hi, I'm Andrew Wright, principal of Professional Southport, and this is the Andrew Wright Property Podcast. I've built a multimillion-dollar property portfolio, delivering a seven-figure annual rental income, and led my real estate team through thousands of sale and lease transactions. In each episode, I share real deals and strategies that will help you find, fund, and operate profitable property deals.

The aim of this show is to provide education and build a community of like-minded investors who can collaborate, share insights, and help each other in each other's journeys. You can make excuses or you can make money, but you can't do both. So come and join us

Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Andrew Wright Property Podcast. So, well, before we get started on today's topic, I wanna just, uh, say hi. Firstly, Andrew, welcome.

Adam, how you going, mate?

I'm very well, very well.

N- not, no longer Mr. Sniffles- No ... since the last episode.

No, that's right. So going okay now.

But, uh, mate, what's been happening? Tell us about, um, you know, what's going on in the business, what's going on with your- Mm ... portfolio. Give us a bit of an update.

Okay. Well, uh, in the, uh, the business as such, residential property market on the Gold Coast continues, uh, to decline, so properties under a million dollars still holding up reasonably well but have probably dropped 5% in value.

And, uh, stuff over a million dollars, I'd say a lot of it's probably dropped 10%. So open home numbers, still probably half what we're used to seeing, but, um-

It's been a very quick drop, hasn't it? It's been a quick drop. Have you ... Like, you've been through a lot of cycles- Yeah ... obviously.

Yep.

Is this the quickest turnaround you've seen, the most dramatic- Uh-

if you wanna use that term?

Well, not, not necessarily. When COVID happened, when the country is shut down in one day, that, that had an immediate impact- Sure ... for a short term. And the GFC, uh, also was very immediate. But certainly, uh, in the last six or seven years, it's actually the first downturn, and it probably just as, like you point out, is probably just as dramatic as those other major events.

So, um-

But without the, the world event being the thing-

Yeah. Well,

with- ... it,

it's a combination- Exactly right ... of things. Yeah. It's a combination of things, and most people won't even see the data. I mean, you come out and see these, uh, statistics coming out saying house prices have dropped 1% this month and all the rest of it.

Let me tell you, when the end of, uh ... We're in end of July today, 30th or whatever, but by the time end of September comes out, you will see 5 and 10% drops in three months, not a year, and the data will come out. So, um, I'm sure

not- It takes a while to catch up, doesn't it?

Yeah, it's all lag. Yeah. But as a real estate agent, I felt it two weeks before the budget.

I turned up to an open home- a building I was trying to sell and, um, we had no one turn up, and I thought, "Oh my God, w- where is everyone?" Yep. And it was just... And it always happens before a budget, people gets nervous, but you combine that with the anti-money laundering legislation that come in from the 1st of July, the three interest rate rises, and then all of the budget challenges with the loss of negative gearing and capital gains tax discount, it's all hit at once.

And, uh, you know, I think resi property is in for a tough ride for probably one to two more years.

Right. Okay.

I feel sorry for the young buyer's agents actually, 'cause they've just had such a good run for five years, and everything they recommend goes up and everything, but they're gonna find out that it's - Yeah, 'cause that-

life's not always like

that ... that's an industry that's gonna be a really interesting one- Mm ... because, uh, buyer's agents have exploded in the last five years. Yeah, they have. I mean, I remember five years ago you, you didn't know they almost existed. Didn't, true. Um, and so there's probably a lot of c- guys who've, you know, guys and girls who've come in, taken this on, and not r- you know, realise what a, a downturn market will do to their, you know, to their businesses.

So, uh- Yeah, exactly ... that's gonna be a really interesting, um, area of the industry to watch.

Yeah, another, another casualty from a, a downward market is that, uh, you, as a real estate agent and a seller, you actually get a lot more contracts fall over. So, um, I've got two properties. At the moment I actually have a lot of transactions.

I've got 12 properties under contract or unconditional at the moment, so- That

is bucking the trend at the moment, I can tell you that.

It is, but what it doesn't tell you is that, like, two of those properties I sold three times. They fell over twice. Buyers changing their mind, wanting to negotiate discounts, couldn't get finance, or just got plain scared.

So, uh, I think over the next 6 to 12 months, agents and sellers will see more contracts falling over, uh, more price negotiations when a building and pest comes out not perfectly. Uh, even yesterday I had to get to get that last 12th one, uh, unconditional. We had to take a $9,000 hit on the selling price because the buyer said, uh, "This property's not perf-" 30-year-old house, but, "This property's not perfect.

Give us a 9 grand discount or we're walking."

Yep.

I said to the owner, "Well look, if we put that back on the market we might get 30 grand less now from a few weeks ago." And, and they agreed with me and, you know, that's, that's w- what you need to do sometimes

Yeah. Yep. So look, the skill set of an agent really comes to the fore now too, doesn't it?

Oh, absolutely With, with those kind of negotiations- Yeah, absolutely ... and, and knowing so, you know, I think we'll see a lot of, um, the younger agents drop out of the market too, 'cause they're just not equipped with this experience or, or skill to, to, to deal with the market we're now in.

Yeah, it depends on whether they're, they're, they work closely with their principal or part of a team.

Mm-hmm. They may have a more experienced agent with them, but what you're saying is, is, uh, is de- definitely applies for younger agents. They may need to call on someone who's been through a lot of these scenarios before. Um, I've, uh, been super busy also in, uh, commercial leasing. I've just negotiated six commercial leases, four of them in my own portfolio, but, uh, two with clients.

Um, and just for the sake of the, the, the discussion, um, five of those are law, uh, leases are being prepared by lawyers- Mm-hmm ... because the tenants require them to be what we call registered leases. So w- if you register a lease that goes off to some government department and you see that come up on a title search, when you do a title search for a property, you see number one, interest registered to the Crown, number two, interest to NAB Bank or Westpac Bank, and number three, registered lease on plan XYZ where the tenant, uh, can stop you moving into the property because they've registered the lease.

Those leases need to be in a registrable, registrable format, which a lawyer can only prepare with a survey plan. Um, and the other one, uh, I prepared by myself 'cause it was only a three-year lease, didn't need to be, uh, registered, and a, a real estate agent is allowed to prepare a commercial tenancy agreement only up to three years in length without getting the lawyers involved.

Right.

So just, just to let you know- Okay ... what's going on there. Can I

ask you a question, Andrew? Sure. Um, as a real estate agent based on, based here on, on the Gold Coast, and you, you've obviously got your property managers looking after some of your commercial investments and otherwise across, across the country- Yeah

if there is anyone listening, are you able to help with being, um, you know, a, uh, a commercial, uh, agent, helping them get leases sorted anywhere across the country or do they need to be local?

Um, my real estate license, uh, only allows me to do transactions in Queensland, so-

But you're able to do them all, uh, anywhere across

Queensland?

Anywhere in Queensland, yes. Sure. Um, and I have properties all over Queensland- Yeah ... that I commercially lease myself, but, um, I don't think anyone, uh, it would be in their best interest to appoint me to lease their property in, in North Queensland or whatever- Sure ... if I'm not there. But legally I can do that, yes.

Sure. But if you're in the Gold Coast or Brisbane area, um- Gold Coast or Brisbane ...

you could-

what the point I'm trying to make- Yes ... there's not too many people around, especially agents, who know more about, you know, commercial leasing than, than you do because you've done it for yourself so many times.

Yeah. N- that's not a- actually, uh, accurate. There, there are big multinational corporations, Colliers, CB Richard Ellis, Savills, Knight Frank, that have a lot more experience than me, Adam. Like, in the small scale mom and dad commercial properties, yes, I, I think I'm reasonably competent- Yeah ... at what I do. Sure.

But in the big scale CBD- Yeah ... multi, multi- So good clarification.

Yeah,

yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right. Um, as far as my own portfolio goes, I, I've written down a few notes here 'cause, well, there's just so much happening. Yeah, tell us. And I think it's educational as well. Yeah.

Cool. What's going on?

I just wanna come back to, um, I've got a letter here from the Ipswich City Council, which I think people can learn from.

Mm-hmm. So I'm gonna be boring and actually read it out. Yeah, sure. It's dated 18th of January, 2024. "Dear sir, madam, reminder notice for the lapsing of a development approval. Business use, produce, craft market, shopping center and 128 additional multiple residential units. Property location, 13, 15, 17 Ellenborough Street and 3-5 West Street.

I refer to your development approval given by council's decision notice on 13th of January, 2012 for business use," da, da, da, da, da, "to be carried out on the land situated at the above referenced property. According to council records, this development approval is due to lapse shortly. If the approved development is not completed and the relevant conditions complied with by the lapsing date, you may wish to make an extension application to the assessment manager to extend the currency period of the development approval in accordance with Section 86 of the Planning Act.

If you need to call us on the below number, please give us a call." Now- I got that letter six days later in my PO box, Adam. It was dated 18th of January. I've written hand notes here, received 24th of January, just 60- six days later. I rang that council straightaway 'cause I didn't even know that that property still had that approval is for about 168 units, 128 resi plus 40 next door.

And the guy there said, I, I said, "When d- when does this lapse?" And the guy looked up his paperwork and he said, "Two days ago." So that the Ipswich City Council has sent me this letter on the 18th of January. I received it six days later on the 24th.

But it lapsed-

It lapsed on the 22nd ...

two days after they'd sent it.

Two days after I got it in the mail, four days after they dated the letter. I don't know when they sent it, but by the time I got the letter, it had already lapsed. Now, for me, I said, "Oh look, surely I can go and fill it, pay a $1,000 fee to extend this." And they said, "No, you're gonna have to start from scratch."

Now, the reason I'm going through all this, and it might sound tedious, is I, I don't know what the potential cost for me to re-lodge this application are, but we could be talking 100 or $200,000. For me to start from scratch to build a 15-story high-rise with 128 units, and next door a five-story shopping center with offices.

And just that one mistake that I made there potentially could cost me 200 grand in extra fees. Now, I think that's valuable lesson for people that if you buy a site with a development approval, write in your diary, and this is the only- Yeah ... reminder notice I got-

So you c- ...

when it lapses ...

you can't rely on them to remind you- No

is the lesson here. No,

and, and, and I got a... I, I'm a, I may be a bit negative here, but I got a feeling they knew when they sent that letter, uh, it was gonna expire by the time I got that. Why? Why would've the... Perhaps the council wants their extra $100,000 in application fees. Yeah.

Well, look, I didn't even think of that.

I just thought tardy

and, you know- Well, why, why would they send me a letter that lapses before I even r- open the thing?

Mm.

And I, I, I know that might m- might be not the-

So is that the nudge to say, "Look, you're, you're done. You, you're n- you... We, but we wanna remind you now because we want, um, another 100 grand."

Well, this is the same council that tried to slug me an extra 100 grand in infrastructure charges for a boarding house that I wanted to build, and I, and I, I didn't get. Which

we talked

about before. So look, I don't wanna be too negative, but, um, the flip side of that is, um, I didn't know that this property was still approved, that that development approval was still valid.

Because when I bought it, the agent told me that it had expired.

So you didn't know you even had

it? I, when I, when I bought this site, the agent marketed it and told me that there was a previous development approval that had expired. And it was a mortgagee-in-possession sale.

Yep.

And the private lender who foreclosed on that property didn't know that the development approval was still valid.

The agent didn't know. And so when they sold it, they told me that it had already lapsed. So I didn't know that I had to go and renew this thing. So I'm just bringing this up because this is two, over two and a half years ago now. Um, now-

So what, what has happened since then? Have you gone and, and tried to get it

back or- Well, the reason I, the reason I brought this up now and not six months ago when I started doing this podcast is, uh, last week I thought maybe I should reinvigorate this.

So I actually went through the records, found the town planning organisation who prepared the development approval, uh, documents to lodge and- He was a bit grumpy because the guy who went bankrupt, I remember I bought that site mortgagees, didn't pay all of his fees to the town planner 'cause he went broke.

Ah.

And he goes, "Oh," and the town planner, "Oh, Andrew, the guy who got that approval, we, uh, we helped him and I never got paid." And I said, "Well, look, I'm- I'd be interested in re-employing you to see if we can go down this track again, 'cause I think there'd be a massive uplift in the value." And he went back and he sent me an email later after that phone call saying, "Andrew, um, my initial fee to review this and give you an initial town planning assessment will be about $40,000."

Is that to cover his previous-

This is my feeling. I've got a feeling he's got a grudge, and he wants to charge me for maybe some of the fees that he missed out on before. So it'll cost me 40 grand just to get an initial assessment.

Wow.

Um, so anyway, um, I will have to consider going to another town planner to, to get this reinvigorated.

But initially, w- I was really upset when I read all this. I thought, "Oh, geez, this, this could cost me 200 grand I've just lost 'cause I didn't do this." But as I've matured in the last couple of years, I think back and think, "Well, hang on, it's not the end of the world If that agent had have known that that property had a approval for a five-story commercial shopping center and 128 residential units next door, it would've sold for four or five million.

I bought the site for 1.95.

Sure.

So-

And what, what would you expect the value to rise if you do... Let, you know, let's say it does cost you another 200 to, to get that approval back in place, what sort of uplift in value do you think that would give that- Well, that, that property,

that property now is worth $4 million, I think, um-

Without

it

without it. So I, I, I don't know, and that's why I'm excited to, uh, spend some money with a town planner now going through this process of increasing, uh, the value further, and I'll, I'll update you once I... But I'm not paying a town planner 40 grand just to give me an initial- To- ... town planning assessment, so- No

um, I'll, I'll get to that and I'll, I'll update you. Um, we mentioned in an earlier podcast that I, um, put, uh, two extra sheds up in Hervey Bay under contract, which I couldn't afford to buy and couldn't finance, so I bought them subject to the seller entering into a lease for the front shed at a minimum of 48 grand a year plus, uh, outgoings.

I have now helped him lease that front shed, and we have an agreement, uh, there with the lawyers now being drafted up, and I've got my tenant from next door, uh, the milk distributor- The milk guy, yep ... renting that one up. And so that, that deal now is unconditional. Um, net rent 85 grand a year at a 7% cap rate, that, that'll be worth 1.2 million.

My purchase price, 1,000,025, so there's, you know, probably nearly 200 grand uplift there.

So, so tick, that's gone

to plan. Yeah, because of the commercial. Yep. And, and next door at, um, 8 to 10 Driftwood, uh, I'm, I've got, uh, the go-ahead now with the big tenant there in the cold storage shed at the front to, um, do another two-year lease with two more two-year options.

So that's all looking good. All six sheds now fully leased and, um, going forward. That site at Ipswich we were just talking about, my main anchor tenant there, the Rafter & Rose Cafe, um, I've just, um, uh, yesterday, uh, got them to agree to a three-year extension to exercise an option So my lawyer has, uh, has just drafted that up.

Um, I'm now going to... I've just yesterday as a result of that got my broker to go ahead and refinance those four properties in Ipswich so I can draw some equity and go shopping to continue my purchasing process. So I don't have any cash, Adam. I've got to continually refinance. It'll cost me probably $7,000 in valuation fees to value those four properties, but it's a great investment if I can draw out- That's a-

7 or 800 grand ...

that's a fee towards getting your finance, isn't it? But- It's a cost of doing

business ...

uh, uh, essentially, isn't it? Because y- you don't have cash. You've got to refinance these in o- uh, sorry, revalue these just to, to see where, what equity you've got- Yeah ... and use that to, to borrow against, so.

Yeah, I, I, I can't save cash. Like I've, I, I, I, I just, by the time you pay tax it's just so hard to save a cash deposit. So I'm like everyone else, you know, like, there's no easy way to save cash. So, um, revaluing for me is the only way to draw enough equity out-

Yep ...

to keep going, so.

And as we've always said, you never sell, you never pay, pay the, uh, the cap gains on it, so, uh, and e- everything else, so.

E- e- exactly. And just as a mindset thing, just to let the viewers know what needs to be done, like I've just set up, uh, two, two brand-new companies to go out and buy my next properties. Now I haven't even signed any contracts yet, but I've gone and set them up anyway because it sort of triggers me. Oh well, I've just spent, I think it was 770 bucks or something online to set up these companies.

I, I do it myself. I don't, don't recommend the listeners do that, but, um, I've spent that money now, and now I've got to go and buy something 'cause- 'Cause you've g- ... it's forcing me. I've spent, I've wa- I'm a tight ass. I've spent- Well, you like,

you like to put yourself under pressure.

Yeah. Look- Yeah ... this is part of the discipline.

I've set up two companies, now I've got to go out and buy a couple of properties, and I'm about to talk to you through, um, a couple of, uh, deals that, uh, I think will be the best two deals I've ever done in my life. Uh, and I'm so excited to talk about them- They're coming up- ... potentially. They're coming up

in our very next episode, aren't they?

Yeah, so but you don't, you don't win them all. I, I, we did a episode on, um, car parks- We did ... a little while ago, and I tried to just buy one, uh, last week, uh, up in Bundaberg, just a little car park rented out to a government department for three years, and it ended up being a multiple offer situation and I missed out.

Um, that happens, you know, you don't win every deal. Um, uh, I had the opportunity to increase my offer 'cause it was a multiple offer situation. I did increase it, but I still wasn't high enough to win, so I missed out. But, you know, y- that's the process. You've got to make the offers, uh, to come up with the good wins, and I missed out on that one.

Um-

Well, your challenge was to, um, to our listeners and our viewers to, to make a, make an offer every month, wasn't it? Or was it every week?

Exactly. No, well, once a month I think- Once a month ... is fine. So, um, once a week if you haven't bought one yet, but when you get an established portfolio, I think, you know, probab- uh, for me, uh, once a month is, um, is what I try and do.

But if you're starting out and you haven't bought one yet, it should be at least once a week.

And, um, if th- y- this is your first episode that you're listening to, um, which I hope it isn't, go back and listen to, because it, it, all of this dovetails into the, the advice Andrew's, um, Andrew's given before, and that is, you know, s- that some people listen and say, "What?

We make an off- what, well, do I know that I've got finance? Do I know?" You don't have all your ducks in a row. You often make the thing and then work out the deal with the vendor and, and being very creative with how a deal can actually be done.

Yeah, so-

And so go back and listen to the whole episode ... 100%,

Adam.

So the last nine properties I've bought in the last 18 months, I couldn't get a bank loan once.

Mm.

I bought nine properties in the last 18 months- Without a bank loan ... without a bank loan, and the next two that I'm about to talk to you about in a second, I still have no idea how I'm gonna finance them-

but they're gonna be the best two deals I've ever done.

So don't miss our next episode.

Yeah. Well, the, the, the, the point I wanna raise today is the reason I've come up with those is one, the knowledge and skill set that I've built around creative financing, but two, because I've put in the work. So these don't just c- come up online.

These opportunities have come because I jumped on a plane last weekend. I flew away from my home place, then I hired a car for two whole days, and I drove around looking at six properties that I'd identified that I thought were worth having a look at. And one of these deals that I'm, I've made an offer on wasn't even on that list.

It happened because I told the agent that I was looking at another property in the next town. He said, "Oh, I've got one over there. Wasn't even advertised online. How about you have a look at that as well?" And one of these two deals, which are possibly the two best deals I've ever done, came because I told the agent I was looking at another agent's property in another town.

He didn't wanna miss out on a commission. "Oh, I know a site there that might be suitable." I,

check this one out.

It's not marketed. I

can't, I can't wait. I

can't wait to hear about this. And, and, and it's just... Yeah, so there's a couple of, uh, cold storage facilities I looked at which, um, are empty, and I'm trying to marry up tenants to pre-lease them before I go ahead with them.

Mm-hmm.

And I- All right. Don't give too much more

away ... I won't give away. I'm not saying where they are- ... and I haven't found a tenant, but these two deals, let me just tell you this, it's so exciting. I

can see you're

excited. I've, I've got to run through briefly without giving away the location, but one of them is 30 acres of industrial land.

Again, it's not marketed online. It's not a, it's not a development site being marketed. I'm looking to buy a 30-acre industrial land site. My plan is to subdivide them into perhaps 20 separate industrial lots. I've already had a 45-minute Zoom call with the head of town planning in that council. I've nutted out all the issues that I'm pretty confident that I can proceed with that one.

And the great thing is I can't afford to buy 30 acres of industrial land, but I'm helping that seller because it's a pre-'85 asset and the labor government has come out and said, even for those people, these guys are older guys, retired, if they own property pre-'85, it was tax-free. Now they're changing the law.

This guy wants to sell this financial year because he's angry that the government is now changing that legislation, and he's gonna have a liability for any future capital growth with his capital gains tax. Now, I've already agreed with him. I've told him I can't afford to buy it. I've already negotiated a 5% deposit at him.

Now, if I went to a bank, they'd be wanting 50% on vacant land. Yeah. Yeah. I've, I've negotiated a 5% deposit, a long settlement. We've just got to fine-tune the purchase price. So that potentially will allow me to get a development approval for a 20-lot subdivision before I even settle on the property with just a 5% deposit and have a massive uplift before we settle The next deal, which I'm even more excited about, is a site I also can't f- can't afford to buy, but I've entered into a lease purchase contract to rent it for three years, add millions of dollars of value on it before I settle.

Wow.

And we're gonna talk about that in the next podcast.

Can't wait. Can't wait. All right, so we- this has turned in- into a really interesting episode on updating your site. I-

I'm excited. I can't even sleep at night. I'm, I'm literally waking up every two or three hours, getting out my phone, and texting myself messages because I'm thinking of ideas on how to add value to these sites, and I don't wanna forge- I can't sleep unless I write it down.

So I either write it down in my diary, or I get up every two or three hours, I'm texting myself, "Andrew, do this, do this," so I don't forget. Wow. That's how excited I am.

Love it. While we're doing an update on, um, you know, your portfolio and what's been going on, I wanna ask you, now this wasn't one of yours, but we did talk about it in a bit of detail on a, a podcast, uh, quite a while ago.

Mm. Mm. There was that land just outside of, I believe it was, um, Townsville, where you were, you were, um, appointed the agent- Yep ... and you looked at three potential-

Yes ...

uses for it. Now, it's- Yes ... I'd like an update on that, 'cause you, you, you got it, you, you, you listed it-

Yep ...

and you went looking for three. Now, from, remind me, they were potentially a solar-

Solar panel farm.

Yep.

A, uh, indust- uh, sorry, a residential subdivision into one acre lots.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, uh, also a retirement village operation- That's- ... potentially a third one ...

right. So

mission unsuccessful. Okay. The market feedback was that the site was not worth $20 million. The sellers wanted 20 million, didn't have any approvals.

The market feedback was it wasn't worth 20 million without the approval. So I have now made the recommendation to both of those owners, go and spend the money getting approvals, and then we'll try again.

Right. Okay.

So once... They're doing that now. And

they are doing

that? They are doing it. Okay. So they're going to get the site development approved, and then we'll try again.

Okay. Now- Mm ... which,

um, when you got that market feedback- Yeah ... who was it from? W- Out, out of those three potential-

All of them.

All of them. So-

They all said it's just rural land at the moment, and at $20 million, the rate per square meter with no approvals was just too expensive.

Is the site suitable for their uses- Yes

with the approval? Yes. All three?

Yes.

Right.

Yep.

Okay. Love it, because, um, that was an interesting one. I wanted to know whether, where w- where it had ended up and who'd shown interest and what had happened. So w- it's a, it's a, it's a watch on that one. It

is. And, um- And like I s- you, you might think that's disappointing that I, I get all excited about these big deals, but not every deal comes off.

No. And that's the reality of real estate. Yep. So, yes, I wish I had've sold that, and we do a podcast about how great, much money we made for the seller, but sometimes things just don't work out- Yeah ... and you've got to improve the site further. Yeah. And, you know, we could be d- another 18 months before we go back and try again there.

Yep. So not everything goes to plan.

No. But, um, when you say that's a, you know, a, a fail, it's a fail for now. It's, um, you know, it, it didn't come off right now- Yeah ... but, um, it, there's always steps in the process, isn't there? And that's what you've got to understand with property development. Nothing necessarily happens overnight.

Yeah. In fact, most of the time it takes a long, long time- Yeah ... for, for things to, to happen. Yeah, absolutely. So, um, look, we've done we've, we've been through a lot of your deals, um, you know, throughout the course of this series. Mm. Is there anything else you can, you can update us on? Is there any changes or, or updates with, um, anything else within your portfolio?

Yeah, sure. Um, the, uh, Longreach deal w- uh, we're working on, we had the, um, uh, the council pre-lodgement Zoom call. Uh, that's a seven-lot subdivision into- This is with the kids? Uh, yes- Yep ... this is the one with the kids. Yep, yep. And, uh, the, the council's sort of all in favor of that. The next step of that one was to go to the state government, uh, to talk about the highway at the front, which, you know, is 100 kilometer an hour speed zone, and we had to talk about maybe widening that ri- road.

So I've had plans done up by the traffic engineer to widen the sides of those roads and allow for turning points in and out of that. We did have a Zoom call booked for yesterday, but it was canceled. The state government came back, the main roads, and said, "Oh, look, we can just respond to this in writing.

There's no further benefit in having a Zoom call." So I'm waiting for that update from the- Okay ... state government.

Can I ask you whether, were you planning on having the, the two kids on the call and- Uh,

yeah, they ho- ... with

them having a, a learning experience for them the whole way along

with all of this?

Well, my daughter's busy running a hair braiding business. Yep. But my son, yes, he sits in my office behind me- Yep ... and he listens in. I get him in on every Zoom call so he can learn the process- Yep ... of property development. Yep. So he's out the back listening so he can learn- Yep ... and that's a far better education than me telling him what I'm doing.

I say, "Sit at the back and have a listen to what the, the council and the town planners- Yep ... and the engineers are saying on this Zoom call," and he's learning a lot.

Well, look, I've, I've met Leon and he's a very switched-on young man and, uh- Yeah ... obviously also following in your footsteps as a- Mm ... as a real estate agent.

So I'm gonna challenge you now, and Leon, if you're listening, and of course you should be, 'cause you should listen- ... to all of your dad's podcast, I want you in this, uh, this guest chair, and I wanna do an episode on what I've already learnt from my dad. Yeah. So, um, I'm putting that challenge out to you. Oh, let's just make it the good things I've

learnt

from my dad.

Yeah. Uh, maybe what not to do from- Yeah ... what I've learnt from, um, my, or what I've- And let's keep it- Yeah ... to real

estate, please.

Very good. So Leon, you're, you're in here in, in the next little while. Um, I think that- Yeah, a couple of oth- ... would be a really good one.

Um Yeah, a couple of other things. Um, the, um...

I told you we were, we had a date where the Lockyer Valley Council had to respond to my, uh- That's right ... development application on those 15 units in Helidon. We got a letter from them the day before saying, "Oh, we need an extension of three weeks because our engineers have been away," or something. So- I love that they can do this- I sent you that letter.

Did you receive

it? Yes, I saw that. Yeah. I couldn't believe it. I mean, I love how they can do that and just get an extra three weeks on their- Yeah ... deadline just by sending a letter. I'm sure when you've got a deadline for something they need, you can't send a letter the day before and say- Exactly ... "Just give me another three weeks."

This is the public service we're, we're, we're talking about. So that's, uh, that was quite frustrating. Um, and, uh, the, um, other site in Helidon, the truck parking depot that I'm building- Again, I'm learning. Um, the, uh, engineers that were supposed to finalize everything to satisfy the information request for the council came back and said, "Oh, this one particular thing, oh, you'll need to engage another engineer to do the report for that."

So we spent all this time waiting for them to do all this stuff to satisfy the information request from the council, and in the last moment with their final submission, "Oh, you'll need another engineering firm to cover o- on this thing." And the town planner goes back and said, "Hang on, when you initially sent your quote, you said you would cover this."

"Oh, we don't have the skill set around that," so I've just had to employ another engineer to do another report, and guess what? Starting from scratch. If we had've known that at the start, we would've employed them months ago. So this is how things can just get delayed and delayed. But I'm learning, um, everything happens for a reason, and there's lots of stuff going on.

Absolutely. Ka- I think I've asked you this, and I ask you this from time to time, and you're continually, um, revaluing properties to know exactly what your portfolio- Mm ... is, is looking like. Mm. But, um, as we stand today, uh, your portfolio value?

Well, nothing's changed from two weeks ago, around the 27 million.

Right. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Fantastic. And your debt level? Nothing's changed from two weeks ago. Was that only two weeks ago?

Yeah.

Oh, okay. Uh, let me ask you this then. Do you know on average how much you spend per year on, let's, uh, that, that group of expenses around getting approvals, council fees, this or that?

I'd like to know with a portfolio your size and the amount of deals you're going into, how much is being spent that just, um-

I, I honestly don't know, and I should know. You should track every dollar. But, I mean, it's a lot more in the last 12 months 'cause I've got, uh, three different development sites I'm getting approvals on.

I don't usually have three property developments on the side of my normal investment portfolio that I'm running, so the numbers would be a lot large of the last 12 months. I haven't even done my financials, but every, every couple of weeks I seem to be writing a check for a few thousand dollars to town planners and engineers and things.

So I don't know, Adam, um, th- that information will come out, uh, once I do my financials, I guess.

Sure. Mm. Sure. Well, look, this is not what we'd planned to actually- No, we didn't even- ... talk about today. No. So, um, but I think we've, we've just about nailed it. That's, that's your update ep- episode. So that's, uh, that's an update on all things we have talked about during the, um, the first 30-odd episodes of this, uh, this podcast in relation to your actual deals.

And look, um, Andrew, it's, um, it's been a journey already with this podcast and hearing, I loved hearing about what's actually happened, the wins, the, the, the, the things that haven't happened yet- Mm ... and what's still to come. And I guess, you know, um, now I just can't wait to hear about your next deal, 'cause I can, I can see the excitement in your eyes.

So stay tuned for next week, um, and you're, you're gonna hear all about Andrew's next deal, which you're saying could potentially be your best

deal ever. I'm, I'm working on two deals now that are better than any deal I've ever done before, and I, I literally, I know this sounds, um, maybe... It's not meant to come across as arrogant or cocky, but I'm just so damn excited about a couple of these deals I'm looking to do, and I can't wait to share them if they come off.

They haven't come off yet. I want to disclose that.

Yeah.

It hasn't happened yet. I'm in the process of negotiating these two deals.

Excellent.

And I can't afford to buy either of them, by the way, but I'm gonna- This is the thing is, like, when I even went down to these sites, I went down and said, "Th- these are too big for me," and I, I, I, I can't finance them.

But I just sat there saying, "There's gotta be a way. I've gotta find out how to creatively finance these deals," and I'm reasonably confident I'm gonna do it.

Yeah. And that's one of the big things that have come through with this whole, whole series- Mm ... that there are ways and means to, to do it. So don't miss that one.

Um, and again, just a reminder, like, please share, subscribe. If you know any other property investors, um, out there that this, uh, podcast can help, please do share the podcast with them. Um, a reminder that Andrew is always open to being contacted from anyone who'd like some, um, advice, someone to talk to, or, you know, wants to even talk about potentially, you know, JV deals that could be, could be looked at.

So it's about a community. It's about helping each other, um, and sharing this passion that Andrew has for, uh, for property investment. So Andrew, thanks once again.

Thanks, Adam.

Can't wait for the next episode. Me too. Don't miss it.

Thanks for listening to the Andrew Right Property Podcast. This is all about building a community of like-minded investors who can share real life stories, experiences, and collaborate with a view to helping each other.

Join us. Get in touch through the link in the show notes. I look forward to you joining me on the next episode.