Anyone done a course on property development

Steel_2

Has anyone on this forum done a course on property developing to find out the insider details about getting the best deals, particularly the financing aspects?

Just found a property development course in London run by TV developer Gary McCausland and wondered if anyone out there has done it or a similar course with someone else.....

steb4life

How much is the course and is there a link. Would be useful to see what he is offering or rather cashing in on his TV fame.

amcluesent

When these people decide there's more money to be made in teaching than doing, that tells you the bubble's burst IMHO!

Steel_2

steb4life

The link to the days seminar is here.

According to the website the seminar is £495 and includes:

Property Developing – The Options
12 Ways to Find ‘Life Changing’ Deals
Evaluate if Your Deal Really Makes Money?
Add Huge Value With Planning Permission
Due Diligence: Know What You Are Buying!
Learn how to Negotiate & Close effectively
7 Powerful Ways to Get all the Finance You Need?
Be Your Own Project Manager
Understand the Development Process
Specification & Unique Selling Points
Hold Vs Sell; Which Works Best?
Marketing & Sales Strategies
Avoid The Classic Amateur Mistakes
10 Golden Rules of Success
12 Week Property Power Plan
Drinks & Networking


amcluesent

On the contrary, I think what he's doing is an excellent way for someone who has an extensive knowledge of a subject to leverage their knowledge for profit. It's a classic wealth creation strategy.

If I spend the next six months of my time scouring the net and reading books on a subject, how much of that process could be reduced by finding a very good, very detailed intensive course that directs me exactly to the resources I need quickly rather than me struggle along in an unfocused direction for months? I'd rather understand the pitfalls ahead of me than learn along the way and lose money and time. There's nothing noble in struggling to move a big load on your back when someone has already invented the wheel. :wall:

dolce_vita

Steel - It's all bullsh1t mate.

Stick around here for an hour or two and you'll learn everything and more than those lying bas*ards will ever tell you.

amcluesent

To be fair to him, the most pertinent advice is free on his web-site - "London has a great story for the future....The rest of the country will come off the boil in my opinion and struggle to maintain past property price increases."

Yep, if you strip out the City earnings, Britain is already in an economic recession.

Gorgeous_George

I expect London to follow other areas quite closely if prices start to fall. There is no reason to think that they wouldn't.

As for the course, the fundamentals are not rocking horse science. The finer detail is easily researched. I like the drinks and networking bit though.

GG

nick22abdn

It seems to just be a way of cashing in on the popularity of numerous tv shows. He wont actually teach you anything of value.

From experience I would say the most important thing is thoroughly researching your market. Start cheap as you should have less to lose. Ensure there is a lot of demand for this type of property and that it is likely to continue (market is slowing). Be realistic about budget (treble what you initially think it will cost) and have a large contingency for unforseen problems (there are always plently of them).

Sourcing good materials cheaply is quite easy using the internet, sourcing good tradesmen isn't. Unless you a very lucky you won't find good ones on your first try (I am on the third set of joiners, 2nd electrician, 3 rd plumber and only using the same plasterer because he does a superb job - but is still hopeless at timescales).

Please dont assume that there is easy money to be made. Flat we recently looked at (Scottish offers over system) went for 95k. End value will only be 105k and will need 20k spending including costs to get the job done ( done three conversions the same recently). I know the selling solicitors and it has apparently been sold to a first time developer.

There is good money to be made developing, but in the current climate you need to know what you are doing. With the right research and evaluating everything accurately on spreadsheets you could do well but please be cautious.

Forget the course, you will learn very little of value. Please, please, please don't think you will get a new kitchen fitted for £1000,a bathroom for £500 and the whole job will be done in three weeks. Grossly overestimate costs, be very pessimistic about sale price (deduct 10-20% from current asking prices) and treble the time/interst costs you think there will be.

Good luck and be very careful, if you do it right you will make lots of money, do it wrong and you will lose. If you want any indicative costings for how much different jobs will cost let me know and I'll tell you the realistic bottom line

jonewer

We are house hunting and have seen 7 places in total. 2 are possibles, 1 under offer. 1 just doesnt have any "oomph", 1 is too much of a project, and 2 have quite obviously been done over by amateur property developers hoping to make a big fat wad of cash out of an absolute worthless dump in exchange for slapping some paint over the big mouldy patch in the lounge, only using 2 screws instead of six to hang the doors, and laying "pine-effect" lino on the floors thats already peeling around the plastered-over fire-place.

Guess which two properties we crossed off our list within 30 seconds of viewing?

Anyone can make money from property flipping when the maket is soaring 25% per annum. Its not so easy these days with interest rates at 5.75 and rising.

I'm viewing 2 more repos at 30% less than the going rate. With these alternatives on the market, you are a fool if you think buyers are stupid enough to hand over massive wads of dough in echange for anything less than real maximum effort, real maximum cost, and maximum quality.

But hey, I'm just a buyer. What do I know?