Читать книгу Australian Residential Property Development for Investors - Forlee Ron - Страница 8

A property developer is a disciplined professional with an entrepreneurial flair who specialises in creating new developments and successfully marketing and selling them. Depending on the type and scale of the development, some developers work with partners in order to share the risk and workload. Developers come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Some work for companies that undertake large-scale developments while others work on their own, focusing on smaller residential projects. Some hold university degrees in commerce or have a background as a real estate agent, property valuer, builder, engineer or architect. It is regrettable that only a few universities offer degrees in property development, as property developers are people who ultimately control our urban fabric, influencing the social outcome of communities.

Property development is a risky business with many challenges, but at the same time it can be very exciting and financially rewarding. Before taking on a project, developers need to assess a wide variety of potential sites to determine which will be financially feasible and marketable. A seasoned or visionary developer can look at a vacant site and conceive a potential opportunity or analyse an older building and envisage its transformation for an alternative use. In either case, the developer will embark on the development only if the demand exists. Experience in the property market is important: a developer must understand the market well in order to establish whether or not a project will be viable. Developers also need a business network and contacts in local government who can assist them in accomplishing projects. These contacts may range from people in the planning department who can provide recommendations to help push a project through to councillors who can assist in promoting their projects or real estate agents who can source potential development sites.

A reputable property developer is the leader and visionary of a development team. He or she needs to work with architects, engineers, contractors, politicians, real estate agents and numerous other professionals to see a project through from inception to completion. Developers have to select good teams, organise them well and manage them effectively, meeting the needs of the project and the team members while maintaining control of the overall development. They can select a particular area of specialty, such as land subdivision, residential apartments, low-income housing, commercial offices, retail shopping centres or hotels. They may choose to work in a specific geographical location or across a wider region where their skills gives them an edge over local developers.