Location, Location, Location? I Don’t Think So…

This story is from my memorable first property project during my teenage year, the beginning of my professional, business career concurrent with my tertiary studies.

Property investment, development is an interesting business but it requires persistence, endurance.

It is actually a relationship business. It is not about just soil, bricks and mortar.

When I first started, I seriously got no clue about it. I was a 17-year-old still in school and about to enter university.

All I knew was that because my family was business migrant category, we got to do some business in order to keep residency.

At that time, a separate story in itself, my father had his hands full with more serious matters.

So, I was left to figure out how to juggle school and then university studies with the requirement to do business and report the progress.

Since I liked to see architecture and interior designs and combined with my talents in Math, the thinking at that time was that I got to do some kind of tangible assets backed type business which could be managed alongside my full-time studies. 

I decided to go into residential development.

As a backdrop, back then we just completed the construction of our own then family holiday home which later on became our residence for some time. 

I was the one going back and forth handling the design and interactions with the contractors. So that was how I figured I might well just do that again as a business. It was a very simple thinking process.

So, I browsed newspaper advertisements across several weeks to buy land. Back then we could only rely on newspapers and agents. So, we firstly got to discern how reasonable the acquisition price was and got to make quick calculations whether a project would roughly be feasible.

I got agents to drive me around to check sites until I found this piece of land which I quite liked, located in a good riverside suburb in Perth, Western Australia. We proceeded to negotiate and purchase it.

Next it was about the architect and contractors and planning approval. 

However, unlike the contractor we used to build our own home, we did not particularly have a good experience with the one we used to build these homes. I learned from there to be more careful and build relationships with people we can trust more.

Likewise, the choice of agents. The one who helped us clear the project was an Italian man whom I still have respect for. He was very professional and transparent.

The conveyancing agent was a pleasant lady who at that time had been in that line for a very long time. She helped us in the process of subdividing the land too. 

Over time I strived to improve myself so that I could build better relationships and understand the environment factor that affects the property’s energy.

I also keep learning to better handle negotiations with relevant stakeholders and to have better feel, be more in tune in general to what’s best to do with the assets and be able to unlock value, add value and embrace people who are part of the journey. 

Property development is a people business. It is about coordinating people across relevant professions to get an overall symphony working well. 

We need the lawyer, conveyancing agent, architect, contractor, building inspector, property agent, banker, mortgage broker and accountant to all perform their respective functions well. 

It helps if we nurture good relationships with them. This is the aspect I emphasize the most irrespective of where a project is and what type, what scale. The basic principle remains the same

Does this mean that location, location, location “mantra” of real estate doesn’t work?

I do not disagree with it but I think the people, people, people factor is more important. Without the right combination, which I did make some mistakes of in the journey, even a good location such as a prime riverside suburb could not guarantee success. The people mattered more.

They were the factors that could make figures in my spreadsheet turn into reality. Without them, projections could just stay as projections as realizations became not as great as hoped.

Over time I also allow myself to be guided by both logic and flow of inspirations. 

Sometimes we cannot only force our own will. Sometimes we need to sit still, quieten our mind, listen in and let ideas, inspirations come to us.

That’s how, later on, I learned from property tycoons whom I crossed path with. That’s how they could have visions of possibilities on assets they own or manage. The visionaries keep their mind broadly open to various possibilities.

Land itself never belongs to us, humans with limited lifespan. We merely are entrusted with it across different locations we may have affinity with to do our best in our life journey.

That’s another thing I learned. We really do our best. We then let the Universe / God do the rest and follow the flow, adapt accordingly.

That’s what I hope to do more with more interesting assets that come my way for me to handle and be part of, creating added value with people who are suitable to cooperate with.