In this episode, the Heroes talk about choosing the right land estate or development. One of the most critical aspect when purchasing land will be the estate that the land is housed in. 

Our first step is to ensure that the developer of the land, is someone that is reputable and is out to make a good solid community rather than a profit. Here are the key ways to research a developer of a land estate, which should set you on the right track:

1. Find other previous developments the developer has done and walk through them
2. Find out if they have a good track record of meeting timelines (so you land titles on time)
3. Check to see if what they are ‘selling’ to you is correct, items like new train stations, new community centres and cinemas can all be verified through the local council
4. Ask others who have purchase from them beforehand, about the process and how it went
5. Have they got some decent reviews on the internet?
6. Some land estates and developers have Facebook groups for their estated, see if you can join in and check out the comments
7. Understand who else is buying in the estate, if it's more owner-occupier focussed then you can assume the type and quality of houses will be vs. a pure investor play

Ask your building about the estate you are considering

Did you know that not all builders will build on a piece of land? Some will often flat out refuse to build on a developers land because they know the difficulties in doing so. Builders are a wealth of knowledge so ask them if your dream house can work in that estate and more questions like this:

• Have you built in that estate?
• Do you have thoughts on this developer?
• Are there design guidelines the developer has put in place that make it difficult

It’s important to make sure that the house you are wanting to buy can work for your land. 

Find out what the purpose of the development is

Understand the purpose of the development, is it a master-planned community with a town centre, supermarkets, GP’s and takeaway or a smaller development which attach themselves to these larger ones. Like with town centres, are they building their own parks or piggybacking off neighbouring developments. If a developer mentions “train station coming soon”, or major shopping centre approved ask them how long away is it from being built? If they can’t answer it, ask the council, because I’ve unfortunately seen over the years, land sales agents taking advantage of these approvals and used it as the base of their marketing. 

Summary of how to choose an estate

1. Do your research on the developer, its the first step to success
2. Speak to others from other buyers, prior owners, council and builders - ask around!
3. Cross-reference answers between the council, builders and others

Thanks again and catch you next time.

The Property Heroes

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We release a few different episodes a week

Monday

- A short rapid-fire educational episode about property/real estate

Wednesday 

- A longer form, conversational episode talking all thing property and finance.

Friday 

- A short rapid-fire educational episode about finance. If you have any questions or any comments, it would be great to hear from you [email protected] or you can reach us through our social.

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