82 – Zoltan Celedes – Property Development Partnerships and Joint Ventures

Property developing is often a solo pursuit for many but partnering up can be a great way to accelerate your business and complete more projects, however there are some important boxes to tick before you join up with someone else.

There are many benefits to joint venturing and we will discuss what these are along with some pitfalls to avoid and mistakes to sidestep. "If you are not at the next level and you want to be, there's a reason." Zoltan Celedes - Arena Equity Property Development Joint Ventures and Partnerships Today’s guest is an old colleague of mine Zoltan Celedes. I met Zoltan many years ago as he was doing his first 3 unit development project and we have stayed in touch ever since, and he has gone on to do numerous projects of varying sizes. What is interesting about Zoltan’s story is how he partnered up with another developer that you know, John Marquez, who has featured a number of times on the show. So this is the story of why they decided to team up and what they have learnt from it. We also discuss how they attract investors to help fund their projects and what you can learn from their experience.

In this discussion we cover: - Why Zoltan entered into a business partnership to accelerate his property developing - the importance of formalizing agreements, and - some tips on attracting investors to fund your projects.

Keep an ear out during this conversation for the reason why you shouldn’t enter a joint venture, as I think it is a great point that Zoltan makes, and one that maybe isn't considered enough.

This is a great discussion about how partnerships can help take you to the next level. Current Project Updates Here’s a quick update on my current projects. So practical completion is fast approaching on my project under construction, most of the townhouses are basically completed, it’s only the three at the front that are having internal fixings done, the next big task is getting the new driveway and crossovers done, which will be a pretty big job, as there’s about 70-80 meters of driveway to pour plus three crossovers.

On my other project, we are still waiting for council to endorse our town planning drawings, even though it's been more than six weeks since we submitted our application but they still haven’t finalized it, which is quite frustrating, anyway, we are busy with all the pre construction activities like getting the finance finalized and readying for construction to get underway. The big news on that project is that I have finally signed a contract with a builder to deliver the construction, which is great, as it has taken more than six months to finalize that, but not without a couple of shocking price rises along the way. Anyway, we are now speeding towards getting them on site and started. Property Developer Training I’ve got some big news to share. As you know I have been working for months on putting together an online program for people who are interested in learning about how to develop property and it is finally ready to open up.

I get so many emails from listeners who say that they are really keen to get started in developing but don’t know where to start or how to go about it, so in response I have put this training together. It is like looking over my shoulder as I go through a development project.

We cover:

the importance of preparation and getting read finding the right team members at the right time researching the market to ensure you are developing something the market wants finding a great develop site running a great financial feasibility project finance including construction funding how to prepare a strong planning application pre-construction mode including selling off the plan (if you need to) finding and selecting a builder, and then moving into construction and completion closing out and getting paid!

So I clearly cover each stage of the development cycle.

I've had a few test pilots going through the training and the feedback has been fantastic, so now I'