Property Mastermind Podcast with Bob Andersen & Hilary Saxton

A lot of people think property developers are builders. Most are not. Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton unpack what a developer actually does, week to week, and why you do not need a construction background, a trade or a degree to do it. Bob describes a developer's job in one sentence, walks through a normal week on a duplex under construction, explains what you can leave to the builder, and shares w...

Everyone wants to save money on a development, but there is a big difference between being smart with your money and penny pinching. Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton work through where property developers can sensibly save, and where cutting corners ends up costing far more. Bob covers choosing between a building designer and an architect, the non-standard windows that added over $100,000 to one dup...

Most people who want to do property development are waiting for something: enough money, enough knowledge, the right market, the right site, enough confidence. Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton unpack what ready really looks like, and why you are probably closer than you think. Bob explains why he was not ready when he started, short on money, short on knowledge and with nobody to learn from, and wen...

Property development is a process, but woven through it are the skills that make the process happen: making decisions when nothing is certain, leading a team of experts, knowing your own triggers, and building the confidence to act. Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton pick up where last week's people-skills episode left off. Bob explains what he did when two builders went bankrupt mid-project, the valu...

Property development is a people game. Negotiation, conflict, getting people on site, keeping a builder onside. None of it appears in the feasibility, and Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton argue it decides outcomes just as often as the numbers do. Prompted by a new mentoring student who gets excited by the podcast and then loses momentum, Hilary and Bob work through the skills that turn knowledge int...

In this episode Bob and Hilary unpack Joint Ventures. Bob goes back to his first two projects, both joint ventures. The first was a vendor finance deal with a landowner named Tony, who told him "money's the easiest part" and then showed him how to do a four-lot subdivision with a second mortgage instead of a deposit. The second was an equity partner deal with his sister's boyfriend, where Bob put...

Can AI do a property development feasibility for you? Hilary Saxton and Aaron Ralph put the newest ChatGPT model to the test, live on screen. They hand it a real duplex site they have already developed with some of their students and sold and ask it to work out whether the deal stacks up. The actual result on that project was a $604,000 profit at 16% return on cost (ROC). ChatGPT researched, produ...

Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton unpack this year's Property Development and Joint Ventures Workshop, three full days on the Gold Coast from Friday 9 to Sunday 11 October, plus a two hour online kickoff session on Thursday 1 October. This year's workshop covers the complete A to Z of property development through Property Mastermind's nine step process, from sorting your finance and finding a site th...

Every new property developer hits the same sticking points. Not hundreds of them, five big ones. And once you can see them clearly, they stop being reasons to wait. In this episode Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton unpack the five questions that stall new developers: 1. How much equity you actually need (and the simple rule of thumb to work it out) 2. Why development finance is nothing like the retai...

Joint Ventures are everywhere in property development, and most of our students do them. But here is the part that catches people out. The most expensive thing in a Joint Venture is not the money, it is a partner who does not understand property development. In this episode Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton unpack what makes a great JV partner, why the wrong money can cost you more than you would thi...

Negotiation might be the most underrated skill in property development, and the good news is, it is one you can improve. In this episode, Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton unpack the negotiating skills every property developer needs, from buying sites to dealing with partners, agents and builders. You will learn why the best deals are rarely about price alone, how the right conditions (like a longer...

You've heard them all: you have to be rich, all developers go broke, you must be a builder, but how many of these "facts" are actually true? In Episode 266, Hilary Saxton rapid-fires the biggest property development myths at Bob Andersen and Bob debunks each one in plain English. In this episode: - Why you DON'T need to be a multi-millionaire (plus Bob's "thumb rule") - The lie that "all developer...

This Saturday, Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton are running a FREE 4hour online Property Development Masterclass! 🏘️ Bob and Hilary preview exactly what you'll walk away with:  - Where to actually start: The full step by step property development process - Finding and analysing a site - Finance - Due diligence - Approvals - Construction - Banking your profit Plus creative finance strategies, in...

Most people think the best property developers are the ones making the biggest profits. They're not. In episode 265, Bob and Hilary explain the difference between making a profit and building wealth, why so many developers make good money but never get ahead, and the habits, from recycling equity to holding stock at raw cost, that turn a one-off profit into long-term wealth. Plus the 10-year plan...

AI is quickly becoming the new electricity, and the property developers who learn to use it are pulling ahead of the ones who do not. In episode 264, Hilary sits down with our business partner and resident AI expert, Aaron Ralph, to unpack how developers can use AI to build a real competitive advantage. Aaron's tip sets the tone: do not be scared of AI. It is not coming for your job, but learning...

In this episode, Bob and Hilary unpack the million-dollar decisions every developer makes, and how to get them right. Not multi-million-dollar projects, but the aggregation of marginal gains: the compiled decisions that quietly determine whether you succeed. They walk through buying the wrong site (and why fast is not the same as rushed), buying too early, paying too much, choosing the wrong build...

Escalation clauses can look like a simple way to keep a builder happy or manage uncertainty. Get one wrong and it can quietly eat your development profit. In episode 262, Bob and Hilary break down escalation clauses from a developer's point of view: what they actually are, where you will bump into them (usually the building contract), and why builders push for them when material and labour prices...

Most developers think that once the loan is approved, the finance side is done. Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton explain why that is not always true. Toward the end of a project things can shift: the build runs longer, interest eats into the cap, a variation creeps in beyond your contingency, or sales take longer to settle. Sometimes you need a top up. In this episode Bob and Hilary break down why e...

After 30 years as a chef, from Michelin kitchens in London to award winning restaurants in Sydney, Ollie Carruthers decided he wanted his time back. In this episode Hilary sits down with Ollie to trace his journey from head chef to full time property developer through the Property Mastermind Mentoring Program. Ollie shares the buyers agency proposal that made him think everyone was making money on...

This week Bob and Hilary step back and ask the big questions: what do the new developers who actually succeed do differently from the ones who stall? It comes down to six habits. 1. They get properly educated, so it is never a gamble. 2. They ask better questions and spot the pearl inside the oyster, and the way Bob once read a planning change to turn a four townhouse site into six. 3. They stop w...

In this episode Hilary sits down with Property Mastermind mentoring student Tom Evans, founder of Alva Property Group, to unpack the development that changed everything for him. Tom found a six-acre site about an hour from Newcastle that most people would have walked straight past. Spotting a 10% lot-size relaxation buried in the council's planning rules, he turned a one-into-two subdivision...

What happens when you put property developers through a 5-day audit of the foundations? You find the gaps they've been working around for years. Bob and Hilary recently ran a 5-day Property Development Challenge inside the PM Facebook group, and this episode is the takeaways recap. Across the five days we covered your why, the skills you already have, your risk profile, your financial situation, a...

There is an old saying in property development that you should always budget for the unexpected, but what happens when the professionals you trust completely miss the mark? Insurance is often treated as a background checkbox in a feasibility study, but getting it wrong can completely destroy a project before construction even begins. In Episode 256 of the Property Mastermind Podcast, hosts Hilary...

When you are mapping out a property development, it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of architectural designs, town planning approvals, and construction milestones. However, there is a silent profit-killer lurking in the background that can completely destroy your feasibility study if you get it wrong: Goods and Services Tax (GST). In this highly technical yet absolutely critical episode...

What if the next highly profitable property development site isn’t in a new suburb across town, but right on the very street you live on? Many everyday property owners are sitting on hidden goldmines without even realising it. These are known as "sleeper sites"—small, local opportunities that require a bit of creative thinking to fully unlock. In this episode of the Property Mastermind...