Make decisions, take the hits, become a develo

Bob's tip: go light after a break from the gym

Soft skills weave through the process

Decision-making under uncertainty

Nothing is ever 100 percent: rates, market, bu

A call that proved right: pulling out of apart

A call that proved right: walking away from a

A good small call: lifts and 3m ceilings in a

The deal Bob wishes he hadn't done

Resilience: taking the hits without catastroph

Two builders went bankrupt: what happened

Find experts, set a plan, stick to it

Mindset: let go of the plan, keep the good stu

Leadership: organised, a plan, clear roles

Ten minutes a day on your systems

The valuation that expired a day before settle

Lead the experts without being one, don't micr

Self-awareness: your triggers show up in your

The architect and town planner who didn't get

Optimists, pessimists, and sticking to the fac

Confidence: property development is a confiden

Stop listening and do one step a day

The free November masterclass

Confidence is built, speed bumps and all

Competence first, then confidence

You have to know the game you're playing

Wrap up: a game everybody can play

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 valuation that expired one day before settlement, and the architect and town planner who should never have been hired together. 

The takeaway: competence builds confidence, confidence is built one step a day, and whether your gap is a hard skill or a soft skill, you can build it. 

Property development is a game everybody can play, but you need to know the game you are playing.

Free Profit with Property Development Masterclass, Saturday 21 November 2026, 9am to 1pm AEDT. Register here: https://www.propertymastermind.com.au/events/profit-with-property-development-masterclass/

Hosted by Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton of Property Mastermind.

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 valuation that expired one day before settlement, and the architect and town planner who should never have been hired together.&nbsp; The takeaway: competence builds confidence, confidence is built one step a day, and whether your gap is a hard skill or a soft skill, you can build it. Property development is a game everybody can play, but you need to know the game you are playing. Free Profit with Property Development Masterclass, Saturday 21 November 2026, 9am to 1pm AEDT. Register here: <a href="https://www.propertymastermind.com.au/events/profit-with-property-development-masterclass/">https://www.propertymastermind.com.au/events/profit-with-property-development-masterclass/</a> Hosted by Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton of Property Mastermind.

Want to sky-rocket your property development career? Bob Andersen & Hilary Saxton are here to add value to your property journey, whether it be through high-quality education, guidance, and accountability. Stay tuned for weekly episodes!

Want to sky-rocket your property development career? Bob Andersen &amp; Hilary Saxton are here to add value to your property journey, whether it be through high-quality education, guidance, and accountability. Stay tuned for weekly episodes!

Property Mastermind - All Things Property Development

Property Mastermind Podcast with Bob Andersen & Hilary Saxton

Are you the weak link in your Property Development? Decisions, Setbacks and Confidence | EP 273

The people skills nobody puts in the feasibili

Good morning Bob, and why the intro never chan

Why this episode: a student who loses momentum

The procrastinator, the diver-in, the overthin

Competence creates confidence, but action is s

Skill 1: communication and listening

Twelve people in a duplex, and dealing with eg

Imposter syndrome and speaking up to consultan

Listening: isolate the real issue, no tangents

The rubbish bag: deal with small things as the

Skill 2: negotiation, and where it actually ha

Do you negotiate consultant fees?

Land plus build is 82 percent of your costs

Assertive, not a bully

A builder's market, and 4 percent off a contra

Skill 3: relationships, trust and networking

Agents: say why it doesn't stack up, and stay

Helping a student write a brief for agents

Trust, and why a good buyer's agent gets recom

The builder: the longest relationship in a bui

The October workshop

Networking: be inquisitive, and say what you w

Skill 4: emotional intelligence and hard conve

Agents who stonewall

Cost blowouts, delays and liquidated damages

Detailed plans and documentation prevent argum

Recap: which skill do you need to work on?

Confidence with people is the game changer

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 into action: communication and listening, negotiation, relationships and trust, networking, and emotional intelligence in difficult conversations.

Bob explains how he isolates the real issue when a consultant or builder dumps everything at once, why the two numbers worth negotiating hard are the land and the build, what to say to an agent when a site doesn't stack up so they keep sending you deals, and why a detailed set of plans and a proper building contract prevent most arguments before they start.

The takeaway: competence creates confidence, but confidence with people is what gets a development finished. Pick the one skill you need to work on and start there.

The Property Development and Joint Ventures Workshop kicks off online on Thursday 1 October, then runs live on the Gold Coast 9 to 11 October 2026: https://www.propertymastermind.com.au/events/property-development-and-joint-ventures-workshop/

 Hosted by Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton of Property Mastermind.

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 into action: communication and listening, negotiation, relationships and trust, networking, and emotional intelligence in difficult conversations.
Bob explains how he isolates the real issue when a consultant or builder dumps everything at once, why the two numbers worth negotiating hard are the land and the build, what to say to an agent when a site doesn't stack up so they keep sending you deals, and why a detailed set of plans and a proper building contract prevent most arguments before they start.
The takeaway: competence creates confidence, but confidence with people is what gets a development finished. Pick the one skill you need to work on and start there.
The Property Development and Joint Ventures Workshop kicks off online on Thursday 1 October, then runs live on the Gold Coast 9 to 11 October 2026: <a href="https://www.propertymastermind.com.au/events/property-development-and-joint-ventures-workshop/">https://www.propertymastermind.com.au/events/property-development-and-joint-ventures-workshop/</a>
&nbsp;Hosted by Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton of Property Mastermind.

The Best People Skills In Property Development | Ep: 272

Are you walking away from deals you could actu

Good morning Bob, cruises and the road to epis

Book winner: Jared Beckett

The October workshop: property development AND

"My first two deals were joint ventures"

Deal one: vendor finance with Tony, "money's t

Some money but not enough: the tripping point

Make your own luck: selling land to become a d

Deal two: a joint venture with an equity partn

Why people want to do deals with you once you'

Project one: 16 industrial units at North Harb

Finding a lot nobody was selling

An option, a DA before settlement, then the sy

Investors on site at the open day

It's all just paperwork on the side of a norma

Project two: the childcare refurb

A 32-year-old centre, a tenant first, then the

Vandals, flooding, mould, and the silver linin

Higher rent, higher value: the cap rate win

Project three: 24 industrial units at Bundamba

Top-ups: $120k and $350k from investors at int

Why waiting to save up costs you years

The financier is the best JV partner you'll ev

The many ways to cut a joint venture

Wrap up: this is your first duck aligning

How to reach us and the workshop

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 in no money at all. Then they walk through three syndicated projects.

Ultra Urban has on the go right now: 16 industrial units at North Harbour, a childcare centre refurb, and 24 industrial units at Bundamba, including the vandalism, the mould, the $120,000 and $350,000 top-ups, and why none of it was a problem. 

The takeaway: the financier already puts in at least four times what you do and only wants an interest return. 

If you are short on the rest, there is a joint venture structure for that, and waiting five or ten years to save it up is the expensive option. 

Learn more about our workshop here: https://www.propertymastermind.com.au/events/property-development-and-joint-ventures-workshop/


Hosted by Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton of Property Mastermind.

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 in no money at all. Then they walk through three syndicated projects. Ultra Urban has on the go right now: 16 industrial units at North Harbour, a childcare centre refurb, and 24 industrial units at Bundamba, including the vandalism, the mould, the $120,000 and $350,000 top-ups, and why none of it was a problem. The takeaway: the financier already puts in at least four times what you do and only wants an interest return. If you are short on the rest, there is a joint venture structure for that, and waiting five or ten years to save it up is the expensive option. Learn more about our workshop here: <a href="https://www.propertymastermind.com.au/events/property-development-and-joint-ventures-workshop/">https://www.propertymastermind.com.au/events/property-development-and-joint-ventures-workshop/</a> Hosted by Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton of Property Mastermind.

Are You Walking Away From Deals You Could Actually Do? (Joint Ventures Explained) | EP 271

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, produced spreadsheets, and came back very confidently with a $125,000 loss. Even after Aaron gave it the 3 biggest numbers in the feasibility, the land, the construction cost and the gross realisation value (GRV), it still landed on an 11% return - a deal no lender would fund.

Along the way Aaron and Hilary explain what an AI agent actually is, why AI generalises toward the median, what the valuer's methodology is and why it matters for finance, how we run our own models 24/7 to do feasibilities and hunt for sites, and where AI genuinely shines for developers.

The takeaway: use AI, but the specialist knowledge still has to come from you.

Hosted by Hilary Saxton with Aaron Ralph - Property Mastermind.

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, produced spreadsheets, and came back very confidently with a $125,000 loss. Even after Aaron gave it the 3 biggest numbers in the feasibility, the land, the construction cost and the gross realisation value (GRV), it still landed on an 11% return - a deal no lender would fund.
Along the way Aaron and Hilary explain what an AI agent actually is, why AI generalises toward the median, what the valuer's methodology is and why it matters for finance, how we run our own models 24/7 to do feasibilities and hunt for sites, and where AI genuinely shines for developers.
The takeaway: use AI, but the specialist knowledge still has to come from you.
Hosted by Hilary Saxton with Aaron Ralph - Property Mastermind.

Can ChatGPT do your Property Development Feasibility? (We tested it live!) | EP 270

Are you the weak link in your Property Development? Decisions, Setbacks and Confidence | EP 273

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Property Mastermind Podcast with Bob Andersen & Hilary Saxton

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