At Property Development World, I often say: you don’t need millions in the bank or years of experience to get started in property development. And one of my favourite examples of this is the story behind our project at 1 Cliff Road, Epping.
This wasn’t just another development. It was a deal made possible by seven of my students — graduates from one of our three-day workshops back in 2016.
Here’s the kicker:
None of them had ever done property development before. In fact, they weren’t even in real estate. Among them we had:
- An accountant
- A travel agent
- A graphic designer
- A furniture salesman
Not exactly the “usual suspects” for property development. Yet, together, they were able to pull off something extraordinary.
The Power of the “Front End”
Now, when I say they got this development done, I don’t mean they built the apartments to completion. What they did was manage the front end of the development process — the stage I teach extensively in my courses.
That includes:
✅ Sourcing the site
✅ Negotiating to secure it
✅ Lodging the Development Application (DA)
Once the DA was approved, they didn’t go on to build. Instead, they sold the DA — and that’s where the profits were made.
The Secret Weapon: Call Options
The strategy we used was through call options.
If you’re new, you might ask: What’s a call option?
In short:
👉 A call option allows you to secure and control a site without actually buying it outright.
👉 You can then add value to the property — for example, by getting a DA approved.
👉 Once the value has increased, you have the choice: either go ahead and build, or sell the DA for a profit.
This is why call options are such a powerful tool for beginners. You’re not risking millions of dollars upfront. Instead, you’re learning the ropes, gaining confidence, and still creating genuine profit opportunities.
The Results at Epping
At Epping, the site allowed for around 130 apartments. The group secured it for $25 million under a call option.
After lodging and receiving the DA approval, they sold the site for $35 million.
That’s a $10 million profit — achieved in just 18 months, by a team of people who started with zero property development experience.
Why This Matters for You
Stories like this prove that anyone can break into property development with the right knowledge, structure, and support. You don’t need to be a builder. You don’t need millions in the bank. You just need the education and strategies that allow you to play the game the smart way.
At Property Development World, that’s exactly what I teach:
- How to identify the right sites
- How to negotiate and structure deals
- How to use tools like call options to reduce risk
How to add value without overexposing yourself financially.
Your Next Step
If you want to learn how to do deals like this yourself, start with our online course — your step-by-step guide into the world of property development.
From there, you can graduate into our private group for deeper insights, join our masterclasses, and — for the first time in four years — attend our live workshop coming soon in Sydney.
This could be your opportunity to follow in the footsteps of those seven students who turned zero experience into a $10 million success story.