Questions to ask a Development Project Manager.

If you have a suitable piece of land and thinking about property development to maximise profit. The chances are that you will need a Development Project Manager to help run the process.
 
This is a high risk high reward business, and one wrong step can hit the bottom line hard.
 
If you are not in the property development space, the smartest the decision is to employ someone who knows what they are doing, but before you engage them, ask them a few technical questions to gauge their knowledge of the space. 

Why should you hire a Development Project Manager ?

The answer to that would be, if you don’t know, then hire someone who does. Having a Development project manager is like having a cheat sheet in an exam. They know all the ins and outs of the game to maximise your profit.
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They are able to leverage their existing network to help your project reach its full potential.
In property development, the phrase “time is money” cannot be truer. An experience Development Project Manager will help you get your project done faster and save you money in the mistakes that you can potentially make.
 
We have put together a short list of questions that you can ask the Development Project Manager to gauge their knowledge. 

How much does it cost ?
The typical response for this questions would be depends what you are trying to develop. However, if you dig little deeper in to the question, an experience manager should be able to give you some examples of recent projects they have completed.
This is a good chance for you to consider what kind of development you want to do. As a land owner, you may or may not have the financial capability to fund the entire development and you may need to consider other development options.
 
How long does it take ?
Time is money. If you have no debt on the land then you are very lucky. However, if you are like many other Australian who has debt against the land then every day is causing you “bleed”money. So completing the project as fast as possible should be a top priority.
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What project have you done before ?
A good Development Project Manager should be able to show you a decent size portfolio of project they have completed in the past. 

​Why should I pay if you can do it yourself ?
That’s a good question. But ask yourself honestly, are you doing this as a full time job and dealing with councils, consultants and builders every day ? The Development Project Manager literally deal with these stakeholders every single day and they know who to recommend for the right job.
If you enjoy the process of trial and error, then by all means to do it yourself, but remember every error comes at a cost to you. In the property development space, one single mistake could make the project unprofitable.
 
How long have you been operating for ?
Experience comes with in time. The Development Project Manager needs to be experience and have the know-how when the project goes south and have the ability to expect the unexpected.
This only comes with time in the development space and have encountered a fair share of mistakes themselves already. 

​What is your fee structure ?
Fees should be tailored to your project needs rather than a templated structure.
 
Do you take commission from consultants , suppliers and builders ?
This is a important questions to ask. Your Development Project Manager should be working for you and have your best interest in every decision.
If a Development Project Manager is charging fees much lower than market rate. Its most likely they are. Everyone needs to make money one way or another. Some are just more honest, like us.
 
 How many projects do you have running right now ?
This questions digs deep into their work flow and understand whether they can give your project the attention it deserves .

Who will be running the project ?
You want to meet the person that is actually running the project. There are many big name management firms that send out the best talker to sell their service, but appoints a graduate to look to after the project after you sign up. So always ask to meet the person who will be managing the project.
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What are the potential hurdles and risk for my project ?
This is the most important question. This is where a good Development Project Manager can demonstrate how they are adding value to your project. Try to find out the risks in your project and how they plan to navigate around it.
They may or may not be willing to disclose too much information here as this is their intellectual property and it is what you are paying them for, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.