Ask an experienced developer what property development is about and you will hear “the numbers”. That is true right up until you choose the project. From then on, it is about people. Even a simple duplex involves around a dozen professionals, and a builder you will work with for the best part of a year. On a recent episode of the Property Mastermind Podcast, Bob Andersen and Hilary Saxton went through the people skills that never appear in a feasibility but decide outcomes just as often. Here are the five, and what to do about each.
1. Communication and listening
Bob’s rule is simple: good, honest, open, two-way communication with everyone on the project, where everybody understands their role. Some consultants are driven by ego and will not enjoy a first-time developer expressing preferences. Try a gentle approach first. If that fails, remember who pays their bills.
The listening half is harder. When a builder or consultant brings you everything at once, isolate the real issue. This design problem is what has to be solved today. Do not follow the tangent about the architect. Everything else gets sorted later. And deal with small things as they arise. Hilary’s image is a rubbish bag on your back: every issue you let slide goes in, and eventually the bag breaks, usually in the middle of a conversation that should have been about one thing.
2. Negotiation
Most negotiation happens at the front end, and the two numbers worth negotiating hard are the land and the build. On a duplex feasibility Bob reviewed recently, those two items were 82 percent of total costs. A consultant’s fee might be less than one percent, and Bob rarely negotiates those, because he already knows what the fee should be. If a fee comes in high, that is not a negotiation, it is a question: why?
Be assertive, not a bully. Push too hard and the other party puts up a wall and the negotiation ends. Read the market too. It is a builder’s market at the moment and builders can walk away, but Bob and Hilary still recently worked a large build contract back to the right number with a builder they had used before, and both sides were happy with the result.
3. Relationships, trust and networking
Development is a team sport. Agents bring sites, brokers find solutions, consultants solve problems, and builders prioritise the clients they trust. A first-time developer has no track record, so credibility has to be built quickly. Bob’s single most useful habit, which stopped Hilary mid-episode, is what he does when an agent sends a site that does not stack up. He does not just move on. He goes back, explains why it does not work, and says he is still keen. The agent learns this person knows what they are doing, and keeps sending deals.
Be specific about what you want. Bob had just helped a mentoring student write a brief to take to agents in a new area. Stay in regular contact. Respect people’s time, especially the builder, who you will spend longer with than any other consultant. And when networking, be inquisitive about other people rather than talking about yourself, but also be upfront about what you are looking for. If you want investors, say so. Otherwise nobody knows you have an opportunity.
4. Emotional intelligence and difficult conversations
Some agents stonewall, sitting between you and the vendor and, in the worst cases, not even passing on offers they are obliged to pass on. With builders, blowouts and delays usually trace back to two things: the wrong builder, and a weak contract. Bob describes a project where the builder was four weeks past completion and the liquidated damages clause, which makes a builder pay for each day of overrun, had been struck out without the developer noticing. Some contracts do not include one at all.
The defence is documentation. Detailed plans from an accredited building designer rather than a draftsman. Specific prime cost items rather than vague allowances. A proper building contract with the right special conditions. Everything objective, nothing subjective. Variations almost always go up, not down, and vague documents invite them.
5. Confidence
Competence creates confidence, which is why Property Mastermind teaches the process and the numbers. But taking action is a separate skill, and most people struggle with it. The procrastinator disappears into detail so they never have to act. The overconfident developer skips due diligence and then loses their nerve at the first mistake. Not making a decision is the easiest decision available, and it is still a decision.
Pick one
All five are skills, and skills are practised. Hilary’s challenge is to pick the one you most need to work on, whether that is the squishy conversations, being assertive without being aggressive, or simply following up with an agent, and start there. Each one builds the confidence that gets a development finished.
Hear the full conversation, including the buyer’s agent Hilary recommends to everyone and Bob’s two-and-a-half-hour session on building contracts: listen to episode 272 of the Property Mastermind Podcast. And if nothing builds confidence with people faster than being in a room with them, the Property Development and Joint Ventures Workshop kicks off online on 1 October and runs live on the Gold Coast from 9 to 11 October 2026.