Have you spoken to Ipswich council about the possible sub-division yet? We have recently received DA approval for a dual occupancy development. It may not be the same in your suburb, but where ours is in Redbank Plains they require 800m2 min for dual occupancy, 900m2 for sub-division and 1200m2 for sub-division on a corner block.

Don't forget to allow for the council contribution cost in your calculations … ours is $14,000 to go towards concrete paths in the shire. This is on top of all the other costs associated with the development application process.

Good returns can be made with the right structure for your block and affordability, … research all aspects to maximise the capital gain/rent return. We have just gone through the exercise of doing a numbers breakdown as to the best option for us ….

a) knock down existing house and build a 2 storey duplex
OR ….
b) reno the existing house and build a detached 4,2,2 new house.

Although both options would make money we found that plan b, offers the best return for us. With plan a, we found that by knocking down the existing house it makes it an expensive block of land.

Good luck ….. keep us updated

Martin