Property development can have a fair amount of hidden costs, the biggest is holding costs while you negotiate through council approvals this can take upwards of 12 months

Plenty of other people see a fair bit of your money on the way from concept to construction

Architects, engineers, surveyors, building certifiers, council & other utilities require you to pay contributions on release / approval of your final consent

Costs for consent could be as high as 25% + of purchase price if your plans dont stack up at council initially

Having said all that some deals can be attractive particularly if you can hold the property at minimal cost whilst you wade through the council consent minefield

Most developers run some sort of a feasability program on a site which assits them in making up their minds

Local councils should have a set of documentation regarding all of their requirements re developing a block, zoning requirements, street frontage requirements, concil contribution % rates, what you are able to build on a block, types of required construction methods, quota / saturation rates for types of dwellings in certain suburbs etc, etc

Bit of a minefield, a local architect or building consultant/certifier may be able to advise you (at a cost no doubt) what you can do with your block

regards

jonbren