Thanks for the replies guys, good to hear some other points of view.

Yeah Wilko I have actually contacted a few development companies, just looking to get a foot into the industry, although I haven't talked a lot about free design concepts which is definitely something I could look into. I think once I get moving in real estate investment I could definitely use my design skills to help increase a properties visual appeal, especially in the landscaping department, obviously. I'm located in Northeast Melbourne, so the growth corridor around Doreen etc is reasonably close by, but thats generally residential housing and usually estates have a landscape typology already. Not really sure what denser properties are being built around the place, but I'll definitely look into whats around and what opportunities might be available.

I don't really plan on being a spotter professionally, more thinking about ways to generate small lump sum gains, and am really curious as to how much information an investor would be after when considering a new property. Everyone would be slightly different, but I figure the more information the better, and would love to hear about what kind of information someone would pay even just a little bit to receive.

For instance I'm sure I could provide really good contextual analysis of a site, researching all the relevant codes and laws and maybe even a 3D model of the property, along with all it's problems. With suitable photos, I'm interested to see how helpful these kind of ideas would be to some investors, whether it would be welcome or merely tautological or even not needed- do most investors make site visits anyway before securing an investment? Would someone be willing to buy a property purely off models and images and information like that? And if not, what kind of information do people look for?

I'm not really at a stage yet where I can devote myself full time to being a spotter or any sort of investor, but while I try to build some capital and gain some experience, I'm just considering different methods and ways I could maybe offer something a little unique to an investing network.

Thanks again for the suggestions and advice,

Matt