When buying land from estate developers, I believe you should be the first or last to purchase. My logic is simple. On first release, the sites are often priced low to gain sales momentum and are subsequently priced higher to ensure prior buyers stick (to cover unforeseen costs or just to capitalise on the sales success of earlier marketing). At the end of the project, developers are keen to move the last product, as that’s where all the profit sits. I purchased these lots in 1999, which was the end of a stagnant period in sales, and the last of the estate had sat for some time with the estate access under power line towers big enough to service New York city. As such, they presented a fantastic opportunity, made even better by buying two. A quick call to my best mate, who latched onto the second site, and I then arranged for two homes to be built with a total cost (including land) per project of $165,000, compared to the on-completion valuations of $215,000. Ten years later, I sold my home for $347,500, while my mate still owns and rents his through our property management business.