Property development feasibility calculator
Five numbers gets you a screening answer, and every assumption behind it is listed and editable.
The five numbers
Everything else runs on the assumptions listed below, which you can change.
Duty is quoted only for states with a transcribed schedule. More are added as they are verified rather than estimated.
Assumptions in use Edit all 9
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Holding costs are estimated unless you enter a monthly figure. The estimate is land tax on the VIC or NSW schedule, taken on the land price and assessed as a company's only holding, over the programme length. Council rates and utilities are not estimated here. LVR is applied to gross realisation ex GST, with interest and fees capitalised into the loan inside that limit.
No account needed, and your figures are not saved. Using this calculator means you accept the Terms and Usage Policy; the Privacy Policy explains what is collected.
Screening result
Enter your numbers and run it. The figures come back from the same engine the signed-in product uses.
Decision support, not financial, valuation or lending advice. Figures are computed at the assumptions shown opposite, on inputs you supply.
What it needs
Land price, dwelling count, average sale price, construction cost and a programme. Everything else runs on the stated defaults until you change them, including professional fees, contingency, selling costs, holding costs, LVR and interest.
What it returns
Gross realisation, total development cost, net profit, margin on cost and margin on revenue, with the cost stack broken out and stamp duty for Victoria or New South Wales. Margin on cost is profit divided by total cost, which is a different figure from margin on revenue. It does not return a residual land value.
Method
How the calculation works
The calculator is a screening tool, not a study. It runs the same engine as Quick Feasibility in the signed-in product, in one pass, and it computes every figure on the server rather than in your browser.
Total development cost is the sum of land, stamp duty, acquisition costs (a percentage of land), construction, professional fees (a percentage of construction), contingency (a percentage of construction and demolition), selling and marketing costs (percentages of gross realisation), holding costs, interest and finance fees. Construction is entered ex GST, either per dwelling or as a total. Demolition and statutory charges are not inputs here, so they are not in the total.
Holding costs are estimated unless you enter a monthly figure. The estimate is land tax on the Victorian or New South Wales schedule, taken on the land price as a stand-in for the taxable value and assessed as a company's only holding, scaled to the programme length. Council rates and utilities are not estimated on this page. A figure you type replaces the estimate entirely, land tax included.
Finance is an approximation, not a monthly cash flow. The loan limit is your LVR times gross realisation ex GST. Interest and finance fees are capitalised into the loan and sit inside that limit, so the cost the loan funds is the limit divided by one plus the fee rate and the half-drawn interest load. The loan never funds more than the cost itself. Interest is charged at your rate over the whole programme on half that amount, on the assumption that the facility is about half drawn on average.
GST is taken off revenue to give net revenue. Sale prices are entered including GST, and this page applies the margin scheme, where GST is one eleventh of the sale price less the land price. The margin scheme is not available on every acquisition, so confirm it applies to yours. Land and stamp duty carry no GST, and costs are treated as ex GST.
Net profit is net revenue less total development cost. Margin on cost is that profit over total development cost, finance included. Margin on revenue is the same profit over net revenue. The two are different figures, and a deal can clear one hurdle and fail the other.
Stamp duty is calculated on the real schedule for Victoria and New South Wales only. No other state is offered, because the engine would otherwise fall back to the Victorian scale under another state's name.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Does the calculator return residual land value?
No. The public calculator returns gross realisation, total development cost, net profit, margin on cost and margin on revenue. It does not return a residual land value, because that figure is the one most likely to be acted on and the one most sensitive to assumptions you did not choose. The signed-in product solves it.
What is the difference between margin on cost and margin on revenue?
Both divide the same profit. Margin on cost divides it by total development cost, finance included. Margin on revenue divides it by net revenue, which is gross realisation less GST. Because cost is smaller than revenue when a deal makes money, margin on cost is the larger figure: a 20% margin on cost is 16.7% on revenue. Check which one your lender or investment committee means before comparing.
Is the finance a monthly cashflow?
No. It is a screening approximation. The loan is sized at your LVR times gross realisation ex GST, less room for the interest and fees capitalised into it, and never more than the cost it funds. Interest is charged as if half that loan were drawn for the whole programme. The monthly cash flow, with drawdowns and sales timing, is in the full study.
Which states does the stamp duty cover?
Victoria and New South Wales. Duty is calculated on each state’s own schedule, and the state picker lists only states with a transcribed schedule. Sites elsewhere are not offered, because quoting Victorian duty under another state’s name would be a plausible wrong number.
Which costs are in the total, and which are not?
In: land, stamp duty, acquisition costs, construction, professional fees, contingency, selling and marketing, holding costs, interest and finance fees. Not in: demolition, and statutory or authority charges such as planning permit fees and contributions, because the calculator has no input for them and looks up no parcel. Add them by hand to the construction figure, or use the full study.
Do I need an account, and are my figures saved?
No account is needed to run it, and your figures are not saved. After three runs in one visit the page asks you to create a free account, which opens the full study on a site with its monthly cash flow and funding structure. Saved scenarios and the lender-ready export are on Pro.