I've been doing property in some way, shape, or form since the age of 18, which is when I bought my first property. I then bought my first investment property at 21. So, it's fair to say that I've got a couple of years of experience under my belt. 29 forever, right?
That said, I am still learning every single day because it's impossible to know absolutely everything. And one of the most uncomfortable places to be in property development is realising you don’t know what you don’t know.
The fact is, no one knows everything in this game. The difference between people who survive and people who thrive is not the absence of problems, it’s their strategy for learning and problem-solving.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re brand new to property or you’ve been involved for decades, there will always be moments where something lands on your desk that you’ve never seen before. A new overlay. An unexpected engineering condition. A finance structure you’ve never used. A build issue you didn’t anticipate.
That’s not a sign you don't have a clue and shouldn’t be doing property development.
It’s a sign you’re growing.
Stage One: Start With The Foundations
When you’re an absolute beginner, you genuinely don’t know anything yet. At that stage, your job is simple: compress as much quality information into the shortest possible timeframe.
This is where formal education makes the most sense. You’re not just learning theory, you’re learning from years (or in my case decades) of accumulated experience, distilled into structured lessons. You get exposure to dozens of scenarios, not just one. Which is exactly why our Property Development Formula course is so valuable.
There are other options at this stage too. You might shadow someone on a project. You might joint venture with a more experienced developer. Both can be incredibly valuable.
However, be aware of the limitation: you’re seeing one project, at one point in time, with one set of circumstances. Property development is incredibly context-specific. A lesson from one site doesn’t automatically translate perfectly to another.
A broad foundation of learning across a lot of projects gives you pattern recognition. And pattern recognition is what reduces risk.
Stage Two: Real-World Learning
Once you have a baseline level of knowledge, you're going to move into the next phase of your journey, which is practical on-the-ground learning.
This is where development becomes less theoretical and far more personal.
Now the questions are specific to your site:
The lessons are powerful because they’re attached to your own money and your own decisions. But they’re still limited to that project.
It’s important to understand that one deal - even a successful one - does not make you an expert. It simply makes you experienced in that particular scenario.
An Important Skill: Knowing Who to Ask
When you don’t know what you don’t know, the key question becomes: Who is the right person to ask?
Is this:
One of the biggest mistakes new developers make is asking the wrong person. Friends and family are well-intentioned, but rarely subject matter experts. PDN community members, Facebook groups and online communities can be helpful, but the answers are often coming from general experience.
Sometimes they’re right.
Sometimes they’re confidently wrong.
As you grow, one of your most valuable skills will be identifying the actual subject matter expert, and being willing to pay for that advice when needed. Paying for the right answer is almost always cheaper than guessing wrong.
Borrowing Other People’s Lessons
There’s another layer to solving the “unknown unknowns” problem: learning from situations you haven’t yet experienced.
Mastermind-style environments are powerful because you’re not just solving your own problems, you’re hearing about everyone else’s.
At Property Development Network meetups, for example, members share real project challenges and unpack them as a group. You might walk in with a question about service connections and leave having learned about builder insolvency risk, unexpected council contributions, and feasibility blowouts, all without those things happening to you personally.
That’s leverage.
Similarly, when developers openly share their Real Deals during our meetups, including the mistakes, delays, and cost overruns, you gain exposure to patterns that you may face in the future.
The goal isn’t to avoid every problem. That’s impossible.
The goal is to reduce surprises.
Moving From Panic to Process
When you’re new, every unknown feels like a crisis.
Over time, it becomes a process.
You stop reacting emotionally and start responding strategically:
That last step is critical. Developers who grow quickly build their own internal knowledge base. They don’t just solve problems, they systemise them.
And here’s the brutal truth: you will never reach a point where you know everything.
Markets change. Planning schemes evolve. Lending policies shift. Construction costs fluctuate. Government policy adjusts. New risks emerge.
That’s not something to fear. It’s something to respect.
The developers who last in this industry aren’t the ones who pretend to know it all. They’re the ones who are confident in their ability to find answers.
So if you’re currently sitting in a moment of “I don’t know what I don’t know” - good. That means you’re stretching.
Just make sure you have a strategy for learning, access to the right experts, and a community that helps you see around corners before you get there.
That’s how you move from uncertainty to capability - one lesson at a time.
That said, I am still learning every single day because it's impossible to know absolutely everything. And one of the most uncomfortable places to be in property development is realising you don’t know what you don’t know.
The fact is, no one knows everything in this game. The difference between people who survive and people who thrive is not the absence of problems, it’s their strategy for learning and problem-solving.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re brand new to property or you’ve been involved for decades, there will always be moments where something lands on your desk that you’ve never seen before. A new overlay. An unexpected engineering condition. A finance structure you’ve never used. A build issue you didn’t anticipate.
That’s not a sign you don't have a clue and shouldn’t be doing property development.
It’s a sign you’re growing.
Stage One: Start With The Foundations
When you’re an absolute beginner, you genuinely don’t know anything yet. At that stage, your job is simple: compress as much quality information into the shortest possible timeframe.This is where formal education makes the most sense. You’re not just learning theory, you’re learning from years (or in my case decades) of accumulated experience, distilled into structured lessons. You get exposure to dozens of scenarios, not just one. Which is exactly why our Property Development Formula course is so valuable.
There are other options at this stage too. You might shadow someone on a project. You might joint venture with a more experienced developer. Both can be incredibly valuable.
However, be aware of the limitation: you’re seeing one project, at one point in time, with one set of circumstances. Property development is incredibly context-specific. A lesson from one site doesn’t automatically translate perfectly to another.
A broad foundation of learning across a lot of projects gives you pattern recognition. And pattern recognition is what reduces risk.
Stage Two: Real-World Learning
Once you have a baseline level of knowledge, you're going to move into the next phase of your journey, which is practical on-the-ground learning.
This is where development becomes less theoretical and far more personal.
Now the questions are specific to your site:
- How does this overlay affect my yield?
- Why has council requested this condition?
- Why has my engineer recommended that?
- Why has the bank changed their offer?
The lessons are powerful because they’re attached to your own money and your own decisions. But they’re still limited to that project.
It’s important to understand that one deal - even a successful one - does not make you an expert. It simply makes you experienced in that particular scenario.
An Important Skill: Knowing Who to AskWhen you don’t know what you don’t know, the key question becomes: Who is the right person to ask?
Is this:
- A town planning issue?
- A civil engineering question?
- A structural problem?
- A finance structuring challenge?
- A curly accounting question?
One of the biggest mistakes new developers make is asking the wrong person. Friends and family are well-intentioned, but rarely subject matter experts. PDN community members, Facebook groups and online communities can be helpful, but the answers are often coming from general experience.
Sometimes they’re right.
Sometimes they’re confidently wrong.
As you grow, one of your most valuable skills will be identifying the actual subject matter expert, and being willing to pay for that advice when needed. Paying for the right answer is almost always cheaper than guessing wrong.
Borrowing Other People’s Lessons
There’s another layer to solving the “unknown unknowns” problem: learning from situations you haven’t yet experienced.
Mastermind-style environments are powerful because you’re not just solving your own problems, you’re hearing about everyone else’s.
At Property Development Network meetups, for example, members share real project challenges and unpack them as a group. You might walk in with a question about service connections and leave having learned about builder insolvency risk, unexpected council contributions, and feasibility blowouts, all without those things happening to you personally.
That’s leverage.
Similarly, when developers openly share their Real Deals during our meetups, including the mistakes, delays, and cost overruns, you gain exposure to patterns that you may face in the future.
The goal isn’t to avoid every problem. That’s impossible.
The goal is to reduce surprises.
Moving From Panic to Process
When you’re new, every unknown feels like a crisis.
Over time, it becomes a process.
You stop reacting emotionally and start responding strategically:
- Define the problem clearly
- Identify the discipline it sits within
- Go to the appropriate expert
- Pay for clarity if required
- Document the lesson for next time
That last step is critical. Developers who grow quickly build their own internal knowledge base. They don’t just solve problems, they systemise them.
And here’s the brutal truth: you will never reach a point where you know everything.
Markets change. Planning schemes evolve. Lending policies shift. Construction costs fluctuate. Government policy adjusts. New risks emerge.
That’s not something to fear. It’s something to respect.
The developers who last in this industry aren’t the ones who pretend to know it all. They’re the ones who are confident in their ability to find answers.
So if you’re currently sitting in a moment of “I don’t know what I don’t know” - good. That means you’re stretching.
Just make sure you have a strategy for learning, access to the right experts, and a community that helps you see around corners before you get there.
That’s how you move from uncertainty to capability - one lesson at a time.
