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Getting your legal foundation properly set up enables you to protect your projects and ensure they have the best chance of succeeding. So we are talking all things legal when it comes to property developing with property legal eagle Lewis O'Brien. It feels like a lot has happened since the last episode. Market sentiment and momentum has noticeably picked up across Melbourne and it seems in other cities too. Property values have been steadily rising and confidence is returning to the property sector. Which is great news for property developers. A lot of the doom and gloom news stories have dried up and we seem to be at the start of a new growth cycle. An incredible amount has happened since we last spoke. We finally received a planning permit for our project that has been drifting through planning for two years. It was great to finally get that stamped letter and we can move on to the documentation and sales phase. And the timing might work well as the market shifts gears. On my other project we have settled on a funding solution and have received a term sheet from a financier so we are working through all the requirements of that. The valuation report is almost complete and then we will get the Quantity Surveyors report knocked over once we finalize some details with the builder. So it is all happening on that project too. It feels like more has happened in the past six weeks than most of the past 12 months, so it is nice to have a sense of momentum with the projects. And speaking of momentum, if you want to get some momentum going with your plans to start property developing, then remember we have the mentoring program that is available to teach you everything you need to know to become a successful developer. Email me on Justin@propertydeveloperpodcast.com for further details. "It’s easy to enter into a contract worth half a million dollars, so it’s worth getting some advice about how to make it better." Lewis O'Brien property lawyer Okay, on to today’s guest, our first legal discussion with property lawyer Lewis O’Brien. Lewis specializes in property and commercial law, with a particular interest in serving property developers and investors. With more than 20 years of experience, Lewis has seen plenty of contracts across his desk and also the sticky situations some people find themselves in when property deals go wrong. We have a fairly broad conversation covering such topics as covenants, options, joint ventures, contracts and the common pitfalls that you should look out for. During the discussion Lewis refers to some useful resources that he has available on his website and I will provide the access code for those following our chat. Lessons for real estate developers If you are interested in any of Lewis’ online guides and resources that are available on his website, you can use the code PropDev15 to get 15% off the asking price… now I have had a look through the guides and there is some great stuff in them. Lots of questions that you need to answer before you enter any agreement. So head over to www.lewisobrien.com.au for more information Here are three things I took out of my conversation with Lewis: 1. Get good legal advice upfront before you enter into any property contract Throughout any development project you will be entering into many contracts and most of them are pretty important so I think it is crucial to get good legal advice before you enter into anything that might curtail what you want to achieve. A small one liner in a contract might be the difference between success and failure, and it might be something that reads innocuously to you and me. Like all good consultants they’re advice should save you money in the long run, so make sure you have yourself a good property lawyer. 2. Make sure your property contract is tailored to the purpose As Lewis mentioned, you are going to enter into a few contract through the life of a project and you want to make sure that e...