If 1+1=2.2 Then 2+2=2.4. 25% Returns

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This was the third project I ever commissioned and one that taught me many great lessons that still shape how think today. My first two projects were simple: buy land, design and build a house to create equity (1+1=2.2), otherwise, why bother? When I found this site, my interests were location, environment and of course price, though I’m not sure I knew what a duplex was at that stage, but I did remember in my early childhood we lived in a home that shared a common wall with another family and we heard everything. So naturally, I figured this can’t be good for market wide appeal and therefore price growth. In saying this, two for the price works, so I investigated it further. I found the local council didn’t require this common wall, just that they be connected in some way. Then, through a process of trail and success, we designed two stand alone homes connected by a pergola on either home to the internal dividing fence. This design also suited the sites topography much better and the street appeal was now aided by the fact that they didn’t present like a poor class duplex. It worked in the slow-moving market of the 1990’s. We sold one before completion and held the other with a 25% margin on our project costs. 2+2 could indeed equal 2.2 and while the rules around duplex’s have now changed, I am a firm believer in these to this day and have helped many people complete these as their first projects.