A young Australian couple has revealed the investment strategy that helped them turn their student savings into a huge property portfolio valued at more than $150 million.
Scott, 37, and Mina O’Neill, 36, bought their first investment property in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire 14 years ago with $60,000 they had been saving since they were teenagers.
Through enthusiastic investment in both homes and commercial properties, the couple now has a massive real estate empire valued at more than $153 million.
His real estate investments generate a staggering $6.2 million in annual gross returns, a significant portion of which comes from his commercial properties.
The O’Neills managed to almost double their property investments from $53 million in 2022 to $105 million at a time when Australians were struggling to find a bargain in the market.
They attribute their recent success to not overlooking commercial properties and entering the market with a simple set of rules.
The couple began by purchasing offices for recession-proof businesses, such as doctors’ and dentists’ offices, while focusing on businesses that rarely move.
They then set about diversifying their portfolio by acquiring warehouses, which are among the best-performing properties in the country, before upgrading them to small business complexes.
Scott, 37, and Mina O’Neill, 36, (both pictured) have revealed how turning to overlooked commercial properties helped almost triple their already huge property portfolio.
O’Neill said the couple made the jump to the certified rich list after having enough capital to invest in resorts that attract competitive rates from banks due to their high yields.
He added that his turn to the commercial market was what generated “a lot of money for our family” and said that “it has changed our lives.”
“Going for properties like mid-sized shopping centers brought us wealth to the next level,” Mr. O’Neill told the Daily Telegraph.
“People have strong opinions about residential real estate, but no one talks about commercial properties and it’s commercial properties that can really make the most money.”
Superannuation funds often invest in prominent commercial properties owned by one’s father and great opportunities are often overlooked.
“The opportunity to get a big return is much greater than with residential real estate, the risks are greater, but you can take that into account if you know what you’re doing,” Mr O’Neill said.
O’Neill said the couple have never had “an emotional connection” to any of their properties and are always willing to abandon an investment in search of a better opportunity.
The family could happily live off the $6.2 million annual gross return, but they have founded an investment company, Rethink Investing, to continue their “passion.”
The couple started with a $60,000 investment property in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire 14 years ago and built up a huge $153 million portfolio that netted them $6.2 million in gross returns a year.
They attribute the portfolio’s boom in recent years to investing in the commercial real estate market and raising enough capital to buy small and medium-sized complexes with high yields (pictured).
For Australians looking to invest in the property market, O’Neill previously said one of his key tactics since his first purchase was to build capital.
Equity is the difference between what a borrower still owes on a property and its value, or, in other words, how much profit he or she would make if he or she sold it.
“I did this by renovating residential properties, often with my own hands,” O’Neill told Daily Mail Australia in December last year.
Mortgage holders can use their home equity as collateral with banks to borrow more, which can be used to finance renovations or diversify into another investment property.
O’Neill said that while “saving that initial deposit took a lot of time and effort”, once he was on the market he was able to see steady growth by researching and choosing the right properties to buy.
He added that his wealth snowballed during his first decade in real estate investing taking advantage of the bullish real estate market.