A young man has revealed the sacrifices he made over a six-month period to help build his mini property empire.
Bailey Jay said he was staring down the barrel of being a renter for life, but some tough decisions and resisting a lot of temptations enabled him to buy three properties in quick time.
In 2023, Mr Jay saved cash by only eating tuna and rice for lunch every day. He did it for six months and refused to spend on anything that was non-essential.
He did it while still living with his mum and was able to put away $20,000.
He made an extra $46,000 when he sold his ute and by then he had scraped together enough cash for his first property deposit.
The construction worker, who was earning $100,000 a year, was able to buy a four-bedroom home in Western Australia for $440,000.
He immediately rented it out and was on his way to building his portfolio which was a massive 107 properties behind his brother-in-law Sam Gordon who owns the property adviser firm Australian Property Scout.
‘The whole time he was in my ear, being like, “come on bro”,’ he said.
Bailey Jay has scarified a lot but is reaping the benefits and now owns three homes
‘It was so handy. I look up to him, and he is like a brother to me, but also, you’ve got to have your own determination to do it.’
Mr Jay’s first property is now worth $600,000 and he used the value increase to buy two other three-bedroom homes in WA.
‘I used my first deposit and just rinsed and repeated with the equity. Every three months I’d get a valuation, have a look, and then pull money out again,’ he said.
‘The growth was incredible.’
Mr Jay’s second property was bought for $295,000 and it’s now worth $400,000, and he got his third property for $342,000, and it’s now worth more than $400,000.
All up, the three properties were bought for $1.07million and are now worth $1.4million.
‘They’re all tenanted and slightly negatively geared but not by much. My second property costs me like $50 a week,’ Mr Jay said.
The 26-year-old said he had to pay about $300 a week to cover the difference for the three mortgages.
Mr Jay said it took him six months of eating cheap food to save up for his first house deposit
‘When I first got my property, I got a phone call from the property manager, and they’re like, we’ve got a family of five interested, but the only issue is they’ve got a Jack Russell,’ he said.
‘I don’t care if it is a tiger as long as they look after the house and pay the rent.’
Mr Jay’s brother-in-law Mr Gordon ruffled feathers after footage emerged of his employees gloating about the size of their property portfolios while they were on a lavish yacht for their Christmas party last year.
Viewers blasted the partygoers as out of touch and ‘the whole reason Australia is in a rental crisis’.
But Mr Gordon told Daily Mail Australia that many Aussies don’t understand the work it took to get to his position.
‘You get some people that have taken massive inspiration from (the party video), and then other people who want to throw stones and try and pull you down,’ he said.
‘People see the end picture now and – I’ve done very well for myself in 15 years – but I’ve been doing this for almost half the time that I’ve been alive.
‘I think people just need to realise that it is literally accessible for anyone to do it (invest in property).’