Housing market: Brothers reveal how they built $2.5million property empire in NSW

Two brothers who graduated from high school in Year 10 have managed to build a $2.49 million real estate empire in just two years.

Jack and Harry Gray, ages 23 and 22, own three regional properties and have worked hard to save the deposits without the help of their parents.

Instead, they both had two jobs at the same time. The boys left school early, before the end of Year 10, and began working as tradies, taking plumbing training.

But they also all went to work part-time in fast food restaurants to earn some extra money.

The Gray brothers share a similar savings strategy: find work with adequate overtime pay and continue to cut back on spending.

The boys left school after the tenth year and began to work as tradies, taking plumbing training. But both also went on to work part-time in fast food restaurants

Jack Gray (left) outside the property he now rents in Thornton with his younger brother Harry

Jack credits his mother for nagging him to save more than he spent, and by the time he was 21, he had saved $96,000.

‘Our parents have always been very strict about saving. I didn’t really have a key card or debit card until I was almost 18, so that’s probably why I was pretty sensible,’ Jack said.

Both brothers still live at home, where they each pay a weekly allowance of $100.

They keep their costs as low as possible and admit to making sacrifices.

Jack only goes out on weekends and never during the week.

They tend to pick and choose events, such as festivals, rather than just hitting the pub.

‘I am very satisfied with my life. I don’t really feel like I’m missing anything,” said Jack.

After receiving financial advice, Jack put down a $76,000 down payment on a new home in Thornton, in the fast-growing NSW Hunter Valley.

He set aside $20,000 as an emergency buffer for any future costs.

The four-bedroom home cost him $630,000. Upon completion, the property was valued at $920,000.

That meant that Jack had made a return of $290,000 on his investment in two years.

He now rents it out for $700 a week, which means it generates a healthy gross return of 5.7 percent.

Jack’s younger brother Harry took six months longer to put down a down payment on a three-bedroom house in the small town of Killingworth, inland from Lake Macquarie.

He paid $575,000 for the home, which stood on a 1,000-square-foot block at the end of 2021.

Two years later, after spending $10,000 on renovations, the house is now worth $690,000.

The brothers decided to hit the market again, this time together.

They are building a four-bedroom house in the Hunter Valley, which they expect to be worth $950,000 upon completion, based on the current market.

The brothers are now planning to vacation together in Europe. Jack has booked two other holidays in addition to their European holiday.

But both plan to start saving right away and invest in more real estate, even though they admit that “it’s not easy.”

Both brothers have chosen to build houses in the Hunter Valley, an area on the rise

The Gray brothers are now planning to vacation together in Europe after making millions

“I wouldn’t mind having a few more properties before I turned thirty,” Jack said.

“The way I see it, I can do it now while I’m young and I think the money I’m making now is worth a lot more than if I started investing when I was thirty or forty years old,” said Jack.

Their financial adviser, Michael Pell of Propell Property, said the Gray brothers are “hard-working and self-motivated.”

“They understand the need to invest and are now doing their utmost to build a profitable portfolio so that they can create passive income and choose whether or not to work in the future,” Pell said.