A new online real estate investment platform, BrickX, has been launched to disrupt Australia’s residential property market by enabling wholesale investors* to acquire an economic interest in individual properties by trading ‘Bricks’ (interests in trusts that hold individual properties) for as little as $66 per Brick.
“The platform provides wholesale investors* the ability to acquire and dispose of Bricks whenever they want – without having the expense of purchasing property directly or experiencing the time lag and costs associated with direct property transactions. With BrickX, you can buy ‘Bricks’, without ever leaving your home,” said BrickX CEO, Darren Patterson.
The Australian property market is one of the most lucrative markets globally, yet it remains largely inaccessible to a vast majority of Australians. BrickX proposes to change this by offering another way for Australians to invest in the property market. The first phase of the platform launch will be to investors who qualify as wholesale investors (under the Corporations Act).
Through the platform, wholesale investors can acquire and dispose of ‘Bricks’, which are units in residential property trusts (each of which holds a single residential property) made available on the platform and selected by the investor.
The property is managed by BrickX on behalf of the investor on the platform, and the investor receives a dividend from the rent of the property that they own, in proportion to the units that they own in the trust. As the price of the “Bricks” move, so do the investor’s returns. The platform provides a balance for investors – between controlling and selecting their investment and alleviating the headaches of research, leasing and property management, whilst providing traditional yields and capital returns.
There is no minimum investment required to purchase Bricks and there is a flat 2% transaction fee on purchases. To acquire Bricks, users must first register on the website and set up a digital wallet.
The properties available through the platform are studios, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartments, which satisfy BrickX’s standardised investment criteria aimed at delivering wholesale investors high quality residential properties in prime locations. The properties are let and managed by BrickX on behalf of the investor. BrickX is launching with properties in the highly desirable suburbs of Mosman and Enmore in Sydney, shortly followed by Melbourne, and other capital cities coming soon.
Co-founded by Executive Chairman Markus Kahlbetzer and CEO Darren Patterson, BrickX is part of the BridgeLane Group. The start-up has been created off the back of strong market research that shows investors are looking for lower minimum investment sizes, more liquidity and “frictionless” investing.
Darren Patterson said, “We recognise that the affordability of property investment is beyond the reach of a large number of Australians, hence we are helping to make purchasing property more accessible by facilitating liquidity and seeking to bring transparency to what has been a convoluted and expensive process for far too long.”
“On the BrickX platform, anyone can become a property investor and gain access to properties and insights that previously only the wealthy or sophisticated investor had access to, at a fraction of the cost and time required.”
Mr Kahlbetzer said, “We believe that property investing doesn’t need to be a time consuming and financially draining exercise. Investors should have full control of their investment decisions, online, by using data-driven and transparent property profile information on blue chip properties. ”
“We’ve built an investment platform for real estate which we believe delivers a mechanism not before offered in Australia and will provide investment diversity and choice in an industry that’s in need of a shake up,” he said.
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