A Foot In The Door

Imagine investing in the lucrative housing markets of Sydney and Melbourne for less than $100. It is possible, writes Money founding editor, Pam Walkley.

- Pam Walkley

Would you love a stake in the lucrative Sydney and Melbourne residential markets, but don’t have anywhere near enough money to buy an investment property?

Crowdfunding and similar models, where investors pool their funds to invest through net-based platforms, could be the answer. For example, BRICKX (brickx.com) enables you to invest in prime residential property with less than $100. You could buy a share (or Brick) in an apartment in the prestigious inner-Sydney suburb of Double Bay for $97. If you had $48,500 to invest, you could buy up to 500 Bricks of the 10,000 Bricks the $1.395 million property is divided into, or five per cent, the maximum any single investor can hold.

This approach to real-estate investment breaks down many of the traditional barriers to property ownership, including affordability, high initial costs, big borrowing requirements, lack of liquidity and long investment periods.