With my long experience and understanding of the Australian real estate market, I am elated to confidently announce my new venture, the launch of Aurient Limited to focus on Australia’s fastest-growing and most exciting new asset class, Build to Rent (BTR)!
BTR is likely to change Australian housing – forever.
My own love affair with property started at age 24 when my parents lent me A$5K as a deposit for a studio flat in Sydney’s notorious (in those days!) Kings Cross. I borrowed the rest of the purchase price, the princely sum of A$20K, from the ANZ bank.
I was a property owner!
I lived in that tiny studio for a while, then moved in with a few friends sharing a huge house in Balgowlah Heights with a pool and harbour view!
I rented out my flat, and I was a landlord! I learnt about defects and repairs, water leaks and Body Corporate, rodent control, delinquent tenants, interest-only loans, negative gearing, and bank funding.
I loved it all! My real estate journey had begun!
Today, I am grateful to say that I have been operating in the Australian property industry for over 35 years and am most fortunate not only to have had wonderful experiences as an award-winning property company owner, investment book author, AirBnB host, property investor, multi-property landlord, seminar and webinar host, but I have also been privileged to have met some fantastic people, many of whom have become lifelong friends.
But it hasn’t been all rosy. In fact, it’s been a very up and down road through the many economic, political, lending, financial, tax, and policy changes that have affected the Australian property industry over the years.
My new company will be advising, sourcing, researching, and also taking advantage ourselves of a “sweet spot” in the BTR market, currently overlooked, in my opinion, by all the big players coming into this new asset class, which while well-established overseas, is brand new in Australia.
Supported by strong macroeconomic tailwinds, future migration and population growth especially across the younger renters, record-high house prices, and an impending structural undersupply of high quality and professionally managed residential property in Australia, all indications are that BTR and has the potential to represent a significant opportunity.
In the US and UK, this growing asset class is reported to represent 12% and 2% of the existing housing stock and growing.
If just 1% of Australia’s current housing stock transitioned to BTR, it represents a A$88 billion opportunity.
I have put together some information on Build to Rent in Australia here:
www.citylifeprojects.net/build-to-rent
Looking forward to this wonderful and exciting new journey while I continue as Managing Director of Citylife!
Michael Bentley
PS My website for Aurient is www.aurientproperty.com
