28-year old’s savvy move to buy unit block could make him a millionaire landlord

At 28, Tom Ellul could become a millionaire landlord and is on track to cash in on Brisbane’s Olympics bid.

Carpenter Tom Ellul has bought a block of flats at Annerley as a long-term investment as Brisbane’s housing market booms. Picture: Mark Cranitch.

AT the age of 28, Tom Ellul has made a move that could set him up to become a millionaire landlord.

The Brisbane carpenter has just bought himself a block of units in one of the hottest markets in the country — at a time when mega transport infrastructure projects such as Cross River Rail are underway and the city is the frontrunner to host the Olympic Games in 2032.

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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Minister for Sport Stirling Hinchliffe look at artist impressions for the rebuild of The Gabba in Brisbane, being the proposed main stadium should Queensland host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled.

Mr Ellul has hit the jackpot with his purchase of a four-unit property in Annerley in the city’s inner south, joining a slew of savvy investors looking to buy unit blocks rather than house-and-land to expand their portfolios.

The offmarket deal for around $1 million has been described as “a really smart purchase” by Ben Smith of Place Estate Agents, who facilitated the sale.

This block of units at 15 King St, Annerley, is on the market.

“I think it’s a terrific investment,” Mr Smith said.

“Obviously, he’s going to benefit from all the infrastructure upgrades... but none more so than if we were to get the Olympics.

“But also, if you’re going to spend a million (dollars) on a block of land, compare that to spending it on a block of units. What an investment like that offers is yield and capital growth.”

Site works underway for Cross River Rail at Woolloongabba. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

Mr Smith said interstate investors were flocking to Queensland in search of “something with a point of difference”.

“It’s a case of investors looking to expand their portfolio in not the traditional sense,” he said.

“In the past, we’ve not had the capital growth and that’s been the challenge for apartments, but now we have the growth component and the development potential and strong yield to start with.”

This house, which has been converted to a block of units at 54 Broadway St, Woolloongabba, is on the market.

Mr Ellul said the units were rundown and only returning about $215 a week each in rent, but he planned to get to work renovating them.

“Being a carpenter, I can do a lot of the work myself,” he said.

“We’ll start work straight away in the next six to eight months.

“The people that have been renting it haven’'t had a rental increase in six years, hence the reason it’s rundown, but hopefully once we fix it all up, we’ll have an agent look at it and give an estimate of what we can get.”

This block of units at 2 Lisburn St, East Brisbane — in the heart of the Olympics precinct — is on the market.

Mr Smith said renovated one-bedroom apartments in the area were achieving about $330 a week in rent.

He said Mr Ellul would also benefit by renovating the units one at a time and writing them off as tax expenses.

Mr Ellul said he bought the property as a long-term investment because of the area.

“I wasn’t worried about buying in the area because of how close it is to the city and, with COVID, prices are going up. The Olympics would just be a bonus.”

Originally published as 28-year old’s savvy move to buy unit block could make him a millionaire landlord