A clever 23-year-old has revealed how he turned $45,000 saved from washing dishes and other menial work into a mini property empire that’s already made him $650,000 in 18 months.
Charlie Millar owns five investment properties and said he has acquired so many homes, despite the meagre income he had when he started buying, by exploiting the banking system.
Valuations have indicated the total value of his five homes is about $1,725,000 and together they generate him about $113,000 in gross rental income.
The total debt against his properties is about $1.07m, meaning he holds about $650,000 in property equity across his portfolio due to rapid growth in the value of his homes since his first buy in 2023.
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Charlie Millar bought his first home at age 21.
“The numbers are the most important thing when you’re looking at property,” he said.
“I don’t care if it’s a unit or a house, it all comes down to what am I paying, what’s market value and what can I get in rent?”
Mr Millar, who grew up in Sydney’s Hills District, bought his first rental home aged 21 with $45,000 in funds he scraped together from odd jobs, including washing dishes in the food court of his local mall.
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He also worked at a kids trampoline venue and later tried his hand at real estate sales, but he said he only got paid the $40,000-odd base salary because he didn’t sell enough to make commission.
Mr Millar said his initial $45,000 outlay was the only time he actually put down a deposit with his own cash: the rest of the properties were all acquired with money he pulled out of his properties through refinancing deals.
One of Mr Millar’s properties is this home in WA.
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He explained his approach was multi-layered. He targets properties he can purchase for under market value – often distressed sales. The rents have to pay all his landlord expenses, including repayments.
“The idea is that you’re getting equity from day one,” he said. “My properties have usually been in high growth areas and after a few months you can take out equity to use for the next (purchase).”
Banks were happy to continue lending him money because his properties weren’t drawing down his income, he added. It also helped that he was living with his parents to save money.
Mr Millar said he learned some of his tactics by working in a real estate office about a year before he started buying.
“I tried sales … they only pay you about $40,000 a year because they expect you to make commission. But I didn’t make commission.”
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Millar pictured with girlfriend Nicola Hogg.
The 23-year-old now works as a client manager for buyer’s agency Binvested, which involves mapping out strategies for other investors.
He initially saved money faster by staying with his parents but moved out of their home to live with his girlfriend 10 months ago.
“The truth is that I’ve bought what I can afford, which is cheaper properties. My first job was washing dishes in my local food court. I’ve been saving really hard since then.
“It has probably helped that I don’t like spending money. I have just never felt comfortable buying certain things knowing what they cost and it meant I saved a lot faster.”
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One of Charlie Millar’s properties is this house in central Queensland.
Mr Millar added that he wasn’t anxious about the risks associated with being so highly leveraged because his rents were high relative to his mortgage costs.
“A lot of people get worried about refinancing so much but I plan to hold for the long term. I think if you own enough properties for long enough it can open doors.”
He also believes he’d be able to sell his homes for more than he paid.
“That’s why it’s so important to buy under market,” he said. “It takes a long time to find a property you can (buy under market) and there is a lot of hard negotiation.
“Sometimes you have to walk away because the agents won’t take the deal … But a lot of the time, from the agent’s point of view, pushing for $15,000 or $20,000 more won’t affect their commission much.
He also has a property on the mid-north coast of NSW.
“Many will work with you if they feel you can take the property off their hands quickly … it’s just a matter of them selling that price to their vendors. Often they do.”
Mr Millar said he could understand why some people may not approve of his property portfolio given that many Aussies struggle to simply get one home.
“I get it. But that’s the system we are in. If I don’t buy these, someone else will. And everything I’ve bought had tenants in them, so I don’t feel like I am stopping anyone from buying their first home.
“A lot of people also don’t want to put in the work to save or they don’t believe buying property is achievable on smaller money so they never start … I’ve never let it hold me back.”
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