OpenCorp, opening real estate doors to mum and dad investors
Melbourne-based OpenCorp, a startup founded by Allister Lewison, his brother Matthew and Cam McLellan, has become the sixth fastest-growing company on the 2015 BRW Fast 100 list.
The company boasts an annual growth of more than 175% from 2012 to 2015.
It all started in the late 90s when Allister Lewison and McLellan purchased their first investment properties on the same Melbourne street.
“I think everybody at some point has a ‘light bulb’ moment where they realise that they aren’t headed in the direction they had hoped for their lives,” Allister Lewison says.
Based on their early success investing, the duo began educating their friends and family about the industry and encouraging them to invest under their guidance.
"We didn’t plan to create a business...We were providing our friends and family with advice on how we started our own portfolios,” Lewison says.
His brother Matthew spotted an opportunity in the market for an investment company that spoke to the “everyday Australian,” with potential for their work to become an established business.
At the time, McLellan and Allister Lewison were directing their own telecommunications and IT companies, but eventually made the decision to unite with Matthew to create OpenCorp’s offering.
“When we started out, there really wasn’t a company appealing to lower income or even middle income earners to reap the rewards of property investment,” Allister Lewison says.
“This bracket of the population was completely left of the equation, and it was our job to change this.”
OpenCorp provides two kinds of services. Clients can build their own property investment portfolios with the aid of OpenCorp, or invest in one of OpenCorp’s property developments starting from $10,000.
The company also contributes its own money into every opportunity to earn the trust of its clients. It also holds an Australian Financial Services Licence.
The Lewisons and McLellan are supported by a team of over 45 market specialists across their Melbourne and Brisbane offices, and have been involved in more than $4 billion of property transactions.
The concern of losing money is arguably the main factor that deters potential buyers (particularly those of low to average incomes) from participating in investment.
“To those people, I say the fear of doing nothing should be a bigger fear,” Allister Lewison says.
“The fear of turning 65 and retiring on $32,000 a year for a couple should be scarier than doing something today.”
Allister Lewison has also featured on 2015 BRW Young Rich list with an amassed $24 million fortune.