You don’t know Jack. That’s by design. Meet the self-starter shaking up Brisbane’s property market 

“Reputation is recession-proof”: How Jack Corbett is building a $1 billion Brisbane property empire

Corbett arrived in Australia at 19 with a one-way ticket, a Brummie accent, and zero industry connections. Now, he’s the founder of Corbwood & Associates, helping everyday Australians’s create wealth through property.

Stories like Jack Corbett’s are part of the fabric of Australian entrepreneurship. The young Englishman who arrived on the country’s beaches with “little more than a bag and a plane ticket”.
For decades, we called them “two-pound Poms”. Then we called them names like Angliss, Bond, and Bonétt, all synonymous with business in Australia. Corbett, a native of Birmingham, is following in well-trodden footsteps.

He landed in Australia at 19 after shrugging off traditional education, leaving school without any formal qualifications. Raised in a housing commission, Corbett took it upon himself to outwork his peers.

“Self-employed” throughout his twenties, Corbett started with small-scale entrepreneurship that, step by step, built up his capital. In 2017, he launched Corbwood & Associates, focusing on property. Primarily, this was due to his mother instilling the dream of home ownership in Corbett at a young age.

“I believe that when you start with limited resources, you are forced to become a highly effective decision-maker,” said Corbett. “I have always been obsessed with property.”

Corbwood & Associates specialises in Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF) property investments. By handling the entire process in-house, from buying land and securing finance to the final build and sale, they aim to provide a smooth path to property ownership for everyday Australians.
Corbwood & Associates have built a loyal following in Queensland, with more than 90% of their business coming from repeat clients and referrals. Now, Corbett is scaling up and says he has two more major goals.

“Firstly, to build 1000 entry-level homes in the City of Moreton Bay, Brisbane. Secondly, to build a community of SMSF investors with over $1 billion in combined property equity.”

Q&A

What was the spark that inspired you to start your business, and how did the first idea take shape?

Growing up on a council estate where nobody owned their own house, it was an ambition of mine from a very young age that I would ‘one day’ buy my mother a home and then eventually myself. I guess I have felt since I was a boy that I would eventually end up buying, selling, and building properties.

Analysing the Australian market, I saw a real demand from everyday people who felt grossly underserved and, for the most part, confused by an industry full of operators no more skilled than the average used-car salesperson.

That was my spark. How can we take an industry that trades high-ticket items and can be very commercially lucrative, and humanise the whole process so more people feel comfortable throughout the buying or selling experience? I have always loved helping people, and my mother says I came out of the womb talking, so I guess I have found my calling.

In those early days, what were the biggest hurdles you faced, and how did you find your way through them?

Credibility. I was young, had no degree, no industry connections in Australia, no family money behind me, and a dodgy Brummie accent. People did not take me seriously.

The only way through that was results. We made sure every client had an experience worth talking about because, early on, referrals were all we had. That has not changed.

Even now, with an annual turnover of nine figures, over 90% of our business comes from repeat clients and referrals. The lesson was simple: take care of your people today, and your people will take care of you in the future.

What is the most pivotal moment in your career so far, and how did it shape where you are today?

The moment we realised we could control the full property process start to finish. True vertical integration. Not just sell houses, but also acquire land, develop, finance, build and sell. That changed everything.

It meant we were not dependent on external developers, not exposed to a single point of failure, and could deliver a genuine end-to-end high-quality experience for our clients.

Today, we operate five companies across property, finance, and insurance, all built on the same principle: own the process, create the value, control the outcome.

Our growth journey accelerated significantly when we specialised in property investments for SMSFs, as we realised most people were having a highly fragmented and frustrating experience. Becoming specialists in a market that was still in its infancy allowed us to establish a much greater market position.

What drives you at this stage of your career?

My kids. I have three: a five-year-old, a two-year-old, and a six-month-old. Everything I build is so they have options I never had. My stepfather, Doctor Les Emery, is still a huge inspiration to me, but honestly, it goes beyond family. I am obsessed with systems. My business idol is Taiichi Ohno, the father of lean thinking, continuous improvement and waste elimination.

I apply that to everything: our operations, our client experience, even my own daily routine. The driver is the belief that everything can be better tomorrow than it is today, and that having the discipline to compound small improvements is how you build something that lasts.

What advice would you give your younger self starting out?

‘If everyone takes a different amount of sugar, then you will never be everyone’s cup of tea.’
Back yourself faster. I spent too long waiting for permission or validation that would never come. Care less about what people think, more about how you feel. Challenge ego. Employ people smarter than you. Be willing to be wrong more often.

The market does not care about your credentials! It cares about whether you solve problems and whether people trust you enough to pay you to solve theirs. Move fast on decisions you can reverse, and slow down on the ones you cannot.

Reputation is recession-proof, and probably the number one thing would be ‘health is wealth’, so look after your body and protect your routine like it is a business asset, because I truly believe it is.

To find out more, visit corbwood.com.au.

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