A 31-year-old real estate guru who boasted about buying his 60th home has received backlash from Australians who couldn’t afford one.
Eddie Dilleen snapped a duplex for $561,000, adding it to his impressive property portfolio.
In a TikTok video, Dilleen said: “This is a property that I have personally bought and that I’m buying right now,” Daily Mail Australia reported. “I presented it to three to four different clients. Unfortunately, they didn’t want to buy it. I’m just going to buy it myself, because it’s too good of a deal to pass up.”
One side of the duplex comprised one bedroom, one bathroom, and a one-car garage, while the other side has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a one car garage.
“The left side you can rent these out for about $400 to $420 per week,” Dilleen said. “The right side, I’ve got tenants getting ready to move in for about $300 a week. That’s $700 per week in rental return. The yield on that is roughly about 6.5%, almost 7%. It was built roughly around 2017, five years old. You know what it means, it means massive tax deductions and depreciation for buying a property like this.”
Dilleen expected his investment to make a huge profit, with other properties in the area selling between $600,000 and $630,000.
His video has sparked criticisms from social media users, who accused him of being greedy.
“Thanks for making sure I’ll never be able to own one myself,” one wrote.
Other people wrote, “Why do you need 60 properties?” and “This dude just openly admitting to being a bad person.”
Dilleen defended the move, saying he grew up in housing commission – an experience which pushed him to build a property empire, Daily Mail Australia reported.
He said he had the same mentality before growing up in poverty, and then he realised the advantages of becoming a property investor.
“The government needs property investors because they can’t supply enough social housing for everybody to live in,” Dilleen said. “When I buy investment properties, the government gives property investors a tax deduction so they can claim things like water rates and insurance.”
The real estate guru said many people struggling to afford a home had a “victim mindset” because they weren’t making the necessary financial sacrifices.
“I have five or 10 properties where I could get an extra $100 to $150 in rent, but I haven’t raised the prices,” Dilleen said. “I try to pick good tenants and keep them happy.”
Over the past year, Dilleen said he bought another 27 properties, building his property empire to 70.
He revealed the three-step method he uses when determining which property to buy next, Daily Mail Australia reported.
“One: it has to be under market value with equity on the way into them,” Dilleen said. “If I buy a property for $350,000, it would have to be worth $410,000. Two: buy properties with really good capital growth. I only buy in metropolitan areas. I don’t go rural. Three: the property has to have a really good cash flow yield. If it cost $350,000, I would have to rent it out for $450 a week, minimum.”
Do you also think Dilleen’s being greedy with his purchases? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.