>
A real estate investor who bought his first two-bedroom apartment at the age of 18 after saving for the down payment of a McDonald’s salary of $26,000 a year has bought 12 additional homes in just six months.
Eddie Dilleen, of Mt Druitt in western Sydney, has an impressive portfolio consisting of 52 investment properties valued at $25 million dollars.
As inflation continues to climb, the 31-year-old believes it’s still possible for first home buyers to enter the market with the right mindset and strategy.
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its spot interest rate by 0.25 percentage point on Tuesday, taking it to a nine-year high of 2.6 percent.
An increase in interest rates means that buyers have less borrowing capacity and leads to an increase in both mortgage and rent payments.
Eddie Dilleen (pictured left), of Mt Druitt in western Sydney, has an impressive portfolio of 52 investment properties valued at $25 million dollars
In the past six months alone, he has bought 12 homes across Australia in ‘fast-growing’ suburbs
The investor has just written his first book, 30 Properties Before 30, in which he shares his tips and tricks for investing in real estate (pictured next to his book)
Mr. Dilleen told FEMAIL that the three main characteristics he looks for in a property are high returns (income return), capital appreciation and keeping the price below market value.
“Anyone can invest in real estate, but you have to keep your goals in mind and think long term,” he said.
In choosing his next investment, Mr Dilleen never limits himself to one state and instead looks for opportunities across Australia.
Suburbs he has recently invested in include: North Lakes in Queensland ($550,000), Slacks Creek in Queensland ($155,000), Greenacre in New South Wales ($1.1 million) and Elizabeth Park in South Australia ($750,000).
Dilleen said his end goal was to help as many Australians as possible get into the property market faster and pass on his investing knowledge.
Dilleen said now is the best time to take action and suggests making a smaller deposit, such as five or ten percent, to get to market faster.
“By the time you save a 20 percent down payment, prices may have already risen further,” he said.
Mr Dilleen said his purchasing strategy has not changed either – he has continued to buy properties with a high rental yield of five to nine percent with ‘good capital growth’ in metropolitan regions and always buys below market value.
“Buyers need to act now because if interest rates start to fall in the coming years, there will be another real estate boom. Always invest and also think long term,” he said.
“It’s a great time to buy – when most people are scared, you get the best deals.”
As inflation continues to rise in Australia, the 31-year-old believes it is still possible for first-time homebuyers to enter the market, with the right mindset and strategy
Dilleen said he is not crippled by mortgage stress and that he is not afraid of debt.
Debt is how money is created. Smart people use debt to create huge amounts of wealth. The most successful people in the world use good tax-deductible debt to achieve their goals, but unfortunately this is not taught in schools,” he said.
“I absolutely believe that fear holds back many Aussies when it comes to real estate because the average person doesn’t know that when you buy an investment property, the debts and expenses are all tax-deductible.”
Of his 52 properties, 25 have had a rent increase of $100 per week in the past six months, generating $2,500 in passive income.
Dilleen also mentioned some of the ‘hottest’ suburbs today, including Glenelg and Elizabeth Park in South Australia, and the Ipswich, Logan and Brisbane municipal regions of south-east Queensland.
Mr. Dilleen believes you don’t have to earn six figures to get into the real estate market.
When he bought his first four properties, Mr. Dilleen was making $50,000 a year, and bought four more in 2016 with a $65,000 salary.
“It’s about understanding how the banks lend you money — a high return means you can keep borrowing,” he said.
“Start small and get in as soon as possible.”
Mr. Dilleen also suggests buying existing properties rather than new construction, which often sit on small blocks of land.
He also encourages “rent vesting” – a tactic where buyers rent a home where they want to live and buy an investment property in a suburb that they can afford.
Growing up on a housing commission, Dilleen became interested in real estate when he started working at McDonald’s at age 14.
Based on conversations with colleagues and others, he quickly understood that buying real estate was the perfect strategy for building wealth.
“From humble beginnings, I grew up in a rough neighborhood and no one in my family had a home,” he said.
‘Mama had trouble getting food on the table, we had to buy second-hand clothes from the salvos, it was very difficult financially.
“I remember when I was twelve I thought ‘this sucks’ and wished it were different … I wanted to get out of the circle.”
The 31-year-old bought a two-bedroom Ipswich villa (pictured) in May 2020 for $133,000
He previously splashed on a $875,000 property in Sydney for his mother (pictured)
Mr Dilleen soon wanted to buy more investment properties and eventually be able to live on the rental income.
Instead of following the ‘old school mentality’ of paying off the first loan first, he decided to capitalize on the capital gains and bought his second property at the age of 21.
“I realized there’s another way instead of paying off one property – it’s all about the long-term profit,” he said.
Mr Dilleen explained that if he focused on quickly paying off the loan on the first property, he would be left with the income from a single investment – not enough to live on.
“It’s about scalability – why not use the money to buy more investment properties instead of paying it off?” he said.
“For example, instead of putting $30,000 a year into the investment, that could be used to buy another property.”
Mister Dilleen has just written his first book 30 homes for 30who shares his tips and tricks for investing in real estate.
Some of Mr Dilleen’s purchases during Covid include a $437,000 duplex in Brisbane (pictured)