A group of property investors have been branded as ‘clumsy and selfish’ for bragging about the number of homes they own while drinking champagne on a luxury boat in Sydney Harbor – although not all Australians agree.
The clip was posted to TikTok by the Scouting Australia Podcast, which is hosted by buyer’s agent Sam Gordon and property investor Jimmy Ibrahim.
Those filmed on the boat enjoying the good life and bragging about their lavish lifestyle all work for investment company Australian Property Scout (APS).
“From admin to top, at APS we are all real estate investors,” the video said.
The man who filmed the revelers on the boat asked each of them how many investment properties they had.
A man in sunglasses who said he owns 16 properties had the highest number among those surveyed, while a woman sheepishly only owned the one.
Another man added: ‘Not enough! We only have two (investment properties).” He did this in a way that suggested he did not intend to be so low in the APS rankings for long.
Several others revealed that they own five properties, while two others boasted that they own 10 and 12 properties respectively.
A glamorous group of investors (one pictured) are branded ‘crass and selfish’ for bragging about how much property they own
At a time when buying a home is becoming more unaffordable than ever for so many Australians, the tone-deaf nature of the group’s bragging rubbed many viewers the wrong way.
“Everything that’s wrong with Sydney in a row,” one person commented.
It sparked a fiery response from Australia’s Property Scout Instagram account
“There are hardly any properties listed in Sydney,” the organization replied in the comments.
Another viewer wrote: “You make it so easy to hate you,” to which APS owner Sam Gordon replied: “The feeling is mutual.”
A third wrote: “The whole reason why Australia is in a rental crisis right now, all on one boat,” said another poster, prompting Mr Gordon to brand his comment “foolish and uneducated”.
One asked: ‘What’s wrong with this damn country?’, while another spoke for many by describing flaunting wealth in this way as ‘So rude and selfish.’
The backlash prompted other viewers to defend the investors.
“Great example for your customers,” one person wrote.
Sam Gordon (pictured right) has some very strong views on why owning multiple investment properties is a good thing
But the complaints kept coming.
You only need one building and people are wondering why we have a housing crisis,” grumbled another viewer.
Mr. Gordon responded with a lesson on how real estate investors like him think.
“Australia needs private rental housing, less than 1 per cent is provided by the government,” he wrote.
The original commenter wrote back saying, “Most people can’t afford even one property and small groups of people own multiple expensive properties that are rented at very high prices.”
But Mr Gordon continued his defence, writing: ‘Okay, what’s the solution? If every landlord in Australia sold out, there would be no rental properties and where would you or I live?
‘In the 1980s, the government took the decision to move away from social housing and turned to private investors.
‘To say that all properties are very expensive and rented at very high rates is a huge generalisation: most landlords lose money every year holding on to their properties compared to the rent they receive.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Australian Property Scout for comment.
The average rental price in Australia is over $600 per week, while the average house price is now over $900,000.
In some cities, however, it is much higher: the average house price in Sydney reached a record $1.65 million last month.
In Brisbane the average house price is $966,382, while in Melbourne it is $912,000.
A survey by financial comparison website Finder’s Wealth Building Report shows that nine percent of Australians own at least one investment property, while one in 10 are thinking of buying an investment property in the next year.
But Finder also reported that 47 percent of homeowners struggled to pay off their mortgage last month.
One of those not struggling is Fijian Victor Kumar, who migrated to Australia in 1997 with just $4,500 to his name and now owns 100 properties.
He is often criticized for his extensive property portfolio, with many accusing him of contributing to Australia’s housing crisis.
“Investors like me are not responsible for the housing crisis,” Kumar recently told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I am actually expanding the housing supply and not taking it away, because none of my properties are empty and they provide housing.
‘With the properties I buy, I also build granny flats, I build several homes on them. I actually increase the supply, instead of taking it away.’
He said he and his wife Reshmi know what it’s like to wrestle.
‘We were once tenants too. So we know how it works and we know the problems we went through when we rented,” he said.
‘If someone has no rental history, we actually try to help them find a rental home.’