Sydney property investor Eddie Dilleen blames Australian housing crisis on victim mentality

A Sydney-based property investor has told people struggling to break into the market to stop ‘complaining’ blaming the housing crisis on a ‘victim mentality’.

Eddie Dilleen, 30, has built a portfolio of 42 properties across New South Wales and Queensland – 20 of which were purchased in the last two years alone.

He bought his first property while working a low-income job at McDonald’s by leveraging debt. He used the same system to continue building his property empire.

The controversial strategy sees investors draw equity from their other properties to fund the upfront costs of buying another.

Mr Dilleen has used a controversial debt leveraging system to purchase his impressive portfolio

The system has faced harsh criticism as it allows investors to ‘stockpile’ properties while people looking to buy for the first time are left struggling to break into the market.

However Mr Dilleen said the property sector ‘needs’ people like him because the ‘government can’t supply housing for everyone’.

He added that first-time homeowners are lucky because they are exempt from some costs associated with property purchase like stamp duty – which investors are not.

Instead, Mr Dilleen believes the housing crisis boils down to a ‘victim mentality’ and blame game – not investors grabbing up the already limited stocks of property.

‘People who say it’s investors’ fault prices are going up, I think they’re looking for someone to blame. It’s a victim mentality. If things are hard it must be someone else’s fault,’ he told News.com.au.

‘It’s human nature. It’s easier to complain than to do something about it. Pointing the finger at someone else is easier than doing something to improve your situation. The way I see it, you can complain or you can do something.’

Mr Dilleen insists Australia’s housing crisis is caused by a ‘victim mentality’ and told people struggling to break into the market to stop ‘complaining’

Mr Dilleen said he witnessed the ‘victim mentality’ first-hand growing up in a low-income family and living on a housing commission property in Wilmot, Western Sydney.

He claims no one in his family had owned an investment property, so he decided to break the cycle.

Now the real estate kingpin is in the process of buying another three properties to boost his portfolio to 45 but doesn’t see himself breaking his ‘addiction’ until he’s the best in the game.

‘I don’t think I will ever stop. I will have 1000 properties. It’s a healthy addiction. It’s like doing the next thing when you hit some milestone. You go after the next one and the next one. I want to overtake everyone,’ he said.

Mr Dilleen has been able to keep his assets afloat by receiving loans from third-party lenders and charging his tenants high rent relative to his mortgage payments.

He believes anyone can become a property investor so long as they aren’t scared to accumulate a large debt and can control their spending habits.