Millionaire developer advises first homebuyers to adopt a ‘positive attitude’ to break into the market

A 30-year-old millionaire property developer has given first homebuyers simple advice on how to break into the real estate market.

A wealthy developer who transformed his menial McDonald’s earnings into a lucrative career in real estate has revealed his ambitious goal to own 1000 properties within the next 15 years.

Eddie Dilleen, who owns 42 properties with a combined worth of more than $20 million, has claimed the same success is within reach for anyone who has “a positive attitude”.

The 30-year-old bought his first property as an 18-year-old while an employee of the Golden Arches, and has since managed to secure an impressive portfolio of homes across NSW and Queensland.

Mr Dilleen credits his success to the tenacious commitment he had to breaking out of the low income community he was raised in, having grown up in a Mt Druitt housing commission and survived off his mum’s pension.

“I grew up extremely poor in a housing commission. My mum and dad didn’t own a property at all, no one in my family ever did,” he told news.com.au.

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Eddie Dilleen has 42 properties to his name at just 30 years old. Picture: Supplied

“I wanted to buy property as soon as possible because I obviously grew up in a very rough, very poor household and I realised people that had more money than my family, usually owned their property.”

With a can-do attitude, he is convinced anyone in Australia is capable of reaching the same roaring property success as him.

“People out there that haven’t bought property and want to have two options. They can either tell themselves it’s too hard because of the government or their income,

“Or they can say, ‘yes the market is expensive, it sucks, I wish it was easier, but what am I going to do about it?’.

He foreshadowed growing his portfolio to include a whopping 1000 properties before he was 50.

Mr Dilleen encouraged first homebuyers to have a ‘positive attitude’ about entering the market. Picture: Supplied

“It probably sounds crazy to say, but if I’m going to aim for 1000, I’d probably try to hit it by the age of 45 or 50,” he said.

“Even if it’s by 60, I’ve still got 30 years to try and do that.

“Once you start buying a lot of properties, you can scale up a lot quicker. You could build a high-rise that has 100 or 200 units.”

Mr Dilleen detailed buying his first property while on an income of less than $30,000 a year.

“It was a piece of sh*t, it was terrible but it was a starting place. I bought it as an investment property just to get my foot in the market,” he said.

He was able to use equity in that first property to later buy another one, and continued doing the same for the dozens that followed.

Complaining about not being able to buy a house “was the easiest thing” people could do, he argued, saying those who really wanted to enter the market simply needed to shift their perspective.

The wealthy developer is hoping to secure 1000 properties by the time he’s 45. Picture: Supplied

“People trying to get into the market have really got to decide what they can do about getting in. Having a positive attitude is the best way to be,” he said.

It could be a matter of strict budgeting for a one or two year period, moving to live in a cheaper rental so more money could be saved, buying an investment property further away from metro areas, or pooling funds with a second person.

Mr Dilleen said he didn’t want to follow the same path of many young people that grew up in government housing, and didn’t want his future children to suffer in the same way he did.

While retirement was a financially viable option for Mr Dilleen whenever he decided, he is determined to continue working for as long as possible.

Mr Dilleen has also bought his mum her first ever home in Sydney’s inner west, just around the corner from the house he lives in with his wife and daughter.