Young Aussie landlord reveals how he bought three homes by the age of 23

A 23-year-old Aussie with a million dollar property portfolio has hit back at the “pitchforks” he believes are currently aimed at landlords.

Harley Giddings is a Gen Z landlord who has bought three homes before even moving out of his parent’s house.

Mr Giddings, 23, bought his first home when he was 22, going halves with his dad on a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Perth that cost $450,000.

He then secured another property on his own, also located in Perth, three-bedroom, one-bathroom for $420,000.

He later purchased another home, a three-bedroom, one-bathroom in regional Western Australia for $390,000.

Of course, as a young person online, he knows that being a landlord in a rental crisis right now isn’t cool.

While his peers are online complaining about rental increases, he is considering increasing a tenant’s rent by $50 once their lease ends.

“There are pitchforks pointed at landlords right now. No matter what, there will always be landlords,” he said.

Mr Giddings said that all he could do was try to be a “fair and reasonable landlord”, charge fair rent, and fix any maintenance issues promptly instead of arguing with tenants over it.

It’s a lot of debt for one young person to manage, but Mr Giddings is certain he has made suitable investments.

Harley Giddings is a Gen Z landlord. Picture: Supplied

He already owns three homes in Western Australia. Picture: TikTok/PropertywithHarley

“Rent is being increased every year,” he told news.com.au, adding that he only charges his tenants “market” rates.

The young landlord said he uses a property manager who handles his tenants and “all of that” and he has just started to see a small profit of a couple hundred a year from the first property he owns with his dad.

The second is breaking almost even, and the third, even with tenants, costs him around $8000 a year to hold onto.

He isn’t seeing a big profit right now, but he has a goal.

“I want a passive income of $100,000 in my thirties,” he said.

At the moment he is at borrowing capacity and can’t secure another home loan but is planning to reassess when his wage increases.

He has amassed 70,000 likes on TikTok. Picture: TikTok/PropertywithHarley

He works seven days a week. Picture: Supplied

Mr Giddings said he has always been “pretty driven” and that is what made him want to build his empire.

In some ways, he is just like his peers. The 23-year-old reserves Saturday nights to hang out with his mates and he loves to travel.

In other ways, he is more focused. He sleeps with a notepad beside his bed at night because once he gets an idea in his head, he can’t sleep until he has written it down.

He works seven days a week because he wants to earn around $100,000 a year, and he can’t achieve that at this point without a second income.

So instead, he works 9-5 at a job in the property field making around $65,000, with the goal of becoming a mortgage broker. He also works at a petrol station, pulling in about $30,000.

It’s a natural progression for Mr Giddings, who has been interested in finance and money since he was in year nine.

“I always very investment kind of minded; I remember reading The Barefoot Investor at 15 and trying to invest in shares,” he said.

He owns three homes in Western Australia. Picture: iStock

Previously, he kept his financial goals private and said he never used to speak about it with his friends because he didn’t want to come across as “bragging”.

These days, he shares his financial success on TikTok and has amassed over 73,000 likes on the platform.

“The reason I started posting is that what I’m doing isn’t overall special, and other people can do it too,” he said.

He gets a kick from teaching people his age how to be more financially savvy and loves seeing the results.

“A mate of mine makes good money. I set him a budget, and he has saved $50,000 since then,” he said.

Part of the appeal of getting ahead so young is that he wants to give back to his parents.

His mum is a hairdresser and his dad is a firefighter, and he recognises they often put him and his siblings ahead of their own financial success.

“We never missed out on anything as kids. We used to go on holidays. They would rather take us on a holiday and then try to get ahead financially. I want to be able to give back to them,” he said.