‘Greedy’: Aussie, 27, calls out ‘gender divide’ in real estate trend

The 27-year-old, who owns multiple homes, has revealed the grim double standard she’s noticed among her fellow landlords.

Gender divide in investing trend. Picture:

At 27 years old, Natasha Etschmann owns two properties – and she’s already noticed a bizarre gender trend emerging among her real estate-investing peers.

Ms Etschmann, who goes by the moniker TashInvests online, has amassed over 100,000 followers and 1.8 million likes on TikTok alone, where she openly discusses all things finance.

She bought her first property, a two-bedroom apartment in Perth, when she was just 22, and this year purchased her second, a four-bedroom home in Brisbane, as an investment for around $800,000.

Ms Etschmann, who pays herself a salary of $170,000 a year and rents in Melbourne, told news.com.au that it took her a while to decide whether to invest in another property because online she was constantly questioned about the “ethics” of such a decision.

“Buying the second property – that splits people down the line. Some people are anti it and others are very supportive,” Ms Etschmann said.

“Some people say it is the whole ‘greedy landlord’ thing.”

Natasha Etschmann owns two investment properties and rents in Melbourne. Picture: Instagram/@tashinvests

The 27-year-old pays herself a wage of $170k. Picture: Instagram/@tashinvests

Ms Etschmann added that the constant criticism she had gotten over the years – even just for toying with the idea of buying an investment property – actually “put her off” doing it.

She ultimately decided that, rightly or wrongly, “our whole system is set up so that you can do really well if you buy property” – an opportunity she didn’t want to miss out on.

“It made so much (sense) to buy just because of the amount of money you can borrow,” she said.

Her first property, purchased for just shy of $300,000, has now “doubled in value”, Ms Etschmann said, “which is crazy (because) I wouldn’t spend $600,000 on an apartment in Perth like that”.

Jack Henderson owns 15 properties that are worth millions. Picture: TikTok/@JackHenderson

Ms Etschmann said she was ‘attacked’ in the comments. Picture: TikTok/@JackHenderson

When Ms Etschmann appeared on property investor Jack Henderson’s podcast, she asked after his stance on the “ethics” of owning multiple homes.

Mr Henderson is certainly in the position to weigh in on the matter: the 28-year-old owns 15 investment properties, with a combined value of around $40 million.

“So many (people) on social media tell me it isn’t ethical to own two properties,” Ms Etschmann said.

Mr Henderson looked visibly taken aback by her question, and asked her to clarify what she meant, before saying he felt “fine” about his real estate portfolio.

“If I didn’t own them, someone else would,” he said.

“Don’t hate the player.”

Ms Etschmann told news.com.au that she put the question to Mr Henderson because it had been asked of her so frequently – and that it didn’t go over well with his audience.

“People attacked me in the comments and said I was jealous and a stupid little girl,” she said.

The sentiment in the comments, she said, was very much, “How dare you ask him?”.

Some accused Ms Etschmann of being “jealous” and for asking a “dumb” question.

Another claimed that women don’t own investment properties because – unlike men – they don’t aspire to be independently wealthy, but to marry wealthy men.

She said she’s noticed a big ‘gender divide’ when it comes to investing in property. Picture: Instagram/@tashinvests

She said people were upset that she’d asked the question. Picture: Instagram/@tashinvests

Ms Etschmann said the response from Mr Henderson’s followers was indicative of a “real gender divide” she’d noticed when it comes to women and men investing in property.

“I find that in my direct messages there’s a lot of guys that tell me they’re buying fix or six properties, and then a lot of women in my DMs that are concerned about buying properties because of the ethical side of it,” she said.

She believes the double standard has emerged because women are often “expected to shoulder the ethical burden” more than men.

“You’re held to such a higher standard,” she said.

Mr Henderson said women are often more responsible with money. Picture: TikTok/@JackHenderson

He argued he has more male clients because his socials attract men. Picture: TikTok/@JackHenderson

Mr Henderson, who owns buyers agency Henderson Advocacy, told news.com.au he did tend to work with more male than female buyers, which he put down to two reasons.

The first, he said, stems from the historical role of men as breadwinners. As for the second factor, Mr Henderson put it down to his social media primarily appealing to a male audience.

“We have more young single men, but that is because of me,” Mr Henderson said of his following and clientele.

“We do have a lot of young single females who are under the age of 30, and I think females are more responsible with money.”

Mr Henderson said he has noticed that his firm deals with a lot of divorced women who are only starting to take control of their finances after their breakups.

“A lot of them come to us because in their relationship, before they divorced, the men would be the ones that have handled the money and now they’re divorced they want guidance around it,” he said.

He said that he encouraged everyone, regardless of gender, to invest in property, claiming it’s “the easiest way to make money” and the most straightforward way to get ahead.