A young nurse who owns three properties has been accused of ‘hoarding’ homes as the nation struggles with a cost-of-living and housing crisis.
Keeley Starling, 25, sparked heated debate after she uploaded a TikTok video detailing how she and her husband Matt acquired their property empire in a relatively short space of time.
While many Aussies were impressed with the Perth couple’s success and eager to learn more, others blasted them as greedy.
‘Hoarding houses during a housing crisis shouldn’t be celebrated,’ one viewer wrote.
Another added: ‘Never lose your job, you’ll be screwed.’
A third wrote: ‘Debt, debt, debt’.
But Ms Starling told Daily Mail Australia that the nasty remarks don’t affect her.
‘I think a lot of the comments come from either jealousy or from people who may not understand what it is we are doing and what we will achieve from it,’ she said.
Perth woman Keeley Starling divided Aussies after she shared a TikTok video detailing how she and her husband Matt became a success on the property market
The couple own two properties in Perth while the other is in Albany, in WA’s great southern region.
Ms Starling attributes their property success to hard work.
She juggles two jobs works eight shifts per fortnight as a nurse and every other day she works in real estate.
Her colleagues unlike some online commenters, have been very supportive.
‘I’ve had nothing but praise from my nursing colleagues which has been a blessing,’ Ms Starling said.
Matt, who is a draftsman, bought his first house four years ago, but as Keeley explained, ‘even though he bought it before we were together, it’s my house, it’s his house’.
‘All of our finances are joint now and I pay the mortgage now (with him) and everything to do with the house.’
Keeley Starling (right) and her husband Matt (left) have found great success on the property market in Western Australia. The couple is pictured at one of their three properties
Ms Starling bought her first house with Matt last May.
‘I had saved up the money before we had gotten together and had all the finances ready,’ she said.
‘Even though Matt didn’t pay for the deposit, we paid for the mortgage together, so that is his second house.’
They have just bought a third home, which they will move into next month.
Buying that home was fairly straightforward for the couple, using used the equity of one of their other properties to pay for the deposit and fees.
‘My advice to people trying to get into the property market is to think outside the box,’ Ms Starling said.
‘Look into properties in regional towns where the prices aren’t as high as the city. I own a property in Albany, where the price was half of what you would pay in the city but the rental yield is the same.
‘Then once that property has gone up in value you can pull the equity to buy another.’
Ms Starling also had helpful advice for anyone new to the property market but doesn’t know how to get their foot in the door.
‘If you’re thinking about getting into the property market and you’re a little bit nervous, don’t think that you have to save up for the fees and the deposit for all houses,’ she said.
Ms Starling works eight shifts per fortnight as a nurse ‘and every other day I work in real estate’. She is pictured in her nurse’s uniform
‘You can pull out equity to pay for the subsequent houses. (You’ve) just got to make sure you have enough borrowing power and that you can service the debt.’
She said she ‘honestly never thought I would be in this position in my life, especially at 25 owning thee houses’.
The couple has learnt a lot about the housing market from buying properties and renting them out.
‘There’s still things that Matt and I are learning every single day,’ she said.
‘There’s things that we need to do such as reduce our monthly repayments to fortnightly for the two investments and then weekly (for) the primary (home) because there’s no tax benefits.’
She added that these are ‘things that you’re not taught in school.
‘Honestly, we learned as we went and we are fortunately in this position where we own three houses together at 25.’
Ms Starling said the couple hopes to add to their property empire in the future.
‘But for right now we want to focus on our current properties,’ she said.
