Eddie and Francesca Dilleen have bought 61 properties in one major capital city alone in the past six months. Picture: Supplied

A 34-year-old Aussie has quietly snapped up 60 properties in six months in a city most investors are avoiding – a market he calls “ridiculously underrated.”

Prolific property buyer Eddie Dilleen has turned a city once considered a no-go zone into a goldmine, adding $7 million to his net worth in just half a year.

He said having the sentiment still going against the city was “great”, allowing him to snap up bargains no one else was currently willing to back.

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He bought this Mount Martha property for $2.52m in September – it has four 4-bedroom homes on it.

Some of the bargains Mr Dilleen has uncovered are hiding in plain sight, even in premium suburbs, and cost less than properties in struggling or lower-tier areas in other capitals.

“I bought a unit in Brighton for $325,000. Units in rough areas like Woodridge in Brisbane are now selling for $400,000. So we’re talking about Brighton being cheaper than Logan — which is crazy,” he said.

“Another unit in Prahran cost less than a tiny apartment in Bondi, Sydney.”

Over the past six months, Mr Dilleen has invested $23 million in Greater Melbourne alone, purchasing dozens of townhouses, villas, and older units — mostly below replacement cost.

Eddie Dilleen has reversed his long aversion against Victoria.

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Among his purchases were 12 units in a single Prahran building for $5 million, including 10 residential units and two commercial offices.

“I got quotes for the penthouse now worth around $1.5 million and I got the entire building for $5m.”

His strategy leans toward units rather than houses, targeting undervalued blocks where land value can sometimes exceed purchase price.

“If you can buy a unit for less than the land itself, it’s like getting the property for free,” he said.

He has sealed a $5m deal for this Prahran property which has 10 units including a penthouse and two commercial spaces.

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“I’m buying a block of 15 units in Brunswick which is undervalued. The two-bedroom units are like $380k apiece, and they’re large, and should be about $505,000. You can get really affordable property there, and it’s a really good area as well.”

After a decade of shunning Melbourne over its “very bad reputation due to government policies, land tax changes and more”, it’s not so much eating his words as “putting my money where my mouth is” is how he describes it.

“Sixty one properties in total in Victoria in the last six months,” Mr Dilleen clarified – a massive turnaround for his now 180-strong portfolio, most of which had earlier focused on Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and regional cities.

He bought in this Brighton Melbourne complex, finding older unit blocks generally have larger units.

This Woodridge property in Greater Brisbane was the first property Eddie Dilleen bought with his super fund.

“We’re buying properties at the same price they were 10 years ago. I see a massive amount of value in Melbourne. I think pretty much a lot of locations within the Melbourne market are undervalued already by like 50 per cent.”

He also highlighted recent client deals, including a unit in St Kilda for $273,000.

“You can’t even get the same property in Woodridge or Eagleby or Kingston, which are the rough areas that I used to buy in Brisbane. So the highest-end area in Melbourne for a unit is cheaper than some of the worst suburbs in other states.”

Among his Queensland stars is this six bedroom duplex, bought for $640,000 in Morayfield.

He bought this four bedroom home at Bowen Mountain New South Wales for $570,000 in October 2019.

Among his interstate portfolio is this two bedroom duplex in Elizabeth Downs South Australia bought for $110,000 in 2017 and last rented at $201/W that year.

Some of the suburbs he has found bargains in the past six months include Altona, Tullamarine, Sunbury, St Kilda, Prahran, Mount Martha, Brighton East, Brunswick West, Glenhuntly, Murrumbeena, and Ormond.

Mr Dilleen warned that it’s not just about knowing where to buy, but also how.

“You can buy in the best suburb that’s going to have the most growth, but you can still lose. Ninety per cent of it is how you buy, probably not where you buy. If you don’t get it at good value on the way in, you could overpay by 10 to 20 per cent, whereas I’ll buy 20 per cent under what it’s worth.”

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