Mat Steinwede went from being a homeless drug addict on Australia’s Most Wanted List to amassing a multi-million dollar real estate empire and becoming one of the country’s most successful real estate agents.
It is a zero-to-millionaire story that resembles a plot ripped from the pages of 10’s Underbelly series.
Steinwede, 50, got his first job as a bouncer in Sydney’s Oxford Street as a teen, where he quickly became drawn into the rampant drug culture.
He soon began injecting speed and have become hopelessly addicted to cocaine and pills – he turned to crime to fund his drug addiction.
Steinwede admitted that he lost his identity because of his addiction.
![Matt Steinwede.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009345991.jpg)
“I became a drug addict, a drug trafficking drug addict who was controlled by the drug,” he said.
“I ended up homeless, living in an abandoned constructing in Camperdown.”
Steinwede felt he was stuck in an unwinnable situation; addicted to drugs and struggling to escape the seedy criminal underbelly of Sydney’s party scene.
![Matt Steinwede.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009345990.jpg?w=1016)
Nevertheless, a likelihood encounter on the Central Coast modified his life.
He was visiting Terrigal to help open a brothel when he met a lady named Karina and a person named Dino.
He was immediately taken with Karina and asked for her number, but additionally befriended Dino, but his life in Sydney was still a multitude.
“My whole life has been within the gutter, I have been in trouble with the police and arrest warrants have been issued.”
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So he called Dino and asked for help.
“I called him and said are you able to come pick me up or I’ll find yourself dead or in jail.”
In a show of epic partnership, Dino offered Steinwede a spot to stay at his parents’ home on the Central Coast and got here to pick him up.
Steinwede stayed there for nine months, but was still within the clutches of addiction and experiencing unintended effects corresponding to psychosis, spending hours drawing stick figures.
Eventually, he realized he had to do something along with his life and decided to dive into the world of real estate – despite his lack of experience.
“I grabbed the Yellow Pages and called every real estate agency on the Central Coast and asked in the event that they had internships they usually all said no, aside from one woman,” he revealed.
When he began, he didn’t even have anything to wear, so Dino bought him two polo shirts, and Steinwede spent his days knocking on people’s doors, asking in the event that they wanted to sell their houses.
Things began to take off, Steinwede secured his room and got engaged to Karina, who was a relentless positive force in his latest life, then a former heroin dealer called him with devastating news.
“He said mate you had just been to Australia’s Most Wanted after which Karina’s dad showed up on the doorstep and I had to go and provides myself back,” he said.
Steinwede admitted that he thought it was the top of the road for him – and regarded taking his own life. The one thing that stopped him was that Dino made him promise not to.
![Matt Steinwede.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009345992.jpg?w=847)
When it got here to sentencing, Steinwede was shocked when the judge showed not only mercy but additionally kindness.
“The judge checked out me and said, ‘Mat, I see something good in you. You need to go to prison, but I see something good in you.
He was given a second likelihood.
![Mat Steinwede on her wedding day.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009345986.jpg?w=823)
While he was off court, he called Dino and made a promise.
“I can be the number one real estate agent in Australia and I actually have never forgotten that promise,” he explained.
Steinwede didn’t come completely unscathed; he worked community service for over a yr and it took him eight years to repay his fines, but none of that stopped him from pursuing his real estate dream.
Steinwede has found one other peak to chase – the house sales peak.
He currently earns around $7 to $8 million a yr and is proud of his work.
“I prefer it. It’s like a sport. I see myself as a company athlete and it suits my personality,” he told news.com.au.
He also loves the art of dealing: “I like that it’s like drug dealing, but legal.”
None of this success got here overnight – it took him over 15 years of exertions to get to the highest of his game and he stays there because he could be very disciplined at it.
He doesn’t drink or do drugs and he cares deeply concerning the people he works with.
“Once I sell a house to someone, I actually protect their position. I’d quite lose a sale than not get a price for that person,” he explained.
![Matt Steinwede.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/NYPICHPDPICT000009345989.jpg?w=814)
He has also built his own real estate empire, owns five homes on the Central Coast, and admits he could buy more, but would quite sell them to other people than buy them for himself.
What about Dinos? They continue to be best buddies and their friendship has witnessed three marriages, six children and plenty of ups and downs in business.
“Dino got me out of the gutter, was best man at my three weddings, and is the one person I call if I ever need advice.
“He never asked me for anything, but he was with me all the way in which. He’s a real legend and I really like him.”