An early start to investing
A mother of three, Carolyn has been the financial manager of her family right from the beginning. While her husband worked as a GP, she raised their children and planned their financial futures, growing her husband’s good income into a modest portfolio of shares and property.
In 1983, after 3 years studying abroad, Carolyn and Victor opened their own General Practice surgery in south west Sydney, with Carolyn serving as the practice Director. From there, they were able to quickly grow their portfolio further, but still lacked the right experience and team to support them.
“Property investment was a big part of our financial strategy, but we weren’t very experienced. We worked hard, we had high incomes and were good savers. At one point we owned up to 6 properties. But we only ever made house or land investments because that’s the advice we were getting at the time. Now I realise that was a more traditional mind set.”
Broadening her perspective
Knowing they needed a new strategy, but not sure where to start, their son & Ironfish North Sydney Strategist Andrew Koleda invited Carolyn and Victor along to a seminar by Ironfish CEO & Founder, Joseph Chou.
“That helped me see things from a different perspective. Not every tenant wants to live in a large house and mow the lawn every weekend. And having these kinds of properties, for us, meant there was a lot of maintenance we needed to pay for. That Ironfish seminar taught me about what the modern tenant wants and the ease as an investor that can come with owning brand-new apartments.”
