CASE IN PROFILE
After meeting Joseph and the Ironfish team, it motivated me to dream bigger and do better than what I'm already doing. I can accelerate my investment portfolio and growth because I've got a team of professionals behind me.
The expert’s expert
At Ironfish, some of our customers come to us because they want to invest in property but have no idea where or how to start. Nirmal Singh, on the other hand, is one of our customers who sits at the opposite end of that spectrum. A highly experienced property investor, Nirmal already owned 8 investment properties when he first contacted us, and had been investing in property for over 16 years.
“I had heard from friends that Ironfish were pretty good, with offices in lots of cities. I decided to call them because they were the one company where I hadn’t been to a property investment seminar yet, and I didn’t know what their property range was. After I called the office, an Ironfish strategist came over and did an in-home presentation, introducing the company and herself . We talked about my goals and what I wanted to achieve. She is very approachable and has great willingness to understand my position and work around what I want to achieve. I’d talked to a lot of property investment companies and investment experts before, but I give more credit to my strategist and Ironfish as I quickly found they had the best strategy.”
House and Land investor
Nirmal is a self-confessed ‘house and land person’. Most of his investments prior to investing with us were houses, initially second-hand houses, and afterwards new house and land packages.
“I grew up in a house and liked the freedom of a house, so when I started to invest, I was purchasing based on that experience. The best property investment I made was a house in The Ponds in Western Sydney – which doubled in value in 3 years. Plus, there are major tax savings in buying a house and land package, because you settle the land first and only have to pay stamp duty on the land so you save on stamp duty immediately. The depreciation schedule helps tax-wise as well – so all this makes house and land very appealing to me.
“However, before I started investing with Ironfish, I’d been making my purchasing decisions based on ’emotion;’ if I felt like I could live in the property, then I’d purchase it. After meeting our strategist, I learned the importance of taking emotion out the transaction and selecting properties by looking at it from an investment point of view.”
Buying an apartment
Nirmal purchased 2 house and land packages in Brisbane with Ironfish and, even though he had emphasised the point to his strategist that he didn’t want to buy apartments, he eventually also decided to purchase an apartment in Melbourne.
“I had purchased 3 apartments in the past – mostly in regional areas – and sold 2 of them. The expense was greater, with the strata levies etc, so it didn’t make sense to me. But when an investment opportunity came up in inner city Melbourne (Melbourne Village), even though my strategist knew I wasn’t interested in apartments as a rule, she wanted to pass it by me. It’s not that I’m sceptical, it’s just that I wanted to see the numbers. After having a look, I was very impressed. The location next to Docklands and the CBD, and being able to take advantage of stamp duty savings prior to the budget changes meant that I made an exception to my house and land bias!
“I like how my strategist provides a cash flow analysis for each property outlining rental income coming in, and other expenses involved. She provides the analysis which tells me whether the investment will be positive/negative/neutral so I know dollar wise what’s coming in and out at the end of the day.”
The expert’s expert At Ironfish, some of our customers come to us because they want to invest in property but have no idea where or how to start. Nirmal Singh, on the other hand, is one of our customers who sits at the opposite end of that spectrum. A highly experienced property investor, Nirmal already owned 8 investment properties when he first contacted us, and had been investing in property for over 16 years. “I had heard from friends that Ironfish were pretty good, with offices in lots of cities. I decided to call them because they were the one company where I hadn’t been to a property investment seminar yet, and I didn’t know what their property range was. After I called the office, an Ironfish strategist came over and did an in-home presentation, introducing the company and herself . We talked about my goals and what I wanted to achieve. She is very approachable and has great willingness to understand my position and work around what I want to achieve. I’d talked to a lot of property investment companies and investment experts before, but I give more credit to my strategist and Ironfish as I quickly found they had the best strategy.” House and Land investor Nirmal is a self-confessed ‘house and land person’. Most of his investments prior to investing with us were houses, initially second-hand houses, and afterwards new house and land packages. “I grew up in a house and liked the freedom of a house, so when I started to invest, I was purchasing based on that experience. The best property investment I made was a house in The Ponds in Western Sydney – which doubled in value in 3 years. Plus, there are major tax savings in buying a house and land package, because you settle the land first and only have to pay stamp duty on the land so you save on stamp duty immediately. The depreciation schedule helps tax-wise as well – so all this makes house and land very appealing to me. “However, before I started investing with Ironfish, I’d been making my purchasing decisions based on ’emotion;’ if I felt like I could live in the property, then I’d purchase it. After meeting our strategist, I learned the importance of taking emotion out the transaction and selecting properties by looking at it from an investment point of view.” Buying an apartment Nirmal purchased 2 house and land packages in Brisbane with Ironfish and, even though he had emphasised the point to his strategist that he didn’t want to buy apartments, he eventually also decided to purchase an apartment in Melbourne. “I had purchased 3 apartments in the past – mostly in regional areas – and sold 2 of them. The expense was greater, with the strata levies etc, so it didn’t make sense to me. But when an investment opportunity came up in inner city Melbourne (Melbourne Village), even though my strategist knew I wasn’t interested in apartments as a rule, she wanted to pass it by me. It’s not that I’m sceptical, it’s just that I wanted to see the numbers. After having a look, I was very impressed. The location next to Docklands and the CBD, and being able to take advantage of stamp duty savings prior to the budget changes meant that I made an exception to my house and land bias! “I like how my strategist provides a cash flow analysis for each property outlining rental income coming in, and other expenses involved. She provides the analysis which tells me whether the investment will be positive/negative/neutral so I know dollar wise what’s coming in and out at the end of the day.”
It’s the little things
Over the last 16 years, Nirmal has settled several properties and dealt with countless property managers and agents. He says it’s the little things that make the Ironfish investment experience stand out ahead of the rest, so much so that he has also since referred many of his family and friends to Ironfish.
“This year, I’ve had 5 property transactions, 3 of which involved Ironfish, and they were by far the easiest ones – I didn’t need to worry about any of it. After settlement, Ironfish Property Management has been so organised and pro-active as well. They prepare a complete package of paperwork, documentation and authority requests – e.g. whether it’s to put in a screen door or ask for authority to arrange for council bills to be sent to them. It’s the little things to me that count: they send me receipts promptly; when I go to the office to hand cheques over to them, they take a photocopy of the cheque for me. I don’t require this, but I appreciate the attention to detail. It makes the whole flow of the series of transactions so easy.
“And the photos of the properties pre- and post-handover are impressive. I’ve never seen properties presented so well before. I’ve seen literally thousands of properties on the internet over the years, and hundreds in real life. The way Ironfish presents properties is impressive – it’s the whole service from A – Z, basically.”
What next?
Nirmal says he is on track towards his property investment goals both in terms of building asset value and a rental income target of $500K per year. He plans to purchase a total of 20 properties, with the aim of selling approximately 5 of them to pay down the debt of the remaining 15. His next purchase is likely to be a house and land package in Perth.
“In the next 2-3 years I’m looking to buy with Ironfish in Perth, because I think the numbers would be really good. I’ve done a lot of reading from a number of different investment analysts who suggest that as Perth comes out of the downturn, it may be a good time to invest there. After that I may purchase one or two more properties in Victoria as well. I used to pay a large land tax in NSW for all my properties, but now that I’ve become aware of the advantage of diversifying interstate, I can minimise my land tax this way as well.”
Investing in my family
At Ironfish, we talk a lot about the importance of having the right mindset to inspire our investors to live a better life. For Nirmal, a lot has changed for his family since becoming an Ironfish investor.
“The biggest example of how I’ve changed in terms of mindset, since investing with Ironfish, is in our decision to knock down a house, a property in the Northern Beaches which we bought 9 years ago, and build our own family home. And spending a substantial amount (approximately $600,000) in the process! Previously, my thinking was just to move in to the existing house and make do. I didn’t think it was worth spending the money on us.
“From my strategist and the Ironfish ethos, I learned that yes, it’s good to save and invest in property to build wealth, but it’s also important to invest in your family as well, and to take the time to enjoy the fruits of your labour.”
It’s the little things Over the last 16 years, Nirmal has settled several properties and dealt with countless property managers and agents. He says it’s the little things that make the Ironfish investment experience stand out ahead of the rest, so much so that he has also since referred many of his family and friends to Ironfish. “This year, I’ve had 5 property transactions, 3 of which involved Ironfish, and they were by far the easiest ones – I didn’t need to worry about any of it. After settlement, Ironfish Property Management has been so organised and pro-active as well. They prepare a complete package of paperwork, documentation and authority requests – e.g. whether it’s to put in a screen door or ask for authority to arrange for council bills to be sent to them. It’s the little things to me that count: they send me receipts promptly; when I go to the office to hand cheques over to them, they take a photocopy of the cheque for me. I don’t require this, but I appreciate the attention to detail. It makes the whole flow of the series of transactions so easy. “And the photos of the properties pre- and post-handover are impressive. I’ve never seen properties presented so well before. I’ve seen literally thousands of properties on the internet over the years, and hundreds in real life. The way Ironfish presents properties is impressive – it’s the whole service from A – Z, basically.” What next? Nirmal says he is on track towards his property investment goals both in terms of building asset value and a rental income target of $500K per year. He plans to purchase a total of 20 properties, with the aim of selling approximately 5 of them to pay down the debt of the remaining 15. His next purchase is likely to be a house and land package in Perth. “In the next 2-3 years I’m looking to buy with Ironfish in Perth, because I think the numbers would be really good. I’ve done a lot of reading from a number of different investment analysts who suggest that as Perth comes out of the downturn, it may be a good time to invest there. After that I may purchase one or two more properties in Victoria as well. I used to pay a large land tax in NSW for all my properties, but now that I’ve become aware of the advantage of diversifying interstate, I can minimise my land tax this way as well.” Investing in my family At Ironfish, we talk a lot about the importance of having the right mindset to inspire our investors to live a better life. For Nirmal, a lot has changed for his family since becoming an Ironfish investor. “The biggest example of how I’ve changed in terms of mindset, since investing with Ironfish, is in our decision to knock down a house, a property in the Northern Beaches which we bought 9 years ago, and build our own family home. And spending a substantial amount (approximately $600,000) in the process! Previously, my thinking was just to move in to the existing house and make do. I didn’t think it was worth spending the money on us. “From my strategist and the Ironfish ethos, I learned that yes, it’s good to save and invest in property to build wealth, but it’s also important to invest in your family as well, and to take the time to enjoy the fruits of your labour.”
Nirmal’s property investment tips:
Ironfish property investment services
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