Posted on 5^th August 2018

Jade Cattanach

CASE IN PROFILE

Jade had never considered investing in property because of the unaffordability of her home – Hong Kong
Unable to work when she moved to Australia in 2012, Jade wanted to be able to protect her family’s future
A missed opportunity to purchase a home turned Jade’s beliefs around, and she became a Strategist with Ironfish
Now a seasoned investor herself and a Senior Investment Strategist with Ironfish Brisbane, Jade wants to help others just like her to safeguard their financial future

Occupation

Senior Property Investment Strategist

Objective

Safeguard her family's future

Portfolio

4 properties

I never thought I could be a property investor. Growing out of this belief and building a portfolio of four properties worth over $2 million has been the biggest sense of accomplishment for me, and has secured my family’s future. Now I want to help other people like me put investment strategies in place to protect their financial wellbeing for years to come.

— Jade Cattanach

From Hong Kong to Australia

Starting as a PR Marketing Professional in Hong Kong, Senior Brisbane Property Investment Strategist Jade Cattanach never imagined she’d become a successful property investor, let alone help others achieve wealth through investing. Living in Hong Kong, a city with the lowest housing affordability in the world, owning property wasn’t a realistic goal for Jade.

“Although I had a successful career as a PR Marketing professional, property prices in Hong Kong were so daunting that I didn’t think property ownership was possible.”

Feeling put-off investing in property, Jade instead invested into her career in luxury public relations marketing. But when she left her high-paying job behind to move to Melbourne with her husband in 2012, Jade’s thinking started to change.

“I couldn’t work for a year because of my visa conditions, and I felt that my financial freedom was taken away. It made me think about what would happen if my husband and I both couldn’t work. How would we still support ourselves?”

A property realisation

This was the start of a turning point in Jade’s property journey. Around the same time in 2012, Jade’s husband and brother-in-law wanted to buy a home together in Melbourne. The three of them looked for a place to live and found a house and land package in a newly-built community for $380,000. But when Jade’s husband secured a great job in Queensland, their property plans were put on hold until 2015. By then, the house they were so close to purchasing had risen to $450,000.

“This experience made me realise that Australian property is so different to Hong Kong. Here’s it’s possible to invest at an affordable price point and generate some income from a property.”

Alongside this realisation, Jade went through another big life change. It was time to restart her career in Australia. Speaking Mandarin, Cantonese and English, and with a background in luxury PR Marketing, it was difficult to find a job that could combine Jade’s new passion for property with her professional skills.

“Then I came across a job posting for Ironfish. I felt we shared the same ideals, a belief in long-lasting customer relationships and a drive to protect our futures. Ironfish cared about everyone around them – whether they were employees or investors”.

By the end of that year, Jade had joined Ironfish Brisbane as an Investment Strategist.

Beginning the investment journey

After she joined the Brisbane team, Jade began studying the Ironfish investment philosophy and along the way, came across the term ‘rentvesting’ – a new concept to her.

“At the time, my husband and I were close to buying a house in Brisbane. But working at Ironfish made me realise we would be better off putting our money into an investment property.”

After attending an Ironfish investment seminar, Jade’s husband agreed and the two immediately took action to purchase the first property in their portfolio.

Through the Ironfish investment portfolio approach, Jade and her husband diversified and grew their portfolio.

“We now have 4 properties that together are worth more than $2 million and our portfolio is cash-flow positive. It’s been the biggest sense of accomplishment, more than I could have imagined before moving to Australia. Now I want to help other young couples like me and my husband experience this same accomplishment and learn some new investment strategies to help secure their future.”

From changing her own beliefs to helping others

Now a seasoned property investor, Jade has guided many others like her towards building a successful property portfolio.

“One of my clients is a very successful young woman working in medical science. She’s been trying to buy a second-hand home to live in for the last six years.”

Facing rising housing costs and fewer established property options, Jade’s customer missed out on her dream home again and again. Taking her under her wing, Jade invited her customer to an Ironfish investment seminar at their Brisbane office.

“Becoming more educated about property investment and learning about different investment options completely changed her thinking. After the seminar, she approached me wanting to switch from buying an existing property to an off-the-plan investment.”

As a top-earning medical professional, Jade’s customer needed a highly personalised strategy because of her personal income tax situation. Under the careful guidance of Jade and a professional team, she utilised Queensland’s First Home Buyer Subsidy and First Home Buyer Stamp Duty concessions. It saved her over $35,000. After living in her new home for a year, Jade helped her customer transition to rentvesting as her customer wished to capitalise on tax incentives.

Since that first investment, she’s now added a second property to portfolio, and she’s determined to own more.

“A lot of my clients are professionals working in law, engineering, university education, business or medicine. They all go through the exact same journey as I did in changing their mindsets, then achieving this aspirational goal of building a property portfolio. I’m proud to say that I help them through that journey.”

Jade’s property investment tip:

“Investing in property for me wasn’t about buying things, it was to protect myself should a rainy day eventuate. It’s all about safeguarding my future.”

01 “Investing in property for me wasn’t about buying things, it was to protect myself should a rainy day eventuate. It’s all about safeguarding my future.”

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