For our customer Jennifer Lipert, life has been full of twists and turns: from uprooting her life and migrating to Australia in 2003, to becoming the CFO of a well-known cosmetics company and building an investment portfolio of 13 properties.
Jennifer had been wanting to invest in property for a long time, but it wasn’t until 2010 that she made her start – despite her husband’s initial reluctance – and she has achieved a lot over the last 7 years. When you meet her, Jennifer exudes confidence and is a commanding presence in any room – so we can see why she might have been so persuasive with her husband! But after a short conversation with her, you quickly realise she is rather modest and exceptionally down to earth. She credits her property investment success to a bit of skill, a bit of effort and a lot of help from Ironfish. Here’s her story.
The confidence to make a start
Jennifer always wanted to invest in property, but her husband didn’t agree and had his own strong opinions on the matter.
“But regardless of his opinion, I was still very optimistic about the Australian real estate market, and was determined to make a start. So, I did it on my own – and that’s how it all began, back in 2010,” she said.
Luckily, since then, Jennifer’s hubby has whole-heartedly come around to the idea.
“My husband is now more active and enthusiastic than I am. And in recent years, the market has been very strong. Our returns are all very real; the whole family can see that.”
You don’t know what you don’t know
Jennifer’s portfolio now includes 7 apartments in Melbourne CBD and surrounds, and 6 houses in the Melbourne suburbs of Dandenong and Bendigo. However, when she first started out, she said she had limited knowledge about the property market. Jennifer found Ironfish information evenings, and workshops invaluable in helping to address this lack of experience or expertise.
“You don’t know what you don’t know: this sentence really resonates with me; people often feel confident about a topic even when they have little understanding about it,” said Jennifer.
“When I first started investing in property, I only had a hazy sort of goal. After attending multiple workshops held by Ironfish, I had a clearer understanding of the types of strategies to employ. For example, the benefits of the “Portfolio Approach” and a “buy and-hold strategy” – making sure that you don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
“I attended a range of Ironfish property investment seminars – whether they related to market data analysis or investment strategy guidance; I found them all very rewarding. These days, I even take my son along sometimes, so he can start to learn about it all.”
“What’s impressed me about Ironfish is their professionalism and overall philosophy. I always believe that you need to follow the experts, in whatever it is you wish to achieve in life. So, if you want to invest, then you need to follow the investment experts,” said Jennifer.
Jennifer first heard about Ironfish through her mother – and after making some further enquiries and doing a bit of research about our company, she decided to come in to the Box Hill office for a personal strategic analysis with Senior Investment Strategist, Vivian Li.
“Vivian was very practical, patient and a store of valuable information. After meeting with her, I felt confident to trust her with the task of finding me a house to invest in.”
“Vivian is a true professional and I’m extremely grateful to her; if it wasn’t for her help, my investment process would probably have been much slower. Now – whenever I’m thinking about purchasing a property, I always check with Vivian as to whether there is a good development worth investing in. And the systems and support structure in place at Ironfish makes the process much easier, and gives me real peace of mind. I would really like to take the opportunity to thank Vivian a lot for all her help over the years!”
