Three women's inspirational property investor stories

Jo ChiversDecember 7, 2020

Over the many years I’ve been helping people with their property developments, I have uncovered some amazing stories.

To celebrate International Women’s Day – which is tomorrow 8th of March - I thought I’d share with you some of the most inspiring women property investors I’ve come across and who I am proud to call my clients and friends.

These women have achieved great things whilst just getting on with their lives. They are normal, down to Earth chicks; mothers, wives, daughters.

When I met Rachel, she was a part time working mother of four young children all under five. She wanted to development property so she could continue building her existing portfolio but was a little bit busy to manage it herself. She already held what I considered a very impressive portfolio of eight investment properties. When Rachel was 24 years old, instead of a car, she bought her first property and then just kept investing.

Rachel worked in accounting for a company she didn’t much care for.  To put it bluntly, her boss was a pig. But she used to grit her teeth and bear it as she knew she needed the salary income to keep moving forward on her property journey.

Rachel lived near me, so I went to her house to present our property development project management business to her.  We met over the kitchen bench with her husband and the little ones pulling on her skirt. Between distracting the kids, we chatted about property and it was only a few weeks later we’d started on her dual occupancy development. Rachel was decisive; I guess she didn’t get much time to procrastinate.

We completed her dual occ, increasing her property portfolio by two more properties, and then I received the phone call. Rachel excitedly shared with me her news that she was pregnant again and in the same breath she explained that she wanted to get another cashflow positive property under her belt before having to leave work. We discussed a granny flat project and immediately started searching for the right property for her. We found the property and at the same time, Rachel had an announcement to make. The amazing news was that she was having twins!

We completed her granny flat development after her beautiful twins were born twelve weeks premature! Now she owns 10 investment properties. Rachel’s goal is to set herself and her husband up for an early retirement and to help her children with their investments in the future. She is also looking to start a new business helping other investors do the same as she’s done.

My next amazing lady client is Angela who owns a whopping 14 properties including the three villas Property Bloom recently developed for her.  Angela started investing when she was 27. A dynamic single mother who works full time in the corporate sector leading a large operational team in the media industry, she is focussed on building her asset base and wealth, securing the future for herself and her two beautiful children.

Her investment strategies include buy and hold, subdivision, medium density development and build to add value. Angela has also set up her own self-managed super fund.

When we worked together, Angela really impressed me with her attention to detail and focus on exactly what she wanted. I knew her day job was very demanding but the time she dedicated for her family was more important to her. Angela’s biggest driver is to be a great role model for her children and to provide them with a future that will offer them options and choice.

Finally, I’d like to introduce Justine who is possibly better known as a successful, professional stock and CFD trader, speaker and best-selling author; but Justine is also a property investor.

Justine was just 23 when she purchased her first property investment. However, before this at the tender age of 18, she invested her savings in the stock market as a hobby. Talk about diversification. This ‘hobby’ then became a full-time career in 2001, when Justine decided to take the plunge and leave her job to become a full time stock trader.

I met Justine a few years after this and she was well on her way to securing her financial freedom.  A wife and mum of two gorgeous children, she engaged Property Bloom to manage a corner block development that included a major house renovation, Torrens Title subdivision and unit development.  This project created a high amount of equity and a solid yield.

Justine has since ventured to the USA to take advantage of the low property prices and strong Aussie dollar and has built up a fantastic portfolio of USA properties. Being the entrepreneur she is Justine’s latest venture is Smart Property Investing where she helps others buy into the US property market.

These three women are remarkable in their own ways.  But they are all focussed, work extremely hard and are motivated to make a difference for their futures and for the future of their children.

Most importantly, they are every day women, just like you and I who just get on and do it.

I’m also working with many other fabulous ladies who have taken on the challenge of setting themselves up financially....so here’s a shout out to Liz, Linda, Sandi, Lean, Nikky, Annabel, Jo-anne, Lorraine, Alison, Esther, Karen, Paige and Suzie. Happy International Women’s Day to your all!

Jo Chivers is director of Property Bloom, which manages property development.

Jo Chivers

Jo Chivers is director of Property Bloom, which manages property development.

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