Speaker 1: Hi and welcome to this week's episode of Money with Alpha when I am joined by the lovely Janice Minihan. Hello, Janice.
Speaker 2: Hello, Alpha. Nice to be here.
Speaker 1: Yes, I've been wanting to have you on for a while and I've sort of— I've never quite managed to get myself organized enough to sort out a time, but we've sorted out a time and yeah, I'm really looking forward. Yeah, that's it, stars aligned. I'm looking forward to this discussion because when I think about you, I think about everything to do with real estate. You are extremely passionate about property to the point where you have property business in the UK as well as in Australia and you've kind of worked in multiple different areas from buyer's agency to investing yourself, Airbnbs, property management. Like, you've, you kind of anything pretty much you could do in property, I think you have done. Or, and are continuing to do. So do you wanna maybe just give it a little bit of your own story about what you're doing and then we can expand from there?
Speaker 2: Yeah, sure. So I started my property journey, I think for real in 2007 and I watched my dad doing flips around Mackay, Rockhampton. He lived out at Dysart in the mines and just watched what he was doing. I was a teacher primary school teacher and like teachers and nurses, pretty poorly paid. And then watched him flip a house in Rocky by adding a bedroom on and making my whole teaching wage by the time he bought and sold that in less than 3 months. So that was my sort of light bulb moment going, there's more to life, I think, than slogging my guts out. As much as I love teaching children, I've never really liked the system. So So I developed property and learned alongside him and read books and went to courses, all that kind of stuff for a few years. And that was my hobby. Yeah. So, and then moving to the UK in 2014 permanently with my young family, I didn't wanna teach. I thought I couldn't teach, but they had changed all their rules and I was drawn back into teaching cuz it was really easy for work. And my husband's profession is very difficult to find a good job over there. So anyway, but the system over there is more terrible than it is here. And I really, really disliked it. So in the meantime, I left that in 2017, but in 2015, I read Rich Dad Poor Dad. And so that changed my life. I then went to a Robert Kiyosaki workshop, made my husband turn up, and I put it on my birthday so he couldn't say no. And then he's like, you know, you're going to go and do the course. But no, no, it's all right. I'll just, I'll just, you know, think about it or whatever. He's like, don't be ridiculous. You never think about anything that long. Just pay the money, off you go. So that, I went on my 2-year property education journey in the UK and became versed in all the different property strategies. And one thing after another, I found myself building portfolios for investor friends through who were doing the same courses but didn't live in my town. And my town had really excellent opportunities, and it was one of the top 10 socially deprived towns in England. So I could see how we could make real positive change by taking those terrible houses and refurbing them and putting them back out on the open market. And it sort of all stemmed from there. Wow.
Speaker 1: And you continue to do that in the UK?
Speaker 2: Since I've moved back to Australia, I've scaled down the sourcing and refurbishing side. Yeah, but I do the property management, so I still manage a lot of those original clients who I built their portfolios for. We still manage their properties.
Speaker 1: Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, because property management, it's an interesting one. I've— my dad bought and rented out sort of multiple properties over his life. And yeah, the property management side I think was always the, the weak link to to be honest, in the whole chain.
Speaker 2: It still is. Like, it does blow my mind because I was never entering into property management. I always had property managers for our houses, but I found them really poor generally. It was very hard to find a good property manager here or over there. And over there, they charge anywhere from 13 to 16% management, and they don't even check your house. Right. That's woeful. So I thought, and I'd done the course, I'd done my license here for fun. I'd never envisaged working in it. So I was more qualified than any of them because it's not, there's no formal license or anything over there. You can just call yourself whatever and do it.
Speaker 1: Oh wow.
Speaker 2: But do it. So, so it made sense to my friends were like, can you manage our houses? I'm like, no, I don't do property management. And then and then they were like, who are you gonna use? I'm like, actually no one, I'm gonna do it myself. And they're like, right, well, we're coming with you. So here we are, nearly 10 years on.
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 2: So, and it's the same here, to be fair.
Speaker 1: What's that?
Speaker 2: So it's the same here in terms of property management. The stories I've, even in the last 2 weeks that owners are telling me, I'm like, this stuff still goes on. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And there is licensed requirements here too.
Speaker 2: It is licensed. It's, yeah, but unfortunately it's usually young young females as a starting point. And I think you need a bit of life skills to negotiate and manage people and find the win-win for everybody.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So yeah, I remember I was in a rental, like me renting a property for about almost 8 years, and I think we had 2 inspections. They were just very lucky. Yeah, I was lucky that we were good tenants because I had a flatmate.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Speaker 1: And then, and then when you know, we'd sold a house and we're renting for a bit because, you know, I was having a baby, so I was like, well, it's hard to do all of that all at once. And, and they did come and do inspections, but oh my goodness, it was like one, one time he did— the guy just poked his head in. And admittedly, we had a bit of a relationship, so I, I could understand. And I realized he probably didn't do that with everybody. But then when he left and this young girl sort of took over, my goodness, she, yeah, all sorts. And it was just, yeah, she took photos of everything and then left. I'm going, but you didn't really actually like check anything, anything, came in there and like quickly photographed everything, which was mostly my furniture. And I don't know what else I can tell you. Yeah.
Speaker 2: That was like us in the UK. So, and this is why I do what I do, cuz I have rented, you know, I've been an investor, a buyer, a seller, all that stuff. So when we were renting in the UK and like my husband clean that house down until he could eat off the floor for our first inspection. And she came in with a piece of bamboo, tested the alarm in the hallway. Hi, Jonas. Goodbye.
Speaker 1: That was it.
Speaker 2: And he's standing there going, I've spent like days cleaning this property for her to come and have a look. And so, and barely touched the surface. Just walked in, press the button and walk out. I'm like, that's not an inspection. So We're very, very thorough and make my team be thorough because that's where their eyes and ears— and all of my owners in the UK don't live in our town, so yeah, they never see their houses.
Speaker 1: No, that's right.
Speaker 2: I think it's really important.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And so when— I mean, you saw your dad doing things growing up, so you had sort of a bit of a front seat sort of there. How did like the money side kind of come into it? Because it was taking out, I mean, there's risk involved in terms of, you know, you're putting capital on the line and getting loans and, you know, how did, how did you see money then play out in your household growing up?
Speaker 2: So I pretty, I come from, I think, very, it was tough growing up. We grew up in, I always say the back blocks of North Queensland, but a small North Queensland town.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And money wasn't readily available. My mum was a single mum. It's 3 of us. And then, and my dad had remarried and all that kind of stuff. So watching him do something different apart from just work the 9 to 5. Yeah. Really just opened my eyes, but just from a money side of my husband's very cautious but very good with money. Mm-hmm. Whereas I've never had any kind of exposure to anything excess. So he already had a property and we had a, he had equity in that property. Yeah. And he, and I was saving through teaching. I, some, I read some book and it said invest in this managed fund or whatever. So I had been doing that for a few years. So he is like, do you wanna go and risk your capital? You know, I think I had a total of $7,000 or whatever on a course or do whatever. Go for it. So that sort of started it. And then I started talking to like brokers or people investing and how they did it. And then when I went and did that full-on training in the UK, it was all about angel investing and like eventually you can, you can use equity, but eventually you're going to run out of money. So you need to widen your network. You can undo all these other different strategies. So initially it was using equity that we had in houses here, buy one, you know, give it 6 or 12 months, use the equity in that to buy the next one.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But then after 3 in Southeast Queensland, I felt like we had the noose around our neck because we were maxed out. Everything was negatively geared and I found that really tough. And then when I went to the UK and everything was positively geared, where you couldn't even get a mortgage, It was a whole new way of thinking. So now I apply that here and try at least to get it to wash its face and be neutrally geared, which is tricky in this, especially in this market.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say, is that even still possible?
Speaker 2: I get it very close. Yeah, but yeah, better than the big swings. It was when I started. Yeah, and you don't know what you don't know, do you?
Speaker 1: So no, and that's And that's the thing. I think we get so scared about what could or couldn't happen that we prevent ourselves from doing anything, make— either make the problem bigger than we think it is, than it actually is. And so that stops us from, from taking action. But then once we get into it, we learn so much in the process. And even if it doesn't work out exactly though we wanted, we also can figure it out or we can find people to help us figure it out. So I think that's, you know, that's just like the cost of inaction then becomes the biggest. That's actually the bigger problem than it is to do something and fail, or potentially. And it often isn't because there's always things that kind of come in unexpectedly to help.
Speaker 2: And like property in Southeast Queensland, unless you buy like in the middle of a floodplain or something, you really, you'd have to really get it wrong, I reckon, to lose money. Because the market's so buoyant.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and especially in the long term. I mean, yeah, I look at my dad and his, his property journey. Property wasn't increasing at the same pace then as it is now. Like, he, he would, he would sell a property and maybe sort of it would sell for maybe $50,000 to $100,000 more after like 5 or 6 years. Whereas now you can, at the moment, things are pretty much doubling. I don't think it's going to stay that, that pace because I don't like cost of acquisition-wise. I just really can't, especially with wages and all of that. But because property is so, so one of the strategies we've talked about there is very much short-term property, like buy, improve, sell. How do you, do you see property more as a longer-term investment or short, like how, what's your kind of like time horizon for people?
Speaker 2: It depends on their appetite. So like I've got a client at the moment who wants to do flips.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But everything's so transparent out in the market. It's like, whereas my cousin who's now a big developer, when he started doing flips, say 10 years ago, he was like, there's no money in this. Everyone can see how much you bought it for. You know, you've given it a lick of paint and you want to sell it for $100 grand more.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Whereas now it's And now I've done all this training. It's like, well, now you've just got to be smarter. You buy the property at the right price, work out what the market needs because I do a lot of housing people in rentals. Yeah, they're coming especially from New Zealand, coming with big families. Yeah, there are no big houses or like this multi-generational type family unit because people can't afford to live in their own house type of thing anymore. So they'll look, take the grandparents or whatever with them, find a block with a granny flat option. Yeah. So I think it's about being more smarter and giving the market what it needs.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Because that's where you'll make the uplift.
Speaker 1: Yeah. It's interesting that you say that because I had a friend recently who has a big house and, and a granny flat. Net on the house. Like, the house itself's got 5 bedrooms, plus there's a 1-bedroom granny flat, and it's been really hard to rent.
Speaker 2: What, really?
Speaker 1: Yeah. So I was like, but you might need to talk to me, Alpha. Yes, I know. I would not, because I didn't realize until I heard you speak recently that you were doing property management. I was like, huh, right, I should I think, I think, yeah, I don't know what the situation is in terms of how both properties being rented right now, or if it's all in one, but at the time I was like, wow, that's, I would have thought that's behandoff. That would be in demand because it's unusual as well. Because if you've got— I see a lot of families where they've got like 5 kids.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: They've got the grandparents living with them because aged care is too expensive, or they've, you know, they've run low on cash so they can't stay where they are. So they need a place for the parent, but the grandparents, but they don't want them like in, in their space.
Speaker 2: Oh man. Yeah. There's a place like that should not be vacant in Southeast Queensland. No.
Speaker 1: So we might have to have more of a chat afterwards. But Yeah, because I've got—
Speaker 2: yeah, there's— this is the way I see the market going. You need to create some extra living space or rooms or something because there is not enough houses being built for the amount of people coming to Southeast Queensland. Yeah. And the rule, the red tape for everyone, especially developers, is astronomical.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, I see a lot of articles about granny flats, adding, adding a granny flat. To be honest, I've even looked at putting a tiny home at the front of our property, partly in, like, to consider maybe future optionality with my mum. But yeah, but then I was like, well, then there's a granny flat there.
Speaker 2: Yeah. But you're actually increasing the value because you're creating more space. And like, places like Ipswich City Council and Moreton Bay Regional Council, they've relaxed all their rules around that, so you don't need approval anymore. Ipswich just goes on land size. If you have over 800 square meters, you can put a 2-bedroom granny flat on. Okay, well, we're pretty much on 800, but I'm in Brisbane City Council, so I think there's just a little couple of extra hoops to jump with them, but it is so much easier now than it was 5 years ago.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's— and that's the thing, understanding what is the appropriate level of improvement to make, because I see some properties, I was like, I feel like they've overcapitalized on those and they've made too many improvements. And then, you know, it's—
Speaker 2: so what I guess Sorry, where's the ceiling?
Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah, that's it. Is there, I guess, a guardrail or guidelines for, for, you know, if it's an older house, don't do too much to it because it's more land value than anything, or is it?
Speaker 2: Depends on the purpose. If it's owner-occupier and it's your house, your home, yeah, then I think that's completely different to an investment.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The amount of refurb you would do, because ultimately, if it's still going to be a 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom at the end, that you've comp— you've added, whether it be $10 grand or $100 grand, chances are the rent's not going to equate to spending the $100 grand. No, no.
Speaker 1: And this is where it's good to talk to someone like yourself before you do something to go, okay, well, what's happening in the market right now? What are people looking for? What will get you the extra $10 a week rent if it's rental? And just actually like test it out because, yeah, I look at our, our ensuite bathroom. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. It got— it had given— been given a facelift before we bought the house. But it was I think a bit of a cheaper facelift. So I'd be like, oh, I don't know if it's really worth kind of gutting it and starting again.
Speaker 2: The bathrooms over here are really expensive. Like, in the UK, we would do whole new bathrooms for £3,000, plumbing and everything finished. Yeah, my, my brother did his bathroom— oh, a bathroom and a kitchen— I was like, 50 or 60 grand. Like, it's a lot.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Crazy.
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, well, we— I did my, my dad had a rental property in there. The kitchen was pretty much non-existent. Like, it— I don't know how— so anyway, it was, it was what it was. But I was like, so I, I— we did— I went down the IKEA path and it was still— I think it was still about $5,000 for the kitchen itself. And it was a smallish kitchen, was in a unit. And then another $1,500 to get it installed, which was still pretty good. So that was—
Speaker 2: I was like, okay, that's okay. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: For inspiration, that's fine. And then it was— and then I'm looking, going, oh, I'd love this stuff in our kitchen. Yeah, it's true. But our kitchen's fine. There's nothing wrong with it. It's really more the ensuite bathroom that I'm like, I don't know.
Speaker 2: And that's what people look at, isn't it? Like your kitchens and your bathrooms. Yeah. But my dad, when we sold our house before moving to England, he, he was staying with us and he's like, I'll redo your kitchen because there's nothing wrong with your carcass. We're just going to put new benchtops on, new door handles, did he do door faces as well? I'll tell you what, it was a whole new kitchen and it was a fraction of the price. So it's just having someone with a bit of know-how.
Speaker 1: That's it. Yeah. Well, I look at our kitchen and what they did was they actually just put a new benchtop on top of the old one. Because yeah, because when I look underneath, I was like, I can still see the old dark blue benchtop and there's this new lighter one. And so that's pretty much the reno I think they did. And they, in the bathroom, they just painted the tiles. So of course it's not grouting anymore. It's silicon, which is harder to keep clean. And I was just going, I wish people would just do the job properly. They're going to do it at all. Let somebody do the reno properly. Yeah. So now we're— yeah, anyway, so that's, that's, that's on my list of something to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Yes. But then, so then when you're looking for— in Australia in particular at the moment, how have you kind of seen like probably— because obviously we've just had the federal budget come down, which is going to impact things if it actually does get passed. I'm not even sure what the timing is for, for getting it passed, but if they plan to kick in July 2027, isn't it, if and when it gets passed? Except for the negative gearing. Negative gearing was supposed to be immediate. So yeah, removing, removing the deduction for negative gearing, which to a certain extent we're kind of going you know, but we're pushing the, the benefit to the end. So while people aren't getting the benefit of the deduction of the, you know, the expenses are above and beyond what the income is for the property, rather than being able to deduct that, that difference against your earned income, you just add that to the cost base for the future. So to a certain extent, they're just pushing the benefit into the future. But all of the other things like this, the capital gains tax discount disappearing and, and all the, you know, the other bits and pieces that are changing. Have you seen that impact what people are doing in terms of rental properties and investing?
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I think in the last couple of weeks the sentiment has just felt like it's just shifting back towards the buyer a little bit more. But there's not— I think it depends on where you're at pockets-wise, but there's not like, I don't know, 3 dozen people at open homes that I've seen lately. Like, the rental market is less than 1%. So I think unless something changes drastically, that demand isn't going to lift. But this, the investor side of it, well, it's all going to move to new builds now, isn't it? Because yeah, that's where they can get their discounts. So, which pushes up the price of that stock and developers You know, ultimately we'll make more money out of that.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And then, and the, the like the, yeah, family product property developer, for instance, where they're going to be looking for larger blocks that they can subdivide and put two houses on, that's, that's still, that's now going to be even more valuable than it was previously.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. Yeah, exactly. So I think, you know, the existing stock will potentially soften because really it's just your owner-occupier type person looking for that. And whereas once upon a time it was the reverse, wasn't it? Like the new builds, your house and land packages are for your first-time buyers and they create those communities as, as things get pushed out and all that kind of stuff. So it's really interesting. Yeah. And I had a client pull out of a deal once those announcements were made the other day, because when people are scared and confused, they just don't make a decision. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: And that even goes like even beyond the property space, like just money in general. I think there's— again, we're talking about that sort of, you know, the cost of inaction, even just looking at getting finances sorted and what that actually entails. I mean, you've done a lot of study in relation to property specifically, but in terms of like just regular money management, like managing what's coming in, what's going out, and then what to do with it, How have you kind of, I guess, learned about that side of it?
Speaker 2: I continue to learn from people like you because that's not my background and you don't know what you don't know. So I'm always doing some like other coaching or courses or reading something or learning from others and network because even though I network for my business, I learn so much from other people and hearing what other people are doing and just mixing with the right people and, you know, professionals to, and paying for their knowledge because there's only 24 hours in a day. And so that for me and like doing that training in the UK, knowing how to do numbers on properties, whether it's a deal or not a deal, what kind of profit margin versus, oh, should be all right. Like that's the Aussie way, isn't it? Give it a crack. It'll be all right. And then sometimes it's not all right because your refurb's gone from $20 grand to $50 grand. Like, how do you mitigate those kind of things?
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But I learn all the time because I know, and I'm not an accountant, and I really need that side right. So engaging the right people along the way.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And having the courage to change if they're not.
Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah. Because there's moving parts.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And I think communication is important too because again, like, you know, we were So talking last week, you know, when you're not getting responses from your professionals and you're like, okay, that's a problem in and of itself. You're like, no, find a good accountant, especially when it's in, if you're starting to get more down the investing path, it's important to start to sort of see what the possibilities are from a tax perspective and structuring and all of that. Obviously, yeah.
Speaker 2: I think I was structured wrong in the UK.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And like they, and they always said to us, like, get your accountant and your bookkeeper in place from the start.
Speaker 1: So, but I've got no properties yet.
Speaker 2: There's no point me doing that. But now I think, and I look back going, that was so right. I should have done that because I've lived in a world of pain. Because once I started the, you know, once you get started and you steamroll it and I had all these great deals and I did a big flip and commercial flip and then I've been paying tax Here ever since, paying for that success, I guess. I'm like, you know what, listen to what they say. That's why they're saying it. They're the professionals and I'm not in that aspect. So yeah.
Speaker 1: And the structuring part's important. And the thing is the rules do change. So like, for instance, again, something else that's just come up with the budget is how trusts are taxed. And a lot of, a lot of properties will be sitting inside trusts, especially if it's like family trusts or discretionary trusts. However, it's you know, been set up partly for asset protection. And that's the thing too, like the— it's not just a tax avoidance scheme. Like, I think, I think some of the points in that, that was missed. You know, there's, there's situations where not, not everybody's families are as— it's the word— nice. So for some people, they actually have to put their assets inside a trust to try and protect it so that the people who are meant to actually get the benefit of that, that sort of investment in that money actually get it. So just like arbitrarily taxing it in the way it's proposing to is not necessarily a good thing. The one thing that will hopefully remain the same but will impact perhaps how people are structuring it going forward is maybe doing properties inside self-managed super funds. Have you seen anything like that? How that, you know, do you have clients who want to do it that way?
Speaker 2: And has it been any demand? Into that, I think. And I think that will be a growth area as more information comes to light about these changes. But yeah, yeah, I think, yeah, the self-managed super funds are the way to go. They've got their own tons of rules and all that as well, don't you say? You need a proper, you know, personalised accountant who knows all of the ins and outs.
Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah. Once you specialise, because not every accountant specialises in the self-managed super fund and, and there's also extra costs and compliance and responsibilities that go with it. But provided you have all the right support and structure around you, it could be an option. It does limit though your ability to buy because you can't use equity when you're property inside a self-managed super fund.
Speaker 2: But you can loan, you can get a loan. You can get a loan. Yes. So, and I think that's what people are cottoning on to and leveraging what they've already got in cash to be able to get their loan to build their portfolio that way, which I think is smart. It is.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So what are, what are your, what are your plans and maybe just give us a bit of an idea more of how you actually work with your clients. Like how, how do people work with you and what is, is there going to be an evolution or are you going to continue to do it the way you're doing it?
Speaker 2: So my, I, I love building portfolios for people. I think that's my niche. That's, but, but providing more than that one service because buyers agents now pretty much are a dime a dozen, but it's providing that holistic look for people. And before they come to me, I'll always ask them like, have they seen a broker? Because yes, you might want to buy property, but you might not have the right structure or, no, you're borrowing capacity, all that stuff, which I, I don't know, a broker does. So, and it's helping them on the path. So I build my power team and I have recommended professionals that I would say, go and, you know, talk to XYZ that I, and if I usually, I will usually test everyone. So if I've had a good experience, I'm happy to refer. If not, they fall off the wayside. But so I'd love to like, yeah, find that initial investment, then provide the property management for them. And then if and when they ever want to sell, I can sell it for them. So I'm a licensed agent in Queensland and just not have to cut out that noise for investors in particular. Yeah, because a lot of them will just go and find you a place, but we don't actually property manage. And then that property manager who they recommend may not be suitable for them. So, and that's how my business grew in the UK because they resonated with me. Yeah. And so Relationship marketing. It's huge. Yeah. And they, and investors typically will hold for a long time till maybe their needs change or something. So just a one-stop property shop is how I pretty much see it. Like, it is like the buy, the rent, and the sell. Yeah. And educate and make sure their asset's doing what it should be doing. Yeah. And that property management, while I was hesitant to do it here and do it over there, I think is so crucial in keeping that asset performing and keeping good tenants. Because if they know you're coming every 6 months or whatever it is, then I don't know. And it's relationship-based with the tenants as well. If I have a, if I have a bad feel, and in the UK with my team there, if it's a bad feel, the answer is no. So I'm, don't, I've got to deal with them. Yes.
Speaker 1: Yeah. You almost have to deal with them. Well, maybe not just as much, but if not as much as the owner, because you're, you're the conduit between the two. So you're dealing with one side, making sure that they're happy and do have what they need, and then, then the other side. Because that was the feeling I got when, when we were renting the— just before we bought our place, the we had some really hot summers and my daughter was a baby and I clocked it at 38 degrees in her, her bedroom and there was no aircon. So I was like, look, can we put some aircon in and we will, we'll go halves? Like you, you're going to add value to your property by having air conditioning and you only have to pay half of it because we'll pay the other half. They said no.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah.
Speaker 1: And so I had to then get a portable aircon, which was really loud and could only really get her bedroom down to about 25. And I was like, all right, well, it's better than 38. I was just like, geez, I really felt like they were just—
Speaker 2: it was—
Speaker 1: they were only looking out for the owner's interest, which they are working for. The owner is paying them. But at the same time, you're gonna lose. So that was then another one for me. I'm like, okay, well, I'm— I don't want to stay here very long now. This is going to impact— and in a way it was good for us because it lit a little fire under my butt because there were a couple of little things that happened. I was like, yeah, I just don't want to stay here anymore. So we just need to find our own house to buy. So from my perspective it was good, but from theirs, they lost really good tenants. So I was like, so why are you—
Speaker 2: yeah, yeah. If you look after your tenants, your tenants want to typically, like, obviously there's a few that go bad, but I've been, I keep saying I've been so lucky with the tenants I've had, but I equally think that's because I reference them and I go on gut feel and I try and build a relationship before we even get to the application stage and all of that. So referencing is good and will do so much, but then, and life happens. And like I tell them, if they talk to me, I can help them. I can, you know, work with them to come up with whatever it needs. And they really, the ones I've got now, they're really appreciative because times are tough, cost of living's high, you know, and it's finding the win-win for everybody.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And then you're a unicorn in the business, Janice. You're a unicorn.
Speaker 2: Thanks. I try my best. That's all I can do.
Speaker 1: So how do people find out more about how to work with you? Like, what's What's their— what would be the first step?
Speaker 2: So my website, minnahangroup.com.au, is all about me and my experience and what I've done. But there's also a button there to book a discovery call.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So that's the easiest way. I think I'm pretty easy to find on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Speaker 1: We'll put links in the show notes as well, so make it even easier. But because if someone happens to be driving while they're listening to this, they might not be able to write it down.
Speaker 2: So we'll probably— Minahan's really easy to spell, isn't it? Spell my first name, spell my last name. Yes, yes.
Speaker 1: So it's yeah, I've spent my life spelling both my names.
Speaker 2: So yes, I hear you. Yeah, it's just lots of variations of the, yeah, the actual name.
Speaker 1: Yeah, even my grandmother on my dad's side, she, she misspelled my name my whole life, so she spells it with an F, but that's okay.
Speaker 2: That's okay. It's all right. Hard to change old habits, isn't it?
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Sorry.
Speaker 1: It was the unfamiliar. That's okay.
Speaker 2: That's right. Exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So, and just one last, so what's, what's your, what's your goals? Like you personally, what, what do you want to achieve for you, your family is legacy or your kids? Like what's, what's your, what's your goal when it comes to money?
Speaker 2: My goal when it comes to money is to work out how to keep it and use it for the greater good. So my, my big C-type goal is I would love to control, like I say, a billion, and that sounds like a massive number, but what would that be in Brisbane? Maybe 10 houses.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But to help women in particular, sort of in that 40 to 60 range.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Have a rental at 30% of their income rather than what the market rate dictates because that That group of people, I think, are the most ostracized in this market as rents keep rising. As you said before, wages don't. And that category is left out because if they're a single mom or divorced or widowed or whatever and find themselves on their own or might have a couple of children, it's pretty heartbreaking out there to secure a place. So that's my big goal. At the moment, I'm looking at places like Ipswich where I could buy like 800 square meters, put a granny flat on and cater for these multi-generational families. Because that's where I see the greatest need at the moment. Yeah. Yeah. And just how people build their wealth through property properly and not lose money.
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, that's wonderful. I love that. And I think that's, that's one of the reasons we connected because there's impact alongside of the work that we do. And yes, the women in in particular.
Speaker 2: There's—
Speaker 1: was it, I think, women over 55 the highest growing homeless population, which is scary.
Speaker 2: I want to inspire my children because it's like, I hated that question as a teenager. Oh, what are you gonna do? You're gonna go to uni? It's like, well, I thought I had to go to uni because that's what everyone kept telling me. Yeah. And actually, there's so many other opportunities out there. Yeah, you've just got to back yourself and give it a go.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and have the right knowledge. So having somebody like yourself who can share your experiences and your knowledge and show the way and actually show them how to calculate the numbers to make sure that it's a good deal, how to recognize that it's not just a, oh well, this person's telling me this because they've got a vested interest in selling this, so do I believe that or not? Even now I get that. I get people coming to me with these, these opportunities, and I was like, yes, but that's there's a, you know, there's, there's an agenda behind that. So I've got to see beyond that. So how are, how are younger people and even people in, you know, our age bracket who are like desperate to make something of work? Yeah, of money, money. And it's, it's hard to know what's real and what's not.
Speaker 2: Yes, so it's finding good people, isn't it? And even like networking events, even if you don't have a business, I still think you still get something out of it because you meet different people that you wouldn't normally every day meet. So That's right. When I came back 4 years ago, I don't— apart from our friends, I didn't know anyone. I felt like I was starting from scratch. Whereas in the UK, everyone knew me because of my accent. Yeah. Whereas here it's like, I'm no different to anybody else. So I think I found it harder here.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And real estate's such a cutthroat industry. I really felt that people sort of give you the side eye when they realize you're a real estate agent. But I like to think I'm not like the rest of them.
Speaker 1: No, you're not. You're absolutely not. Like, I wouldn't— when I think of you, I don't think real estate agent. I think like real estate, like more of that. Yeah. Holistic end to end. If I want to know anything, I would just come to you.
Speaker 2: Got to hope because yeah, I'd love to just help people even if they're out there doing it themselves, you know, just having the right knowledge and information and not be ripped off by sales agents. Yeah. They're just Yeah, they're there for the seller and they're there for their own pocket.
Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah, that's it. It's, yeah, unfortunately the the financial side tends to take over the, yeah, than the, the human side.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: You're going to start to change. Well, you're not starting, you are changing that. So if anybody wants to know anything about real estate and what's possible for them, please contact Janice. We need more women building wealth. I'm, you know, wealth women, like wealthy women is just, we change lives. So I mean, case in point now, like yourself, you know, it's just, it's just the way it is. We change them with a different perspective, with an impact and wanting to actually help and grow.
Speaker 2: So absolutely. Yeah. I think that's so true.
Speaker 1: Well, on that uplifting note, thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me. It's been fun as always.
Speaker 1: Yes, it has. And thank you everyone for listening. I hope you got something out of that too. And yeah, just Have a— let's sit with you for a moment and think about what you actually want to do next, because it might be giving Janice a call and having a discovery call to find out what is possible for you. So have a wonderful week and I'll catch you in the next episode.
