Читать книгу AWARE - A Business in a Book - Lucille Orr - Страница 5

On 29th February 2008 (a leap year) I could have officially retired from the work force according to the Australian Government, as I was 62.5 years of age. I remember my mother retiring and living on the Seniors Pension at 60 but I still felt far too young and ambitious to retire.

One of my goals for many years was to purchase a home that I could share with the members and associates of AWARE and the Australian Executive Women’s Network.

I found it in 2006. The moment I walked into the two-storey, seaside residence at Port Noarlunga South I knew this was the perfect place for me to live and invite you to join me for exciting seminars and holidays by the ocean.

I remember saying to the owners, “Oh, I love this home its perfect!”

It had two offices, a reception area and a large meeting room where we could hold great inspirational seminars.

After a quick tour of the home I became even more excited, the owners probably didn’t understand why, all they wanted to know was how much they could earn if AWARE Properties was managing it as a holiday home.

“How much would you like us to earn for you?” I asked. Looking rather sheepish they suggested, “$2,000 per week, maybe?”

I quickly responded, “You want $2,000 a week, then that’s what we’ll ask for it.

In the two years that followed, we did earn $2,000 a week, then $2,200 a week, and as much as $350 a night when the bookings were for less than a week’s duration.

The landlords were thrilled and offered us more of their investment properties as well as introducing us to their family and friends who had also invested in properties. They helped me achieve another of my goals… to build a solid income from Property Management.

When managing properties you get to know the landlords. As you learn more about each other, a mutual admiration for one another’s achievements is gained. I made no secret of the fact that I wanted to buy their seaside home at Port Noarlunga South.

In June 2007 they asked me if I thought I could sell it for a million dollars, as the valuation given to them by the bank was $900,000 at the time. I knew they weren’t serious about selling, but by October of 2007 they asked me the same question again, so this time I gave them a written offer on a Sales Contract for $1,000,000. Instead of accepting my offer, they gave the property to another real estate agent to see if it would sell for $1.2 million.

A Big Disappointment

I was so disappointed I remember driving down to the property one evening after work just to take a photograph of the sun setting on the sea from the huge, upstairs balcony. As I climbed the stairs it was too late, I lifted my digital camera just as the sun dropped out of sight. I missed the photograph.

As I stood there gazing at the ocean I thought, “If this home is meant to be mine, it will be. If not, I will enjoy managing it through the summer months. I will count my blessings for all the landlords this family has introduced to us and what that has meant to AWARE Properties, my son and me.”

Several months passed, the other agent showed prospective buyers through the home and I continued to rent it to holiday tenants. When the other real estate agent’s sole agency expired, the owners approached me again and asked me if I was still interested in buying the home.

There were times during those uncertain months when I convinced myself I was too old, if I was only ten years younger I could take on another huge mortgage, as I would have the time and energy to achieve my goals.

But when faced with the decision to proceed with the purchase or not, I remember thinking, “Lucille, you are only 62. If you wait another ten years at 72 you will be saying, I should have bought the property ten years ago when I was still young enough.”

As soon as I started thinking this way my whole attitude changed, I felt young again and I regained my original, excited feelings about living in the home. Immediately, I started arranging finance to purchase the property.

I contacted Matt, the Finance Broker the vendors had suggested. Matt owns his own company, Thru Finance and he was wonderful. I went ahead and signed a new contract. Even though Matt was booked to travel overseas, he worked tirelessly to submit my loan application to Commonwealth Australia Bank to ensure my interest rates would be held firm. He expected another interest rate rise while he was away. In 2003 the National Australia Bank loaned me one million dollars making it possible to purchase four more investment properties. I purchased two homes at Christies Beach back then for $303,000. They were now valued at $300,000 each, enabling me to use the $600,000 equity as a good deposit on the $1.2 million loan I needed to buy the home and do some major upgrades.

By the time Matt was back from his trip interest rates had increased twice, so I was pleased to have my interest rates fixed for three years due to Matt’s foresight. I wanted to add at least two more bedrooms and another bathroom, making it six bedrooms with four bathrooms. I love an out-door entertaining area with an in-ground pool so that was another goal.

This is where I planned to have our southern office… where I could sit on the huge, upstairs balcony and write my life story. I could see myself writing and going downstairs to the pool and cooling off when I needed a refreshing break from writing, to renew my energy and collect my thoughts.

I have to admit, from the day I gave the owners the second written contract on the home until the day my loan was approved, I went through many early mornings waking up from a deep sleep thinking, “Are you crazy Lucille? You are going to have almost $2,000,000 in mortgages to repay. You should be retiring like all your school friends, not taking on this huge debt?” Then I’d convince myself the home was meant to be ours, as it hadn’t sold to any other buyer.

More about the Resort Home

I’m sure you must be thinking, “What is the home like at Port Noarlunga South?”

It’s not new. It was originally built in 1987 as a traditional three-bedroom home. A single-storey dwelling with an “L” shaped lounge/dining room, kitchen, three double bedrooms with built-in robes, one bathroom, a laundry and a large family room.

Since then, the double garage had been enclosed to form a reception area and two offices. There is a very large entertaining area undercover at the back of the property, so the owners enclosed this and added a large bar. This area is an interesting indoor/ outdoor, traditionally Australian room - a great place for an Aussie BBQ.

Enjoying a prawn or steak on the BBQ in this part of the home, overlooking the new swimming pool, will be one place we will gather in the future, to relax and learn from one another’s experiences in business and life. I’m sure there will be a lot of good times and big plans made while eating charred meat or prawns with a glass of your favourite beverage in your hand, whilst dangling your feet in the pool. It sounds wonderful doesn’t it? But the best is still to come. In 2001 the original owners of the home gained council approval to build a second storey. I call this the ‘Penthouse’. It has a huge balcony that comfortably holds 150 (according to the vendors) as this was the number of guests who attended their house warming

party in 2004.

I fell in love with the upstairs area. The master bedroom has sliding doors onto the balcony with breathtaking sea views, plus an en suite with a luxurious spa bath. The open plan kitchen, dining and lounge room upstairs is so big my son, Steve and I decided it was wasted space so we thought one day we will add a second bedroom and put a shower in to the second bathroom upstairs, making it a complete two bedroom apartment for our special guests and their children to enjoy. There is a playground on the parklands opposite the home for children to play free of charge, and of course, they can go down onto the beach, collect sea shells, play on the white sand and swim in the clear, blue water.

This is such a wonderful opportunity to breathe in the sea air, while relaxing and playing with your children. It’s the best hide-away in Australia; peaceful and yet close to the busy centres of Port Noarlunga and Seaford, where there are movie theatres, restaurants, two major shopping centres and a hospital.

I love this southern beach location. South Australia has some of the best beaches, and if you haven’t had the privilege of enjoying a vacation in our state, call us and we will ensure you enjoy one of your most memorable holidays with us. We manage a large number of seaside holiday homes and units, so you have plenty to choose from, either close to the city of Adelaide or in a more remote location.

It’s the lifestyle I have longed for all my life, so I’m really pleased I made the decision to buy the home, not wait a few years down the track, when I would be saying, “I wish I’d bought the home when it was only $1,000,000 and not $2,000,000 or $3,000,000.” The way waterfront properties are increasing in value each year I know it will be worth much more in the future.

At last I could Complete this Book; I had my Cover Story.

My greatest goal since writing the bestselling book ‘How to Ask for What You Want and GET IT!’ had been to create a business opportunity that could be shared with women of all ages and their families. I wanted to take women on the journey with me when I started a brand new career and show them how to own their own small business. This is why I started AWARE Properties Pty. Ltd., a real estate company for women.

This book is just that, a journey – leaving my home city of Adelaide in 1994 to work in Sydney with the NSW Department of State and Regional Development to assist in the launch of its Women in Business – Mentor Program. For six years I worked on this exciting and rewarding program and helped it successfully, expand throughout NSW.

Coming back to Adelaide in 2000 just after the completion of the Sydney Olympic Games, I found myself in a financial struggle. The costly divorce and becoming a single mother in Sydney with no close family or emotional support, was a really difficult period in my life.

My story is one of hard work and a dedication to women. It’s about my belief in my own ability despite my age. To keep young at heart and mind we all need dreams and goals. If you have something you have been longing to start in your life, it doesn’t have to be a business, it may just be a hobby or even retiring and doing something you’re passionate about; Go for it!

If I can start a new career at 55, attending all the classes and passing all the exams to gain my real estate license then opening my own business… you can too!

I started the business using my credit cards to survive. I borrowed $1,000,000 to buy four homes in the first six months in business, and in the eighth year, I borrowed another $1,200,000 to buy the waterfront home at Port Noarlunga South.

2010 Update

Since 2000 I’ve been continually updating this book and it’s been interesting to demonstrate how property values increased in Australia over the past decade.

Unfortunately “Property Booms” don’t last forever and I wasn’t to know that a huge World Recession was about to hit Australia soon after I settled on the Port Noarlunga South home.

I never fix my interest rates or pay interest only loans, but it seemed like the right advice in April 2008 when I had a new mortgage with the Commonwealth Australia Bank for $1.2 million. I fixed the rates for 3 years at 8.4%. There were two increases in rates and they were soon over 9% so Matt was right.

A year later the variable interest rates in Australia dropped to 5.7% due to the down turn in the economy so it was bad luck for me. The fixed loan for three years meant I couldn’t sell any of the three homes I used as security because of the huge penalties charged by the bank if I was to pay off the loan. Within any 12 month period, a maximum of $10,000 was all I was allowed to pay off the loan.

Interest rates did gradually increase and people complained when banks were charging over 7% interest in 2010, but they forgot that only two years earlier the rates were over 9%.

In the eighties interest rates were over 18% in Australia. At that time I purchased my city offices and warehouse. A couple of years later I purchased the two storey attached city townhouse. Today I’m so grateful I made those daring decisions despite the huge interest rates being charged to borrow money, at that time.