Stephanie Brennan is a force of nature: at 24 she has a million dollar property portfolio under her belt, proved entitlement does not guarantee success and shrugged off recent criticism. She spoke with Kritika Seksaria about her professional plans, entrepreneurial mindset and how her upbringing has influenced her decisions.
Being born into an entitled family does not guarantee success, but being pro-active does. Although Stephanie’s family never pressured her to be successful, she stubbornly refused to go through life without achieving something.
“I feel like being born into an entitled family is much like a double edge sword in the sense that it can either make you complacent or it can drive you. To me I never wanted to be the family member that didn’t achieve anything and whilst my family never pressured me to be successful I inherently placed pressure on myself.”
She may be a university drop-out, but Stephanie has achieved great success thanks to her perseverant nature and her desire to excel at her job. She has mixed feelings about the massive importance people give to schooling and although she sees education as the key to success, personal development is far more valuable. Stephanie quotes a recent study conducted by the Carnegie Institute of Technology, which found that 85 per cent of a person’s financial success is due to personality and the ability to communicate, negotiate and lead while only 15 per cent is due to technical knowledge. She questions why students are not taught day-to-day challenges such as how to budget or network or how to concoct a CV.
“It’s like the age old saying, you can’t learn to swim from a book and whilst education is important and I attribute a lot of my success to it, a really good mentor often means far more than a university degree because they have the knowledge and experience to impart and they already know a lot of what not to do and a little or a lot of what to do and what works.”
Stephanie started her first business in 2011 and worked with a property investment company. She quickly saw the returns property could bring and went on to study a Diploma of Financing Planning. The 24-year-old property investment guru discovered property investing was the only asset class that rises in excess of inflation and came with minimal risk so she embarked on a journey of self-discovery and self-improvement. Her stimulus was clear:
“My inspiration to build wealth was largely due to a fear of not having enough to provide for the family I hope to one day have and the fear of not being able to accomplish all I want to in this lifetime. I firmly believe that money doesn’t buy you freedom, it buys you options and my goal has always been to create lasting options for myself and to have the means and the resources to give back and help others which is a desire I hold close to my heart.”
Stephanie admits she was knocked back by the first two banks she met with because of their strict lending requirements on studios. She fell in love with a $285,000 AUD studio in Collaroy which she felt she could pay down quickly, but the banks required a large deposit while she was trying to pay the minimum. After meeting with several brokers, she finally found one who was not quoting thousands of dollars for lenders mortgage insurance.
“He suggested putting the $100,000 AUD I had in savings into the property which I said no too and he finally suggested that I look at a guarantor loan where I could use the equity in my mums unencumbered home as security, meaning the banks would lend 100% of the purchase price along with costs (stamp duty and legal fees) and I could put my $100,000 AUD into the loan after settlement meaning I could then remove my mum as guarantor and reduce my repayments to what they would have been had I paid my $100,000 to the vendors. I loved this suggestion and by the time the loan was organised I had missed out on the studio but found a fantastic 1 bedroom unit in Manly Vale on my 22nd birthday, so I signed the contract on the day and on the 16th November 2012 I moved in to my first home. What started as a struggled ending up working out much better that I’d imagined.”
Four years after her first incursion into the world of property investment, Stephanie has grown into a potent property tycoon. She thinks young investors should start small and work up.
“There are still properties available for under $400,000 AUD, I looked at a nice one bedroom unit in Newport on the northern beaches a month ago for $395,000 AUD and there are plenty of units in Brisbane within 5kms of the CBD for $350,000 AUD.
The main thing is to look around, look for positively geared properties as the positive cash flow with increase your annual income and in turn increase your ability to service more debt meaning your borrowing capacity increases and you can leverage yourself into another investment or an owner occupied home.”
Stephanie has remained calm and unstoppable even in the face of criticism. Although she admits that the negativity was disappointing and upsetting, she did not shy away from providing advice to those in need and continuing her work.
“If anything, I’ve found it has inspired and driven me further to deliver more information to the market place.”
Stephanie is not taking her success for granted. Her days start a 5 a.m. and after some reading, a workout session, a shower and a breakfast which consists of tea and Weet-Bix, she gets into work by 7.30- 8 a.m. She catches up with the administrative part of her job before most others have arrived at work and fills the rest of her day with meetings, planning, videos, interviews, workshops, working on, reviewing KPI’s etc. She believes being productive goes hand in hand with finding a structure that works for you and emphasizes the importance of planning ahead.
Despite a full schedule, she does not neglect her free time.
“My free time is spent with those closest to me, whether that’s going on a nature walk, watching TV shows, going to the theatre, trying a new restaurant or bar or going travelling.”
Stephanie flirts with the idea of retiring by 30, but admits she genuinely loves what she does. Although she prefers to have the option, retirement is not in the cards for her until she is certain she has the financial means to give her future children the same opportunities she had and until she is able to raise them and watch them grow.
For now, she wants to focus on building Step Loans to a stage where she can incorporate her ideas.
“My ideas are to implement a work placement program for street youths within the company and focus more time and energy on creating internships and bringing simple financial management into the education system.
I would also like to have the flexibility to spend more time involved with the charity I currently support called Lifeline, as giving back is a passion of mine and something I value deeply.
I would also like to establish a Pitch to Steph campaign where other aspiring entrepreneur can pitch their ideas and I will look to fund and guide their businesses.”
If you asked her about her other interests, she would tell you she wants to see the remainder of the world.
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