Ladies, there are so many of us who dream big dreams; ones that might seem impossible to attain. I want to urge you to not give into that feeling. As someone who always dreamed of a career in real estate, I struggled with that same feeling but something in me knew that if I could find a means to get into the game, I would excel. Whatever your professional aspirations may be, you owe it to yourself to aim high and be self-defining. For those of you who might be inclined to follow down this path of real estate that I’ve chosen, I’m hoping I can offer you some insight and some inspiration. I started an online swimwear company because I fully believed it would allow me to place myself in the trajectory of my true goal. The sale of that company, Luxele, to a Hong Kong based equity fund in 2020 provided the capital that I needed to make my first seed investments into real estate projects. My company VS HOMES GmbH has continued to prosper and grow in these four years and looks to expand into other countries soon. International recognition like my inclusion in the Forbes 30 under 30 list and other accolades has come to be because of vision and determination. Has it been easy? No. Has it reaffirmed that I am capable of what I set my mind to? Most certainly! I believe that we all contain some portion of this. I hope my story and what I’ve learned can help you as well. Please, read on.
Although it’s something you’ve likely heard many times, it’s worth hearing again; pursue your passion. When I started Luxele, I loved clothing and fashion. I was confident I knew what girls in Austria liked and I focused on the European market. I took something I really enjoyed and had genuine interest in and found a way to make that a successful business venture. Along the way I tweaked it, sourcing from Portugal, then Hong Kong, and finally China until a Hong Kong based fund offered to buy my online business ,which directly led to my first ventures into real estate. Whether with Luxele or VS HOMES GmbH, I woke up every day excited about what I could achieve rather than dreading another day of working. That same excitement and dedication led to the founding of my third business Schritter Bau GmbH, which does all of the renovation/construction for VS HOMES GmbH. There’s a through line from excitement and eagerness to success, tempered by knowledge and vision.
I cannot stress enough that it’s paramount to recognize and work within a community. For myself, starting my real estate career in Vienna was essential to success. I was born and raised in Vienna. I know my Viennese culture and my people very well. It was a no brainer for me to start my business in Vienna where I have the most chances of succeeding as compared to any other country. Vienna has a very strong community of locals who want to help each other, especially in real estate. There are groups that teach people how to properly enter the real estate business. At WKO there exists a program where leaders in the community volunteer to become advisers in new startups and step up to help new and upcoming entrepreneurs. We need more and more of this and being part of this community has led me to be where I am today. I want to also stress that you can contribute positive changes to your community. In Austria, the real estate business is very male dominated. My own success has enabled me to promote my female friends and acquaintances in the real estate business. The result is more female entrepreneurs in the industry and a positive overall direction.
To make my company and my vision viable I needed to understand the trends of the market and tap into the unexplored potential. In essence, I needed to bring something to the table that others were not. This requires a lot of research and creativity. In terms of my approach, there were a number of factors that established VS Homes GmbH as unique. Acquisition is all about timing and cash flow + banking relations in real estate. To buy real estate in Austria, generally we need to invest 30% own capital and 70% can be taken from the bank against collateral for an apartment. Good deals subsist on close ties with bankers that allow for fast execution. That’s a starting point. VS HOMES GmbH is focused on renovation of preexisting structures. Good renovation on an economic budget is possible but you need to be careful, and time is money in renovation. Whenever renovating a property and before getting the contractors involved, every small detail of the renovation needs to be decided planned out. All decisions of purchase need to be decided well in advance. Any delays can turn the renovation into an extremely expensive and out of budget scenario quickly. It’s most important is to define vendors and suppliers who have good quality, good design, and good prices. Once you define the vendor relationships you can select good products upfront and plan out the whole renovation. Having the in-house team is also crucial and efficient as they are 100% focused on company work. This gives us flexibility in terms of prioritizing and effectively plan out the work plus simultaneously keeping all the teams engaged.
Like most businesses, identity and appearance are deeply impactful. Home staging is a very interesting and crucial apart of our business. As selecting furniture and art has no limit, we must be very careful in our choices and not be afraid of asking for discounts from suppliers. We must get the best deals and remain in budget while ensuring things are of good quality but also a value for the money. Social media is key to many businesses these days and the same is very true for us as well. We do sell and promote our apartments through social media channels and influencers in real estate in Europe. This name recognition helps to sell our properties faster. The faster we can renovate and sell and get our capital out the more frequently we can invest in another deal again and keep executing.
Another element of success is perceiving the trends. In terms of real estate, previous generations may have defined success as moving out of the city into the country or suburbs. However, younger generations are increasingly choosing to live close to the center and energy of cities, whether that be in Europe, China, America, or elsewhere. As the young population is coming into workforce now in Austria, no one wants to stay in secluded housing. In Europe, apartment culture is already so much more popular than in the US, and it is increasing. And even if they don’t want to buy, they want to rent and keep moving. This is making residential apartments more and more attractive to first time real estate investors who buy the apartments and rent them out. Over the years, real estate has appreciated and they are provided with a valuable and viable monthly income. This will feed into my business for the foreseeable future and provides confidence for expansion.
Even when you give it your all, you must be aware that mistakes will be made. Keep in mind that you learn some of the best and most enduring lessons from your mistakes. I’ve certainly made wrong moves but they’ve led to a stronger company. I’ve learned that when you make a bad hire, it’s best to end it rather than trying to change things. Your company culture is very valuable and as the saying goes, “one bad apple can spoil the bunch.” In the early stages of my business, I thought everyone would only want branded furnishing product and I invested too much money into high end home staging but I quickly realized I was wrong. More and more customers prefer the value for money item. With high end items, the cost of investment becomes too high and the value of furniture depreciates significantly over time even if it is just staged and not being used. Even though it seemed a sound and well intentioned move, I learned my lesson and recalculated my approach. You will likely have these small defeats but if you are astute you will find the process that works for you and your customers.