Niro Thambipillay, Founder, Investment Rise
Finding success in real estate takes more than simply buying low and selling high. Of course, having a firm understanding of the market is important. But it’s also crucial to have the right mindset and the ability to spot opportunities and make quick decisions. And, most importantly, you need to have an unwavering passion and willingness to take risks along with the ability to stay focused on your goals and not be discouraged by setbacks. Acquiring all these traits, an exemplary real estate investor who is making a mark in the industry is Niro Thambipillay. One of Australia’s top property experts, Niro’s ability to maneuver, strategize and see opportunities has always been his greatest strength.
Niro first started investing in property back in 2002. At the time, property markets in Australia’s biggest cities were rising rapidly. However, the big problem he had was that the areas everyone was telling him to buy investment property in were negatively cash flowed, which made no sense to him. He thought—“why would I buy an investment property and then have to sacrifice my own lifestyle and personal cash flow?” So, he did his research and, despite living in Sydney, he decided to buy in a large regional town in a completely different state.“ Many friends of mine laughed at me. They said that if you can’t afford to buy in Sydney, then you buy in Melbourne. They are the only areas that rise in value. Yet 18 months later, my critics were stunned to see that I doubled my money, while ALSO giving me positive cash flow along the way. I couldn’t believe how well my little research experiment had worked,” shares Niro.
Of course, Niro wasn’t always so successful with his investments and initially, he made several mistakes that really hurt him financially. However, he learned from each one of them and used those mistakes to fine-tune his property investing system. As a result, he was able to start achieving some great investing results. Soon, friends and family started asking him for help investing in property. Niro loved helping them achieve great results and more importantly, he was determined to help them avoid some of the mistakes he had made along his investing journey. And since he enjoyed doing that, he decided to make a career out of helping people invest in property. Initially, he chose to work for a few different employers to get a feel for the industry, but he always had a dream of working for himself. So, in 2016, with the imminent birth of his second child, he decided to create Investment Rise to help people invest in property safely and securely.
Helping People Achieve Their Financial Goals
While most property investors and even property investment companies think—it’s all about the property first, for Niro, the property comes last. Rather than starting with the property, he believes in starting with the client and knowing their current financial position, their goals, their fears, their risk profile, potential changes in their life, etc. This gives the company a great understanding of its clients that further helps it to map out a plan to help its clients get from where they are to where they want to get to.
Following this approach, today, Investment Rise is helping people make progress towards their financial and retirement goals. The company understands that investing in property can sometimes be a complex and scary process. Thus, it simplifies things for its clients and gives them peace of mind.
A Visionary Entrepreneur with a Rare Intellect
Niro wanted to help more people get educated about investing in property safely. That’s why he launched the Property Investing Australia podcast and the Investment Rise TV Youtube Channel. His goal was to help people invest in property based on data and independent advice rather than fear and the opinions of others so that they could make the best decisions for themselves and their families. “I also wanted to cut through the noise that is often present out there. For example, at the end of 2016, when property prices in Sydney and Melbourne were rising sharply, I came out and said that both those two markets were set for a sharp correction and would struggle. I based these predictions on data but I still copped a lot of criticism from many sharks in the industry. Yet, it turned out I was right and between mid-2017 and 2019, those 2 markets had their biggest downturn in the last 50 years,” opines Niro.
Later, in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, many people in media headlines predicted price falls of up to 30%. But Niro predicted that property prices in Australia would not crash. Rather, there would be a short settling period and then prices would boom. Again, many people criticized him, only for his predictions to be correct.
Weaving an Empowering Work Culture
As someone who likes to lead by example, Niro believes in supporting and empowering his team by giving them a voice and allowing their strengths to shine. “My leadership style is inclusive. I like to get input from everyone on my team. I understand that many of them are smarter than I am. Once I have considered everyone’s input, where needed, I will make a decision and then my job is to ensure that everyone understands the reasons behind that decision,” affirms Niro.
According to Niro, the role of a good leader is to ultimately get the best out of each member of the team he or she leads. He believes that if leaders can get the best out of their team, it allows their business to be the best it can be and helps as many clients as possible. Besides this, Niro also emphasizes on trust, which is a big part of Investment Rise’steam culture. “For me, my team is most important. Without them, I could not do what I do. They all work hard so I’ll do things like give them a surprise bonus day off. Ultimately, our team is all about trust. I trust my team fully and I have found that motivates them to keep delivering,” adds Niro.
Success Is Family
When asked about his unique perspective on success, Niro defines success in one word: Family. For the avid business leader, success is the ability to have the time to spend with family and the financial resources to give them financial security. He feels that the more families he can help achieve financial security and financial independence through investing in property, the more he is able to help his family. Niro strongly believes in the words of a great motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar—“You can have everything you want in life if you just help enough people get what they want in life.” He strives to follow this wholeheartedly and aims to conduct his business in such a manner.
Keeping this mindset and belief at the core, Niro aspires to grow as a person and an entrepreneur. As Investment Rise continues to grow and expand, he believes this will bring new challenges and new opportunities, which he is looking forward to. “In particular, we are about to launch an education arm to our business – so that we can teach more people how to invest in a safe but profitable manner. This is in line with what I said above – helping more people to get what they want,” concludes Niro.