Next on his list is fulfilling his dream of entering the property investment world. In this episode Jeloudev shares why he put it off for so long, and how putting himself in his clients’ shoes— along with one other big change— gave him the push he needed to get going. Despite some stumbles along the way, the path led him to a particular buyer’s agent who took him under his wing ad is helping him to fly high.

Timestamps:
01:12 | Caring Where It’s Needed Most
05:55 | Where To From Here?
07:35 | In a Nutshell
11:12 | Finding His Niche
13:55 | A Different Perspective
16:31 | Helping People Fight for Their Rights
19:38 | Picking Up Property
23:34 | There Goes My Hero

Resources and Links:

[00:24:36] And within that strategy meeting, Dragan made us feel comfortable, and really tried to understand what it [was] that we were trying to achieve. And the question that Dragan was asking was the 'why'. What is that you want out of it? Why are you looking into property? And what are your goals? 

This is Property Investory where we talk to successful property investors to find out more about their stories, mindset and strategies.

 

I’m Tyrone Shum and in this episode we’re speaking with Alex Jeloudev, the hard worker with a heart of gold who’s seting off on his investment journey. He shares how he got to where he is today both professionally and in property, and what keeps him so humble and grounded. Plus, he re-introduces us to the tall man who appeared to save him when he needed it most.

Jeloudev is the first to admit his surname often throws people for a loop, but luckily he’s just the type to roll with it and laugh it off. As a general manager at CatholicCare, his days are varied and busy with a lot going on, which is just the way he likes it. He’s dedicated to his rewarding role and recognises the privileges he has that simply aren’t offered to some.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:01:12] At the moment, we support quite vulnerable people with disability through our NDIS [National Disability Insurance Scheme] funded disability support. So I manage a team of staff that deliver day services and day programmes, individualised programmes, weekend supports, drop in home support, [and] we also provide [and] support independent living services. So full 24 hour, all of life care for people with disability in a group kind of setting. Support coordination within the NDIS base. 

 

[00:01:43] And also, from a seniors perspective, we deliver Commonwealth Home Support programmes known as CHSP over the Central Coast and Northern Sydney areas. That's a bit of a snapshot in terms of what CatholicCare does in that space. So I generally manage within that particular division.

 

[00:02:03] [I'm] relatively new. So March of this year, I moved across to Catholiccare. Prior to that, I was working with another disability service provider called Northcote. I was working there as an acting senior Operations Manager and service manager as well. So both in the disability sector.

Tyrone Shum:   

He was born and raised in western Sydney, growing up in the suburb of Abbotsbury. His childhood was a time full of outdoorsy adventures, but like any good child, it involved his fair share of computer games as well.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:03:14] I grew up and went to Patrician Brothers' High School in Fairfield. I got my secondary education there. And after that, I went to university at Western Sydney University and did a Bachelor of Social Work degree.

  

[00:03:39] I've grown up in a family of five kids. 

[00:03:51] [I] grew up in a big family [and] have [been] really lucky to have really loving parents. So they've always gone above and beyond to make sure that we kids had a awesome life and an awesome start to to our life here in Australia. 

  

[00:04:09] So always a busy household. We were very busy playing a lot of sports. My dad was very active when he was growing up, so very much involved in rugby league. So I played a lot of football through primary school and through high school. [I] played a lot of representative football for Patrician Brothers' College Fairfield as well, [I] played for lower grades and Paramatta Eagles as well. 

  

[00:04:39] Very, very active. Always going to a training session somewhere. Always kept busy. I think my dad did it on purpose to get us out of trouble. Always very busy as kids. We were either popping the boat on the towball and going down to the river and going waterskiing. So very, very active family. Very outdoors, loved getting out on boats, fishing, camping, hiking. So very, very active childhood.

  

[00:05:20] We had our LAN parties, don't worry. We used to play a bit of COD, a bit of this, bit of that. So it was all mixed in there. So, very outdoors, but we also liked the technology side of things as well.

Tyrone Shum:   

He played football all the way through high school, and planned to continue when he started university. However, a couple of injuries stood in his way.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:05:55] That then created a fork in the road for me, whether I decided to go down the path of sport, or go down the path of a profession. 

  

[00:06:04] And that's where I started looking around. And social work was a really good fit for myself, my upbringing, and my values as well. So that's kind of why I went to the track of social work.

Tyrone Shum:   

While many reach a crossroads when they approach the end of high school, Jeloudev wasn’t one of them.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:06:36] For some reason, I didn't have the desire to go and travel abroad. That never kind of was a major interest for me. For me, what I really wanted to do with the support of my parents was to get a good education. 

  

[00:06:51] So after high school, I didn't elect to go and take a year break or year off. So we went down the track of looking at what options suited my personality, what traits and general care factor, really, in life. So that kind of guided me to go down the track of giving social work and go and after the first couple of semesters, I was hooked.

Tyrone Shum:   

He gives an overview of the area of social work he’s in and why it appeals to him the way it does.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:07:35] Social work is pretty much a bridge between allied health therapy supports [and] psychology, and it really takes a high level view in terms of a person's situation. So it depends what kind of context you're looking at, if you're looking from a health perspective, working within a hospital setting, or community social work perspective, as well. 

  

[00:07:58] But it really looks at a global view of what's happening for a person in a particular situation. It doesn't focus on one particular impact, or one particular thing happening in a person's life, it looks at the holistic process of a person's situation. So it might look at the person may be discharged out of hospital, for example, it'll look at the whole social aspect of that person's life. Look at their support networks, and look, all that ties into all the allied health support and other professions. So it helps kind of bridge a lot of the gaps that you find in a lot of other sectors.

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:08:36] That's the beauty about social work is that you can actually look at a holistic point of view. Because I know you can easily just go to, like, maybe a physio or psychologist and individual services, but the problem is that if it doesn't fit into the overall big picture of things, then it can get a little bit skewed. 

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:08:50] It's really a linking role. So you find a lot of the time, whether in a hospital discharge process or community social work, they're usually the ones that hit up those meetings. [They're] usually the ones that take charge and take lead, and it's a linking role between the different professions and looks at the person holistically.

Tyrone Shum:   

When most people say they went a bit silly after high school, it’s usually a less-than-family-friendly story involving alcohol, but his university silliness was a very different brand.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:09:18] I was a bit silly. So I pretty much worked full time while I was doing full time university. 

  

[00:09:26] I loved it. And I was working casual and part time for a disability service as well. Where I was working shift work within the disability sector, whilst I was studying at university as well. So again, your real life feel and example in terms of what's realistically out there. 

  

[00:09:50] And it just really lit my fire even more, working with people with a disability, looking at really vulnerable communities as well. So it really, really did inspire me on to give it my all in university. [In] hindsight, I probably would have gone part time and taken it a little bit easier myself. But I guess that's all part of the journey.

  

[00:10:35] It was a really good real world test.

Tyrone Shum:   

He did some placements in hospitals, which gave him a different perspective and ultimately helped him choose the community path he’s now on.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:11:12] I have the utmost respect for social workers in the health field, in hospitals. But I quickly found that that it wasn't for me. I found it very, very transactional and episodic. Where[as] in the field that I'm in now, in disabilities and in seniors, I have that continuity of support and continuity of care, and connection with our families and our customers as well. 

  

[00:11:37] So when someone's discharged from hospital, you don't know what the outcome was. There's a lot of unknown. Whereas in this space, working with a provider that supports people with all of life care, or more ongoing support, there's that continuity. 

 

[00:11:58] And that's where I gravitated towards that model of support versus being in mainstream social work, because I had that daily connection. [It] may not be with every particular client or family every single day. But over a period of time you maintain those connections, maintain those relationships, you can see progress, you can see when goals are achieved, outcomes are achieved. 

  

[00:12:21] So it's more rewarding, I find, to have that ongoing continuity and connection rather than going through hospital. It is a very busy environment. There's a lot of pressures going on. So I find it more rewarding [to] have that continuity of contact.

Tyrone Shum:   

He started working in the disability sector as a casual before he did his placement, and essentially just wanted to give it a go.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:13:03] In a few of my uni courses, uni units, there were discussions around people, disability, around the upcoming NDIS movement away from your general block funding model that was there at the time, and I was intrigued. I was like, 'Okay, interesting'. So I wanted to learn more about that. And that's why I jumped in to my first casual role, and started working with that vulnerable community.

Coming up after the break, Jeloudev gets into the big plusses behind property investment…

[00:20:17] The option where we got real growth, real opportunity, and really to just get back to what we love, rather than focusing on all the bills, all the funds coming out, cost of living has gone through the roof. 

We delve into property and the big question on many young couples’ minds…

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:21:28] So we were obviously in a rental situation. We just got married and wanted to make a decision. Do we continue renting ourselves? Or do we go and buy a property? 

He details the moment he met the man who would change it all, for the better.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:24:16] It was very well advertised, it was very sleek. I thought, 'This is worth a look'. 

And that’s next. I’m Tyrone Shum and you’re listening to Property Investory.

INSERT BUYERS AGENCY AUSTRALIA MIDROLL ADVERT.

Tyrone Shum:   

Jeloudev started working in the disability sector in 2008, his innate talent in the field allowing him to progress quickly in his roles. 

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:13:55] In the first role I started in was supporting people with dual diagnosis. So it was working with people with both physical and psychosocial disabilities. So you may have someone with a physical disability, where they might have really struggled with their mental health. So that is a challenge in itself. So I worked in that environment for about four years [or] five years. 

 

[00:14:17] And then after that period, then I started. NDIS was it wasn't far away and [I] wanted to know more about the NDIS. So I started to look for other roles that might allow me to go into a non gov[ernment] role. So initially, it wasn't a government role. 

  

[00:14:35] Then I moved to an organisation called Cerebral Palsy Alliance. And they're based on the northern beaches. And they were also a fantastic organisation to work for. They had fantastic training, really, really fantastic cause that they were working for. So that gave me an opportunity to look and learn more about physical disability rather than the mental health side of things. 

  

[00:15:00] So we supported people predominantly with cerebral palsy. And a lot of those customers were either semi or non ambulant. So it was a very, very different cohort of clients to start to learn, to get to know their needs. So that in itself gave me a completely different appreciation to people with disability. 

[00:15:27] Whereas previously, I'd support clients that are very ambivalent, so able to mobilise independently, able to communicate reasonably well. Where on the other hand, now you're working with a cohort that's quite vulnerable. That's non ambulant. And oftentimes are non verbal. So that really helped me with a lot of humility, and really kind of helped me focus on all the positive things that were happening in my life that I took for granted.  

This helped to ground him and solidified his passion and desire to support people with disability.

Alex Jeloudev:  

[00:16:31] And also the teams of staff and managers providing supports, I think it really did help my career in understanding some of the challenges that staff do go and are forced with from day to day, in the best of times. 

  

[00:16:51] Although the NDIS funding has been an amazing step in the right direction, there's still an ongoing battle, unfortunately, for a lot of clients and families that are still unfortunately fighting to get the right level of funding. 

  

[00:17:06] So being there and understanding the process, being there for their plan reviews. The preparation just for a plan review is humongous in terms of getting all the participant's supportive documentation, [occupational therapy] reports, speech reports, physio reports. There's a lot that goes in to putting together funding for participant for a financial year or wherever the plan length may be. 

  

[00:17:32] So that's where I've got a lot of that exposure in preparing those annual plan reviews for clients, and with the families as well. So that was a really big eye opener into the NDIS. So I definitely had a greater appreciation for for people with disabilities and their families as well. So that really kind of opened me up to the NDIS and a different mindset for the world of disabilities for the better. 

  

[00:18:02] So that was kind of my journey into Cerebral Palsy Alliance, that's where I've really got my opportunities for leadership, which also, I'm very, very grateful for. [I] had some really good leaders that are still at Cerebral Palsy Alliance, and still doing fantastic work there. So I can't praise them enough.

Tyrone Shum:   

Jeloudev and his wife Cat always knew they wanted to do something within property, they just weren’t sure what would suit them best. However, their end goal has always been crystal clear.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:19:38] The key word that we're looking for is financial freedom. That's what we're really after. 

  

[00:19:45] And we wanted to make sure that we could continue working in the field that we love, and focus all of our attention on the areas that we love, rather than paying a mortgage. That's pretty much it. 

  

[00:20:00] And we saw getting into property investing as one of the main solutions for us that fit our profile and fit our exposure to risk. And we felt that that is, in our perspective, the safest option. The option where we got real growth, real opportunity, and really to just get back to what we love, rather than focusing on all the bills, all the funds coming out, cost of living has gone through the roof. So we wanted to kind of safeguard ourselves. That's kind of how we started to think that way. I've been thinking that way for a couple of years now.

Tyrone Shum:   

While they’ve purchased their principal place of residence, they had always been on the sidelines watching friends and family invest— until now.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:21:02] In terms of our place of residence, we ended up moving up from from the Shire. Which my wife would not forgive me for! Cat will giggle after this. But we were always very close to the water. So I've dragged her all the way up to Gosford. So that actually was purely for affordability. 

  

[00:21:28] So we were obviously in a rental situation. We just got married and wanted to make a decision. Do we continue renting ourselves? Or do we go and buy a property? 

  

[00:21:39] So we both agreed that we'd go and buy our own property, and we started looking around. It probably took us about six months. And look, definitely me, I was definitely a novice in looking for property. I wasn't really aware of what to look out for. But we landed into a property here in Kariong on the Central Coast. Good decision.

  

[00:22:06] And so we moved up here in 2017 [or] 2016, something like that. And so more recently, we wanted more information about investing in property. So we went to a recent property investment expo in Sydney, I think was the International Convention Centre. I think it was early this year.

 

[00:22:33] And we walked in there like goldfish. We didn't know what we were looking for. So we walk[ed] in, and I have to admit, we were so overwhelmed.

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:22:44] There's a lot of information out there.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:22:45] There's a lot of information out there. And again, I put myself in the shoes of a person with a disability. There are other expos that do occur a couple of times a year, both at ICC in Homebush and other areas, and I could really try to understand how they felt. 

[00:23:03] I was so overwhelmed with so many exhibitors, so much information being thrown at you. And I just said to Cat, I said, 'Look, this is just too much'. So we had to pace ourselves and walk through and, 'Yep, we'll take a brochure here, yeah, okay, right, right.' Very transactional. 

  

[00:23:23] And then we came across a very tall character standing in a stall. 

Tyrone Shum:   

[00:23:32] He's quite tall, yes.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:23:34] And I introduced myself and Dragan [Dimovski] introduced himself and I was like, 'Oh okay'. So we got talking. And Dragan was really approachable. He had a genuine conversation with us around what we wanted. And that conversation out of the whole day really helped us get a bit of an understanding into property investment. And some reassurance that we're heading in the right direction. 

  

[00:24:10] Dragan was at his stall, Buyer's Agency Australia. It was very well advertised, it was very sleek. I thought, 'This is worth a look'. And then after we got talking, Dragan gave us that assurance. And that got us to the point where we were happy to go for a follow up strategy meeting with Dragan. 

  

[00:24:36] And within that strategy meeting, Dragan made us feel comfortable, and really tried to understand what it [was] that we were trying to achieve. And the question that Dragan was asking was the 'why'. What is that you want out of it? Why are you looking into property? And what are your goals? 

  

[00:24:57] So we were able to have a real candid conversation. And we had laid out our goals to Dragan in terms of financial freedom, what passive income we'd like to see over a period of time, and being realistic about things as well. So Dragan was really, really good around listening, setting those goals out, and really just clarifying. And reflective listening to really both understand what our goals are to really make sure that both parties are really compatible. 

  

[00:25:32] Because not everyone's gonna fit with everyone. Everyone's got different personalities, different needs different goals. And that's something I really do respect [about] Dragan, he's taken the time to go and make that assessment to make sure we both are compatible and we both meet each other's needs. 

  

[00:25:52] It was really, really clear from the onset in terms of our goals. And from there, we started on the journey. And as Dragan has said, 'Your first property is always going to be most challenging'.

  

[00:26:07] He wasn't wrong. With Dragan's guidance we were able to be steered in the right direction, in terms of being linked up to really good quality brokers. We have an existing accountant. So from that perspective, that was all good. We've got a trusted accountant, so that that makes all the difference. 

  

[00:26:29] But from the other side of things, he did really help link up to the key people that you need to have, one of which is obviously a broker. And from there we looked at a property which we  just settled on recently in southeast Queensland.

Tyrone Shum:   

When it comes to their goals, the Jeloudevs see themselves as a little ambitious, whereas others may see them as a young couple with reasonable goals and an achievable dream.

Alex Jeloudev:   

[00:27:21] One of our first priorities and goals was to upgrade the family home. So being in Gosford, we love being on the water side. So one of our goals is to move to a waterfront property. That's one of our ultimate goals. And, obviously, that's not a cheap affair. So that was one of our primary goals. 

[00:28:23] In terms of the waterfront property that we're looking at, we're looking at about between five to seven years. That's the timeframe we've set for that, thinking, look, it'd be realistic enough to potentially look at that. 

Alex Jeloudev’s story continues in the next episode of Property Investory. We dive into first investment property jitters…

 

[00:05:02] The experience was, I'd say honestly, really, really positive. Obviously, coming into our first purchase, we were so anxious. We were about to spend a quite a substantial amount of money. 

 

How being pointed in the right direction and given options to consider opened his eyes…

 

[00:10:19] And at the end of the day, we've made the decision, but it really, really helped us and opened our eyes up.

He reveals how much he spent on his first investment property and its expected equity uplift.

[00:11:59] And I guess the bonus to that is using Buyer's Agency Australia, and using Dragan, we were able to get a really good deal. And we got [it for] well below the market value as well. And that's something that gave us the edge. 

 

And that’s next time on Property Investory.