Jenny Milford has never lived in Toowong, but she has sold real estate in the area for nearly four decades.
Specialising in riverfront apartments in the St Lucia and Toowong area, Jenny celebrates 37 years in real estate this year and is the longest-standing existing employee in the Ray White Queensland network.
“I joined Ray White Toowong in 1977. Back in those early days we worked seven days a week, from 7:00am - 7:00pm, but is was such fun, we had a ball doing it and I am still enjoying it as much today as I was then.
“I began working in real estate before we had all this technology and in the early years, we had to communicate via a two-way radio when we were on the road. Eventually we had car phones installed and today, I wonder how we ever got around without mobile phones.
“Email was another thing we didn’t have for many, many years. We had a driver who would deliver contracts to the solicitors in the City - How times change!” Jenny recalls.
During her time in the industry, Jenny has seen all the different property cycles and lived through the down periods - many times over.
“I remember one year - it was just after the big floods in Brisbane - I had come back from a Christmas break and didn’t have one listing for six months. When you work in riverfront properties during a flood, I guess that is to be expected!
“Slowly, throughout the latter part of the year, things picked up. That’s one of the first things I learnt in my real estate career - that things will always turn around. When I’m experiencing challenges, I just put one foot in front of the other and I don’t let it get me down.”
For Jenny, she’s continually motivated by the people who entrust her with the sale of their property.
“It’s about helping people, really. One of the proudest moments of my career was when I learned I was written into the Will of one of my clients. They wanted to make sure that I looked after the sale of their property. It wasn’t an easy sale and there were many hurdles along the way, but I was determined to see it through and get the job done properly.This did take the best past of five years for the Estate to finalise .
A career not without its challenges, Jenny appreciates that a strong property market can also have an impact on life.
“One year I remember working flat out from Easter all the way through to Christmas without a break. When it got to the end of the year, exhaustion caught up with me as soon as I stopped working and I promptly fainted!”
Having just renewed her license for another three years, Jenny has no immediate plans of retirement.
“I have thought about retirement in the past. When my husband was ill I felt sure I would retire, but he insisted that I keep working - for my own sake. I just figure while I am fit and able, I’ll keep going,” Jenny concludes.
The final chapters are still to be written in the Jenny Milford story.
