' Your purpose in life is to find your gift and your mission in life is to give it away .’ - MARGARET HIRSCH
WOMEN IN REAL ESTATE something she could see , feel , and touch , and that is exactly what she did . From a meagre start where she saved R100 a month from her salary until she could afford to pay cash for a small house she eyed in Durban North , which she bought way back then for R2000 cash at the time ! She subsequently sold the house for R7,500 and then went on to buy another house in Durban North for about R10,000 . This house she also eventually sold and then bought a piece of land in the same area in 1974 and built a house which cost her R24,000 .
Slowly , but surely she built up her property portfolio literally one step at a time . Margaret says , ‘ There is no get rich quick solution here !’ In 1979 she started Hirsch ’ s and all the money she had made went directly into that business . Shortly after she started , she realised that paying rent for the business was not an option so she went to an auction when a property at 27 Umhlanga Rocks Drive in Durban , KZN was up for auction . She bought their first commercial property for the princely sum of R115,000 . She is eternally grateful to Alec Yuill ( who was Bank Manager of Standard Bank , Durban North at that time ) who believed in Margaret and her business and loaned them enough money to cover their shortfall on the mortgage and expenses .
This created the ideal platform for buying more properties . Over the years Margaret has bought and sold so many properties and each step was one step closer towards the Billion Rand property portfolio she was aiming for and has acquired today . Today Hirsh ’ s and Margaret own all their own properties where they operate from , both in her personal and business capacity .
As Margaret says , common sense must tell you that there is only so much land available on this planet . There is never going to be any
' Your purpose in life is to find your gift and your mission in life is to give it away .’ - MARGARET HIRSCH