About us
Ian Kennedy, President
Ian’s strong foundation as a real estate investor comes from the diversity of experience from his previous careers. He spent many years as a research scientist, requiring careful study and analysis to research novel treatments for neurological disorders. He then spent a decade long career as a commercial pilot, so he knows that one wrong decision can have a big impact with massive consequences!
That’s why, as a real estate investor, Ian has invested heavily in building his expertise. He began investing in Europe over 10 years ago, and continued to grow his investment portfolio and expertise when he immigrated to Canada along with his wife and investment partner Diana Cortes. He’s studied from some of Canada’s best investors, built an expert team around him and has strategically added to his portfolio.
Realizing the potential that real estate investing held for wealth generation, he jointly purchased his first investment property in Europe in 2002, which the Company still holds. Since that time, he, along with his wife and investment partner, Diana Cortes, have acquired several other properties in the Lower Mainland of B.C. They continue to grow the Company portfolio as the right opportunities are discovered.
Today Ian applies his strong management, analytical and decision making skills in a full-time role at Aspire Real Estate, where he focuses his investment strategy in economically sound areas of the Lower Mainland of BC. The years of management and research experience have been fundamental to his success in finding strong cash flowing properties that will provide safe, consistent returns for the Company’s investment partners. He believes strongly in financial education and constantly strives to help others to fulfill their potential.
Diana (Caro) Cortes, Vice-President
Diana’s educational background is in Economics and Management, taking a double major in Global Resource Systems and Economics at the University of British Columbia.
While also studying for her degree she began her successful career as a training instructor at a major Canadian flight training unit (where she also met her husband, Ian!). She specialized in delivering complex theoretical subjects and breaking them down into simple to understand units and became a role model and mentor to her students.
As an immigrant to Canada, moving from Columbia in 2001, she also as understands the struggles that many Canadians face in building a sound financial base. She is a strong advocate of ethical financial investments and continually strives to help educate others in this field. Through her education, she has built a strong understanding of the economic forces that move the real estate cycle, knowledge which she utilizes in her roles at Aspire Real Estate.
She began investing in real estate with her husband and together they now own multiple properties. She is a caring and compassionate individual who reaches out to connect with people from all walks of life. As such, she enjoys the interaction with our clients and solving the problems and so takes the primary responsibility for tenant placement and property management at the Company.
Diana understands how marketing plays such a key role in the real estate business and enjoys continually improving her knowledge base in this area and implementing new strategies.
She is the driving force behind ensuring that the Company does business ethically and in a socially responsible manner, with a view to always trying to give back to charities, worthy causes and the community.
Our Team
The above individuals are the owners and founders of Aspire Holdings but it should be noted that we have spent several years developing an exceptionally strong team of individuals that support and strengthen our business even further, including:
• An accounting firm that is dedicated to serving businesses: this firm does the record keeping for Aspire Real Estate as well as the tax preparation. Every single document that you receive for your tax purposes will have been prepared and reviewed by this specialized firm.
• Legal Counsel: We have relationships with exceptionally strong and experienced real estate lawyers and notary’s in Vancouver. We can reach out and ask them any question at any time and get a good response quickly.
• Realtors: Aspire Real Estate works with several realtors depending on the property type, location, and required expediency of a property purchase. They are all aware of our investment strategies, goals and Company vision and provide us excellent service and pertinent market research.
• Property Management: Even though most of the Property Management is done in-house, professional management firms are available to us on an on call service, if required, and have proven to be reliable, professional, and always accessible.
• Other Real Estate Investors: We have been actively growing our network of real estate investors through social media, attending real estate investing meetings and through our own real estate mentors. Knowing other investors is critical because sometimes they have
solutions to problems you haven’t been able to solve, or they find deals in your area that aren’t right for them but are perfect for us! They can also refer us to tradespeople and contractors that we may require from time to time.
Aspire Real Estate is proud to also have business coaches and mentors with over $15M of property in their portfolio. They are respected authors, educators and investors in the real estate community. They were also named as “Best Real Estate Investors” by Canadian Real Estate magazine.
The management and team of Aspire Holdings are dedicated to the success of each and every investment made. Every day we continue to build on the already strong foundation and team behind us in order to maximize the potential return of every single deal we do.
Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine Top Investor Awards!!
