In 1990, Jackie Fitzgerald stepped into the financial services industry as a trainee financial planner with no previous experience.
What she did have was something she considered even more important: an overwhelming determination to succeed.
There was no elaborate strategy behind that ambition. It was a feeling, a powerful belief that she could build something meaningful if she was willing to learn, work hard and keep moving forward.
More than three decades later, Jackie Fitzgerald has built a career spanning financial services, investment management, international markets and property. Her journey eventually led to the creation of Homes or Houses, a specialist property business born from her own experience of trying to manage UK property investments while living overseas.
Today, her story represents more than entrepreneurship. It is a story about recognising a problem personally, understanding it professionally and creating a business designed to solve it.
Jackie Fitzgerald and the Early Connection Between Finance and Property
Property had fascinated Jackie Fitzgerald since her teenage years.
At the time, discovering property meant looking through newspapers or studying the displays in estate agent windows. It was a very different world from today’s instantly accessible property platforms.
Jackie had already bought her own home before beginning her financial services career, but she quickly realised how much she still had to learn about the relationship between finance and property.
As her career developed, property remained a personal interest alongside her work in financial services and investment management.
Then came a major change.
In 1999, Jackie moved to Bahrain in the Middle East. From 2003, she was based in Dubai during a period she describes as one of the biggest real estate booms she had witnessed. Her professional career took her into investment banking and Middle East equities, while personally she continued investing in property in her home region of North East England.
Living in the Middle East for 13 years also gave her a completely different perspective on distance, investment and property management.
During her time in the Middle East, she moved home 11 times.
For Jackie, moving was almost part of the adventure.
But investing in UK property from overseas was another story.
Jackie Fitzgerald Turns a Personal Challenge Into a Business
The idea for Homes or Houses emerged directly from Jackie Fitzgerald’s own experience.
Being based in the UAE while investing in the UK exposed her to the practical challenges of managing property from another country. Finding the right opportunities, navigating different professionals and keeping control of investments remotely could be complicated.
The business was created to make that process easier.
Homes or Houses was established to support investors looking to acquire and manage UK residential property, including international and expatriate clients. The company’s own history explains that Jackie’s idea for a property purchase “one stop shop” came from the difficulties she personally experienced while investing from overseas.
That personal insight became the foundation of an entrepreneurial venture.
Instead of simply identifying a gap in the market, Jackie Fitzgerald had experienced the gap herself.
That distinction became important.
She understood the frustrations of being the person on the other side of the transaction.
Jackie Fitzgerald Builds Homes or Houses From the Ground Up
Building Homes or Houses became both Jackie’s greatest achievement and one of her toughest challenges.
She was creating a UK business specifically for overseas clients without advertising and without an established business model to copy.
The challenge was not simply launching the company. It was continuing to evolve as the property sector changed.
The business was established in 2012, and its current model supports investors through stages ranging from property sourcing and acquisition to management and eventual sale.
For Jackie Fitzgerald, longevity has become a source of pride.
She has watched regulations and expectations within the UK property industry change significantly while continuing to adapt the business. Her own professional profile now describes more than 30 years of investment experience and extensive experience in residential property acquisition and management.
The result is a business built around experience, relationships and detailed knowledge of the property investment process.
Jackie Fitzgerald Believes Every Client Is Someone’s Family
One of the most important lessons in Jackie Fitzgerald’s career came from a deeply personal experience.
Only three years into her career, she gave investment advice to her father as he prepared for retirement.
The responsibility affected her profoundly.
For the first time, she felt the weight of what it really meant to give financial advice to another person. It was not simply about a customer sitting across the desk.
It was someone’s father.
Someone’s mother.
Someone’s brother or sister.
Someone’s family.
That experience changed the way Jackie viewed every client she would advise in the future.
She learned that behind every financial decision is a human being with personal goals, aspirations, concerns and fears.
That principle has remained central to her leadership style.
It explains why trust and reputation are so important to her and why she places such emphasis on understanding the individual rather than simply completing a transaction.
Jackie Fitzgerald Builds Success Through Trust and Integrity
For Jackie Fitzgerald, reputation is not something created through marketing alone.
It is built through consistency.
She believes in sharing information freely, being straightforward with people and taking responsibility for the services her business provides.
Her philosophy is rooted in the belief that there is enough opportunity for everyone.
That approach extends beyond business.
Jackie is also proud of her work with support companies providing housing for more vulnerable members of society, an area she hopes to continue supporting.
This adds another dimension to her understanding of property.
A property is not simply an asset.
It can be an investment, a home, a source of security and, in supported housing, part of a person’s pathway toward stability.
Jackie Fitzgerald on Learning, Mentorship and Growth
After decades in business and finance, Jackie Fitzgerald does not describe success as a straight line.
She believes some of the most valuable lessons come from mistakes.
Her philosophy is simple: learning in business is no different from learning at school. Find good teachers, listen carefully and practise.
Again and again.
Throughout her career, Jackie says she has been fortunate to cross paths with exceptional colleagues and mentors who eventually became lifelong friends.
That experience has shaped another important belief: success does not need to be built through constant competition.
Share knowledge.
Share skills.
Help other people grow.
For Jackie, collaboration can create opportunities that competition alone cannot.
Jackie Fitzgerald and the Next Chapter of Property Leadership
After more than three decades across finance, investment and property, the journey of Jackie Fitzgerald continues to evolve.
Her experience has taken her from trainee financial planner to international investment professional and entrepreneur. It has taken her from the UK to the Middle East and back again, while giving her first-hand experience of the challenges facing investors who want to manage property across borders.
Homes or Houses grew from that experience into a business serving UK and international investors in the North East property market. The market has changed over the years and as institutional investment enters the UK housing market, Jackie is delighted to be involved, via an appointment as Residential Asset Manager for the first North East specialist fund Develop North PLC.
Jackie is proud to provide an alternative option for those investors who believe in residential property as a valued asset class, but would prefer to access the income and capital gain without the daily operational responsibilities. Develop North PLC provides this opportunity.
But perhaps the most enduring part of Jackie’s story is not the number of properties, transactions or years in business.
It is the principle behind them.
Treat people with respect.
Understand their goals.
Take responsibility.
Keep learning.
Share what you know.
And never forget that behind every investment decision is a person trusting you with something important.
For Jackie Fitzgerald, that is what real business success means.
Not simply building a company, but building a reputation that can stand the test of time.
Connect with Jackie Fitzgerald on LinkedIn to follow her work across property investment, residential asset management, entrepreneurship and the North East property market.
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