Creating an Unstoppable Culture w/ Mike Schraepfer
Welcome to the Good Life Property Management podcast! I’m your host, Steve Welty. This is a show for property management entrepreneurs who want to build not only great business, but also great lives. I’m here to help you gain the freedom to live life on your own terms while creating a positive impact in the world. Also, please check out Steve Welty's Music!
Mike Schraepfer is a super savvy broker, owner, and investor from Minnesota. We connected by chance on Facebook, and I was intrigued by his ideas on investing in real estate with a team. I’m happy to say that he’s willing to share that information with everyone in today’s episode, so don’t miss this one!
As he explains today, Mike started out “backwards” by being an investor first when he was 18. He then got into renovation and construction, and backed into property management from there. He started on the MLS, he explains, and started off with college rentals since he was a student and that was the market he understood. Now, he personally owns over 125 homes, and the entire portfolio averages over a 10% cap rate.
When Mike wanted to keep the best talent at his company, his first thought was that he wanted to help his staff invest in properties too. This would both help them financially and encourage them to keep working with Mike. He created an investment class for them, as well as a system to take away some of the financial barriers to investing in property.
In our conversation, Mike explains this 9-unit class and how it works. He’ll talk about how he works on finding a property to buy as part of the class, as well as what happens next once he’s found the property. His goal, he explains, is to take his students through all the motions so they overcome the barrier and realize that buying a property is simpler than they might think. He’ll touch on all these steps throughout our conversation, so this is a great place to start if you’re interested in implementing something like this at your company!
In This Episode:
[00:14] - Welcome to the show! Today, Mike Schraepfer is here to share some of his thoughts on investing in real estate with a team.
[01:48] - We hear about who Mike is personally and professionally, and how he became a property manager.
[03:30] - During the economic downturn, how was the market impacted in Duluth as opposed to other places?
[04:47] - Mike talks about whether his portfolio is single-family homes, duplexes, or triplexes.
[05:57] - We hear about how Mike came up with the idea of helping his team to invest in real estate, and what it looked like early on.
[08:03] - When Mike set up his class, did everyone jump on board, or were only some people interested?
[09:14] - We hear more about the class itself.
[10:39] - What does property-hunting look like for Mike, specifically when it comes to finding properties for his classes?
[12:31] - After Mike finds a property for one of his classes, what happens next?
[14:03] - Mike shares some information on his buying criteria, and talks about ways in which he avoids gambling.
[17:15] - We hear about how Mike holds title to the properties from the classes, and whether he has any partners.
[19:01] - How many properties did Mike need to have before a bank let him close as an LLC?
[22:28] - Steve points out that particularly hungry team members can go and find deals but may not qualify for a bank loan, which can lead to creating opportunities for each other.
[23:53] - Are there any pitfalls or lessons that Mike learned along the way?
[24:45] - Is there anything else culture-wise that Mike has done to become successful in his business?
[25:50] - Mike explains another initiative that he created to be a strong neighbor within the community.
[27:55] - What benefits has Mike seen, and how did they come up for him?
[29:57] - Mike talks about the flexible unlimited vacation time that his company offers.
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