Announcer 1:05
Gloria Steinem once said, we will never solve the feminization of power until we solve the masculinity of wealth. Barbara Provost and Maggie Nielsen are the team at purse strings that will help you navigate the ins and outs of financial independence, so that you can be financially fearless. This is women and money, the shit we don’t talk about.

Maggie Nielsen 1:28
This topic on buying and selling and renovations of homes is so important because real estate is a fantastic investment. Before we dive into all of that, welcome, Michelle. We’re all eager to hear from you and your expertise. So before we dive in, can share a little who you are and what you do.

Michelle Schroeder 1:46
Absolutely thrilled to be here. I love the purse strings, network and family and what it provides for women and financial fearlessness. My name is Michelle Schroeder. I’m a realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices at Chicago, and myself and my business partner, Britton shutters, we have a team called the Going Beyond Group. And we are called the going beyond group because we truly go beyond the transaction. We want to provide a really high level of understanding and commitment to our clients, and we understand that real estate is one of the largest transactions anyone’s ever going to make in their life. So it’s not a transaction based relationship for us. It’s definitely holistic. We want you to be a client, and we want to be a trusted partner for life. So once you’ve purchased we want to be able to be a resource for you, with our contractors, with our trusted vendors and advisors, CPAs, all the field, all the folks that help you keep your real estate investment healthy. So excited to be here today and talk about investment properties. Awesome, awesome.

Maggie Nielsen 3:03
Yeah, we’re excited. I can’t wait.

Barbara Provost 3:07
We’ve been so looking forward to dig into this, because it’s a topic that, you know, real estate can seem scary in terms of an investment. You know, it’s not like, Oh, you just go to a bank and put your money in and gain interest. It’s really, it can be what I think is a big step. And so we’re glad you’re here today to break it all down. And so Michelle, can you start out? Let’s say you’re working with a new client who’s new to investing and wants to start investing in real estate. How do you get started?

Michelle Schroeder 3:36
Well, first we start with a buyer consultation. So regardless of what type of property you’re looking to purchase, where it is in the city, what your price point is, we want you to have an understanding of what the process is and truly talking to a realtor, talking to myself, my team really should be step one. Your very next step is, of course, going to be talking to a mortgage professional figuring out the financing part, but we want to make sure that you understand what is ahead. I think sometimes with real estate being at everyone’s fingertips, it’s really easy to be scrolling going to open houses, maybe using an online mortgage calculator to try and figure things out, but that’s going to give you a false sense of security, and it’s not going to help you analyze the market. So even if you are calculating what you think you could purchase, you’re not going to know if it’s really going to be achieving your goals, unless you discuss those goals with a realtor. So they really do want to focus in on what are your goals someone who’s going to buy a property and own it for five to 10 years is going to have different strategic goals than someone who’s going to buy a property and hold on to it for 30 plus years. Someone who’s going to buy a property and wants it to be turnkey, some investment properties are turnkey. Where you purchase them, you. Immediately you can move a tenant into it, and that’s really all you have to do is start collecting rent and no renovations needed. Whereas someone who’s buying a renovation project, they have to a lot more calculations and lead time. And you know, there’s different things to consider on both ends, both work. Neither one is better than the other. It just again. It needs to align with your goals and what’s going on in your life. Got

Barbara Provost 5:24
it I think the hardest part, I think, in my mind, to get started is, let’s say you already live in a home and you have a mortgage and now you want to buy an investment property, let’s say for someone to rent. You know, there’s a lot of calculations into the property I already have, versus how can I buy another property as well? So are there thumb nail calculations that you go to or what should people consider when they’re looking to buy a second property for an investment?

Michelle Schroeder 5:53
This is a great question, and one that we get often. I do rely heavily on my lender partners, just because, as they’re the one that’s issuing the loan, they’re going to really have final say into in terms of, like qualifications. But I think some people are not aware that you can leverage equity that is existing in your current home towards buying an investment property, as well as when you’re looking at the qualifications for income. When you’re buying specifically multi unit buildings, you can use the income that you would receive as part of the qualifying income, and actually you might be able to do that with condos as well, but the lender would really be able to help you look at how that would all fall into place. But you’re not just looking at can you afford the mortgage of this second property. We’re also looking at what rent are you going to be collecting, and how can we apply that towards your qualifications to purchase that property?

Barbara Provost 6:57
Good to know. I had no idea. And so

Maggie Nielsen 6:59
if you did something like that. Do you already have to have, like, the the Walters, who they’re going to be, before you apply for that property? I mean, it seems like what comes first, the chicken or the egg, like the place you get, the tenants, you know, you apply for the mortgage. How does that kind of lay out? Because I know other people would have, like, hesitancies on sharing their finances for you to buy a place. You know what I mean, absolutely.

Michelle Schroeder 7:22
So sometimes you might be looking at buying a property that already has an existing tenant in place. So if you buy that property, you inherit that tenant, therefore you inherit that lease and whatever the rental rate is. So you’re kind of locked into what that rate is. If you buy a vacant property, you do not have to have a tenant lined up. But we would use market analysis. You know, the appraisal that would happen, would use market analysis to figure out what the market value rent of that property would be based on other closed, similar properties. So that’s how the bank’s gonna improve. It.

Barbara Provost 8:01
Interesting. Got it. So for someone who’s just getting started, do you have a recommendation, like, should they buy a condo? Should they buy? Like you were talking about buying a three flat, which you know that worked for you, that seems like a much bigger investment. So what are your suggestions for dipping your toe in and getting started.

Michelle Schroeder 8:23
So I do think it comes down to a combination of factors. Obviously there’s the financial qualifications factor. So if we assume, for the purpose of this conversation, that you qualify for a condo, a two unit, a three unit or a four unit, let’s just say for this comparison, then you have to think about what you’re really interested in. Some people are interested in being a landlord and being a landlord that lives in the building and has their tenants living there too. That might be a scenario that you’re interested in. If you’re not interested in that then that presents a different course of action. Maybe you want to buy the condo, live in it for a couple years, then rent it out, then, you know, buy your next property. And that’s how you start out with buying your first property, and then it turns into an investment property, if you’re interested in being a landlord and being a little bit more hands on. You know, a two, two flat, three flat, four flat, two to four units is considered residential in Chicago land. So those are the size buildings that you can buy with residential loans. And it really comes down to the numbers. Personally, a three to four unit building is going to have much better numbers and be in your favor quicker than a two unit building. Because, you know, in a two unit building, especially if you’re living in it, you’re only sharing the mortgage with one rent. If you go to a three unit, you’re sharing the mortgage with two rents and so on. So I. The more tenants you have, the less risk you have of vacancy. Because you know, if you if you have vacancy on a two unit building, that’s 100% vacancy, whereas if you have one unit that’s vacant in a three unit building, that’s only 50% you know. So the numbers get better the more units you have, but it’s also more work. There’s a little bit more maintenance, there’s more appliances, more bills that you have to calculate for. However, in the long run, it could be better overall picture for you, because your monthly payment is going to be very low, if anything at all. We actually have a great example of this. I had a client couple years back who wanted to actually originally purchase either a condo or a small, single family home. We were talking about the numbers, and, you know, she wanted to be very conservative, which I think is a great approach for first time buyers. You definitely want to have a home that you’re comfortable in. But I I do think that the internet and HGTV and TV shows that are out there, they set unrealistic expectations on first time buyers, that your first home, or any home that you own, has to be your dream home. That’s not the case at all. It was called a starter home back in the day for a reason. It’s your starter it was the first one you’re starting out. It’s a stepping stone. It’s not meant to be the end all be all. It’s not meant to be the most and actually, maybe you’re not going to have all of the boxes checked on this first home, but it’s okay. It’s financially better, in my opinion, than renting, because you’re gaining equity, you’re putting in money that you’re going to see a return on rent, you’re not going to see a return on so even if that starter home doesn’t tick all the boxes and you think, Oh, well, I’m only going to be happy here three to five years, that is okay, it’s still a great financial tool that you can leverage. So this client was considering a condo or single family home. We’re looking at the monthly payments. She’s wanting to be conservative, and there really was very low inventory. And I suggested, have you considered a multi unit building? And at first she said, You know, I’ve always thought about a two flat, you know, I was renting in a two flat back in the day in Logan Square, and I had great landlords, and they lived, you know, upstairs, and I lived on the first floor, and it was a great scenario, and and I could imagine myself doing that. So we started down the road of multi unit buildings. And then I suggested we’ll have you actually considered a three or four unit building. And that seemed overwhelming to her at first, but I explained the numbers, and once she saw the numbers and the breakdown of, okay, here’s a two unit building, a three unit building and a four unit building. And even though the three and four unit buildings cost more to purchase. What she was going to be paying out of pocket, pocket on a monthly basis, was very, very little, if anything at all. And that alone, that monthly savings has not only she ended up going that route, she ended up going with a three unit building, and it’s allowed her to put so much money into other investment forms. Over the past couple years. She actually just called me the other day and said, Michelle, I’m ready to buy my next property. We took a look at the numbers. She’s got almost 50% equity in her property in only, like, four years, because she’s been putting money that she didn’t like that she had extra she’s been putting towards principal only. So her tenants are paying her mortgage, and then she’s taking her savings and diversifying it, doing whatever she does. You know, I’m sure she has a portfolio different investments, but some money she’s putting towards principal only. And even if you only do that once or twice a year with your real estate investments, you can shave years off of the life of your loan, and you get to your equity you know quicker, because you’re paying towards principal. So now she’s ready to purchase her next property. She’s going to leverage the equity that she has in her first property, and she’s going to hold on to her first property and have a fully functional investment property that’s got three tenants, and she’ll cash flow each month. So that’s really exciting.

Barbara Provost 14:33
Wow. So who’s managing all this real estate for her?

Michelle Schroeder 14:37
She is so currently she lives in the three unit building, so she’s got two tenants. When she moves out, she’ll have a third tenant, and she happens to be someone who was up for the task, wasn’t, you know, she is an attorney, so, you know, maybe it’s because of her profession, maybe it’s just because of who she is or her, you know, uh. Uh, having had the the good experience previously of having a landlord that lived in the same building, but she was up for it. And you know, if you have great tenants, you don’t really need much management. And also, if you, if you start out the relationship with the tenants with a very clean, functional property, you’re not going to have problematic tenants. Now, that doesn’t mean you don’t need to do screening, and, you know, pick the right person. And you know, of course, there’s risks, because you can always have someone that, for whatever reason, loses their job or starts, you know, not being able to pay rent or whatever. Of course, there’s risk. But outside of that, I think that tenants get kind of a bad rap when, when people are thinking about investment properties, oh, you know, all they do is call and complain and, well, they only call and complain if there’s water leaking in from their roof, or, yeah, the plumbing isn’t working. Or, you know, if you give them a functional space. It doesn’t have to be designer, but just make sure it’s working. Make sure it’s something that you would live in. That’s generally my guiding rule that I tell my clients is like, you don’t want to buy something and be so focused on the numbers that you’re exploiting your tenant. Give them a nice place to call home, and they and it’ll be a mutually beneficial situation, right?

Maggie Nielsen 16:25
I’m just thinking of this place I recently, you know, lived in the past couple years, and like, the tenant did own, or the the owner was the guy who lived on the first floor, and then there were two other levels, and he did, like, some kind of construction. So he was pretty handy as it was, but yeah, like, I was always felt really assured, because I was like, Well, if there’s any problem, like, I know exactly where he lives, like, the same address, you know, but everything was done really nicely. And it seemed like, you know, I knew it was his place. He knew it was his place. So we both kind of put that care back into it, because we both saw each other, versus sometimes, of like these, you know, big companies that are are eating up these properties that, you know, no one there cares, and it is a piece of crap, and it’s just like, Well, yeah, that’s why they’re calling you all the time, and so, but it starts off bad, you know, you can get that from the get go. Or he was like, welcome to the town. Like, this is my place, really relaxed. Doors unlocked, like, help yourself, you know? It was like, Alright, cool, you know. And it was, it was a really good experience just as a tenant as well, just knowing, you know, we’re both in it. It’s his, you know, his place, and I could tell that he cares, and so I wanted to care more. And it was really nice having someone local, kind of own the place, versus a big head honcho.

Michelle Schroeder 17:36
Well, and that’s a great point. I do make the distinction to people often, whether you’re buying an investment property or just an owner occupied property, real estate is a hands on endeavor. There are some investments. And you know, you guys have had some great perks per string folks that have come on. You know, different. There are different ways to invest, where it is 100% hands off. You’re putting the money into a system, and the system has its rate of return, and that’s it. With real estate, there is a level of hands on. And I know that you can hire property management companies. I know that you can, technically, you know, be hands off, but you have to care for the property in order for it to maintain its value. You cannot forget about the property completely. You can’t buy it, do nothing to it, and then sell it 30 years later and have a huge return. That’s just not…

Maggie Nielsen 18:36
What do you mean, Michelle? Everybody knows that. With yellowpeeling walls and old bathrooms, those are my favorite ones to buy.

Michelle Schroeder 18:41
Very good to you. Now they have a great value add opportunity, which is also something I think could be great to talk about today, is, how do you identify when a value add opportunity is the right fit? Yeah, because there’s plenty of houses out there that need fixing up and I’m sure Inc them. We scroll through the photos, and we’re thinking to ourselves, oh my gosh. You know, this property is horrible, like, I can’t even imagine what it would look like. It was all fixed up. That is one piece that I can really help my clients with. I have a degree in scenic design, so, wow, scenic designer. My role was always to design the set and then bring to life the vision of the director. So in the same way, when my client describes the type of property that they want to live in, their esthetic, their styles, etc, I’m looking for properties that we can bring to life that’ll fit what my client wants to do. So it’s a really fun creative outlet for me, because when I walk into a space, I can easily, like with my mind, erase the walls or change the colors or see things disappear, see things appear so and I have great power partners. That help bring that vision to life as well, designers, contractors, lots of vendors that you know, make the process from okay, I’ve bought a property that needs fixing up to Okay. Now I have a property that’s been renovated a much easier path. I’m sure we’ve all experienced trying to go on to Google to look for a business or a recommendation, even if you just need a plumber or an electrician, it can be so challenging. There’s so many ads, so many results. Who do you trust? We’ve already been down that road. We’ve already vetted and worked with the folks that we work with all the time, so it’s a trusted relationship. And, you know, GCS contractors, it’s a tough industry. They’re pulled in a million directions. So we can also kind of help focus them.

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Maggie Nielsen 21:42
I am always envious of anyone who can look at the room and like, take down the walls or, you know, see the different vision. That’s one of the things that, like, my logistical mind cannot do for me. But like so, if someone’s looking at a property property and they know they have the capacity to do some renovations, or thinking of doing that in the future, are there any like things where you like, we’re gonna, we’re gonna say no to that renovation or that kind of project like, those are always bigger, more tech, you know, harder, versus other things where you’re like, Yep, this is easy. This is we can get this done.

Michelle Schroeder 22:13
What projects you’d want to get into is going to come back to your personal preference, like, What are you What do you have capacity for? Some people only have capacity for very surface level painting, tile, nothing structural, and that’s perfectly fine, and that will dictate the approach that we take. On the other hand, if you’re really wanting to get into it and you’re really wanting to see a big return. Let’s say you want to do a gut renovation. My husband and I did a gut renovation on our three unit building in Berwyn. We took it down to the studs,

Maggie Nielsen 22:49
all three floors, huh? All three floors, all

Michelle Schroeder 22:53
three floors down to the studs, dug out the basement like it was a big renovation, yeah, but we’ve seen a great return, and everyone’s living in a really nice, clean, solid unit that we know will serve us for years to come. You really have to dial in the numbers. So if you’re going to go that route, you need to be conservative. So we’re going to look at a couple of things, what is the value of the property now, and what is the ARV? The ARV is the after repaired value. It’s important for you as the purchaser to understand that. It’s also important for the bank to understand that, because the bank is going to lend you money based on what the after repaired value of the property is, and so and you need to be conservative when you’re looking at these numbers, it’s easy to want to cherry pick and say, Oh, well, I’ll buy this property and I’ll put X amount into it, and it’ll be worth, you know, a million dollars. You want to be conservative, because if it is higher, then that’s great. It’s a bonus. But what would be worse is to assume that it’s going to be higher and then it’s really worth less. So you have to be conservative. You have to really look at the numbers. The great part is that we’ve been through so many renovations, and I have so many GCS that I work with. They can help estimate the numbers up front before you go under contract, before you’re signing any paperwork. Like we can really dial in the numbers prior to starting any work, prior to purchasing.

Maggie Nielsen 24:22
So can we talk a little bit about how you, like, went about assessing this building that you purchased, and, like, assessing the renovation budget with it, and then, you know, kind of, how did that turn out in the end? Absolutely.

Michelle Schroeder 24:35
So we purchased in 2019 so it was pre COVID, pre boom that we saw in the real estate world. But when we first looked at the property, my husband and I both loved it, saw tons of potential, but we both said, you know, at the listed purchase price, the numbers just don’t work. They were too close. There was no room for cushion. You. We didn’t feel confident. Couple weeks went by and they did a price drop. They dropped the price like $70,000 Wow. Because I think that they realized that they were overpriced to begin with, and they probably didn’t have a ton of interest, because the property really did need some work. The basement was in terrible disrepair, and there were leaks and the floor wasn’t even even and there were it was obvious that there was repairs wanted to be done. So they did the price drop, and we were like, well, now the numbers look pretty good. We negotiated a little bit more. We negotiated the seller to pay some closing cost credits, and we got our quotes. And it’s tempting to go with the contractor that brings you the cheapest quote, but I always recommend, let’s say you have three a low, a middle and a high. Most likely you want to go with the middle, maybe the high, but maybe, you know, maybe use them to negotiate against each other, or try to figure out, you know, a middle ground. But usually the middle of the road person is going to give you some good value and good work. And again, you really need to get quotes from referral sources, not just people online, because people it’s really easy to get a quote. Are they going to show up for the job? Now, the nice thing about if you want to do a renovation using a renovation loan through a bank, it kind of builds in a little bit of protection for you, because the contractor gets paid in increments as the work gets completed, so they can’t get the money from the bank for Stage One of the project until stage one of the project is completed, versus if you hired them outright. Oftentimes they ask for, you know, 50% up front, and 50% when we finish. The problem with that is there’s no incentive for them to come back and stay on a timeline. So we went the renovation loan route, and it worked really well for us. We knew that we wanted to focus on the fundamentals. It’s very, very easy when you’re looking at a renovation budget to find pretty tile and look at vanities and different design elements that are so cool, but we knew what would serve us long term and our tenants long term was focusing on systems, HVAC, plumbing, electrical. We wanted all of that to be like, to code. No problems, no worries. We dug out the basement, we put in drain tile, we put in a check valve. So we did all kinds of functional, systematic things that we knew were going to protect the building

Maggie Nielsen 28:00
That could save you so much later, huh? That could save you so much later, but, like, yeah, long term, no one will be calling you, because it should be squared away.

Michelle Schroeder 28:11
Yes, and then we still made it. I mean, come on, scenic design, I’m I want it to look cute, like we still picked cute paint colors. We did have a budget for tile, but we found things within our budget that worked, like you can make it all work. But I do think that focusing on the numbers for the fundamentals first is important, because then you know what you have left over for the pretty stuff. If you focus on the pretty stuff first, then you might run out of money for the fundamentals. It’s really important to focus on the fundamentals first.

Maggie Nielsen 28:47
So how long did that project take you? Well, I mean, I know COVID hit and then everything was expensive.

Michelle Schroeder 28:56
I think if it had been on a normal schedule, it would have been about a five to six month process. Time of year also impacts that, but I think that that’s what it would have been. It was about nine and a half months, but that’s because COVID, yeah, give it, considering it’s not bad, but it was definitely longer. It took longer to get inspectors out. Took, you know, everything took longer, supplies, all of it. So

Barbara Provost 29:25
now, how about getting tenants?

Michelle Schroeder 29:29
Getting tenants. So we have had one tenant that’s been with us since 2020 and she is fabulous. And we actually something that we do, that I think you guys would love, is that we use a program to collect rent and house all of the documents that also allows us to report on people’s credit scores if they pay rent on time. So we’re boosting our tenants credit scores, which you know, not all landlords do, but Right. Um, we’ve had tenants that have really appreciated that. Because, you know, sometimes you’re a single parent, or this is your first time owning some or renting, or, you know, you’re building your credit, or you’re, you know, you just need other sources. Like, it’s hard to have all of your source of your credit score be credit cards and right loans like, what if you’re someone who pays their rental time every month, that should count, right? So, right? Awesome. Yeah. So, finding tenants, I always tell people, do your due diligence. You know, there’s so many different resources out there that will check credit, that will check backgrounds, that will check, you know, employment, but actually call the people. Like, if you’re the landlord, it’s one thing to receive the report and read through it, call the prospective tenant, have a conversation with them. Call actually, like, sometimes the service will do the verification on previous employment and previous housing, but maybe you should also call the previous landlord. Maybe you should also call the employer, because you’re the one renting to them. Like it’s one thing for it to be collected onto a report. But you know, due diligence is part of it, and at the end of the day, it’s not the people that make the report or the management company that’s going to be in a pickle. It has the landlord, so I think the best way to do your due diligence is to double check everything.

Maggie Nielsen 31:27
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, if they’re going to be living with you and you’re sharing the same building, I would want to be able to really just kind of gut check as much as I can before, you know, saying yes, as it is at least a, you know, 12 month commitment, and you want to, you want to make sure there’s a good fit

Michelle Schroeder 31:43
exactly just like your landlord, there was a mutual understanding and respect for the property, because there was, he had a presence. Yeah, I want to have a presence. I want my tenant. You know, we don’t live in the building anymore, but I talk to my tenants all the time. They’re they know that I care about the building. I still do like the gardening and like there. We care about our building very much so, and that’s known to them. And I think that because of that, we have a level of respect.

Maggie Nielsen 32:16
Wow. I have one more question, and that is, if you are thinking about selling, I know sometimes, and it depends on the person is, you know, kind of doing some renovations before selling. Are there any, like, top renovations where you’re like, This is always, not always, but usually a good investment or a good thing to kind of up upgrade before selling a house to increase that value.

Michelle Schroeder 32:38
So when we do our seller consultations. We will go through the property, make any recommendations on minor repairs that should be done no matter what. And then we’ll talk about value add opportunities and what an estimate of cost would be. And if you do this, we think we could sell your house for X amount, you know, X amount more. And so we’ll talk, you know, sometimes people want to do all of it. Sometimes it’s like, okay, when we have a budget for one or two things, so we definitely have a strategy, and it’s definitely property and micro market specific. So it’s hard to say, Okay, everyone should do this, but definitely we will do the comparative market analysis. Look at your property, look at the trends in your neighborhood, and tell you what makes sense, because what makes sense in one neighborhood might not make the same sense in another neighborhood. And so we want to prioritize what the buyers that we’re going to be attracting are going to be looking for in your location.

Maggie Nielsen 33:37
I’m thinking about Barb like how you bought your place and you renovated a good portion of it, but some of those other places in your neighborhood are just so like, have never, ever been touched that, like, anything is is an upgrade, you know, because it hasn’t been touched since the 80s, where, I mean, your your place just looks 18 times better, just because, you know, you guys put some new paint on the walls. It’s crazy.

Barbara Provost 33:57
Yeah, yeah. Well, and, you know, it’s a location that a lot of people move into when they retire, so they’re there for several years until they really retire. You know, it’s a lot of stepping into the 70s and 80s, when you walk it through some of these places, but, but they’re good value for the location and the bones of it all, it’s just needs a lot of updating.

Michelle Schroeder 34:22
I actually, I find that a lot that there are some of these communities where there is good value, and then you start to have, like, a couple houses where things get renovated, and then others get renovated, and all collectively, you’re increasing each other’s market value because it was a good entry point to purchase the property, which allowed you the budget to put some more money into it. So it’s, it’s kind of a great ecosystem, yeah,

Barbara Provost 34:52
it really is. This has been fantastic. It’s, you know, we haven’t really talked enough about the investment. In real estate. And I think when you start, you know, with your like, beginner home, I love the ideas, you know, moving into your starter home and using that as your first rental property and you move on to something else, is really a cool way to do it, when you think about it, yeah, it’s a venture that seems scary to some, but it seems like you have so much experience and background and processes that you could make it seem somewhat seamless, which is so cool. Yes,

Michelle Schroeder 35:29
I always tell my clients, you’re not alone. Not only do you have me and Britain and our team, you you have our years of experience, and we’re also going through the process with you. So if you need more information to make your decision, we’ll get you the information. If you need other comparisons, if you need to just talk it through again, and we’ve talked it through a couple times we’re We’ll talk it through however many times you need to to make sure that you’re prepared. But at the end of the day, it really all comes back to the numbers. You know? What is that monthly payment that you want to pay? Want to pay? If we can find you a couple of different scenarios that work for that monthly payment, then you’re in a great position to make a decision based on, you know, your comfort level with being a landlord.

Maggie Nielsen 36:15
Yeah, I just, I think this really highlights, you know, some of our purse strings approved professionals, and how it’s not just a transactional sale that, you know, it’s like your realtor comes, they sell your house, and, you know, hands off, like it’s done. It’s like, awesome. I can call Michelle when I, you know, my HVAC breaks and I need to know a guy, like, she knows someone, or, you know, even just, you know, prepping. I’m thinking about this, but I’m not quite ready yet. Like, how do I kind of prepare? And to have that just teammate, rather than like, oh, they come, they do their job and they leave, you know? It’s, it’s awesome to have that teammate and that alliance. It’s like, okay, they’re in it with me, you know, and can help me along the way. And I think that’s just such a difference of service, of quality that we’re so happy to be able to promote. But we’re just happy it’s out there and you’re providing that to those, to those customers. It is, it is such an emotional thing. It’s your home. But like you said, you know, it’s also probably one of the largest purchases you make, and so it’s so great to have that alliance there with you, not just someone who’s like, you know, let’s sell this thing and move on. Absolutely.

Michelle Schroeder 37:14
We actually have a home maintenance guide. So I don’t know if that’s something that anyone would be interested in, but if people are listening or seeing this podcast, then you know, I’d love to offer that and just reach out and we’ll email it over.

Maggie Nielsen 37:29
Awesome, yeah, and we can put a link to that in the chat or in the show notes as well, if you have that, so people can reach out and grab it. This has been great. Is there anything else that we need to touch on today that you want to make sure is covered?

Michelle Schroeder 37:43
Oh, I feel like we could just go on

Maggie Nielsen 37:46
average. I know.

Michelle Schroeder 37:49
But the the moral of the story is, just reach out. If you’re, if you’re thinking and not sure about any of it, let’s have a conversation. There’s it’s never too early to start talking about it. So, yeah,

Maggie Nielsen 38:01
I love it. Let’s do it. So thank you again, Michelle for coming on today and sharing your expertise. And we’ll talk to everyone again soon, because we got to keep talking about this shit. And so until then, be financially fearless. Thanks

Barbara Provost 38:14
everyone. Thanks, Michelle. Thank you.

Speaker 2 38:17
Information is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute tax investment or legal advice, always consult with a qualified investment legal or tax professional before taking any action. The.

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