26 min

DE 36: From Real Estate Agent to Independent Investor- with Brie Schmidt Commercial Real Estate Investing with Don and Eden

    • Investing

Joining us today is Brie Schmidt, a Chicago based real estate investor. She began her career in corporate sales while always holding her real estate license current. In 2011, she decided to leave the corporate world to become a full-time real estate investor. Since then, she has bought several properties in the Windy City and Milwaukee. In 2014, she started a brokerage company and in 2017 she started a conference business. Brie makes use of her extensive knowledge of constructing and managing a portfolio to teach clients about all aspects of buying and holding investments.
In this episode, she talks about her career as an investor, how she started and how she got to where she is today. Brie discusses how and why she decided to focus on the Chicago & Milwaukee markets, criteria she looks for when deciding on a property and her plans for the future. 
Episode Highlights:
Brie’s Start as a Real Estate Investor
Cap Rate Criteria for Properties
Work-Life Balance
Her Future Plans
Connect with Brie:
Website: Second City Real Estate
 Social Media: BiggerPockets or LinkedIn
Join Brie @ the Midwest Real Estate Networking Summit

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TRANSCRIPTION 
 
Intro: Hey guys, today Don with interview Brie Schmidt. Brie is the first female investor on our show, so we are very excited to have her here. We really hope this episode will inspire other female investors to jump right in the arena of real estate investing. After listening to the interview, I have learned from Brie that this type of profession actually enables a future mom to enjoy both worlds have a very successful career and the ability to take as much time needed for recovery and raising your newly born child. Don and Brie will also discuss the best strategy of choosing a market which is going there and seeing it firsthand. I hope you guys will enjoy this show.
 
Lady: Welcome to the commercial real estate investing podcast with Don and Eden where we cover all aspects of real estate investing with special attention to off-market strategies.
 
Don: Hey Brie, welcome to the show.
 
Brie: Thank you for having me.
 
Don: Yes, of course. I'm very excited to have you as you know, you are the first female investor on the show. I've been trying to get a female investor for quite a while. And I know we've wanted to do this interview for a long time.
 
Brie: Yeah, I just had a baby. So, scheduling has been a little bit difficult for me.
 
Don: I could only imagine how difficult it would be to be a real estate investor and also being pregnant and taking care of babies. That must be requiring a lot of toll from you, right?
 
Brie: You learn to prioritize your time, right, and what's important and it's been something that I've been considering a personal mission of mine for a few years. When I started this business, I quit my corporate job back in 2014. So, I started real estate investing in 2011. I bought another property in 2012. I bought another property in 2013. And then I decided to quit my job and do this full time. 2014, I bought another 10 properties, and then in 2015, I bought another 12 and then bought a couple more in 2016. So, at the time when I quit my job, I used to work in corporate advertising sales. I'm like this is going to be great like I'm going from 50 hours a week and traveling all over the country. Now I'm going to be chill and I work from home and I'm self-employed. And for the first few years, I was working more hours than I was when I had a W2 job. 
 
It wasn't until about 2017 that I was really like, wow, like I have started a couple of other businesses, I'm the Managing Broker of Second City real estate, which is an investment, boutique investment firm for agents. I also started a website business and it was like, well, what was the point of me leaving my solid W2 jobs to get 'financial freedom' if I'm working from the moment I get up to the moment I go to bed and weekends. So, when I knew that

Joining us today is Brie Schmidt, a Chicago based real estate investor. She began her career in corporate sales while always holding her real estate license current. In 2011, she decided to leave the corporate world to become a full-time real estate investor. Since then, she has bought several properties in the Windy City and Milwaukee. In 2014, she started a brokerage company and in 2017 she started a conference business. Brie makes use of her extensive knowledge of constructing and managing a portfolio to teach clients about all aspects of buying and holding investments.
In this episode, she talks about her career as an investor, how she started and how she got to where she is today. Brie discusses how and why she decided to focus on the Chicago & Milwaukee markets, criteria she looks for when deciding on a property and her plans for the future. 
Episode Highlights:
Brie’s Start as a Real Estate Investor
Cap Rate Criteria for Properties
Work-Life Balance
Her Future Plans
Connect with Brie:
Website: Second City Real Estate
 Social Media: BiggerPockets or LinkedIn
Join Brie @ the Midwest Real Estate Networking Summit

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  -
TRANSCRIPTION 
 
Intro: Hey guys, today Don with interview Brie Schmidt. Brie is the first female investor on our show, so we are very excited to have her here. We really hope this episode will inspire other female investors to jump right in the arena of real estate investing. After listening to the interview, I have learned from Brie that this type of profession actually enables a future mom to enjoy both worlds have a very successful career and the ability to take as much time needed for recovery and raising your newly born child. Don and Brie will also discuss the best strategy of choosing a market which is going there and seeing it firsthand. I hope you guys will enjoy this show.
 
Lady: Welcome to the commercial real estate investing podcast with Don and Eden where we cover all aspects of real estate investing with special attention to off-market strategies.
 
Don: Hey Brie, welcome to the show.
 
Brie: Thank you for having me.
 
Don: Yes, of course. I'm very excited to have you as you know, you are the first female investor on the show. I've been trying to get a female investor for quite a while. And I know we've wanted to do this interview for a long time.
 
Brie: Yeah, I just had a baby. So, scheduling has been a little bit difficult for me.
 
Don: I could only imagine how difficult it would be to be a real estate investor and also being pregnant and taking care of babies. That must be requiring a lot of toll from you, right?
 
Brie: You learn to prioritize your time, right, and what's important and it's been something that I've been considering a personal mission of mine for a few years. When I started this business, I quit my corporate job back in 2014. So, I started real estate investing in 2011. I bought another property in 2012. I bought another property in 2013. And then I decided to quit my job and do this full time. 2014, I bought another 10 properties, and then in 2015, I bought another 12 and then bought a couple more in 2016. So, at the time when I quit my job, I used to work in corporate advertising sales. I'm like this is going to be great like I'm going from 50 hours a week and traveling all over the country. Now I'm going to be chill and I work from home and I'm self-employed. And for the first few years, I was working more hours than I was when I had a W2 job. 
 
It wasn't until about 2017 that I was really like, wow, like I have started a couple of other businesses, I'm the Managing Broker of Second City real estate, which is an investment, boutique investment firm for agents. I also started a website business and it was like, well, what was the point of me leaving my solid W2 jobs to get 'financial freedom' if I'm working from the moment I get up to the moment I go to bed and weekends. So, when I knew that

26 min