You can listen to the full podcast with Matt Leschber of 1836 Property Management by visiting the Apple Podcast link here.
Matt Leschber, the owner/broker of 1836 Property Management, discusses success and advice for real estate investors
Matt Leschber, the owner/broker of Austin’s 1836 Property Management, recently joined Jordan Moorhead of Keller Williams Realty’s The Moorhead Team for a podcast about Austin real estate investing with a 2.0 mindset.
During the podcast, Leschber shared his story of where he came from, how he got where he is today and where he sees himself and his business going in the future.
Leschber got his start as a real estate agent, but quickly found that it wasn’t for him. He said it wasn’t a good personality fit for him, as he found it to be emotionally draining to have to be a “cheerleader” for his clients to make a good decision. Then, once he bought or sold a home, he would have to go find new clients.
Leschber found that he loved real estate, but wanted to build long-term relationships with clients that he could nurture over time. He wanted to be a partner with them, helping them to grow their wealth through real estate investments.
Starting as a Property Manager
He started on this path by becoming a property manager, slowly building a small clientele of Austin investors that were either tired of managing their own rentals or had no idea how to get started. As he said, 1836 Property Management has never had a huge acquisition in its history, with the largest portfolio signed into a management agreement being about 18 properties at one time.
Today, 1836 Property Management has been able to grow about 20% year over year for some time, and has achieved an average return on equity of 10.56% for their clients.
So, how did they do it?
Leschber says that he’s consistently stuck to what he called his bread-and-butter homes: three-bedroom, two-bathroom single-family homes that are newer, in good neighborhoods and that have good metrics.
Don’t Overthink It
Leschber advises against overthinking real estate investing, particularly in SFR (single-family residential) investing. According to him, simplicity is key.
“If you’re in a large-scale, multi-family, you have to overthink it,” he said on the podcast. “But, when you’re in a single-family, it’s just not that complex. So, keep it simple.”
Doing so, he says, involves sticking to the basics — upkeeping the property, adhering to all local laws and regulations, and hiring an experienced property management company like 1836 Property Management to handle the day-to-day process for you.
Leschber says that he’d always recommend to clients to hang onto their properties and benefit from the long-term returns on them. He recounted a story of a client who needed to move their mom into a retirement center, so they wanted to sell their single-family real estate investment.
He talked the client out of selling, and what happened was nothing short of spectacular. The rent the family got from the home allowed their mom to stay in a retirement center for more than 10 years. And when they went to sell it, the home was worth almost three times as much as when they went to sell it originally.
Leschber suggests that people need to stop being their own worst enemy when thinking about single-family real estate investors.
“Just hold the course,” he said on the podcast. “It all works out if you’re in an area which is growing or at least stable.”
A Bright Future for Austin Real Estate Investing – and 1836 Property Management
Leschber envisions a promising future for Austin’s real estate market, thanks to large-scale business developments from companies like Tesla and Samsung. Over the next 10 years, he anticipates substantial growth, possibly evolving into a superplex with San Antonio.
At 1836 Property Management, the goal was to hit 2,100 units and then stop growing. That might sound odd, but Leschber says that they don’t want to just grow perpetually.
Instead, the company wants to continue to focus on quality and delivering success and returns for their clients. It’s all about integrity for them.
In the podcast, Leschber also discusses how proprietary software that he owns and offers all his clients helps them be more successful. REI Monitor, as it’s called, allows single-family investors to monitor their investments in real-time, tracking all major metrics.
And a property assessment software package allows investors to use an app to create a history of photos and videos taken at the property that can be used for future information, or sent out to anyone via text or email.
You can listen to the full podcast with Matt Leschber of 1836 Property Management by visiting the Apple Podcast link here.
