Flipping Friendship into Fortune: How Grace and Amelia Took Over Iowa’s Market! | The Jake and Gino Show
Grace Gudenkauf and Amelia McGee, two powerhouse women in real estate from Iowa. They’ve built successful careers as self-managing landlords and co-authors of The Self-Managing Landlord with BiggerPockets. Grace and Amelia share their journey from connecting on Instagram to founding WIRE (Women Invest in Real Estate), a thriving community for female investors.
Today’s episode features two powerhouse women in real estate, Grace Gudenkauf and Amelia McGee. Both hailing from Iowa, they’ve built impressive careers in real estate, becoming self-managing landlords and co-authors of The Self-Managing Landlord through BiggerPockets. Grace and Amelia share their inspiring journey from sliding into each other’s DMs on Instagram to creating WIRE (Women Invest in Real Estate)—a thriving community for female investors.
Grace, a former mechanical engineer, and Amelia, a former project manager, have since left their 9-to-5 jobs, turned passion into profit, and grown their rental portfolios. Together, they’ve managed midterm rental properties, flipped homes, and run meetups and retreats for women in real estate. In this episode, we discuss:
Key Takeaways:
- How Grace and Amelia met and built a friendship over Instagram DMs.
- Why starting with small properties can lead to long-term financial freedom.
- The power of community in real estate, especially for women investors.
- The value of self-management and systemizing your property portfolio.
- Real-life stories from the trenches of property management—overflowing toilets and all!
Resource Mentioned: Get their book: The Self-Managing Landlord Book — Women Invest In Real Estate
Topics Covered:
- How Grace and Amelia broke into real estate.
- Transitioning from corporate jobs to full-time investors.
- Starting WIRE (Women Invest in Real Estate) and building a network.
- The highs and lows of being self-managing landlords.
- Tips for growing your own real estate portfolio with limited capital.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction
00:56 – Meeting through Instagram & Their Real Estate Journey
02:01 – Their First Real Estate Deals and Career Transitions
10:34 – The Importance of Creating a Real Estate Community for Women
11:51 – Major Challenges Women Face in Real Estate
12:59 – Systems and Processes for Self-Managing Properties
16:46 – Real-Life Crazy Landlord Stories
37:36 – Best Deal and Why
42:26 – Fun or Exciting Insights to Share with the Audience
43:37 – Gino Wraps it Up
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