088: Building an Awesome Brokerage and Wholesaling Business With Joe Mueller

Joe Mueller started out as a real estate investor when he was just 18. He bought his first house at 19, and became an agent to make investing easier. As an agent he started listing REO and HUD homes like I do, and then started his own brokerage. Joe now has an office that sells hundreds of homes a year, he has a wholesale business, he owns close to 60 rental properties, and he flips houses as well. Joe is a busy guy with a career that is very similar to mine and we talk all about it on this episode of the InvestFourMore Real Estate Podcast.

How did Joe get his start in real estate?

Joe loved real estate since the time he was in elementary school. He grew up in Chicago but was moved to a school district miles away in a small town when he was in young. He noticed that there were huge price differences between houses that were only a mile or two away. He started researching real estate and knew what he wanted to do when he grew up. As soon as he turned 18 he got a credit card and bought a Carlton Sheets real estate investing program. His parents were not real happy with his decision, but he knew what he wanted.

He started going to foreclose auctions as part of his research. He had no MLS access, no Zillow or any other way to value properties. He was so young that real estate agents would not help him because they didn’t take him seriously. He had to figure out values from the auctions he went to and reading classified adds in the newspaper. Joe ended up buying his first house at 19 and sold it to another investor without doing any work for a $5,000 profit.

How did Joe’s real estate business progress?

Joe started buying houses from multiple sources including the MLS. He decided he needed to get his real estate license so he could save money and get more deals. When Joe was at one of the foreclosure auctions he realized the banks were bidding on their own properties. He talked to the bank, who found out Joe was a real estate agent. That was when Joe’s REO listing career began. He started to sign up for REO listings everywhere and built his REO business up to a point where he sold over 500 houses in one year.

Joe started a property management division and a wholesaling division.

How is Joe investing in real estate today?

Joe is doing about 15 wholesale deals a year from the direct marketing they send out. He is also buying as many rentals as he can and flipping about five houses a year. He looks for rentals that will produce at least $500 in cash flow per month and is buying in multiple states. Joe is also getting deals from the MLS, auctions, and networking with other agents and investors.

How can you get in touch with Joe?

Joe loves to help investors find deals in Chicago and has his own podcast as well. You can find his podcast, The Investor Empowerment Series Radio Show here: https://www.investorempowermentradio.com/. You can find Joe’s real estate broker here: https://tanisgroupllc.com/ or you can email Joe directly at [email protected].