227: The Vice-Principal Who Built a 9-Unit Rental Portfolio on The Weekends w/Mackenzie Grate

Who says you can’t have it all? The career, the love, the wealth—it can all be yours if you want it and work for it. Today’s guest, Mackenzie Grate, works hard so she can have it all. Working full-time as an assistant middle school principal, Mackenzie spends her nights and weekends as a real estate investor and agent. She owns two single-family homes, a fourplex, a duplex, a short-term rental, and her primary residence. 

Mackenzie’s real estate investing journey started in 2017. While living in her apartment, she rented out her extra room and decided to buy a home once rent prices became a little too high to handle. From there, she started looking for her first deal by googling the three fastest-growing job markets in New York. She then chose the market she wanted to invest in, asked a friend to go upstate with her, and started driving for dollars. She put in an offer on the first house she saw and closed on the home. But was she doing it alone?

There is a common misconception that when you invest with a significant other, they have to be involved to be on board. Mackenzie’s relationship with her husband proves that involvement doesn’t equate to support. He supports what she’s doing, but he isn’t an active part of her investing journey, and for them, that works. He shows support by doing other everyday tasks at home, giving Mackenzie more time to work and pursue real estate. This freed-up time is essential for Mackenzie as she juggles all her endeavors and earns her nickname, the "Mack of All Trades."

In This Episode We Cover

The pros and cons of getting your real estate license and how to determine whether becoming an agent is for you

The benefits of owning a co-op and what it means to “own a share” of a building

How to find and capitalize on emerging markets that have strong rental demand

Investing with a spouse and how to find the right balance for your relationship

Property management vs. self-management and how to weigh the pros and cons for both

Managing a short-term rental and automating your processes to become the ultimate host

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Ashley's Instagram

Tony's Instagram

Airbnb

BiggerPockets

Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group

The Real Estate Podcast

BiggerPockets Forums

Real Estate Rookie Podcast

Zoom

RentRedi

Digital Nomad-ing and Answering All Your FIRE Healthcare Questions w/ Amy & Tim from GoWithLess

Connect with Mackenzie:

Mackenzie's Instagram

Mackenzies BiggerPockets Profile

Mackenzie's Website

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-227

Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Check out our sponsor page!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices