From Homeless to Flipping 40 Houses a Year in Real Estate | Nicholas Thiele

Nicholas Thiele (00:00)

I got my first house from a real estate agent.

I got on the computer and Googled world’s best real estate agent in St. Louis and just started calling people. That is the extent of how I understood how to network was go to the Google and let that tell me who I needed to be calling and I called every freaking number. if it was in there and I could dial it on the phone, I’m calling it. And then as doors opened up to me to other rooms, I walked in

I didn’t care what the culture was or I tried everything out that came to my doorstep.

Meghan Escobar (01:06)

Hello everyone, welcome back to Real Estate Pros Podcast, hosted by Investor Fuel. I am your host, Meghan Escobar, and today I have the pleasure of sitting down with somebody who’s a little outside of the box here, and I’m excited to bring him in and bring him on the screen. Nicholas Thiele who is owner and CEO of Next Chapter Home. And I’m gonna let him tell his story, but I just want to let you guys know that tune in.

this gentleman has such great insights, has such an incredible story, and I am so, so excited for him to be able to share his journey in the way that he has positioned himself from homeless to building a very successful business. So Nick, thank you so much for taking the time to be here with us today.

Nicholas Thiele (01:47)

Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

Meghan Escobar (01:49)

Absolutely, man. for those who might not be familiar with who is Nicholas Thiele what is my Next Chapter Home do you mind giving us a 30,000 foot view of what your focus is these days and what markets you’re operating in?

Nicholas Thiele (02:05)

Absolutely. So Next Chapter Home is a high volume investment flipping business basically. So we buy houses in nice neighborhoods that need full interior remodel. We fix them all the way up and then we resell that is our niche we like to stick with it. And so we can remodel anywhere from, 8–13 properties at one time with our large in house team.

Meghan Escobar (02:28)

You talked about your large in-house team and so many things actually enlightened me throughout our conversation. But one of the things that stuck out to me is that you told me how you had anxiety with money, were homeless at one point, and now you are somebody who runs a team of thirteen contractors that you work with.

And you’re flipping 30–40 houses And that’s not an easy thing to do. So talk to us a little bit about what helps you keep this machine running smoothly and maybe a little bit about the journey of where you were and what brought you here today.

Nicholas Thiele (03:02)

Yeah, so I dropped out of high school twice. I was just, your average old, single mother, loser, teenage boy. and then I had my son I wanted to be an amazing dad. So I started to learn and teach myself. I went to college to learn electrical mechanics, got out and I started a little handyman business with what I knew, which was

How to replace light switches and throw up ceiling fans. And so that’s what I did. I had never touched a tool until that point. I just grinded through and I grew and I learned. I went from maintenance stuff to rehabs. I hired one guy, I hired two guys, I started doing bigger stuff. And then I learned about the investment space and the community over here. And

I felt like I had found my home and I developed my business towards real estate investors. through quality and integrity I grew that business up. worked for dozens of investors and personally been in the field and remodeled over 400 homes out here in Saint Louis, with my team shoulder to shoulder.

Meghan Escobar (03:59)

Incredible story. another thing that I think is really important that you talked about is the failures, you

Mentioned that you failed over and over and over again. What do you think it is that kept you from pushing through and not just throwing in the white flag and saying, I’m just gonna go get a contracting job or I’m just gonna go, be an electrician or whatever it is. what kept you pushing

Nicholas Thiele (04:24)

it’s hard to say what kept pushing me from throwing the flag. To me, there was no flag. To me there was no throwing, there was no quitting. it wasn’t an option. I made the decision that all of my mental focus was going to be on how to succeed and it just wasn’t an option for me. we had hard times.

I had times where I curled up in the bed and pretended the day didn’t exist, but then the next one I got back out and I got back up and I got back to work. And that was just the only option for me at the time. quitting wasn’t an option.

Meghan Escobar (05:34)

Where do you think that strength comes from? Because I feel like a lot of people in that position it happens, right? don’t know if you know anybody that’s tried a business and failed and said that this is ain’t for me. but for you, where do you think that drive comes from?

Nicholas Thiele (05:46)

my sons, my boys,

We don’t come from a lot. And so if I don’t do something to set their foundation right, they could potentially have some of the same struggles that I went through. And I refuse to let that be their future. So my sons are my full time motivation. I even have trouble talking about them. I’m a passionate person by nature.

And it’s helped fuel a lot of my drive and maybe some of that unwillingness to give up. but when I think about them, not giving up becomes super simple. they deserve everything I got. And so as long as I got something left, I’m gonna give it.

Meghan Escobar (06:25)

So dope. And it’s also the kind of stuff I feel like people don’t talk about enough. it truly is, I think, what separates folks who were like, I’m just gonna try this out. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Versus those who are like, there’s no option. if that fails, okay. Kind of like the book you were saying, right? you read that kind of helps you question, okay, well,

Why didn’t it work? What can I do better? Right. there’s not an option to just say, I’m giving up. It’s like, no. What lesson did I learn from that experience? And how can I do better?

Nicholas Thiele (06:56)

Life’s a journey. it’s a journey.

Meghan Escobar (06:58)

For sure it definitely is. So what do you feel like the next big move for you is with Next Chapter Home

Nicholas Thiele (07:06)

I got where I’m at by getting really good at one thing. And so the next big move for me now is to really dial it in. I don’t need big leaps, I need baby steps, I need consistent improvement. and so I’m just gonna watch this machine that we’re building. I’m going to watch it work, ’cause I’m not in the field anymore.

running a team from the side. I’m implementing a very structured and organized process that I utilize to do thirteen rehabs at a time and now I’m trying to do it from a desk. I’m in my analyze years. So over these next few years I’m gonna analyze how we’re gonna consistently improve and do a little more and get a little sharper. and then once I’m sure

that we’ve oiled the machine and everywhere that it needs it, then we’re gonna really scale and our BHAG which is I don’t know if you familiar with that, but it’s from one of these other books that I’m reading these days. A Big Hairy Audacious Goal and so our BHAG is to scale this business up to flipping over a hundred houses each year in our area. And so that is the move.

And when I get there, ’cause I will get there, the business will look completely different than it does right now. And I’m excited for what I gotta do to do that.

Meghan Escobar (09:01)

That is exciting. So you want to go from 30, 40 houses to 100. So a little bit more than doubling where you’re at right now. I love the confidence that you have too, because you’re like, we’re gonna get there. We don’t know how or when, but we’re gonna get there. That’s awesome. And a lot of people that are listening in, they’re either very early on their journey,

looking in on, what steps they need to take to step into entrepreneurship or real estate, or it’s the individuals that have been in the game long term and maybe they’re trying to figure out, what’s the next step for them. So we talked a little bit about building relationships and networking for you and how that’s been a big part of your success and to where you are today. What do you feel

Has made the biggest difference for you, Nick, in this journey when it comes to networking and having the right people around you.

Nicholas Thiele (09:48)

Yeah. I am where I am today based off the network that I got involved in. especially in real estate, it’s a networking based business. you’ve gotta reach out, you’ve gotta latch on. even from early on before I even knew how to network,

I got my first house from a real estate agent.

I got on the computer and Googled world’s best real estate agent in St. Louis and just started calling people. That is the extent of how I understood how to network was go to the Google and let that tell me who I needed to be calling and I called every freaking number. if it was in there and I could dial it on the phone, I’m calling it. And then as doors opened up to me to other rooms, I walked in

I didn’t care what the culture was or I tried everything out that came to my doorstep.

And then when I found Buyers Club it’s a community of really awesome casual people they’re not super stuffy, they’re not judgmental, they don’t care what position you play or what game you’re playing, they’re just happier in the room and you want to be better with your life. And so I resonated with that because I didn’t fit in a whole lot of rooms when I was first coming up.

But Buyers Club, even though I didn’t fit the conventional look of what you thought success and organization and dedication looked like, club welcomed me. and I just planted roots there and I never turned back and I’ve been a part of that community for over ten years and been going every single month for ten years.

Meghan Escobar (11:17)

So you said something interesting there and I wanna piggyback on that for a second because

You did something that I feel like a lot of people are really scared to do. it’s almost like I might be showing my age here a little bit, but you opened the phone book. opened the phone book and made a call. I used to love cold calling, man, it was one of my favorite things to do because what’s the worst that could happen, right? I feel like so many people are so freaking scared of that. pick up the phone, walk in a place.

Nicholas Thiele (11:44)

Absolutely.

Meghan Escobar (11:45)

Was there any fear for you doing that?

Nicholas Thiele (11:47)

No, no. No whatsoever. I was just ready for anybody to pick up the phone on the other side and then I was gonna give it to Whatever they picked up. They were gonna get a little bit of my fire and they weren’t gonna be ready for it, but it was coming.

Meghan Escobar (12:01)

Did you get a lot of no’s

Nicholas Thiele (12:03)

I got a lot of no’s Yeah. A lot of times I just said I’ve grown this business off transparency. that’s the only way I know how to do it and it feel right. And so there’s a lot of conversations that have gone exactly like this like, hey, listen, I have no idea what I’m talking about. I want to do this. You’re either gonna help me.

Or if you could please direct me to somebody else that could potentially help me. If you can’t do either one of those things, then we can go our separate ways. so just breaking it down for the person I’m talking to that I’m just trying over here. I have no idea what I’m saying. I found this direction. Can you help me or not? And then a lot of the times you’ll take people back like that. They’ll be like Okay, well

let me give you some advice. And even if I didn’t get what I was looking for, I got a little nugget from And I took that little nugget and I made that next phone call and I improved that second phone call based off the little nugget from the first one. And I just didn’t stop until the phone call sounded good enough to make somebody call me back.

Meghan Escobar (13:07)

If you ain’t writing that down or you’re not listening to that, you ain’t ready to step up and really, live or create that life, right? I think that’s what it is. you’re either about the life or you’re not.

it really isn’t any in between. And also, like you said, in this space, especially in real estate, it’s a people business. You

Nicholas Thiele (13:27)

Absolutely.

Meghan Escobar (13:27)

have to make connections, you have to make phone calls, you gotta shake hands, man. you just do. It’s something you can’t fake because they are everything in this space for sure.

Nicholas Thiele (13:36)

Never made a dollar off a hand I didn’t shake.

Meghan Escobar (13:38)

There you go. Hey, that’s a nugget right there. before we do wrap things up here, Nick, if someone was inspired by your story or what it is that you’re doing and wants to help you grow or potentially partner up with you, work with you, collab with you, or just simply learn more about what it is that you’re doing, what’s the best way for someone to connect with you? Socials, website, email.

Nicholas Thiele (14:03)

Main social media presence is through Facebook at Next Chapter Home So you can look us up on Facebook. We share all of our properties, everything we do there. Our website is mynextchapterhome.com It’s mainly focused more on buying and selling property, but you can get to me there as well.

and if you wanna come hang out and you’re in the Saint Louis area, I’m at the Buyers Club Networking event, the third Thursday of every single month out there in O’Fallon. It’s an amazing event to come hang out at and you can come talk to me personally and hear more about my story and see what we can do together.

Meghan Escobar (14:38)

That’s dope. And we’ll be sure to drop those links below. So if folks want to connect with you, they don’t even have to Google or take the extra step. They can just go ahead and tap the link. So man, Nick, I’ve really appreciated this conversation and having you on the show today. I think your story is absolutely incredible. And more importantly, the way that you position yourself in business, I think, is so authentic. And we truly need more people in

The space that are doing things the right way. So I just want to take a second to honor you for taking the time out to come on here, share your story. I’m excited to see you continue to grow and scale and impact people out here in the world. Absolutely.

Nicholas Thiele (15:16)

Thank you so much.

Meghan Escobar (15:18)

And for those of you that are tuning in, if you did get any value from this, well, if you didn’t get any value, you weren’t listening, but if you did get any value,

Please be sure to hit like and subscribe. We’ve got more conversations coming in every single day with operators just like Nicholas Thiele here, who are out here building real businesses in real time with real people. We’ll see you on the next episode.