Real Estate Revolution: Transform Your Financial Future

Michael Stansbury (00:01.481)
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m, tell you what, Chris, forgot. Gotta get a little better camera angle on there. the magic of editing. So we’re gonna do another cap town here. You didn’t realize you had a professional here, did you Chris? I’m gonna do it without the headphones. In three, two, one. Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. Today I have a special guest from Madison, Wisconsin. Is that right, Chris Hake?

Chris Hake (00:14.574)
big time.

Chris Hake (00:31.458)
Yes sir, it is. Madtown.

Michael Stansbury (00:33.055)
Chris, yeah, Big Town Madison, home of the Wisconsin Badgers, I think it is, and Green Bay Packers up north. Chris Haake is my guest today. He does a lot in real estate. We’re going to get to that in just a second. But first, at Investor Fuel, Investor Fuel does sponsor the Real Estate Pros podcast. We are a mastermind that helps real estate investors, service providers, and real estate entrepreneurs 2 to 5X their business.

Chris Hake (00:40.695)
Yes, sir.

Michael Stansbury (00:57.983)
To allow them to build the businesses they’ve always wanted and allow them to live the life they’ve always dreamed of. Chris, are you living the dream there in Wisconsin?

Chris Hake (01:08.29)
You know what, weather wise, not yet, but it’s coming. But no, life’s good. I’m blessed, great wife, almost 30 years and three boys. I can’t ask for anything more than that. I get up every day and put my foot on the ground and start the day.

Michael Stansbury (01:22.599)
That’s awesome. Well, Chris, we’re going to get into your background a little bit. I always like to start with the origin story of how did you get started in real estate? What did that look like? What were you doing when you realized, okay, I think I need to get into this game called real estate in this vertical. And what was it that you got into?

Chris Hake (01:42.764)
Yeah, you know, my journey started working out of school and I did the same as probably most people did. And I realized within a matter of probably five years or so that it wasn’t going to get me what I wanted. At that point, dollar from a dollar standpoint, I had bills, I had all the stuff from school and like everybody. And so I was just I was at work hustling and doing the thing. And I started doing stuff on the side.

while I was at my W2. So network marketing, Amway, anyone who’s in my age bracket, Amway is like, I got it. So I did all that stuff. And I knew that the entrepreneurial edge was in me. I just didn’t know what I wanted to do yet. And so I kind of cranked through my W2. I was doing stuff on the side, but the network marketing really wasn’t happening. And

Michael Stansbury (02:12.511)
So network marketing, Amway, anyone who’s in my age bracket, Amway’s like, I got it. So I did all that stuff. And I knew that the entrepreneurial edge was in me. I just didn’t know what I wanted to do yet. And so I kind of crammed through my W-2. I was doing stuff on the side. But the network marketing was

Chris Hake (02:36.086)
I kept seeing real estate and signs and I would hear people doing it, but I never really had any mentors. I never had a club or RIA or anything. And I think one day I bought a course, Carlton Sheets, 1996 and 99 bucks on a Friday night. I bought his course within 30 days. I bought my first property. I did what he said to do.

Michael Stansbury (02:38.558)
I would hear people doing it, but I never really had any mentors. I never had a club or a RIA or anything. And I think one day I bought a course, Garleton Sheets, 1996, and 99 bucks on a Friday night. I bought his course. Within 30 days, I bought my first property.

I did what he said to do and I actually followed through, got my real estate license because he told me to. I bought a little one condo in a building of six, three blocks from my house. And while my wife was pregnant with our first son, I was over there every night after work rehabbing it, fixing it up, brought my dad in, he funded it, and a buddy from college and we were third, third, third. And that was the start.

Chris Hake (03:05.19)
And I actually followed through got my real estate license because he told me to and I bought a little one condo in a building of six, three blocks from my house. And while my wife was pregnant with our first son, I was over there every night after work, rehabbing it, fixing it up, brought my dad in, he funded it and a buddy from college and we were third, third, third. And that was the start. And it just kind of went from there. Within three years, I had 40 rentals.

Michael Stansbury (03:31.551)
It just kind of went from there. Within three years, I had 40 rentals. And I was managing them all. I working full time. I started a company. I had my second baby. I don’t know.

Chris Hake (03:35.111)
and I was managing them all. was working full time. I started a company on my second baby. It was just, it was a hamster wheel for sure.

Michael Stansbury (03:44.414)
You tie all the risk while your wife is either pregnant or having a baby. That’s a pretty unique way of doing things. But what’s interesting is so many people are, especially nowadays, we have all the information. Carlton Sheets, if I remember correctly, he came on late at night sometimes and then had his infomercials. then you took, a lot of people probably bought the course. Not a lot of people took action, but within a very short period of time, you took what he said and you did it.

And it doesn’t sound like it to me like that condo, you know, as your first deal, this is the coolest thing in the world is the fact that you’ve got a rep there with three different people, your dad, a buddy of yours and you, and you got to see it and feel it and touch it and actually do it. then when it closed, what was that feeling like when you sold it or what did you do with it? Did you keep it?

Chris Hake (04:37.43)
Well, that was awesome, because the course was called No Money Down. And not only did we do No Money Down, we got money back in closing. And it was and that was my first deal. And so it became real impossible. All the things that people today and over the decades that I’ve been teaching and coaching and running stuff. People just don’t believe it’s possible. They’re like, why would someone do that? I don’t know the why. But there’s a lot of people who do that.

And you just have to be out there scouring the earth to find them. So but it was a great feeling. You know, it propelled me. It told me and proved to me that the course was right. And at that time, I didn’t know any different. I didn’t know anybody doing real estate investing. I just I saw it and I got hooked. And then I just started buying duplex, duplex, four unit, eight unit, eight unit. And literally within three years, we had stuff all over. And it was like, wow, this this thing’s working.

Michael Stansbury (05:08.262)
Right.

Michael Stansbury (05:31.103)
stuff all over and it was like, wow, this thing’s working. Well, massive action. You took massive action and a repeatable process. So you’re into single family, multi-family condos and things like that. So take me through the iteration of as you’re growing in your real estate career, what are the other things, what are the milestones that you hit as far as maybe different verticals within real estate?

Chris Hake (05:36.621)
Yeah.

Chris Hake (05:57.912)
So, well, I stopped. So as I was growing through there, I think I retired from W2 World in 98. So I just told my boss I can’t afford to work for him anymore. And that was it. the verticals were, I think, kind of interesting. So I think of coming into 2000, got through the tech bubble, and that was all rentals, pretty easy. I never rehabbed anything where I flipped it.

or wholesale. Nothing like that yet. And so I went through and all of a sudden, you get yourself to 2008 and the world basically exploded with real estate. And so I got into short sales. And I started, you know, getting different training. And I learned about foreclosures and short sales. And that’s really the next version of my real estate investing. And I plowed into that and

Michael Stansbury (06:40.583)
started you know getting

Michael Stansbury (06:44.913)
short sales and that’s really the next version of my real estate investing and I plowed into that in yeah, 10 or 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and probably did that for four or five years and then I transitioned at that point to rehab and wholesale. So I got out of short sales and foreclosures that market kind of…

Chris Hake (06:52.878)
Yeah, 10 or 910 1112 13 and, and probably did that for four or five years. And, and then I transitioned at that point, to rehab and wholesale. So I got out of short sales and foreclosures that market kind of, I don’t want to say dried up, but it changed. And

Michael Stansbury (07:10.143)
Right, I remember at the time and it seemed like, know, we get lulled and asleep with these markets. It seems like, there’s another short sale, another short sale. And then all of a sudden, that market in three or four years, there’s a new normal. Like there’s no more short sales anymore. What’s the deal?

Chris Hake (07:29.141)
Yeah, well, and at that time, it was interesting because when I started rehabbing and wholesaling, everything was MLS. I didn’t market nobody marketed because I had thousands of houses to choose from. And in you know, 11, 12, 13, 14. And as I was kind of transitioning there, and I think back to that, you know, the the deals we got back then my goodness, it was it was nuts. First of all, if I could go back in time 10 years, I would have bought 1000 houses.

And, but it was a really good learning experience. It proved to me I could wholesale because I didn’t in my market. We’ve got a really good stable market with big industry, the college, University of Wisconsin, American family, and so on. And so pretty good base even when 2008 hit, we didn’t crash, you know, like a lot of the big cities did. We were stable, but we went down. But what I took from there was

Michael Stansbury (08:11.935)
and so on. And so pretty good base, even when 2008 hit, we didn’t crash, you know, like a lot of the big cities did. We were stable, but we went down. But what I took from there was, you know, the whole wholesaling. I had people that I knew from after my groups in a different real estate around the country that are killing it.

Chris Hake (08:26.35)
You know, the whole wholesaling, I had people that I knew from after my groups and in different real estate around the country that are killing it, wholesaling. like, I can’t do that in Madison. And until I one of my coaches say, no, you can do it. You’re just telling yourself you can’t do it. And I literally took one of my rehabs and I tried to wholesale it and I was amazed. And then I just started wholesaling. bam, bam, bam, bam. And we did that, you know, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, all the way up into COVID.

Michael Stansbury (08:33.351)
all

Chris Hake (08:53.454)
and rehabbing and wholesaling was kind of it. I bought a multifamily apartment during that time. But that was kind of my track between that and, you know, the RIA and stuff like that.

Michael Stansbury (09:03.359)
So, you started wholesaling and doing more rehabs and I think I remember this because Chris and I, this is the first time we’ve we’ve had a relationship for long time and then I remember you going into the RIA and the networking and you started with the RIA. Now, this is an interesting vertical. is something that a friend of ours here in Memphis actually started the first one. name is John Paul Moses.

But did you start yours or did you, how did you get involved in running RIA and being, you know, and making that a profitable venture?

Chris Hake (09:43.47)
Yeah, so at the time, I was in a mastermind too in 2012. And I had just left the academia world. So I taught real estate investing at the local college, it was a three credit class as part of a two year degree for real estate. And so I taught the real estate investment class from 2006 to 2010. And by 2010, it was just so the academia part was brutal, I couldn’t do and help people the way I wanted to and teach. And so I left there at the time I was with

Eve Cook and Sean McCloskey in their coaching. And what I learned from them was this RIA thing. And one of their other students, Eric Lundberg, had the Milwaukee RIA, which is 70 minutes down the road. And so they hooked me up with Eric. Eric helped me kickstart it in 2012. And we opened the doors and it wasn’t a franchise, it wasn’t anything. It was just Madison RIA. And that

Michael Stansbury (10:26.527)
70 minutes down the road. And so they hooked me up with Eric. Eric helped me kickstart in 2012. And we opened the doors. And it wasn’t a franchise. wasn’t anything. It was just Madison Rhea. And that was fantastic because I love teaching. I love giving back.

Chris Hake (10:39.296)
was fantastic because I love teaching. I love giving back what I’ve learned and helping people avoid the landmines that I’ve hit in my world and others I’ve seen that I’ve learned to stay away from. And so it’s been a great process and we built it up pretty good in Madison. You know, it’s always been profitable. It’s evolved for sure. But for me, was kind of a lost leader to be honest with you. I enjoyed the REA but

Michael Stansbury (10:49.503)
that I’ve learned to stay away from. And so it’s been a great process and we built it up pretty good in Madison. You know, it’s always been profitable. It’s evolved for sure. For me, it was kind of a lost leader to be honest with you. I enjoyed the REA, but I got every other benefit from the REA and not the…

Chris Hake (11:07.054)
I got every other benefit from the RIA and not the membership or bringing a paid speaker in. Yeah, great. It’s a few bucks here and there. But I met wholesalers. I had so many doors open up with private lenders and deals and opportunities. And yeah, just anyone who’s part of a RIA and you’re the guy in the front of the room, you know, you become the focal point when you get out of the front of the room, because the perception is you’re the expert and people have no no.

Michael Stansbury (11:11.801)
Yeah

Chris Hake (11:36.43)
You’re perceived as being that smart guy or gal. And so that was a huge part for me of the rehab. The more I helped, the more I served, the more people I trained and coach and taught, it all came back. It just kept coming. It still is to this day. I’ve been doing it for almost 13 years now.

Michael Stansbury (11:40.543)
And so that was a huge part for me at the RIA. The more I helped, the more I served, the more people I trained and coached and tied, it all came back. It just kept coming. It still is to this day. I’ve been doing it for almost 13 years now. So there’s the real nugget for our audience is, and it is, you know, if you’re going to be a front of the room person, you have a responsibility and you can hear it in Chris’s heart there as far as he’s out there helping people and

And when he means loss leader, I automatically think of that Costco rotisserie chicken or something like that where people go in there to go get the rotisserie chicken, but they come out with a lot more stuff. You’ve come out with a lot more stuff. It may have not been your main vehicle to make an income, but what it has done is it’s opened up many, many doors, many other relationships where you’ve done deals and you’ve closed deals with other people.

Chris Hake (12:14.734)
You

Michael Stansbury (12:34.959)
that you otherwise wouldn’t have and that is the benefit of networking but more importantly it’s the benefit of being a leader in networking and taking that responsibility. do you have any good stories about somebody you met or a deal that you wouldn’t have gotten if it weren’t for the RIA?

Chris Hake (12:57.55)
Well, the apartment deal I did was a 20, no 32, 32 units apartment deal that I got because I met a gentleman through real estate and the RIA and he wasn’t a, you know, a real, I guess.

involved member, maybe that’s best way to put it. He’d show up every now and then. But he was a guy that he knew I was into investing and he was more the realtor than the investor. did both. But I still remember him calling me one day. And he said, Hey, you know, I last time I saw you at the RIA or whatever, I thought of you. And I had a client who I got this pocket listing possibly. And I thought of you and I told him about you and is literally two blocks away from my RIA.

Michael Stansbury (13:22.835)
shopper

Michael Stansbury (13:32.063)
I still remember him calling you one day and he said, hey, know, last time I saw you at the Rio or whatever, I thought of you and I had a client who I got this pocket listing possibly and I thought of you and I told him about you and it was literally two blocks away from my Rio. I could almost look out my office window and see it. And that was a David versus Goliath win on that deal because of the company that I beat out when I

Chris Hake (13:48.886)
I could almost look out my office window and see it. And that was a David versus Goliath win on that deal because of the company that I beat out when I went through the whole thing. And it was a great story. And I got to teach from it for years at the RIA because all the teachable moments that came out of it. So a lot of wins for my family and I, a lot of wins for the people that I was able to share how I did it, how I bought it with no money.

Michael Stansbury (13:59.935)
It was a great story and I got to teach from it for years at the Rehabilitation

Michael Stansbury (14:08.613)
So a lot of wins for my family and I, a lot of wins for the people that I was able to share how I did it, how I bought it with no money. And to this day people are like, how do you buy something for $2 million with no money? I can go, you just.

Chris Hake (14:17.454)
And to this day, people are like, how do you buy something for $2 million with no money? I go, you just gotta get creative. And you have to think outside the box. you know, it wasn’t anything earth shaking. You know, you show people and they’re like, oh, okay. Well, that was the deal that I think about a lot because it just had so many cool elements. You know, those are the best to teach from because they’re real and people can go see it. It’s right there. Yeah.

Michael Stansbury (14:27.071)
you have to think outside the box and you know it wasn’t anything or shaking even when you show people they’re like oh okay that was the deal

Michael Stansbury (14:40.223)
Right. Yeah, here’s the pin on Google Maps, go take a look at it. Here’s exactly, here’s the data on it. This is how we got it undervalued and this is why we got it with no money down. it is interesting, you know, no matter…

Chris Hake (14:50.391)
Yep.

Michael Stansbury (15:00.903)
how many people I meet, people getting into real estate, and people that have been in real estate, I’m always amazed at A, the things that I don’t know, because I’ve never seen a deal put like that together. I’m learning something. then I meet a guy that’s been in the business for a long time, and he’s like, I’ve never done that before, that’s really cool. And I’m thinking, I thought that was elementary.

And so, know, it’s one thing, so it’s the most humbling thing in the world for everybody. So, real estate, and this is why I love your story so much, is because you have different verticals, you had different wins in a lot of different venues in real estate. It covers so much different ground and the amount of winning that you can do or the amount of success that you can have in just land or self storage or…

car washes or whatever, it’s just, it’s mind blowing. And you never know those things until the people tell the story. with regard to, so you did multifamily and now Chris, you know, you’re to talk about like your day-to-day operation, you still have the RIA and now you have other RIAs associated with yours. How does the organization, how does the RIA organization look today in 2025?

Chris Hake (16:01.582)
Yep.

Chris Hake (16:21.262)
Yeah, so back in 2021, when we were in the thick of COVID, I got really, I had health challenges. And let’s just leave it at that. But I was struggling with like day to day life. And so at that point, it was very difficult to keep running the REIA. And I almost got to the point of thinking, you know what, it might be time, I think God might be saying it’s time to walk away and I need to do something different. And what came out of it was,

uh, my relationships that I had met through the RIA and other masterminds with the other RIAs in Wisconsin. And so I talked to them, we got on a call and we merged our RIAs together back in, I want to say late 21, early 22. And, that was Wisco RIA. So I had the Madison RIA and now we’re Wisco RIA. We’ve got nine locations and, uh, we’re, you know, spotted all over the state, which is fantastic. And so.

Michael Stansbury (16:57.574)
So

Michael Stansbury (17:16.039)
I’m a host in Madison. We’ve got eight other hosts around the other locations. have nine meetings a month.

Chris Hake (17:19.554)
Today, I’m a host in Madison. We’ve got eight other hosts around the other locations. We have, you know, nine meetings a month. And it’s super cool because now I can help and work with people, which I do all the time, that are, you know, not just 20 minutes away from, you know, our local location. They could be four hours away, you know, up north in Wisconsin. And I can still…

Michael Stansbury (17:28.849)
It’s super cool because now I can help and work with people, which I do all the time, that are not just 20 minutes away from our local location. They could be four hours away up north in Wisconsin. And I can still guide them or give them advice or whatever.

Chris Hake (17:47.222)
guide them or give them advice or whatever they might need and and know that I can at least give the spark and then I can lead them to somebody who is closer to them that might know the area or you know the city or township or whatever better than I do and that’s great I’ll pass it off pass the baton go on to the next person so the REIA has been fun it’s been growing and you know who knows where it’ll go but my role is less now

Michael Stansbury (17:54.623)
we have the spark and then can lead it to somebody who is closer to them that might know the area or you know the city or township or whatever better than I do and that’s great I’ll pass it off, pass it on, go on to the next person and so the REHA has been fun, been growing and you know who knows where it’ll go but my role is less now but in the corporate thing

Chris Hake (18:16.877)
but in the corporate thing. But at the end of the day, I still have my Madison and that’s where I hang my hat. That’s what I love and host. And that’s where I spend my time mostly.

Michael Stansbury (18:19.967)
But at the end of the day, I still have my Madison and that’s where I aim my head. That’s what I love and host and that’s where I spend my time mostly. So is it a mix of in-person meetings that you go to and then some meetings online and things of that nature?

Chris Hake (18:35.414)
We, you know what, I gotta be honest Mike, after COVID, when it forced us to be virtual, what I realized was that it was easy button for people not to do anything. And they were distracted and they’d show up and it was convenient, great, but it wasn’t the same thing. And so when we got out of COVID, everyone’s like, can you still do virtual? And we did for about six months. And I realized everyone was still at home.

Nobody was coming out live. And so we shut it down and said, no more virtual. We’re not recording it. If you want it, you need to show up. And slowly that started happening. to where I think we’re finally, you know, the last six to 12 months, we’re finally back to a normal flow of expectations. You know, if you want to grow and you want to build your business, you got to show up. You got to associate. You got to get around other people.

Michael Stansbury (19:06.399)
And so we shut it down and said, no more virtual. You’re not recording it. If you want it, you need to show up. And slowly, that started happening. And to where I think we’re finally, you the last six to 12 months, we’re finally back to a normal flow of expectations. know, if you want to grow and you want to build your business, you got to show up.

You gotta associate, you get around to the people. You can’t do it sitting in your bedroom with your fussy slippers. No, you can’t. You can’t, even though that’s a fun thing. And it was kind of neat during COVID, if you were able to win during COVID, but eventually you gotta get out. And I’m glad you said that, because one of the things that I’ve noticed too, is there’s a lag. There’s organizations out there that still do the online thing. And I think that it’s, I think that,

Chris Hake (19:33.42)
You can’t do it sitting in your bedroom with your fuzzy slippers.

Chris Hake (19:42.574)
I know.

Michael Stansbury (20:00.383)
One of the things that you decided with your organization that’s very interesting is like we just said, we’re not doing this anymore. The people that show up, they end up getting work done. They end up doing the thing. It’s very easy to ingest media. It’s very, very hard to take action on what you’re doing or just get on your feet and go someplace. that’s excellent stuff. Now you mentioned earlier,

Chris Hake (20:24.098)
Right.

Michael Stansbury (20:30.906)
coaching masterminds and things like that. So one of the things that I’d like for you to talk about is like what has been with being coached by other coaches or the masterminds that you’ve been a part of, what are some of the things that you learn through masterminds? What are the wins there? And if somebody is listening to this and they’re like, masterminds don’t work, it’s a waste of money, or I don’t know if I see a benefit.

Speak to that a little bit Chris of your experience there.

Chris Hake (21:03.252)
Yeah, I love saying this masterminds work, people don’t work. And that’s the problem is the people that say that either have never tried it, or they know someone who have tried it and they they use the excuse, well, they wasted all this money and never got anything from it. And I would argue that the people that allegedly wasted their money, they didn’t do anything anyway, or their expectation was it was going to be done for them. And that’s a problem. Because

The whole point of the mentorship and coaching is, you know, I think of Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan and all these people who we idolize and they’re on TV and they’re great and they’re the best in the world. Those guys have dozens of coaches and they’ve had them their whole life because they’re the best because of that. And in real estate, I learned very early that that was a shortcut for me not to cheapen the process, but it was a shortcut in learning in true north.

Michael Stansbury (21:33.92)
The whole point of the mentorship and coaching is, you know, I think in Tiger Woods and my…

and they’re great and they’re the best in the world. Those guys have dozens of coaches.

because they were the best because of that. And in real estate, I learned very early that that was a shortcut for me, not to cheapen the process, but it was a shortcut in learning in true north. You know, because so many times in my life before coaches, I couldn’t…

Chris Hake (22:03.5)
You know, because so many times in my life before coaches, I can look back and see times when I went down a path for months and months and I didn’t realize I was off true north for a year. And all of sudden, I’m like, where am I? And I’m not even close to what I was doing. And with coaching, I always, you know, kind of give the analogy to people. I’m kind of like the bumpers in a bowling alley. So

Michael Stansbury (22:09.343)
and see times when I went down the path for months and months and I didn’t realize I was off true north for a year. And all of a sudden I’m like, where am I? And I’m not even close to what I was doing. And with coaching, I always, you know, kind of give you an analogy to people. I kind of like the bumpers in a bowling alley. So you throw the ball down and my goal is to keep it out of the gutter.

Chris Hake (22:32.96)
You throw the ball down and my goal is to keep it out of the gutter and keep it going as close to true north as possible to hit pins, which is your goal. And I said, without those gutters. Yeah. I mean, you can still bowl, but you probably hit the gutter and the landmines and other stuff. And I said, not that you won’t with coaching, but I said, you get back to true north quicker. The ball comes bouncing and it gets back to the center and

Michael Stansbury (22:38.001)
and keep it going as close to true north as possible to hit pins, which is your goal. And I said, without those gutters, yeah, I mean, you can still bowl, but you probably hit the gutter and the landmines and other stuff.

And I said, not that you won’t with coaching, but I said, you get back to true north quicker. The ball comes bouncing and it gets back to the center. And that to me is what coaching is about in that relationship, is somebody who can watch and guide me, advise me, not do it for me, but guide me so that if I’m getting off course, they can bring me back before I’m a year away. And I’m

Chris Hake (23:01.794)
That to me is is what coaching is about. And that relationship is somebody who can watch and guide me, advise me, not do it for me, but guide me so that if I’m getting off course, they can bring me back before I’m a year away. And I’m like, what happened? I sorry, let me get back to zero. So I, I talk about that first and foremost with everybody in the front of the room all the time. And I’m a product of it. I’ve been

Michael Stansbury (23:19.455)
Sorry, let me get back to zero. So I talk about that first and foremost with everybody in the front of the room all the time. And I’m a product of it. been, I couldn’t be hard to say it if I wasn’t in a coaching relationship myself. I’m in two of them. I’ve got two coaches right now. They’re self storage and then kind of business and life. And both of them are fairly important to me and they’re totally different.

Chris Hake (23:30.272)
I could be hard to say it if I wasn’t in a coaching relationship myself. I’m in two of them. I’ve got two coaches right now for self storage and then kind of business and life. And both of them are very important to me and they’re totally different.

Michael Stansbury (23:46.045)
Now Chris, one of the things that you talked about, you alluded to it a little bit and I’d like for you to speak to it as much as you’re willing to, but you did have a of a, maybe a valley that you went through with your health. So when you were going through that, how did, you know, how did you?

to how did you navigate that valley and what puts you back on the way forward or going up or you know how did you come back from that what did did that look like because it sounds like and again I may be speaking did did was did your business suffer as well during the during the during the health scare tell me what that looked like as much as you want to share

Chris Hake (24:16.237)
Yeah.

Chris Hake (24:28.768)
Yeah, so it’s a super long story. I’m going to condense it as best I can. So I started getting, I’ll say sick health stuff back in right after COVID hit and that all through 2020 about March or May till December. And I started having tinnitus and then ringing and pressure in my ear and hyperacusis, is sound sensitivity. And I had very extreme sound sensitivity.

And it didn’t show its head like full time in 2020, but starting in late December of 2020 into 2021, I was literally out. wasn’t, I didn’t go to the RIA for almost 18 months. I couldn’t speak. I could barely leave my house. I don’t think I had a dinner with my family for two years sitting at the same table because I couldn’t talk to them. I wore headphones all the time. Couldn’t drive in a car because the sound of the tires and the pavement were too loud. That’s what the windows rolled up.

Michael Stansbury (24:59.839)
It didn’t show us head full time in 2020, but starting in late December of 2020 into 2021, I was literally out. I didn’t go to the Reef for almost 18 months. I couldn’t speak. I could barely leave my house. I don’t think I had a dinner with my family for two years sitting at the same table because I couldn’t talk to them. I wore headphones all the time. Couldn’t drive in a car because the sound of the tires and the pavement were too loud. That’s what the windows rolled up.

And it was, yeah, was just brutal. And so did my business suffer? I stopped rehabbing, I stopped tall sailing, and I put the brakes on coaching. And I wasn’t speaking every day. So that was for almost two years. All 21, all 22.

Chris Hake (25:28.778)
And it was yeah, it was just brutal. so did my business suffer? I stopped rehabbing. I stopped wholesaling and I put the brakes on coaching and I wasn’t speaking at RIA. So that was for almost two years, all 21, all 22. And so yes, my business has definitely suffered at that time. During that time as well, my wife had cancer.

Michael Stansbury (25:47.933)
So yes, my business has definitely suffered at that time. During that time as well, my wife had cancer, and so now she’s going to clinics in Mexico, hope for cancer for three weeks. And so it was a crazy turbulent time. So business suffered, family life suffered, and I think…

Chris Hake (25:55.468)
And so now she’s going to clinics in Mexico, hope for cancer for three weeks. And so it was a crazy turbulent time. So business suffered, family life suffered. And I think the only, I guess, thing that really lifted me up was, you know, my faith, my walk. And I didn’t have the relationship with Christ the way I do today, not even close. And

Michael Stansbury (26:09.599)
best thing that really lifted me up was, you know, my faith, my, my wall.

Michael Stansbury (26:19.999)
of Christ the way I do today. Not even close. And that was the only thing I had.

Chris Hake (26:25.068)
That was the only thing I had because nobody could help me. No doctors, my wife, nobody had a medicine that nobody knew was going on. Every doctor I went to, they’re like, yeah, what you’ve got, I’ve never seen. Literally, when you have every doctor tell you that for two years, you start to lose hope. And I just kept trying stuff and trying stuff, supplements, and I went to everybody, chiropractors, doctors all across the country. And at the end of the day, that…

Michael Stansbury (26:40.095)
start to lose hope. I just kept trying stuff and trying stuff, supplements, I went to everybody, chiropractors, doctors all across the country. At the end of the day, that, it kind of led to…

Chris Hake (26:52.78)
that kind of led me down a path of a lot of people praying for me. And I literally was in the Bible and reading scripture hours every day because I literally would wake up and all I wanted to do that day was go to bed. That just I live for sleeping. And thank God I had that one thing I could sleep. That was my only solace. So as all this went on, it’s kind of interesting, Mike, because what came out of it was my self storage business.

Michael Stansbury (27:01.555)
scripture hours every day because I literally

Michael Stansbury (27:08.639)
I live for sleeping. And thank God I had that one thing, I could sleep, that was my only solace. So as all this went on, it’s kind of interesting, because what came out of it was my self-storage business. I literally built my self-storage business myself and then with a partner after that on the front porch of my house where I pretty much ran my business for two years. Not on the phone and not…

Chris Hake (27:22.23)
I literally built myself storage business myself and then with a partner after that on the front porch of my house where I pretty much ran my business for two years, not on the phone and not well in person. It was email and text because I didn’t have to talk because when I talked it hurt. so I literally our first six storage facilities. I did not know my first one I did because I wasn’t sick yet. But my next six.

Michael Stansbury (27:36.223)
Well, in person it was email and text because I didn’t have to talk. Because when I talked it hurt. so, I literally, our first six orange facilities, I did not, no, no, my first one I did because I wasn’t sick yet, but my next six I didn’t see for two years. Never went from once. I didn’t even, I didn’t know what they looked like other than.

Chris Hake (27:50.828)
I didn’t see for two years, never went to them once. I didn’t even, I didn’t know what they looked like other than a picture. And that was something that proved to me, probably something my coaches were trying to prove to me for years that I don’t need to do everything. And if I slow down and give other people responsibilities, my business will still be okay. And my mindset was if I don’t do it, it won’t be done right. So I got to do it and I’ll do it bigger, faster, stronger than anyone else.

Michael Stansbury (28:00.351)
something that proved to me, probably something that coaches are trying to prove to me for years, that I don’t need to do everything and if I slow down and give other people responsibilities, my business will still be okay. And my mindset was if I don’t do it, won’t be done right. So I gotta do it and I’ll do it bigger, faster, stronger than anyone else. And I God said, alright, time to… And it didn’t, I didn’t curtail it from 100 to 90 percent. It went from 100 to zero. It didn’t like that.

Chris Hake (28:20.268)
And I think God said, all right, time to… And it didn’t, I didn’t curtail it from 100 to 90%. It went from 100 to zero in a, in a like that. And it was for months and months and months and months and months. And what’s funny was my business now is bigger than it’s ever been. And I barely was even around. And so it was a great lesson, a season of life that I would never wish on anybody. And, but it brought me closer to…

Michael Stansbury (28:31.231)
for months and months and months and months and months. And what’s funny was my business is now bigger than it’s ever been. And I barely was even around. And so it was a great lesson, a season of life that I would never wish on anybody. But it brought me closer to where I am today and my family and the whole thing. so that had been quite a journey. And that was June 1, 2023 is when I finally

Chris Hake (28:49.486)
where I am today and my family and you know the whole thing. And so that that’s been quite a journey and that was June 1st, 2023 is when I finally miraculously I all of a sudden I’m better. It’s like all right where did that come from? And I did some other stuff that people show, but I did a million things and I never knew what was working or not. But I believe it was just my time. My season was done and and it was time to move on.

Michael Stansbury (29:00.563)
miraculously, all of a sudden I’m better. It’s like, alright, where did that come from? And I did some other stuff that people show, but I did a million things and I never knew what was working.

Michael Stansbury (29:15.391)
Well guys, what a hopeful and cool way to end the podcast. Chris Haake, where can people find out more about you and about your coaching and all the Chris Haake things? Where can we find you?

Chris Hake (29:31.246)
I mean, the simple way is my email is chrishaake.gmail.com one word, my self storage business and company is just simple storage.com pretty straightforward. Unless they want to come to a REA if they’re in Wisconsin anytime, wisco w i s c l rea.com. Look me up. I’m the Madison host.

Michael Stansbury (29:56.658)
Alright folks, well thank you for watching the Real Estate Pros Podcast. Chris Haake, thank you again for being part of it. Like and subscribe folks and we’ll see you next time.

Chris Hake (30:02.732)
Thanks, man.

All right, thank you.