Readers of this blog know that each month we select one of our clients to be the Trump University client of the month. We select a client who stands out because of their remarkable accomplishments. They are a rallying call for our employees, potential and current clients that if you work at your goals they can be accomplished. This month we showcase Jesse Maschmeyer. Here is his story:
Jesse Maschmeyer was born in Salinas, California in 1976. Jesse played the violin as a child, and in high school he developed a love of woodworking. But in the years that followed, those passions took his life in an unexpected direction. He went to Parma, Italy to study to become a violin maker. After three years of intense study, he returned to America to practice his craft. Today, Jesse restores antique instruments for one of the most prestigious instrument shops in Boston. At the same time, he builds violins and sells them to professional musicians.
A great life? Yes. But at the same time, Jesse had a second passion. “I was always interested in investing in real estate,” Jesse says. “And I also saw that if I became successful as a real estate investor, which would free me to pursue my passion for violin making, which has its ups and downs and which is not always as profitable as it could be.”
Yet as his interest in real estate grew, Jesse faced a problem. How could he learn what he needed to start investing? The answer to that question came when a friend invited Jesse to attend a free Trump University real estate class in Waltham, Massachusetts. Jesse didn’t know about Trump University before that, but he saw that Trump University could teach him the skills he needed to make his investing dreams come true.
“It had been my long-time goal to make a career in real estate,” Jesse says. “But I was spinning my wheels. I didn’t know quite how to get started. And Trump University really set my feet in the right direction to make it happen.”
Jesse enrolled in Trump University’s Real Estate Investor Training Program. Before long, he was working with Stephen Gilpin, one of our master instructors.
“I learned what kind of properties were the best for this particular market and this time,” Jesse explains. “And it quickly became obvious to me that bank-owned properties presented me with a nice clean deal and some potential equity at closing.”
Jesse and Stephen also discussed how much money Jesse could contribute to his first purchase. He had recently sold a violin he had made, and had other savings. In sum, he could start with an investment of $20,000. Plus, Jesse had an excellent credit history, which gave him even more power as a first-time real estate investor.
With Stephen’s help, Jesse began to search for investment properties. He quickly identified one. “It was bank-owned, I got it under contract, but then problems quickly developed. We found several defects to the title, and in the building itself. But I worked with Stephen at every step of the process and actually learned many valuable lessons.”
With that first deal off the table, Jesse soon made an offer on a two-family home in Somerville, Massachusetts. The home appraised for $292,000, but Jesse’s offer of $250,000 was accepted. It was, in Jesse’s words, “a nice, clean deal.” Because the property was bank-owned, it was delivered vacant.
Even though he could probably have held the property for a short time and flipped it for a small profit, Jesse is applying a longer, buy and hold strategy. He is occupying one of the units, renting the other one for $1,200 a month, which generates positive cash flow for him.
With Stephen’s help, Jesse has created a long-term strategy that will allow him to buy additional properties below market value and hold them long enough to obtain the maximum value from them. But for the time being, Jesse is happy right where he is. He calls his strategy “a good, solid stance” in the current market - one that makes him feel comfortable because he is generating positive cash flow and minimizing exposure and risk at the same time.
And let’s not forget the fact that Jesse has accomplished that special, two-part dream of his. He has already achieved the security he needed to devote two days a week to his other passion, making fine violins. He is living out his dreams. Trump University is proud to have helped make that happen.
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