Flipping Friendship into Fortune: How Grace and Amelia Took Over Iowa’s Market!

Welcome to the Jake & Gino Podcast! Today’s episode features two powerhouse women in real estate, Grace Gudenkauf and Amelia McGee. Both hailing from Iowa, they’ve built impressive careers in real estate, becoming self-managing landlords and co-authors of The Self-Managing Landlord through BiggerPockets. Grace and Amelia share their inspiring journey from sliding into each other's DMs on Instagram to creating WIRE (Women Invest in Real Estate)—a thriving community for female investors.Grace, a former mechanical engineer, and Amelia, a former project manager, have since left their 9-to-5 jobs, turned passion into profit, and grown their rental portfolios. Together, they’ve managed midterm rental properties, flipped homes, and run meetups and retreats for women in real estate. In this episode, we discuss:Key Takeaways:How Grace and Amelia met and built a friendship over Instagram DMs.Why starting with small properties can lead to long-term financial freedom.The power of community in real estate, especially for women investors.The value of self-management and systemizing your property portfolio.Real-life stories from the trenches of property management—overflowing toilets and all!Resource Mentioned: Get their book: The Self-Managing Landlord Book — Women Invest In Real EstateTopics Covered:How Grace and Amelia broke into real estate.Transitioning from corporate jobs to full-time investors.Starting WIRE (Women Invest in Real Estate) and building a network.The highs and lows of being self-managing landlords.Tips for growing your own real estate portfolio with limited capital.Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction00:56 - Meeting through Instagram & Their Real Estate Journey02:01 - Their First Real Estate Deals and Career Transitions10:34 - The Importance of Creating a Real Estate Community for Women11:51 - Major Challenges Women Face in Real Estate12:59 - Systems and Processes for Self-Managing Properties16:46 - Real-Life Crazy Landlord Stories37:36 - Best Deal and Why42:26 - Fun or Exciting Insights to Share with the Audience43:37 - Gino Wraps it UpDon’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more real estate tips and stories! We're here to help create real estate entrepreneurs... About Jake & Gino: Jake & Gino are multifamily investors, operators, and owners who have created a vertically integrated real estate company. They control over $350M in assets under management. Connect with Jake & Gino here --> https://jakeandgino.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.