Nick Gaines

Up until June of 2018, my "day job" was principal at Robeson Elementary School in Champaign. Beginning in July of 2018 I made leap to real estate investing full-time. My wife, Kristen, sells financial software to Fortune 500 clients. Together we want to achieve financial freedom and generational wealth through both active and buy-and-hold real estate investing. We currently have 54 units in central Illinois (Mattoon, Tuscola and Champaign/Urbana), with a mix of small multiplexes, duplexes, and single-family rentals. We are finishing up an 11-unit apartment building value-add repositioning and just began a 24-unit value-add project. By June of 2023, we will attain $1.2 million in yearly cash flow, forced appreciation and equity build. We will do this by growing a successful real estate portfolio of 500 or more units built on sound fundamentals and focused on adding value to the community and its residents. Our interim goal is to acquire 100 units by January of 2020. In addition, we will massively contribute to our community by being champions of social justice and equity. We believe in building all eight forms of capital (social, material, financial, living, intellectual, cultural, experiential, and spiritual) for a resilient and meaningful existence. Our influences include Napoleon Hill, Tony Robbins, Shauna Niequist, Robert Kiyosaki, Eckhart Tolle, Chris Martenson and Ryan Holiday, to name a few. My passions are advancing equity in opportunity. I deeply value community and I find real estate investing rewarding because I am able to combine my other passion, entrepreneurism, with improving communities by providing people quality housing at a fair price. I'm from Mattoon and went to the University of Illinois - Champaign for undergrad with a B.A. in Political Science. From there I went to EIU for graduate school and my teacher certification. I have served as a special education teacher in Champaign and Elgin. Then I served as a school principal in Chicago Public Schools and now Champaign for the last five years. I was also involved at the groundfloor of the education start-up company, Modern Teacher. Kristen graduated from Oakwood High School and went to Mizzou for a degree in Journalism. She has worked in sales for 10 years with CareerBuilder in Chicago and is now working from home with Workiva, a company based out of Aimes, Iowa. We have two young boys, love outdoor adventures, especially snow skiing, and are avid boaters, spending the majority of our weekends during the summer at Lake Shelbyville. We try to live active and healthy lifestyles, primarily through Crossfit, Olympic Weightlifting (me), and Pilates (Kristen).