Today, we have a truly fascinating guest with us, Mr. Axel Meierhoefer. Axel’s journey from a retired Air Force officer to a successful business owner and real estate investor is truly inspiring. He started his entrepreneurial journey in 2005, focusing on consulting, employee skill development, and program management, showcasing his passion for education and helping people become successful.
With dedication and strategic decisions, he has managed to develop a residential real estate portfolio worth about $2.5 million, and it’s still growing. Axel has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and valuable lessons along the way, and he’s here to share those insights with our audience.
In this episode, we talked about the key aspects of Axel’s journey, specifically his transition into real estate investing, particularly residential real estate. Axel’s research indicated that owning tangible assets, like residential real estate, was the most advantageous path for building wealth and securing a comfortable retirement.
He also shed light on what turnkey real estate investing means and how it can be a game-changer for investors seeking a more hands-off approach to real estate. He also shared his experiences, strategies, and the benefits of investing in residential properties, providing invaluable advice to those looking to follow in his footsteps.
Join us in this episode to learn from Axel Meierhoefer’s personal wealth journey, his extensive expertise in real estate investing, and the secrets of building wealth through tangible assets!
In This Episode
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The potential for long-term wealth accumulation through residential real estate.
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The benefits of a hands-off approach to real estate investment.
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How an LLC can streamline the management of real estate investments.
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His personal experiences and strategies in the residential real estate market.
Welcome to today’s show on Wealth Strategy Secrets. Today, we have a truly fascinating guest with us, Mr. Axel Meierhoefer. Axel’s journey from a retired German Air Force officer to a successful business owner and real estate investor is truly inspiring. He began his entrepreneurial journey in 2005, focusing on consulting, employee skill development, and program management, showcasing his passion for education and helping people succeed.
In this episode, we dive into the key aspects of Axel’s journey, particularly his transition into real estate investing. Axel’s research shows that owning tangible assets like residential real estate is one of the most advantageous paths for building wealth and securing a comfortable retirement. He also sheds light on what turnkey real estate investing means and how it can be a game changer for investors seeking a more hands-off approach to real estate.
We discuss the potential for long-term wealth accumulation through residential real estate, the benefits of a hands-off approach to real estate investment, and Axel’s personal experiences and strategies in the residential real estate market. And without further ado, Axel, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me. I appreciate your time today, and I know this will be insightful for the audience.
Absolutely! For those who aren’t familiar with you, could you tell us about your unique background and story? How did you get into investing, and how did it all start for you?
Sure. How far back do you want me to go?
It’s up to you. If it’s entertaining, go for it.
I’ll try to be concise. In a nutshell, I was flying for the Air Force, and I retired when my body said, “No more high-G maneuvers!” After that, I spent about four and a half years in corporate America. During that time, I was also studying because people kept telling me that without a business degree, it would be harder to have a successful career. I ended up studying leadership, and I worked for a company where, during the day, I saw exactly what not to do.
Long story short, there was an incident where the leadership team, which I was part of, suggested changes to make the company more sustainable and capable of future growth. The owners didn’t want to make those changes. Imagine you and five other people telling the owners, “This is what needs to happen for the company to succeed,” and the owners respond with, “No thanks.” That’s when I realized I didn’t have a place there anymore.
I asked myself, “Do I want to stay in corporate America, finish my degree, and deal with this disconnect, or do I take a different path?” In 2005, I started my first company in consulting.
What I learned from being self-employed and having my own company is that unless you grow quickly, hire staff, and get funding, there isn’t much of a retirement plan for small business owners. I was thinking, “What can I do to build a secure future?” I vividly remembered the 2003 market crash, the dot-com bust, and the uncertainty in the stock market. I didn’t want to give control over my money to anyone else, so a 401(k) wasn’t appealing to me.
That’s when I started looking into real estate investing. It was also partially triggered by my experience in the military, where you often move around, and sometimes you have housing provided, and sometimes you’re renting. Sometimes you’re renting, sometimes you’re owning. And when you get moved again, you sell it and move to the next station. So, there was this question of how life works when you’re moving every 2 or 3 years. I started real estate investing purely to build a retirement fund for my family. I thought, “Okay, I probably have another 20 to 25 years in my second career to cover, and that should be enough to build a nice portfolio.”
Over the years, when I met people, they’d often ask, “What’s new?” or “How’s life treating you?” And I’d respond with, “I’m in the process of buying another house.” People would usually be surprised. “Didn’t you do this last year already?” they’d ask. And I’d talk more about it, and either I annoyed them, fascinated them, or maybe a bit of both. They encouraged me to not keep this to myself if it was working and to help others do the same.
By the end of 2015, I decided to make it official. I founded IdeaWest Grower, systematized everything, and started a mentoring program, a newsletter, and a podcast—just a whole suite of resources. That’s how it all evolved. Now, we have people doing exactly what I did.
Wow, that’s interesting. Where are you from originally?
I’m originally from Germany. I joined the German Air Force and had the unique opportunity to work with the U.S. Air Force for over six years. During that time, I came to the U.S. as an exchange officer. A U.S. Air Force member came to my unit and flew the plane I was flying, and I learned to fly the F-111. What was supposed to be 2 or 3 years ended up being over six years.
After being in the U.S. for that long, my daughter grew up here, and the weather was way better than in Germany. We decided that if anyone would hire us, we’d stay. That’s when my “mutiny” story happened. A group of us, including myself, suggested some necessary changes in the company to help it survive, but the owners refused. It made me feel bad for a while, especially since that company helped me get my green card. But in the end, I’m grateful for that experience because it led me to become a business owner.
That’s fascinating. I always find it interesting how people from other countries bring a different perspective to the U.S. It’s like they see things we take for granted with fresh eyes—especially in entrepreneurship and investing. This country still has so many advantages for business owners.
Absolutely. And I think it’s that sense of curiosity that helps too. When you enter a new environment, even though some things seem similar, like driving on the same side of the road or how the buildings look, the differences reveal themselves over time. For instance, in the U.S., one huge advantage is lending. In most other countries, including Germany and Canada, you can’t get a mortgage with a term longer than 10 years.
Imagine this scenario: In the U.S., after the financial crisis, you get a mortgage at 4.5%. Over the years, you might refinance it down to the 3% range. But in most countries, like the UK, Germany, and Canada, the longest term you can get is 10 years. If you get a mortgage in 2013 at 4.5% and you’re stuck with that for 10 years, your monthly payment could spike dramatically when the interest rate rises, as it has recently.
In the U.S., however, we have access to 30-year fixed mortgages, which gives us stability and the ability to refinance almost anytime without a penalty. That’s a tremendous advantage. In Europe, for example, if you want to refinance within that 10-year window, you have to pay the bank a fine for the privilege of refinancing. Wow, right? And that’s just one small example.
So when someone comes from a system, like the one in Europe, where lending is much more restrictive, to a system in the United States that’s far more open, there’s a greater appreciation for it. I mean, here’s a funny side story for your audience: Europe also has something called a credit card. But in most European countries, when you have what’s called a credit card, you have to pay the balance off at the end of the month, every month. So there’s no real credit line like we have in the U.S. It’s more like a debit card.
Exactly. And the argument from the banks and lenders in Europe is that they’re giving you credit until the end of the month. A 30-day float, that’s it. But what most Europeans don’t know, and many people from other places in the world don’t realize, is that here in the U.S., we basically get a $10,000, $20,000, or even $30,000 line of credit on a card, max it out, and then get another card to pay off the balance, and so on, until we finally can’t pay anymore.
But especially now, with credit card interest rates at 25%, you could say this whole credit system is a bit crazy. Some people might think I’m whining, but I’m not. I’ve used this creative financing technique to buy a house. We found a guy who had access to credit cards where, right after opening the card, you got a $30,000, $40,000, or even $50,000 line. We bought a house that wasn’t super expensive—about $180,000—and we just opened six credit cards and maxed them out immediately. Why? Because we bought the house on a contract and said, “Okay, within two years, we’ll have the money to pay off the house.” In the meantime, we just paid the existing mortgage.
But when those two years came to an end, we didn’t quite have the money. In Europe, this would have been completely impossible because your credit card is only good until the end of the month. So, those are just a few examples. It’s a great contrast when you think about lending and investing. There are a number of advantages in the U.S. that Europeans, for instance, might find unbelievable.
I really love the creativity that comes with investing. A lot of it involves financial engineering and the mindset of where you can take things. Many people don’t realize that if you create a business, the business can take out credit cards and fund, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars for your new venture. And it doesn’t even show up on your credit.
Now, you have access to capital to get your business going. It’s such a big opportunity for investors who are eager to put more capital to work but might not have the capital upfront. So if you can create some sort of side hustle—whether it’s real estate investing or something else you’re good at—you can get funding for it quite easily.
Exactly. Right now, though, I wouldn’t recommend that approach because credit card interest rates are insanely high. SBA loans or similar options would be much better for that purpose. But fundamentally, what I wanted to highlight, as you mentioned, is that when you come from a different culture or environment with a different set of rules, you enter a new system. One natural thing, I believe, is that when you look at the CEOs of the top 200 or 300 companies in the U.S., I wouldn’t be surprised if about 50% of them are immigrants. Part of it is that when you come into a new system— even if you speak the language—you want to understand how it works and how you can find your place within it.
I was a proud holder and showed everyone that, at some point, through my service, work, and making money in Germany, I had earned the status of a German Gold Mastercard, with a €30,000 bank loan sitting in the background. Not really on the card itself, but as a separate bank loan. The bank said, “If you can’t pay off the card at the end of the month, we’ll float you up to €30,000 as a separate loan.”
I go to Texas, and we want to buy a used car, I think it was $9,000 or something like that. I puffed up, chest out, straightened up like an Air Force officer, and proudly handed over my Gold Mastercard. The cashier runs it, and it gets rejected. He tries again two or three times, but it’s still rejected. I’m thinking, “This is impossible! I have a €30,000 line of credit. It’s a Gold card; it should be covered, right?”
I called the bank, and after some time zone issues, I finally got through. This was back in 1996 or so. The bank tells me, “Sorry, you can’t make foreign currency charges on this card.” I was stunned. I said, “This is a credit card, a Gold card. I can’t use it overseas?”
That’s when I learned a tough lesson. I also discovered that in the U.S., it doesn’t matter how old you are—if you don’t have a credit score, you’re nobody. When I provided my Social Security number, I had it from the military, but I had no history—no credit cards, no loans, no CDs, nothing. So when they checked my credit score, it came up as “none found.” How was it possible for a 35-year-old guy to have no credit history? I had just “popped up” out of nowhere.
Now, this leads perfectly into your residential real estate model, which I think the listeners will find intriguing. So, let’s dive into your current business model and explain how it works.
The reason most of our clients join our mentoring program is that they live in areas where it’s so expensive to buy even their own home, making the idea of purchasing an investment property seem impossible. If you look at the big cities on both the West and East Coasts or places like Houston, Miami, or similar cities, you might be able to buy your own house, but finding an investment property that performs well is another story.
Living in California, I quickly realized that investing in real estate didn’t make sense in our area. We had picked a nice spot in the Santa Barbara area to live, which was awesome, but it wasn’t feasible to invest there. So, the strategy we developed at IDA Westpro is to buy properties in the Midwest—places like Illinois, Ohio, Tennessee, and even Florida—with the help of full-service turnkey providers.
Let me break it down for you: The strategy is called out-of-state residential real estate investing with turnkey providers. A turnkey provider is a company that specializes in finding what I call the “ugly duckling” in a good neighborhood, purchasing it at the lowest price possible, and then renovating it completely. They update it to modern standards with new windows, plumbing, electrical systems, paint, floors, bathrooms, kitchens, etc.
These companies then put the renovated property on the market, sometimes with a tenant already in place and a lease signed. Other times, they sell the property first and then find a tenant for it. The critical part of this process is that they find the property, renovate it, list it at a price that appraises well, and then manage the property for you.
The beauty of this model is that all you need to do is work with someone like me, who already has relationships with these turnkey providers. Sure, you could try to find them yourself, but why bother when I can help you find the right ones? Once you’ve selected a property, you make your down payment, and from then on, every month you receive an owner statement showing the rent, and any repairs, and the money is sent to your bank account. You pay the mortgage, and you keep the rest.
In a well-performing property, cash flow can range between $150 and $250 per month right now. When times were better and interest rates were lower, it wasn’t uncommon to see much higher cash flow. In a duplex, you could earn $400 or $500 in cash flow, meaning after covering all your expenses, you have that amount left. Now, someone might think, “Okay, so now I have $500 more, and I own an investment property.” But the real concept here is to go on a journey — what we call the “time freedom journey.”
The time freedom point is a future moment on your calendar where you’ve calculated, based on today’s dollars, that you need $5,000 a month to cover your life expenses—things like travel, kids, or what have you. That’s your target number. In our example, with $500 cash flow per property, you would need 10 properties to generate that $5,000 a month. That’s the starting point.
Now, you might ask, “How long will it take to achieve that?” For most people, it’s about 8 to 10 years to acquire those 10 properties. But what we’ve found, after years of doing this, is that it’s likely you won’t need all 10 properties. As you buy one property, and then another, the rent will increase over time. You’re not locked into a fixed rent amount.
Let’s say you buy a house in Ohio for $150,000. You put $30,000 down, and the rest is financed by the bank. You’re initially earning $500 per month in cash flow. However, over the next couple of years, the rent won’t stay at $1,000—it could go up to $1,100 and then $1,200. The extra $100 or $200 in rent largely boosts your cash flow, and as it increases, a significant portion goes into your pocket. Instead of needing 10 properties to reach $5,000, you might only need 7 or 8.
In 10 years, you may find that $5,000 isn’t enough, but you have the option to buy more properties. This is just an example of how the system works. Even if you reach your target number of properties in 8 to 9 years, rents will continue to rise, increasing your cash flow.
I always tell people about my first rental experience in Santa Barbara. I rented a small apartment for $2,100, and I asked the landlord how he got started. He shared that he bought the property for $67,000 in 1965, lived in it for a while, and then rented it out. When he bought it, he was paying $700 in rent. Over time, rent increased to $2,100. This example spans a long period, but the key takeaway is that the goal isn’t to sell everything once you reach your time freedom point after 8 to 10 years. You hold onto the properties, and they just keep paying you.
Additionally, as the economy progresses, you build equity in these properties, which can be very beneficial. Some might say, “That sounds great, but how can I buy a house every year?” The answer is, yes, you can, but keep in mind that your $500 in cash flow adds up to $6,000 a year. You don’t need to spend that money right now, and it helps you save for your next down payment.
At some point, the house you bought for $100,000 might be worth $120,000, and you could borrow against that equity to fund the next purchase. I’m not necessarily recommending this, but for those who want to grow aggressively, it’s an option.
We also have an exciting new strategy where we can help people lower their down payments to as low as 5%. This means you could buy two or three times as many houses with the same amount of money.
This approach has great benefits, especially for non-accredited investors who can’t access other types of passive investment opportunities. It’s a fantastic way for them to get started and begin building equity. For accredited investors, it offers an interesting angle. Many of them shift toward passive investments because they’re busy professionals and don’t have time to manage rentals. However, with the right strategy and by working with a turnkey provider, you could build a small portfolio and qualify as a real estate professional, which offers significant tax benefits.
The key difference here is control. If you invest in a syndication, you don’t have nearly as much control over the asset. But with this approach, you own the properties. What I’m teaching clients and tribe members is how to act like an owner — a business owner. Your real estate investments would be held under the umbrella of an LLC, which we help you set up. Over time, this structure can even serve as part of your estate plan or family trust.
As you go through this process, you’ll learn how to work with property managers who are part of the turnkey organization. These managers work for you, and the company that provided the loan for your property works for you too.
I think your point about real estate professionals makes complete sense. Your CPA should be well-versed in how to leverage depreciation and real estate professional status. Every repair to any of your properties goes against your income initially in your LLC, and then as an S-corp, it transfers over to your 1040 regular return. These strategies not only help you develop a portfolio of assets that can sustain you and your family forever if you want, but they also have the added benefit of teaching you how to position yourself and develop a mindset where you have a team—like property management—working for you.
They get 8–10% of your rent while they handle things. That’s what you’re paying for. And if you don’t like their work or they’re not delivering, you’re entitled to guide them or even let them go and find someone else. These are some of the fringe benefits of stepping into this role. And regarding the assets—this is especially important today with high interest rates and economic uncertainty—real estate, particularly residential real estate, is one of the few assets that are as inflation-protected as it is.
As an investor, one common question I get is, “Is now a good time to invest?” Well, we offer options with lower down payments because we believe it’s realistic to expect that interest rates will eventually come down over the next 3 to 5 years. They may never return to what they were, but they will decrease—not because of us as investors, but because, as a country, we won’t be able to afford to pay the interest on $35 to $40 trillion in national debt at current rates. This year alone, we’re paying over a trillion dollars in interest. In 5 years, that could balloon to $2 trillion if rates stay high.
It’s not about you and me; it’s about macroeconomic forces. So what we’re doing creatively is finding lenders who offer low down payment options for an additional fee, and in 3, 4, or 5 years, when rates go down, we can refinance. We’ll refinance the property we purchased in 2023 or 2024 when competition is minimal. If you recall, two years ago, there were hundreds of people bidding on single-family homes at inflated prices. All those buyers can’t qualify anymore, so there’s very little competition now.
For us as investors, that means we can secure deals with less competition, and our partners—whether turnkey providers, lenders, or others—treat us much better. We’re the “golden child” in a market full of uncertainty, and that gives us an advantage.
Why is now a good time? It might seem counterintuitive, but we’re entering a market where there’s no competition for well-performing assets. If a property is performing well now, it will only improve as interest rates drop. Of course, you need to find the right assets, and that’s why mentorship is crucial. You can certainly go out on your own, but it’s risky if you don’t have experience.
I completely agree. You hit the nail on the head—control is one of the most beneficial aspects of real estate investing. Compare it to the 90% of Americans who have most of their wealth tied up in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, where they have no control over the outcomes. Real estate allows you to diversify your assets into something you control: it’s cash-flowing, it offers tax advantages, and you build equity as you go.
Absolutely. Aside from gold coins, I can’t think of another asset that’s as secure as real estate—especially residential real estate. People will always need shelter, and the U.S. is one of the few Western countries with a growing population due to immigration and other factors. That means there’s a continuous demand for housing.
If you Google the current housing shortage in the U.S., you’ll see the gap between housing demand and availability is anywhere from 5 to 10 million units. That includes apartments, condos, townhouses, and single-family homes. We’re not going to catch up anytime soon.
As real estate investors, we’re not just making money—we’re helping meet the housing demand, which benefits the economy. By providing well-maintained, affordable housing, we also have the opportunity to build our wealth and achieve financial independence. And financial independence doesn’t necessarily mean lounging on a beach. It could mean having the freedom to pursue passions, whether that’s playing an instrument, painting, or volunteering—without worrying about income. Many people long for that freedom and real estate is a powerful way to get there.
You can do it through the FIRE movement—living frugally and saving aggressively—but you can also invest in assets. Even in syndications, where you’re not in full control, you still have more influence than you do with stocks and bonds. For example, if a syndication project gets delayed by a year due to permit issues, you can’t do anything about it. But in real estate, you have more control over your investments, and that’s key.
Exactly. The level of control in real estate is something many people don’t realize. When you’re buying assets, you need to ask yourself how much control you want over what happens to those assets. Fascinating insights, Axel. If you could give just one piece of advice to our listeners about how they could accelerate their wealth-building journey, what would it be?
I would say: shift your mindset from being a victim to being a creator. You are responsible for creating your future. If you’re feeling stuck and blaming the economy, politics, or your job for your circumstances, you’re in a victim mindset. Instead, find mentors—whether it’s Dave, me, or someone else—and take responsibility for your journey. You can’t control everything, but you can control how you respond and what actions you take.
Change your mindset from a victim mindset to a creator mindset. You are creating your own future.
My biggest thing that I always start with is—by the way, if anyone wants this in writing, I wrote a free mindset manual. Anyone can go to our website and download the manual. The web creator made it so that if you linger around for more than a minute or two, it pops up and offers it to you. I can also send you the link if you’d like. But the point is when we talk about money, investing, assets, and all this good stuff—which we should, and I love to, and I can talk about it for hours—if you feel that everything is happening to you and not because of you, you’re going to be stuck in that mindset for a long time unless you change it.
That’s a good point. I think it’s so important to have that mindset. And it’s forever challenging in the world we live in today. You have to make a concerted effort with your habits and routines to develop that positive mindset. Really good insights today, Axel. I can’t thank you enough for your time and all these pearls of wisdom you’ve shared.
It gets you thinking, which is such a good exercise for people. It makes them think about how they can be creative, how they can look at alternative ways to build wealth, to create that time freedom you talked about. Please share that link or any other ways for folks to connect with you or reach out.
It’s so important to have that mindset and it’s forever challenging in the world we live in today so you have to make a concerted effort to develop that positive mindset.
If you go to ideawestgrower.com, that’s our website. You’ll find all the usual information, including a form to get in touch. You can book a call with me anytime. There are no other people or coaches—it’s just me. We’re not aiming to be a huge organization with thousands of members. We’re more of a boutique service, which allows me to work one-on-one with people. Every journey is different.
And the reason I use the term “journey” is that it’s kind of like a vacation. It’s always more fun to go on a vacation or a journey with someone else—especially if that someone knows the area you want to go to. So, I want to be that guide, helping you on your journey to the time freedom point.
Awesome. That sounds good. One last question, Axel. It’s October right now—do you go back to Germany for Oktoberfest?
No, I don’t. But for those who think, “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” most people don’t know that Oktoberfest actually happens in the last week of September.
Is that right?
Yes! If you wait until October, you’ll only see the tents being taken down.
Okay, that’s good to know! I did not know that, but I need to get out there sometime. I appreciate it, Axel. This has been helpful for folks. Thank you for your time.
To the listeners, thanks again for tuning in. If you’d like, make sure you subscribe to the show so you don’t miss an episode. We’ll see you next week.