Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Schober.
Hi Matthew, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’m from the town of Grand Forks in eastern North Dakota. Its only about an hour away from the Canadian border. I lived there 21 years before attending the University of Minnesota. Minneapolis has always been a second home to me, I had spent my entire life regularly visiting and getting to know the city. My greatgrandfather helped build the first suburb of Minneapolis – Robbinsdale. He was an immigrant from Germany prior to the World Wars.
I got started in real estate in 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. After graduating college, I had a job in technology with few expenses at that time so I invested in real estate from a young age. Actually, I purchased my first duplex for $42,000 if you cna believe that! Shortly after I moved back to Minneapolis and started purchasing real estate here too. Airbnb was becoming more of a thing, so I had actually created 4 of them in the covid years.
Some of my real estate friends had a property called “The Nut”. But the name was too off for us, so we rebranded the property to “The Dog House”. An intimate stay for couples with their pet. The concept took off really, and sitting along the I-35 coordior has been perfect for people looking to access downtown Minneapolis but also in need of a yard! Today, the name is “Barkside Bungalow”.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There have been many struggles. The greatest is finding reliable partners for our services! We want to provide a premium service to our customers and we’ve had to let go many contractors along the way to get the right fit for what we offer. I think we are in a good place right now!
This past winter our 30 year old boiler system went out and that presented challenges. We had to cancel a series of reservations along with that. Today we have a shiny new boiler! I think we might run this short term rental for 30 more years, it will become a well recognized property in South Minneapolis.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Our company specializes in intimiate stays for couples and their pet, in urban centers. Our properties have dog amenities and fully fenced backyards. We have been doing this since 2021 with great success. We also put the latest technology in our properties. So for example, the Barkside Bungalow now has fiber internet, we also use a Welcome Screen on the TV just like a hotel does. Our purchasing system was just set up, so our guests can now purchase dog food directly in our property if they forget it at home.
Pricing:
- Users can check BarksideBungalowmn.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://barksidebungalowmn.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattschober/
