We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jake Schnur . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jake below.

Hi Jake , thanks for joining us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

My parents did two things right when raising me, which have impacted my life and career: they gave me bits of affirmations to provide me with courage and confidence and the openness to talk about our finances and business while growing up. Growing up, I was a timid kid. I would play on my iPad all day. I struggled to talk to people confidently or even maintain eye contact amidst a conversation. My father noticed I was a shy kid, and whenever I left for school or any outing, he always had three things to say to me. “Don’t be a fly on the wall,” Make it happen, captain,” and finally, “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” Those three sayings have stuck with me throughout life. “If you don’t ask, you don’t get,” is one of the sayings that allowed me to start my real estate company, Pioneer-Real-Estate.
My father and mother were an entrepreneurship team, and when I was curious about aspects of the real estate business, My parents always answered enthusiastically. My parents were both very excited to have me learn more and more about real estate but did not force it on me. My father, in particular, would explain anything about a project’s finances or how it worked until I understood. When I first learned about depreciation, it was a 30-minute talk of a back-and-forth conversation, as my high school mind was trying to understand what it was and why it was necessary. The everyday dinner conversations soon evolved from “What did you learn in school?” to barraging my parents with either finance or business operation questions.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My full name is Jake Hiroaki Schnur. I am a young real estate entrepreneur and college student based in Houston, Texas, and I look forward to changing the world for the better. I am the founder and CEO of Pioneer Real Estate, where we strive to better communities by transforming eyesore properties into assets that appreciate communities’ value. Pioneer Real Estate has completed twelve projects in the Houston area. I am proud to say Pioneer Real Estate has committed to donating 10% of all net profits to the charity Trees for the Future, which helps small communities in Africa become self-sustaining. I started my real estate company as my parents introduced me to real estate from a young age. My father started his real estate journey a little after I was born, so while growing up, I would have an opportunity to watch him grow his empire and be exposed to business all the time. During COVID-19, I felt ready to start my journey in real estate. I started by contacting local single-family home brokers. I was looking for run-down property in the outskirts of the Houston area, which I could turn into a beautiful property a family would call home. Within two months of constant messaging, one broker finally found a house meeting my requirements. After purchasing the house and breaking ground, the first few months of the rehab and the process felt like forever, as everything needed to be perfect before it was ready to be put on the market. I loved the house with its grey exterior, wood floors in the living rooms and hallways, and carpet in the bedrooms. Before I knew it, I had a check in my hand that had more money than I could ever imagine for me!
I believe in expressing personal dreams and goals to the world, as I fear many have stopped dreaming after a certain age; with that said, a dream of mine is to start or join a green technology company looking to preserve the beautiful world around us. Another dream and goal of mine is to preserve large amounts of forests, turning them into trails where people can peacefully enjoy nature and coexist with the animals in the area! I know the dreams only partially include real estate, but real estate has taught me and is still teaching me fundamental business values and lessons that can be applied to any industry.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

My mentor is one of the first resources I visit in a pinch or moment of uncertainty. I have been with my mentor for the last four years, and I can confidently say he has improved my life; I would not be who I am without his influence. He has helped me in all aspects of life, from health to academics to business to self-autonomy. One of the greatest lessons I was taught early on is the power of setting goals. To get anything done, you must set a goal and remind yourself of that goal. As soon as we started working together, I was told to sit down and write down some goals for the future. The idea was to write down a significant goal, so I could work backward from the goal to create a timeline and make sub-goals within, which would allow me to start making progress on the overall goal in mind. Having a mentor is one of the best suggestions I can give anybody when they want to grow or accomplish a remarkable feat.  The other resource that has changed my management and entrepreneurship thinking and philosophy is audio from a video called “The Strangest Secret Earl Nightingale Conant 1950’s Orignal Full”. My mentor recommended it to me, and it has helped me whenever I feel off track or lost in life. This 30-minute excerpt introduced me to the law of attraction and reinforced the goal-setting habits my mentor taught me. In short, it portrays the power of writing down your goals and thinking about them all of the time and how they will be achieved as long as they are worked towards.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I found a new wholesaler from which to buy a house from ago. I was excited as the numbers were panning out quite well. When I first walked into this house, I did all the usual inspections and noticed the foundations were off. I then sat down with the contractor, figured out a rough price for renovations, and set a day for construction. Unfortunately for me, heavy rain kept delaying the renovations this house needed. When construction was able to start, as soon after they broke through the drywall, I received a text. “The wood beams behind the walls look like Swiss cheese,” the contractor said. They found terrible termite damage in the house, and all the wood inside needed to be replaced. This whole process took an extra five months and caused us to go over budget. One of the worst feelings is having to keep checking up on the house, which you know will cost you a lot of money and much time. The drive to the property was about forty-five minutes each way, and I would dread checking up on it every week, but it was essential. The property taught me that during the most challenging times, I have to focus the most on where the pain is rather than run from it. This house was my hell, and this was the first time I lost money on an investment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.pioneer-real-estate.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realestatejakeschnur/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakeschnur2004/