When Sarah Bratcher joined me for this episode, I knew we were in for a powerful story. Sarah’s a real estate investor, bookkeeper, and mom of two—someone who’s walked the road from debt to financial freedom with remarkable honesty and clarity. We talked about how she pivoted from corporate life into building a rental portfolio, investing in a laundromat, and running a bookkeeping business. She shares the mindset shifts that helped her succeed, what it’s like to invest in a small town, and how she balances it all with her family—including her son’s rare medical journey. If you’ve ever felt like real estate success wasn’t for people like you, Sarah’s story will change that. This episode is packed with lessons for anyone looking to grow their portfolio with purpose.
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I’m Adrienne Green, and today I have with me Miss Sarah Bratcher.
Thanks for having me. I’m excited.
Sarah is an experienced investor as well as an experienced bookkeeper and accountant working with investors. I’m really excited for all of the wisdom she’s going to share about her own journey and the wisdom she has from working with other investors. Be sure that you are listening, focused, and ready to roll through this whole thing with Sarah. Now, Sarah, where I always like to start is at the beginning. How did you come to real estate investing in the first place?
So I was an accountant, and I didn’t like taxes. I tried to find an industry job, and it actually found me—this guy who was a real estate developer growing really fast and he had his own investments as well. That was my first peek into the real estate investing world. He was already 50 houses in and had so much momentum in building and doing huge developments. My first few years with him, I thought, this isn’t for me. This is way too big.
Then I got married, and my husband and I looked up one day and realized we had credit card debt and lifestyle creep—the cars, everything. It crept up on us. I thought, I should be better at money than this. So we started looking into Dave Ramsey’s financial peace plan. I found an Instagram community called the Debt Free Community that inspired us to tackle our debt. In two years, we paid it all off really quickly.
At the end of that journey, a lot of people in that community were moving towards real estate, and I thought, wait a minute, I can do this too. I don’t have to be as big as the company I work for. I can do just a couple at a time. It doesn’t have to be massive.
He was growing even bigger, and I wasn’t doing accounting anymore—I was managing people, managing money, negotiating huge contracts with lawyers. It just wasn’t my passion anymore. So I took a leap. I left that job to start a bookkeeping business for real estate investors while we were looking for our first real estate investment. That was around 2021, right after COVID. The market was hot, and our first real estate deal we found off market. It was a home run—nothing went wrong.
My husband was like, let’s do 35 more. He was a little harder to convince to get on the real estate investing bandwagon. He had known a guy growing up who complained all the time about investing, and I said, those complaints took 20 minutes of his week. He never sold out. Does he still own the investments? He said yes. So I said, it must be a good thing. Let’s look into it. God gave us an amazing first deal to get him hooked too.
That was about four years ago. Right now we have five units. Two of those are short term, and we just bought a laundromat with commercial property attached. We’re expanding in that area. We haven’t bought anything in over a year—we got spoiled with killer deals, back-to-back-to-back. Since then, we’ve had issues on other properties that have taught us a lot. But then we found an amazing laundromat deal and saw the potential. So we ventured into that space and are open to more, maybe even multifamily if the right opportunity comes.
I love that you shared that you didn’t come from a real estate investor background or from a place of being financially savvy from childhood. You had to learn the hard way. How does that inform you today? What disciplines did you build through that debt payoff journey that you still use?
It’s always evolving. Finances are more mindset than numbers. Most people buy on emotions, and I still do sometimes. Like with the laundromat, the numbers didn’t work on paper because of the loss shown on the tax return. But my gut said there was something there—and it’s proving true now. Hopefully in a year, I still feel the same way. You just have to keep your emotions in check and be content. It’s easy to keep buying, whether it’s shopping trips or properties, and you can get in too deep if you’re overleveraged.
If the cash flow at least covers the bills—which the laundromat does—it’s okay. It wasn’t raking in money like some podcasts say, but we saw potential. We made a few small changes and it’s already paying out.
On financial mindset, you’ve got to stay analytical. Ask, does this align with my goals? Even for something small like a t-shirt. That’s what we do daily, even after paying off debt. We still check in with ourselves. It doesn’t get easier to not spend money. We just have better tools now. We’re building multiple businesses—the laundromat, my bookkeeping business, my husband has a few side hustles—so it’s tempting to just spend to solve problems. But we have to pause and make smarter decisions.
And sometimes in value-add investing, the numbers don’t look great up front. That’s the case with the laundromat?
Yes. It covered expenses—the mortgage, the cleaner—but didn’t have a lot of cash flow. The hours were weird, and I didn’t know why. There was no vending. We haven’t added vending yet, but from just a few conversations, I know if we offer dryer sheets or other basics, it’ll pick up. People worry we’ll raise prices, but I have no intention of doing that right now. I want to add value first. The prices are already about $2 cheaper than the competition. There’s opportunity there, but I don’t want to scare customers away.
It’s the same when you buy a rental from someone who’s kept rent low for decades. It might not be smart to just raise it right away. Good customer service in real estate goes a long way. Tenants take care of your property, whether it’s a rental or a laundromat.
Since I’m doing this call from Japan—the home of vending machines—you really can sell anything in one. Convenience is king.
Exactly. My five-year-old wants a Nintendo Switch, and I’m not just going to buy one for him. We found a little candy vending machine, and he wants to earn the money for the Switch by running it at the laundromat. I’m documenting the journey and teaching him because no one ever taught me these things early on.
That’s amazing. So you have long-term rentals, short-term rentals, and a laundromat now?
Yes. We love our long-term rentals—they’re set-it-and-forget-it. We still self-manage. Our “short-term” rentals actually get a lot of midterm tenants. People stay for three to four months—traveling nurses, construction workers. We get bookings pretty easily, even without being super systematized. We probably should outsource more, but for now it doesn’t overwhelm us.
How are you getting those midterm bookings?
Mostly word of mouth. We know people in the local industries, and they refer folks. We also use Airbnb, and people reach out asking for three-month rates. We negotiate through the platform. I’ve heard about doing insurance rentals too, but haven’t explored that yet.
Where do you live and invest?
We’re in a small town in southern Oklahoma—about 25,000 people. It’s a county seat on an interstate, an hour and a half from both Dallas and Oklahoma City. The town swells to over 100,000 during the week because of workers coming in. There’s manufacturing, a refinery, distribution centers, a hospital, a hybrid college. It’s a stable market. Prices have gone up, but not wildly. You can still get a house for under $100,000, put $20,000 into it, and rent it for $1,300. The 1% rule still works here if you’re creative.
Were you born and raised there?
Yes. I moved away for about eight or nine years, but came back to finish college and take care of my dad. Then I got married and stayed.
It’s encouraging to hear that you can make real estate work no matter where you are.
Absolutely. Rural markets still have potential. You just have to talk to people. There are more investors than you think, even in small towns. Once I started talking about real estate, I realized people I’d never expect were investors. Most just don’t talk about it because they have property managers handling everything. But many are happy to meet for coffee and share insights.
You mentioned you have two kids now. How do you juggle all this as a mom?
It’s a lot. I was journaling about this just today. If I had been this driven and aware before kids, who knows what I could’ve done? But they’re my “why.” Ten years ago, I wasn’t married, didn’t have kids, and didn’t have a legacy to leave. Now I do. When I’m focused on work, I try not to feel guilty about not being with them, and vice versa. Last year, I struggled with that.
I had blocked out 4–8 p.m. as kid time, no work. But I’d still find myself checking email or doing “one quick thing.” Then my son brought home one of those worksheets, and he said my favorite thing to do was work. That gutted me. I knew I had to do better.
Now, when I’m with them, I stay present. And when I’m working, I focus fully on that. It’s not perfect, but it’s more balanced. My son has a rare bone disease, and we travel 2,000 miles for his care. That’s another reason I work so hard—I want to donate to the research foundation, help other families afford travel, and maybe help spread that doctor’s knowledge.
That’s what fuels my long nights. I want to create a better life for him. He’s my “why.” I do spend time with him, and I’m getting better at that too. Hopefully next year he’ll say, “Mommy likes to play with me.”
Time blocking can feel restrictive, but it’s freeing. Just like a budget helped you spend more intentionally, a schedule can help you be present more fully.
Exactly. Budgeting our time helps us spend better time with our kids.
You’ve shared so much wisdom. As we wrap up, what’s your go-to tool for managing operations?
For bookkeeping, I use Keeper. For real estate, we use Google Sheets and TurboTenant for maintenance and leases. We’re still small, so that works for now. But I could see switching to something more robust as we grow.
What advice would you give your younger self?
It’s going to be okay. I had a lot of anxiety and trauma in my 20s, and I wish I hadn’t worried so much. Worst-case scenarios rarely happen, and best-case ones often do. I would’ve gotten a lot more sleep if I’d known that.
Is there a book that was transformational for you?
Atomic Habits. It helped me break things down into bite-sized steps. I knew how to manage huge real estate portfolios, but I didn’t know how to buy one house. That book helped me simplify and start taking small actions. I didn’t even read Rich Dad Poor Dad until after we had already bought a house.
How can people connect with you?
I’m on Instagram at @rei.solutions.with.sara and on YouTube at REI Accounting Solutions.
Perfect. Everyone, definitely check out Sarah’s content for more on investing and bookkeeping for real estate.
If this inspired you, share it with another investor who could benefit from hearing Sarah’s story.