116: Disrupting Senior Living: Brandon Schwab's Boutique Care Revolution

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Design Development, we have Brandon Schwab, CEO of Shepherd Premier Senior Living, to discuss a pressing issue—the senior living crisis. Schwab explains the challenges facing the industry, such as financing, staffing shortages, and the escalating costs of assisted living homes. 

Schwab shares his unique journey from detailing cars for the affluent to tackling short sales and wholesaling in real estate, learning invaluable lessons along the way. Emphasizing the importance of offering clients flexible options, he discusses how he transferred those negotiation skills to create Shepherd Premier Senior Living. With his new fund, Brandon is poised to make significant strides towards solving the senior living crisis, offering a compelling opportunity for investors to align with a mission-driven company.

Key Takeaways:

• Senior Living Crisis: The senior living industry faces a critical shortage, with over 775,000 new units needed by 2030. Financing and staffing remain significant challenges.
• Boutique Senior Living Model: Brandon Schwab promotes a care model with 5-8 residents per caregiver, offering a higher quality of care compared to traditional facilities.
• Entrepreneurial Journey: Schwab’s background in detailing and real estate revealed insights into market needs that shaped his approach to senior living.
• Creative Financing: Schwab used creative financing techniques, like owner financing and HUD 232 loans, to scale his business and address capital challenges.
• Strategic Growth Plans: Shepherd Premier Senior Living aims to build 300 homes by 2030, with a fundraising strategy for scalable growth.

Notable Quotes:

1. "How we care for folks that are older in our country is we have big, huge facilities that have an odor, that are not good. They treat them just like cattle."
2. "Folks really need to open their eyes up to those options and get those things done at an age where it isn't going to be that expensive."
3. "I found very quickly that the healthcare piece was beyond me very quickly. And I had to build a healthcare team of people that had heart."
4. "Even if you found the cure for aging, you are going to always need housing."
5. "Financing wasn't there. And the average person that didn't have the history that I did would likely have just quit."

Resources:

• Learn more about Shepherd Premier Senior Living: Shepherd Premier Senior Living
• Check out the Boutique Senior Living Fund: Boutique Senior Li

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