Our Evolution.
The Evolution of Call Mike
We got our strange company name because of our reputation for integrity and service. When it comes to dependability the people we work with don’t look around, they just “Call Mike”. Ours is a story of overcoming adversity and finding a way to become successful without compromising ourselves or our values.
In 2005 Mike was in a car accident. The seatbelt is what got him by twisting his back, and pushing a disk into his spinal cord. Among other disk injuries, there is still today a 7mm spinal compression between his shoulder blades. The doctors told him he would never work again, and the guy that hit Mike only had $10k insurance. The emergency room ate that up pretty quickly. Shortly after Mike found he had exhausted his retirement, savings, investments, and physically was still very limited. By 2008 he was couch surfing homeless, unable to work, and struggling to go from having been an active person used to traveling and enjoying life to someone that was learning how to do simple things within a very limited physical ability.
It was in 2008 that Mike crossed paths with Zach. Zach’s mother was struggling, and his father was not active with him. They found themselves living in a trailer owned by someone Mike and Zach’s mother knew in the country. There were no utilities except running water. It was a struggle of creativity doing things like going to the YMCA in the morning so Zach could swim or something before school, but also that gave him the locker room to get a hot shower in the morning. After school homework was done at the city park by the light of the shelter house, and when it went off Zach would read the nightly reading assignment for his third-grade class sitting in the bleachers of the softball diamond where the lights were on for the teams to practice.
This experience was the catalyst that formed a bond that would last throughout the years. Zach needed a father figure, and Mike needed a reason to live and to push forward. Through ups and downs over the years they would find help and encouragement from each-other.
With just enough money to send out 18 post cards (not even letters), Mike thought about rental cleanings. He sent a request to property managers offering to clean apartments before tenants move in. Sederson Management company gave him the break that was deeply needed. For Sederson, they got someone to help with the cleaning, and since the pay was by the job it didn’t matter if it took 8 hours to do a 4 hour job. For Mike and Zach is was a way to work into a small house. Mike would clean, and Zach would help with the spots that were too tough for Mike’s back to allow him to reach. They were a cleaning team who found success thanks to Sederson Management and especially the encouragement of Josh, the property manager.
One day a realtor was walking through while they were cleaning, and he said he wanted a wall painted. When he asked if Mike knew anyone that could do it, Mike jumped at the job. From there Muddy River Maintenance was born. Over the next few years Mike, Zach, and the hired crews would perform everything from small jobs to rehabs. Zach worked by Mike’s side, and by the time he was 10 was changing toilets and faucets. He was running plumbing by the time he was 15, and by the time he graduated high school was running his own crew doing maintenance for things ranging from plumbing to digging and installing sump pumps.
Eventually one of the realtors Mike knew called and told him she needed an inspection for a home buyer. It was a lot of fun working with the buyer and helping them learn about the house. Since it was getting harder to find reliable crews the focus become inspections for both home buyers and investors.
Eventually Pat Grace entered the picture. Pat is like a cruise ship in the ocean of investment properties around the Kansas City metro. He is active in every area, is large enough to set the trends that create the wake many people try to ride, and has a reputation that makes people take notice. Working together with the guidance and encouragement of Pat, Mike and Zach narrowed the offerings to a continuum that serves an investors interests by providing completely neutral evaluations throughout the rehab process so buyers know they have an opinion they can trust.
We now work independently with investors throughout the metro and around the world from Texas, to Israel, Canada, and back around to Australia.