Educating Wisconsin Investors

WiscoREIA Appleton: 30 Years of Lessons Learned: The Highs, the Lows, and the Landmines

  • 12 Nov 2025
  • 6:00 PM
  • Wilder's Cutting Edge Bistro

Registration

  • You have not attended any WiscoREIA meetings. The first meeting is free!
  • You have attended 1 WiscoREIA meeting for free.

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30 Years of Lessons Learned: The Highs, the Lows, and the Landmines with Chris Hake

Click here to pre-register!


You’re Invited to a Raw and Powerful Presentation from Chris Hake!!

After 30 years of entrepreneurial grit, real estate wins and losses, and life-altering challenges, Chris Hake is opening up and sharing the journey that shaped him as a man, investor, and leader.


In this powerful 1-hour session, Chris will reflect on:

· Becoming a millionaire… and losing it all in bankruptcy

· Battling chronic health issues and suicidal thoughts

· Finding identity and hope through faith in Jesus

· The most impactful books that shaped his path (The Bible, The Slight Edge, The One Thing)

· The importance of a written vision plan for your life and business

· Why coaches, mentors, and mastermind groups are non-negotiables

· His Top 10 Game Changers over 3 decades

· The 3 most essential ingredients for lasting success

· What he would say to his 30-years-younger self if given one chance


Whether you’re just getting started or scaling your next mountain, this talk will challenge, inspire, and equip you with real stories and real strategies to navigate your own journey—personally, professionally, and spiritually.


“If my story helps one person avoid a landmine or rediscover hope, then it’s worth every scar.” – Chris Hake


Come hear the hard truths, the big wins, the brutal setbacks—and the redemption woven throughout it all.


Speaker: Chris Hake

Chris is the founder and visionary of the Madison Real Estate Investors Association (REIA), Master Investor Academy and JSS Mastery Partnership Program. Chris has decades of real estate investing experience and has seen (and smelled) more distressed properties than he cares to admit.


Chris has been a Madisonian for over 49 years and investing in the Madison real estate market for 30 years. Since doing his first house hack in 1994, he has been involved with 100's of house flips, 100’s of rentals, raised over 15 million dollars to fund those deals and had 1000's of students come through his local training and coaching programs. Chris has a master's degree in the school of hard knocks.

Between 2006-2010 Chris taught the Real Estate Investing course at Madison Area Technical College, which saw 100's of students come through his classes. In July 2012, Chris founded The Madison REIA and in July 2021 merged with Wisco REIA which now has 10 REIA locations across Wisconsin, bringing the combined membership to well over 500!

Chris's company Just Simple Storage, LLC owns ten facilities and manages 1000+ self-storage units in WI, IL and MI. Chris also started a commercial storage development company in 2024.

On a personal note, Chris and his wife, Suzanna, have three children, Tyler, Tanner and Trelan. He also has two dogs, Kona and Hemi. Chris loves classic muscle cars (Corvettes), all outdoor sports, especially golf, and fishing. As a husband, father, businessman, and real estate investor, Chris holds true to his core values and lives his Life and Business Vision plan.


WiscoREIA’s Appleton Meeting Always Meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the Month from 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm!


Host: Geoff Possley

Geoff is a part time buy and hold investor with investments in the Fox Valley and Sheboygan area. He is a full-time aircraft certification engineer for Gulfstream Aerospace in Appleton where he lives with his wife Laura and four children Carter, Madeline, Rowen and Brielle.


Geoff got started in real estate in 2005, with very little REI knowledge, when he purchased a single-family home with the plan to do a live-in flip over the next few years. After the bubble burst in 2008 his focus shifted from turning a profit to simply breaking even. This led Geoff to step away from real estate for a number of years until he discovered WiscoREIA in 2018 where he finally was able to acquire the knowledge and network that was necessary to be successful in real estate investing.  His goal is to use REI as a means to retire early from engineering.


Geoff currently invests in single-family and small multi-family properties that he operates as traditional rentals as well as short term furnished rentals. In his free time Geoff enjoys camping with his family, playing golf, snowboarding, hunting, and good beer.


Make sure to bring tons of business cards as you will be meeting with people that you want to get to know!

 

Meeting Location:

Wilder's Cutting Edge Bistro

2639 S Oneida St

Appleton, WI 54915

Please enjoy food, drinks, and TIP YOUR SERVERS!


6:00 pm - 7:00 pm - Doors open early for Networking

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm - Speaker Presentation


The meeting ends at 9:00 PM, but we’ll continue with an informal after-meeting for anyone who’d like to stay.


You can stay after the meeting as well to network! Remember to bring your deals!


Members are always FREE! Your first meeting with WiscoREIA is FREE!

 After your first meeting, Non-Members are $30.00


***Make sure to pre-register - We are now Cashless***

Click here to pre-register!

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