Rick Vesole

Richard Vesole is a real estate investor and practicing attorney in Bettendorf, Iowa. Richard I. Vesole, Attorney at Law, and Richard Vesole Insurance are two of his businesses. First Financial Group, L.C. is also owned and managed by Rick Vesole.

Rick Vesole began offering legal services to customers in a variety of settings after graduating from law school. Richard I. Vesole, Attorney at Law, was founded after he gained expertise and skill over time. He focused his career on landlord-tenant and real estate law, though he also provided other services.

In addition to providing legal advice and maintaining his law license, he is an active real estate investor. First Financial Group, L.C. is his company. From his initial property, he sought to establish his real estate career one property at a time. He is now one of the most prominent owners of single-family rent-to-own houses in the Quad City Metro area, if not the most prominent. This is the primary service he offers to members of the community. He used to work as a real estate broker in the region, but he is no longer in the business.

People in the Quad City Metro Area can benefit from First Financial Group, L.C.’s assistance in making homeownership more attainable. It has a long history of assisting the community by providing a road to homeownership and realizing the American dream. The organization focuses on assisting people who may be unable to obtain a regular mortgage and works to rehabilitate homes in order to improve the general appeal and condition of their community.

He also runs Richard Vesole Insurance, which specializes in property and casualty insurance for landlords and investors.

Throughout his career, he has a long list of achievements in various fields. This includes keeping his memberships in the Iowa State Bar Association and the Scott County Bar Association active. He has also served on the Quad City Rental Real Property Association’s board of directors. He is still a member of this group now.

Vesole specializes on real estate investing, as well as real estate and landlord-tenant law. He is also recognized for offering financial and tax guidance to his friends and family when they require it.

Rick is a mathematician who excels at keeping track of his finances. He is also a money-saving aficionado. One time, he took the County Assessor to the Illinois Supreme Court to ensure that his rent-to-own customers received the Homestead Tax Exemption that they were entitled to under the law. He also worked directly with COVID-affected renters to help them receive help.

Richard Vesole earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Iowa in 1977. He went on to law school at the University of Iowa, where he graduated with honors. In the class of 1980, he received a distinction in his J.D.

Richard Vesole has been given several opportunities that he is proud of and considers to be some of his most significant accomplishments in his career. One of them is his real estate investing business. He is the largest single-family rent-to-own home owner in the Quad City metropolitan area at this stage in his career. Davenport, Iowa, Bettendorf, Iowa, Rock Island, Moline, East Moline, and the bordering areas of Illinois are all included. Approximately the course of his career, he developed over 600 properties while paying close attention to the neighborhood and market conditions.

He is also proud of his professional achievements as an attorney. That involves building a thriving real estate business that serves the region in areas such as real estate law, landlord-tenant law, 1031 exchanges, and more.

Rick Vesole is a member of the Scott County Bar Association as well as the Iowa State Bar Association. He is especially proud of his efforts as Treasurer of the Quad Cities Rental Real Property Association and as a member of the Quad Cities Rental Real Property Association.

Vesole is also a current Trustee of the Rock Island Hebrew Cemetery Association and a donor adviser for the Joann and Richard Vesole Family Fund. He was previously the director of the Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities.

Rick Vesole is incredibly proud of his entire family, especially his children. On October 17, 2022, he will mark 40 years of marriage.

Rick Vesole has lent his support to a number of organizations during the course of his career. The Joann and Richard Vesole Family Fund at Fidelity Charitable is at the center of this. For a variety of reasons, it is a Donor Advised Fund close to the family’s heart.

In addition, Vesole has made significant contributions to a number of organizations during his life. This encompasses the real estate industry as well as religious organizations. He’s also a supporter of Habitat for Humanity, a local organization he’s happy to have helped. Birdies for Charitable receives the local John Deere Golf Classic charity program.

Despite his hectic schedule, he finds time to give back to the community in a variety of ways. Volunteering at Café on the Vine is one of them. This charity distributes food to those in need. He’s also taken part in the Susan Komen Race for the Cure, which raises money for cancer research. He’s also given to other breast cancer groups.

Vesole has supported the Mayo Clinic and the University of Iowa Foundation, in addition to the religious organizations to which he donates.

Where did the idea for career come from?

I wanted people to think of it as similar to a bank without actually being a bank. A lot of banks in our area used to start out with the name “First” such as First Federal Savings, First National Bank, Firstar Bank, etc. We picked “Financial “ because we wanted people to know that we were in the business of financing real estate through our rent-to-own company. We picked “Group” so they would think of us as a relatively small local organization that they could relate to and do business with, not some big national corporation

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

Many times my day is not structured or planned in advance. I always have plenty to do – lots of paperwork and accounting to keep me busy. And there are various scheduled appointments, but a lot of my day is to take it as it comes. Lots of phone calls and investment and client needs that are not planned in advance. My wife would sometimes ask me what I had scheduled for the day, and I would answer that I have nothing scheduled, but I know I will be swamped.

How do you bring ideas to life?

I am always trying to think outside the box. I usually take things as they come, and try to solve whatever problems present themselves on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes the answer is not obvious, and I will often keep it in the back of my mind, and many times I will come up with a solution days later. I like to think that I almost never let things fall through the crack. If I can’t solve a problem right away, I do not give up.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Not sure. I often say that while I don’t like change, I am good at adapting to change.

I do like technology, so I guess I like new technology.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Persistence. I don’t give up easily. I am also very cost-conscious, and am always trying to run my business efficiently – both time-wise and cost-wise.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don’t give up. I think I followed that pretty well.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

If you have time to get something done, do it. Don’t ever think that some task is not worth your time or beneath you.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

I have a philosophy called “incrementalism”. To me, it means that little things add up to much larger things over time. The same way as a snowball rolling downhill starts out small and gets bigger and bigger. So, I recommend that people should consistently do the little things to grow the business and cut costs over and over again, even though it may seem insignificant. Over time, it adds up to much larger things. A good business example is building a positive cash flow. It may start out small, but if you stick with it, the cash flow will keep growing, and eventually, it will be larger than you know what to do with it.

In our case, we used to borrow money to buy each property, but eventually, the cash flow became so large, that we stopped needing to borrow money to buy properties, and then we gradually paid off our loans, and then once our loans were all paid off, it grew faster than we could reinvest it, so we actually have too much cash sitting around. A good problem to have.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

You can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. Don’t doubt your talent or your worth.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

None. I have never failed at business. A few times we lost money on a property, but that was fairly rare, and we had enough coming in from our successful properties that it didn’t affect us very much.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

In the rental business, we occasionally go to court to recover damages to our property by a tenant. Pictures are useful to show damage to the property that the tenant caused, but the one thing you can’t show in pictures is the odor from a pet that ruined your carpet or floors. I always thought if I could develop an app that detected smells that it would be very useful. I’m sure such an app could be used for other things as well – even pleasant smells.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I can’t think of anything. Since I am very cost-conscious, I am going to say the best $100 I spent is $100 I didn’t spend, but instead, I saved and invested it.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Google Sheets. All of our staff have access to it. We use it to keep track of all of our vacant homes – and include things such as the price, monthly payment, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, garage stalls & other features. Also, which contractor is working on it, the lockbox code to get it, the amount of insurance coverage and property taxes, whether it is pending or sold, etc

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

The Millionaire Next Door. It analyzes the habits of successful people and emphasizes that successful people are not the ones who are flashing their money and expensive purchases but instead appear to be common folks who drive used cars and don’t live in flashy homes

What is your favorite quote?

A penny saved is a penny earned (by Benjamin Franklin). I often add my corollary that a penny saved is better than a penny earned because you don’t have to work to earn that penny and you don’t have to pay income tax on the penny saved

Key Learnings:

Never give up on achieving your goals.

Think outside the box. There is almost always a solution to every problem.

Being cost-conscious is very important when running a business.