Meet Nathan Crankfield | Sales Lead and Airbnb Host

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nathan Crankfield and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nathan, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My wife, Emily, and I got married last March. We knew we wanted to start a family right away and we were hopeful that Emily would be able to come home from her office job once we had our first child. The cost of living in the Denver area is substantial, so we knew we’d have to find a creative way to replace her income as living on mine alone would have been pretty tight.

We began house until in April and soon came up with the idea of making our house both a primary residence and a rental property. With that in mind, we started exclusively looking at homes we believed we could live in while renting it out as an Airbnb.

I probably toured more than 50 houses in search of the perfect one, which we found in Englewood in late June. We closed in July and moved into the house in late August. From there, we began renovations and the permitting process, both of which took about 9 months.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
After college, I started as an active duty infantry officer in the Army. My four years in the Army include some of my best memories and proudest moments. I was able to deploy to Afghanistan, graduate from US Army Ranger School, and lead a platoon in the 82nd Airborne Division. It was absolutely a dream come true, but I felt called to something else after my commitment was up.

From there, I became a Parish Consultant for Catholic churches with the Dynamic Catholic Institute. During that time, I also started my own podcast called Seeking Excellence with Nathan Crankfield. I then went on to work at Benedictine College for a short while before taking my current position as Sales Lead at a tech start up called Hallow, which is a prayer and meditation app.

The greatest sacrifices I made to get to where I am today certainly came through my time in the Army. We wouldn’t have this house and short-term rental if not for the VA loan. And we wouldn’t have the VA loan without my time spent at war or in very difficult training preparing for it.

I believe ownership, intentionality, and courage are the foundations for a successful life in all areas. You must be the one to take responsibility for your life and what you make of it. You have to be intentional in creating a plan, because aimlessly going through life is sure to end up in mediocrity or worse. And lastly, it takes courage to move forward in that plan, risking failure and overcoming obstacles on the way to achieving your dreams.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We love hosting visiting friends and family to Denver! We are a big sports family, so certainly our week would include a Rockies game or some other sporting event. Some of our favorite places to eat are Breakfast on Broadway, The Cherry Cricket, Breckenridge Brewery, and Capitol Pizza.

We also love taking people to the Mother Cabrini Shrine for a day of hiking, prayer, and awesome views of the city.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are many people, but I’ll list a few of the main ones here.

BiggerPockets has helped immensely through their podcasts and books, providing me with both the how to and the motivation to get started in real estate investing.

Our lender, Ryan Pettigrew, at Zenith Home Loans was also incredibly helpful. He provided tons of insight and assistance throughout the process. The same goes for our Real Estate Agent, Lisa Chirico, who was super helpful and simply the best we could have asked for in this journey.

And of course, my wife was the best support and teammate throughout the getting started process.

Website: Nathancrankfield.com

Instagram: @nathancrankfield

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-crankfield

Other: Our Airbnb link is https://airbnb.com/h/marthahome