The Schneider Family:
Jim and Lois. Daughters Michelle and Jessica.
Jim, Lois and Michelle manage the family rentals. Jessica lives in New York.
Background & History
Jim, as a child, lived on a farm his father sharecropped. In 1970, he entered a KU doctoral program and earned his Ph.D., 1974. That same year, a graduate school colleague, who purchased a house while in graduate school, asked Jim purchase his house by taking over the mortgage payments. He wanted to leave Lawrence, quickly, and did not want to deal with a realtor. Single, Jim had no need for a house —but, he reluctantly agreed. The plan was to paint the house and sell it. While painting the exterior of the vacant house, three KU coeds came onto the front porch and asked if the house was for rent. Jim told of his plan to sell. They asked to see the inside of the house —because, they “love older houses.” After touring the house, the young ladies asked (pleaded with) Jim to rent them the house. –He rented the house to the coeds. They, in fact, did love the older house, and stayed for years. That was 44+ years ago. From that unplanned start, Jim realized that he enjoyed rehabilitating and preserving older houses —he enjoyed providing a home for people who “love older houses”.
In late the 1970s, Lois, and Jim were to meet on a blind-date; however, Jim had to cancel this first date because of a maintenance problem at one of the houses. Despite this, Lois dated Jim, and they were married 1980. As a family, they have served their tenants for 38+ years. Lois runs all home office operations. She pays the bills, does the bookkeeping, schedules any needed maintenance, and oversees all leasing policy and procedures. In short, Lois is Superwoman.
Daughter Michelle is increasing taking over some of the responsibilities of her parents. She enjoys meeting people and showing our apartments. She also works with her father, learning building systems and maintenance. Importantly, she oversee “the turn,” a busy, stressful time, at the end of July, when current tenants leave (e.g., graduate) and new tenants move into apartments. She manages the many procedures (painting, cleaning, and paperwork) of moving out, and she schedules any repair needs that were found during the turn. Schneider family properties are older single family houses, or apartments in older houses, in quiet, residential neighborhoods, near KU or downtown Lawrence. See our listing of rental units to get the details and features of each unit. Our rental units are licensed and inspected by the City.
Overview: The Schneider family is not a large rental management organization. As mentioned above, our start in rentals was unplanned and small. We enjoy preserving houses and helping people find housing. When you rent housing, you are renting more than a place to live, you are also renting a landlord. Check out the reputation of the Schneider family. We care about fostering a good relationship with our tenants, and our goal is to provide a nice, comfortable, safe place to live.