Bonnie Matticks, a teacher at Highlands Ranch High School, does a lot more than just teach high schoolers science. Outside of school, she is a self-made businesswoman, who started her rental property business in 1988.

  Matticks started off her corporation when she was just in college, renting rooms in her house. She has now expanded to four houses based in Texas, which she gets income and equity out of. Expanding her business and starting at a young age has helped her learn a lot, which is why she’s able to manage her properties easily now.

  “When I first started I was managing the properties by myself,” Matticks said. “There was a large learning curve of figuring out how to keep up with the tenants and hold them accountable.” Now she pays somebody else to manage her properties (which according to her is the best thing she could’ve done), making the process less stressful.

  Due to her manager, she now doesn’t have to deal with some of the challenges she faced managing properties herself. She said, “The biggest challenge for me was when the tenant couldn’t afford to pay for things because then I would have to take legal actions to evict, get them out.”

  Being a landlord and being a teacher at the same has been a big advantage to her when it comes to communication.“Teaching has helped me communicate with a variety of personalities and the communication aspect has never been a problem for me,” she said.

  On the other hand, having a rental business has helped her in school because of the knowledge she has gained dealing with various types of tenants. She takes her business experiences and brings it to school, implementing it in her classroom, especially when dealing with students. “Mrs. Matticks is very easy to talk to,” said Alaina Spangenberger, sophomore. “Whenever I have questions about what we are learning or about my grades, I go talk to her and she always helps me come up with a solution.”

  Teaching and managing properties can be a hard thing to juggle, but for Matticks it’s not, all thanks to her property manager. “He does everything I would want him to do. He takes care of me, the owner, and also takes care of the tenants,” she said. Even though Matticks might feel stressed because of school, she stays stress free with her business/corporation that benefits her with financial security and comfort.

Abhipsha Shrestha, Guest Reporter