From Digital Guru to Real Estate Baron: Mike Sebastian Builds The Hideaways with LLC Attorney
Click around The Hideaways website, and you’ll notice one thing: there’s a vibe. If your ideal vacation involves firewood, hiking, and a soak in the hot tub, this short-term rental company is right up your alley. From glamping cabins to homes that accommodate half of your family reunion, The Hideaways brand entices travelers to turn off their phones and kick up their feet. It’s time to relax.
Mike Sebastian, co-founder of The Hideaways, turned to real estate after a decade in a very different industry–digital marketing. After selling his marketing agency in early 2024, he thought about what he would do next. His most financially successful friends all invested in real estate. Mike decided that it was time to dabble.
Rather than invest in long-term rentals, Mike wanted to combine his real estate ambitions with his love of hospitality. In 2024, he purchased his first property in Spokane, WA, and established an Instagram-worthy short-term rental. Since then, Mike has expanded his rustic real estate empire to include 18 properties in Georgia, Ohio, and Kentucky, with six additional properties under construction.
From Idea Guy to Brick and Mortar
Shifting to real estate was a huge move for Mike. Coming from digital marketing, real estate has been a crash course in what it's like to create a tangible product. Although real estate has proven much more expensive, Mike says having a physical product has advantages.
“The most exciting part about switching from marketing to real estate was setting up the house,” Mike says. “There is a yard and walls, an air conditioner and couches, and things you can physically touch and be on site for, which is good and bad. The bad part is I could go to Tahiti and work as much as I wanted to in the marketing agency, whereas here, someone needs to be at the physical, tangible part sometimes.”
Given the high initial costs of buying real estate and creating the company, Mike expects profit growth to be slower than with his first company. Still, he’s betting on the longevity of physical assets.
“The theory that I'm testing with my life at this point is that the investment in the physical asset of real estate will grow exponentially over time. A decade from now, hopefully, I can retire off the sale of the business,” Mike says.
While he’s interested in the physical aspects of owning real estate, Mike’s focus for The Hideaways brand is more emotional.
“We sell the best product in the world–we sell disconnecting from work, stress, and life. We sell connection with your family, relaxation, reading, and peace. We sell nature,” Mike says. “You have everything you need. It's supposed to be peaceful, and if it's not, then we give you your money back.”
The Hideaways: Forming the Business
While The Hideaways’ aesthetic and focus on hospitality take the spotlight, behind the scenes, Mike and his partners created a business structure that works for them. Since the concept has so many moving parts, Mike has created separate companies with separate LLCs–nine with LLC Attorney. Mike will soon bring in a few remaining LLCs under the LLC Attorney banner.
Currently, the Hideways brand encompasses two primary businesses–Horizon Hideaways, focused on investing in properties, and Seburg Properties, which holds the company's property management arm. Mike and his partners have several other LLCs within those two companies, creating a network that protects their assets while allowing flexibility.
With his past experience owning a business, Mike had a good idea of what kind of structure he wanted for his new venture. He wanted to set up his business in Wyoming due to low costs and red tape, and he found LLC Attorney through a business associate and a little light googling.
LLC Attorney offered a combination of the right things for Mike and his partners: the ability to create an LLC in all 50 states, fast processing, and low costs.
After transferring over his first company, Mike says that none of his LLCs have taken more than a day or two to set up. With time and attorney fees saved, he can focus on running a demanding but successful business.
One of Mike’s favorite features is a user-friendly dashboard that consolidates all documentation for companies formed with LLC Attorney. Since Mike and his partners have properties in several states and plan to expand, the dashboard helps them keep their documentation straight.
“I have my client dashboard open 100% of the time that I'm on the computer, and being able to quickly download our EIN or to quickly pull addresses from documents in real-time is essential,” Mike says.
“We got a very important letter, and they notified me of that as soon as it arrived. There's no way I'd be able to do this in Kentucky, Georgia, Washington and Wyoming without having one centralized place where I could go look at that, or it would consume all of my time.”
Hanging the Shingle
Today, Mike’s life looks different than it did two years ago–you might find him on the phone with a property manager or scouting a new location for his growing business. As he continues to learn in his new industry, he encourages others considering starting a small business to take the leap.
“The first thing you need to do is start an LLC. Think of it as income–taxes–expenses versus income–expenses–taxes. Deducting everything off the top and then paying your taxes is the single easiest benefit, along with the legal benefits of separating the business from your personal income,” Mike says.
Beyond the financial and legal benefits, Mike says that forming an LLC raises the stakes and makes your aspirations real.
“It’s fun. Starting an LLC was the biggest leap in personal growth that I’ve ever taken in my life.” Mike professes. “It puts everything you believe, do, and research right there in front of everyone, which is valuable in anybody’s life.”
