Our Story
A husband-and-wife team turning overlooked Minnesota properties into high-performing assets — one deal at a time.
How It Started
Lucky Land and Lease began the way most good things do — with a problem that needed solving. Holly and Daniel McCarthy were looking for their first investment property in Minnesota and quickly realized that the gap between “finding a deal” and “operating a deal” was enormous. Plenty of people could locate a promising property. Far fewer could renovate it on budget, furnish it for guests, automate the operations, and actually generate consistent income from it.
So they decided to become the people who could do all of it. Holly earned her real estate license. Daniel built the tech stack. Together, they acquired their first property, proved the model worked, and kept going. Today, Lucky Land and Lease manages a growing portfolio of short-term vacation rentals and long-term residential properties across Minnesota — from the Twin Cities metro to lake country and beyond.
The company name isn’t about luck — it’s about making your own. We do the research, run the numbers, and put in the work. What looks like luck to an outsider is really just disciplined execution, deep market knowledge, and a refusal to cut corners. We find the deal. We run the deal. You benefit.
The Team
Small team, big results
Holly McCarthy
Co-Founder & Licensed Real Estate Agent
Holly is a licensed real estate agent in the state of Minnesota with a keen instinct for undervalued properties and untapped markets. Before co-founding Lucky Land and Lease, she spent years studying the Minnesota housing landscape — learning which neighborhoods were poised for growth and which deal structures actually pencil out. Holly handles acquisitions, tenant and guest relations, and the day-to-day operations that keep every property running at peak performance. Her attention to detail and genuine care for the people who live in (and visit) our properties is what sets Lucky Land and Lease apart from faceless management companies.
holly@luckylandlease.comDaniel McCarthy
Co-Founder, Technology & Strategy
Daniel is the systems thinker and technologist behind Lucky Land and Lease. With a background in software engineering and business strategy, he builds the infrastructure that allows the company to scale without sacrificing quality — from automated guest communications and dynamic pricing engines to the custom deal analysis tools that power investment decisions. Daniel created Run The Rent, the company's free deal analyzer, to help other investors evaluate properties with the same rigor Lucky Land and Lease applies internally. He believes that great real estate operations are, at their core, great technology problems waiting to be solved.
daniel@luckylandlease.comWhat We Stand For
The principles that guide every deal we make
Trust
We manage other people's homes and money. Transparency and integrity aren't optional — they're the foundation of everything we do.
Growth
Every property we touch should appreciate in value. We think long-term and build portfolios that compound, not just cash-flow.
Quality Homes
Our guests and tenants deserve spaces they're proud to live in. We renovate to a standard we'd want for our own family.
Community
We invest in neighborhoods, not just buildings. Good properties make good communities, and good communities make good investments.
Precision
We underwrite every deal with discipline. If the numbers don't work, we walk — no matter how pretty the kitchen is.
Passion
We genuinely love this work. Finding a diamond-in-the-rough property and turning it into something special never gets old.
Run The Rent
Our free deal analysis tool for real estate investors. Plug in the numbers on any property and get an instant breakdown of cash flow, cap rate, cash-on-cash return, and more. Built by Daniel, used by investors across the country.