
Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Kristen Knapp interviews Houston real estate investor Justin Davis, who shares his inspiring journey into real estate investing. From a chance encounter with a contractor to flipping houses and transitioning to new construction, Justin discusses the various competencies required in the real estate business, the thrill of transformation, and how this career change has positively impacted his life and family. He also provides valuable insights into design choices that resonate with buyers and emphasizes the importance of commitment in achieving success in real estate.
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Kristen Knapp (00:00.632)
So welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m Kristen Knapp and I’m here with Houston real estate investor, Justin Davis. Thank you for coming out today, Justin. Yes, thank you so much. Well, I’m excited to get into your business and what you’ve built. It sounds really inspiring and it seems like you’re doing a lot over there. So let’s just start with how you got into real estate investing.
Justin Davis (00:07.554)
Hey, Kristen. Thanks. Thanks for having me.
Justin Davis (00:24.57)
Well, it’s kind of an interesting story. It wasn’t strategic. I didn’t plan it. I was getting a covered patio built in my house in 2019 and the contractor that was doing it suggested that I start flipping houses. And obviously I knew what it was. know, I had watched HTTV, you know, hours and hours, but I didn’t know it something I could actually do. And he took me around to several products that he was working on for other investors. And I was like looking online at like how the house used to be and I’m looking, I’m in the house and it was it. I just.
It was like a drug. It was like meeting your first love for the first time. I never stopped thinking about it after that moment. And then within two weeks, a house became available in our neighborhood that was distressed, that was flippable. And then a friend of mine set me up with a lender, a hard money lender, and I was able to buy that house. And I bought that house May 29th, 2019, and I sold it October 1st, 2019. So I had it for four months and I made $46,000. And at that time, that was…
like a million dollars to me, but also it was the first dollar I ever made that wasn’t from a paycheck. So it just really opened my eyes. I a job, but I started thinking about my job very differently during that time. And that was, so that’s how I got into it. And once I got into it, I never got out of it.
Kristen Knapp (01:43.276)
Yeah, that’s awesome. And when did you make the transition to do it more full time?
Justin Davis (01:47.77)
I guess I got my last paycheck in 2021, but I was really doing it full-time in 2020. You may recall that there was this thing called the pandemic.
Kristen Knapp (01:58.12)
I heard about it, yeah.
Justin Davis (01:59.65)
So I had a sales job and know, my sales were face to face. So they just didn’t happen. You know, I was a, you know, executive business development person. So no one was working in their office. There was no sporting events. There was no restaurants open. All things that I had to do to entertain weren’t happening. I didn’t really have any day-to-day job activities and our company’s kept, my company kept us on. So I was just really doing a lot of flipping and learning.
and growing and making a bunch of mistakes. But in 2021, that was when I became really established.
Kristen Knapp (02:33.954)
That’s awesome. In terms of the mistakes you made that helped you really learn, what are some that come to mind?
Justin Davis (02:40.771)
wow, we could talk about that for about 25 hours. you know, mainly just you don’t, you don’t, mean, how do you start a house? What’s the first step?
Kristen Knapp (02:43.406)
Thank
Justin Davis (02:51.533)
How do you design it? What’s an ideal layout? What design choices are going to get the greatest reaction from a buyer? What is good paint quality? What is good sheetrock quality? I either you have a mentor or a guide to help you avoid these things, or when you do it on your own, you just learn by doing. And you realize, OK, that’s not right. This person isn’t right. This process wasn’t right. This choice wasn’t right.
And there’s just too many to count and highlight, but there’s a bunch. And in this business, you keep learning and learning and learning. And I feel competent where I am, I still, with that understanding, I still accept that there’s still so much more to
Kristen Knapp (03:25.39)
Yeah,
Kristen Knapp (03:35.67)
Of course, and it sounds like you’re doing so much, probably more than the average person, from sourcing the deals to actually selling them yourself. Can you tell us about everything you’re doing?
Justin Davis (03:47.449)
Yeah, so, you know, people often will ask me to go to lunch and I’m happy to join them and they want to know how I do what I do and how I got into it and how they can do it. And I’ve kind of distilled it down to five different competencies. I think the first is sourcing, right? So how do you find these deals? How do you find significantly undervalued properties that you can add value to and then sell and make money?
Because with residential real estate, it’s not about what you invest, it’s about what the property is worth based on the comparable properties. So sourcing is the first one. I do that. The second one is funding, okay? These properties cost me between a million to $2 million. How do I get that money? So that’s another thing that you have to learn. The next thing is design, okay?
If you’re either renovating a property or building from scratch, okay, you’re buying this piece of property. What is it going to be? You know, if it’s a new house, what’s it going to look like? How big is it going to be? You know, what are the thousand choices you have to make? How tall are the ceilings? What kind of windows? What color windows? What size windows? Where are the doors? You know, what kind of cabinets? What kind of counters? You know, what kind of flooring? You know, what kind of tile? There’s so many choices. So sourcing, funding.
Designing and then there’s executing. Okay, so once you have all that down Okay, who do I call who does foundations who does underground plumbing who does framing who does brick who does windows who does roofs who does all these things And when you do all those things, so that’s another that’s another competency and then the last is ultimately selling it, right? So how do you put your your property in the best light, you know from photography to the price point to you know online marketing if necessary to open houses to
staging the property, all these things. all those things I do completely and for like staging, I own all my own furniture. So if you look at my property listings, they all have the same furniture because it’s know, furnitures at home. So that’s kind of a summary of all the things that I do related to my business.
Kristen Knapp (06:00.908)
That’s so fascinating. think it’s interesting, like, going into an industry where you may not feel super comfortable or you don’t know as much. You just assume you have to do everything yourself, but then it makes you so much better off because you understand every facet of the business that a lot of people can’t say that. A lot of people can’t say that they’re directly involved in every single stage of the business.
Justin Davis (06:24.1)
for sure, I think there’s value there. And I can think back to my corporate jobs where I only had one competency because the companies were so large and I really had a lot of gaps, but you can never go back and learn things that, know, are before you or whatever you want to call it. So yeah, there’s value in that. And I imagine over time, maybe I’ll delegate some things, but at this point I’m very content doing everything.
Kristen Knapp (06:48.386)
Yeah, awesome. And is there a part of it that really lights you up? It seemed like design is really part of your forte.
Justin Davis (06:56.282)
Design and transformation, it literally is the biggest rush. Like when I go to a house in the morning at 8 a.m. and meet a guy and then I go at five o’clock and like something is transformed, I just, can’t explain it. Like it’s like a hit. Like you go there and there’s no framing, then you go to the back and like the walls are up or you go out and there’s no tile, then it’s all tiled. You go back, there’s no cabinets, then there’s a bunch of cabinets.
There’s no countertops. mean, it’s just, and it happened so fast. I mean, it’s just, yeah, it’s, never, haven’t yet gotten tired of that, of the transformation.
Kristen Knapp (07:28.482)
What’s one of the best transformations you’ve seen?
Justin Davis (07:32.779)
Probably my first new construction, you know, I bought, you know, a very distressed dilapidated home in a very questionable neighborhood But on paper it showed that houses were being sold for you know, crazy prices in the neighborhood. So I bought this house on this really dumpy street. The house is very dumpy Obviously, I completely demolished it and then I built this super high-end luxury home And the first person I showed it to offered full price and bought it and that was two two physicians
So just really loved all the things that I was able to figure out with that house because when you go up in price point, you’re not just making a bigger $500,000 house. You’re actually adding different dimensions, different features, different finishes. So I didn’t know if I could do it, but I was grateful that I was and that was probably one of the biggest transformations that I could think of.
Kristen Knapp (08:22.636)
Yeah. Yeah. So you’ve recently transferred, not transferred, but you’ve added on new constructions into your business rather than just, you know, fix and flip. How has that, how has that been? What has that process been like and how are you enjoying it? Cause I imagine it’s a very hard process.
Justin Davis (08:37.434)
Yeah, it’s been a It’s been a game changer. know, it’s funny. Many people spoke it into me. You know, I have friends in the past say you’re going to do new construction down the road. And I was like, yeah, whatever. I just rejected it. I think I was like, I don’t think so. One guy named Conrad jumps out to me and he was right, you know.
I think the difference is obviously, well not obviously, but one of things to consider is you make a lot more money. You know, with my flip houses I’ve made between, you know, 50 to $200,000. I’d say for 100,000 is probably the average. One of my first two new constructions I made $300,000 each. And I’ve got properties now where I can make almost a million dollars on each property. So.
It’s just a totally different game that you’re playing. And then you have this masterpiece that’s just sitting on the ground, you know, for, you know, as long as we’re alive, that you can drive by and see that you did. So it’s just a different, it’s just a different thing. But yeah, it’s really cool. And I just started last year.
Kristen Knapp (09:41.71)
I can see how… Yeah, that’s incredible. I can see how that can be so fulfilling. Just really starting something from scratch, especially someone like you, who’s a jack of many trades. mean, putting that into your own construction must be very fulfilling.
Justin Davis (09:58.587)
Yeah, it’s really cool.
Kristen Knapp (10:00.566)
And then so in terms of design, since you’re so skilled at it, like what are, you spoke before kind of about like what layouts work best or what, you know, all of these different things, what are for, you know, someone who’s looking to fix a home or even just buy a home, like what are you seeing that are, you know, the best resale on like layouts and all that?
Justin Davis (10:23.514)
for sure. Yeah, so I think you don’t like a lot of people say, what do you like, what do you save money on? Or you talk to people that are doing products like, well, I want to skimp on this. Well, my experience is the more you invest, the more you get.
Because I think people buy homes, it’s an emotional decision, right? They use logic to justify it, but it’s an emotional thing that makes them want the house. So I want them to connect to the house emotionally. I don’t want them to walk in and be neutral. I want them to feel something.
So that starts with just a warm feeling, right? So warm lighting, nothing is cold, nothing is sterile. If you’re doing white walls, it’s like an alabaster or a dove where it’s warm. You have warm colored lighting, have tans and beiges.
and creams and natural colors and tones and woods and plaster, Venetian plaster and all wood flooring, wide plank, wide oak flooring.
So those are things that just, you know, emit feelings in people. You do all the things that make people imagine their life in it. So you have a very high functioning mudroom with a bunch of storage and a lot of hooks. You have a walk-in pantry where you can like have a secondary kitchen. You might have a second dishwasher in there. You might have another stove in there. You might have sinks in there and double fridges in the secondary kitchen. And then in the master bedroom, you have like coffee bar.
Justin Davis (11:53.791)
In the master bathroom you have makeup vanities, have his and hers separate closets, you have toilets in a closet, you have a freestanding tub dedicated for bathing. Typically you want to have like a large window above it, a chandelier on top of it, things like that. You want to have dramatic pendant lights over your kitchen island. You want have a massive kitchen island.
You typically want the breakfast area. I always do breakfast areas. A lot of builders don’t do breakfast areas because they’re like, I don’t want to reach there. But to me, I want to encourage people to have familial dinners. And I want people to stay connected. So you typically want to have an L shape where you have your breakfast, kitchen, living, those three, communicating for entertaining, but just also lifestyle. And then covered patios, outdoor grills.
large windows, tall ceilings. Those are kind of some of the elements I like to include that I feel get a reaction from people.
Kristen Knapp (12:54.368)
Yeah, it sounds like it’s definitely designed based on how we live. It’s very functional while also being beautiful.
Justin Davis (13:01.538)
And it’s like, you know, I like transitional. like modern school, but I like classic elements. It’s modern, but classic. Cause I feel like people feel more when it’s traditional or transitional as opposed to modern is just like, it’s fun, but that’s not really your life.
Kristen Knapp (13:10.221)
Yeah, like…
Kristen Knapp (13:20.118)
Absolutely. Do you feel like there’s any trends out there? Like things that you see in a lot of new builds?
Justin Davis (13:28.494)
For sure. Like in kitchens, like slab backsplashes are very popular now. Plaster heads are very popular. Black windows are very popular. I think they’re going to be going out soon.
Kristen Knapp (13:41.954)
Yeah, everything. Everything cycles.
Justin Davis (13:45.135)
Yeah, white, white exteriors are very trendy, but I think that there are other options that are more bold. Those are some things to jump in mind. Obviously, oak, European oak, white plank flooring is very popular. And that’s been around for, or popular for, I would say the last handful of years. I don’t see that one transitioning out anytime soon. and then white oak cabinets.
Kristen Knapp (14:11.241)
Mmm, yes.
Justin Davis (14:11.928)
That is probably the most current, chic shift.
Kristen Knapp (14:16.47)
Yeah, I see a lot of those. Well, I like what you were mentioning about the lighting and the paint, because I think those are really easy fixes without spending a ton of money that can really transform a space. Is there anything else like that? Just little tricks that you’ve gotten from flipping things that make a huge difference without breaking the bank.
Justin Davis (14:29.38)
for sure.
Justin Davis (14:37.944)
Well, I think you have to break the vague. You know, whether it’s a product that I’m doing for my business or even personal property, like our own house, it’s like, you have to live there. So just do it. You know, you’re not going to be happy until it’s the way you want it. And yeah, I’ve never done like a, well, that’s an overstatement.
Kristen Knapp (14:39.946)
Yeah, that’s true. That’s what you said. Yeah.
Justin Davis (15:01.292)
Of all my properties, I’ve done like two that I would say were like cosmetic and renovations, but typically it’s complete transformation. I don’t keep anything. I completely got the house. I reconfigured the floor plan. I do all new mechanical plumbing, electrical AC, know, all new sheetrock, baseboards, insulation, cabinets, counters, floors, windows, roof, everything. Everything is different. Everything’s changed. Goes from your grandmother’s house to, you know, your…
hottest guy’s house you’ve ever been to. I don’t know what a good analogy would be but yeah so I don’t yeah but I guess if someone had a limited budget and they just wanted to make some changes I would say paint is probably the the most impactful low-cost change and probably windows. Windows are like teeth.
Kristen Knapp (15:47.394)
Yeah.
Justin Davis (15:47.523)
Like if someone changes their teeth, if they have bad teeth, then that is probably the most dramatic change you can make. Beyond fitness or hair or anything, feel like teeth are so profound. I think windows have that same effect.
Kristen Knapp (16:01.038)
That’s a really good analogy, I love that. And then in terms of, now you’re in this real estate business that you love so much, how has this changed your life back when you were at your corporate job? How has everything, how has this afforded the life that you love living?
Justin Davis (16:13.848)
You
Justin Davis (16:17.986)
Yeah, so I mean, it’s like a it’s something I want to stand on a mountaintop and scream, you know, to everybody like it changed our entire life, you know, not only for me, but for my wife, for my kids, for my parents, for their, you know, future children. You know, I grew up very humble, you know, modest upbringing, didn’t really have much, never went on vacation, never played sports, never went to dinner and never went to restaurant. I just went to school, came home, watched TV. That was my whole life, you know, pre-18.
You know, now with real estate investing on eight million schedule, we go wherever we want. We have all these things that, you know, the world, you know, covet’s like, you know, a nice home and we’re, you know, nice cars, all those things. But more importantly, you know, we have freedom. You know, my wife stays at home. Our kids are in a hybrid school where they only go to school two days a week. So they’re with us most of the time. You know, we’re, you know, we’re.
We’re in the best location of Houston. There’s just so many things that Real Estate Investing has provided. Whenever someone has a need, a friend or a family member, can help with that. And I can sleep at night not having to worry about day-to-day things that I used to have to worry about. I used to be paycheck to paycheck until I was probably 30 years old. So it’s not like my whole life has been like this. So I definitely appreciate the difference.
Kristen Knapp (17:36.846)
Yeah, that’s amazing. mean, it sounds like you have just so much freedom in general. It’s just a lot to do, a lot of freedom. Even though you’re doing a lot, I mean, I don’t know how you have time to do anything, but…
Justin Davis (17:43.62)
for sure.
Justin Davis (17:49.668)
Well, everyone says that, and I agree that sometimes it can be taxing, but I think you make time for things that are important to you.
Kristen Knapp (17:56.078)
Yeah, I mean if you’re doing something you love it doesn’t feel like an obligation or something you have to do.
Justin Davis (18:03.178)
For sure, you know, I was still people that like so how do I get started? I’m like, well, I mean It’s not a it’s not a checklist. It’s a commitment Like you decide you’re gonna do something you do it and that’s whatever it is if you want to be a lawyer if you want to be on a marathon whatever you decide you Commit to it and then all the steps will figure themselves out because you decided you’re gonna do it, you know, I’ve told people
Kristen Knapp (18:12.451)
Right.
Kristen Knapp (18:25.538)
The commitment.
Justin Davis (18:26.746)
I’ve told people like, let’s say you’re driving home and there’s something blocking the road. What do you do? You go a different direction and then you find a way to get home. But let’s just say you’re just driving, like you have nowhere, you’re not going anywhere, then you just stop or you turn around. But if you’re going somewhere and you’re committed to going there, then you’re gonna get there because you’re gonna figure it out.
Kristen Knapp (18:50.19)
Yeah, you have great analogies. I mean the commitment is definitely the hardest part for most people I would say.
Justin Davis (18:52.858)
Thank
Justin Davis (18:58.394)
Tell my wife that, she doesn’t like analogies.
Kristen Knapp (19:01.542)
Source object, I’m so sorry.
Justin Davis (19:04.614)
I have a great wife and she’s a big part of story. You know, she’s not really involved in the business, but she’s involved in my life and she encourages me. She supports me. doesn’t, she doesn’t get any grieved early on. used to be really worried when I would take out these big loans, but now we don’t even talk about it. just buy houses and she never even, she doesn’t even really go to the properties. Well, she for sure does not. I have to like occasionally bring her when I’m finished and like, look at this house. You know, you may as well see before I sell it.
So she allows me to have the life that I have. I can just get out and leave whenever I want, do whatever I want. And she’s taking care of the kids in the house. And I would not be able to do what I’ve done without that support.
Kristen Knapp (19:45.294)
Yeah, sounds like having such a good support system at home is so important.
So what’s next for you and your business?
Justin Davis (19:54.628)
Well, as I mentioned, I just started doing new construction last year. I did one house I sold at December 30th of last year. I did my second one at the beginning of this year. And now I have four. So, and each of those first two houses were $1.5 million exits. The ones I have now are all two to $3 million. So it’s a different game. You know, it’s a different buyer. Obviously it’s going to take, it’s going to be a different process to get the project completed. So.
That’s where I’m at now and if I’m able to get through this new phase, then I feel like the sky’s the limit.
Kristen Knapp (20:28.096)
Awesome. Well, that sounds great. It sounds like you have such exciting things ahead and you have the foundation really to get there.
Justin Davis (20:34.842)
We’ll see what happens. We’ll see what God’s plan is.
Kristen Knapp (20:36.054)
Yeah. Well, how can people find you?
Justin Davis (20:41.594)
so I mean, I’m not really a public figure, but I do have Instagram pages for each of my businesses. Harper Harrison Homes is my flipping business, which is named after our first two children, Harper and Harrison. That’s both on Instagram and Facebook. And then Holland Fine Homes is my new construction business, which is named after our third child, Holland. And those are both on Instagram and Facebook. And obviously, I’m Justin Davis. I’m on both those places.
I post only pictures of my houses at the end. So there’s not really much day to day, but there’s the end. And then on Facebook, I have a before and after of all my flip houses.
Kristen Knapp (21:21.39)
Nice, awesome. Well, everybody please go check that out. And thank you so much for being here, Justin. And thank you everybody for listening. And yes, we’ll see you next week. Thank you so much. Thank you.
Justin Davis (21:32.09)
Chris, and thanks for making time for me.