Real Estate Investing at 17: How Kentrell Thomas Landed His First Deal

Kentrell Thomas (00:00)
You never know when your blessing gonna come. You never know when the hard work’s gonna pay off. And you know, just just stick to your plan. Like if you see yourself doing this and succeeding, it don’t matter if the world showed you the opposite, it don’t matter. It it don’t matter who tell you you can’t do it, you can. Like that that’s literally one of the biggest lessons I learned.

Scott Bursey (01:56)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. Glad you’re with us. And today we have a true rising pro in the real estate game, Kentrell Thomas. Kentrell started studying real estate at age 13 years old. He jumped into hands-on deal making by 17 and recently made local headlines by closing a deal alongside his mentor.

Listeners, you can expect an energetic breakdown of how early dedication, mentorship, and sharp execution can accelerate your real estate path faster than you ever thought possible. Kentrell, welcome to the show.

Kentrell Thomas (02:35)
You thank you. It’s nice to be on here. Thank you. Thank you for having me. It’s just a surreal opportunity to me. Hope you’re doing well today.

Scott Bursey (02:45)
It is really, really a pleasure having you on Kentrell. And to help our listeners get up to speed, please give us the ninety second highlight reel of how your career ignited and where you’re pouring your fuel now.

Kentrell Thomas (02:59)
Okay, so yeah, like Mr. Scott has said, I stuck I got into real estate at thirteen ’cause of this video I seen on social media and also my grandpa he does real estate too, so that also played big role in my decision making for my career because I knew after high school it was either military or college, which also I’m in college too for finance. But yeah, real estate side

So I I really got into it heavily at 17 after graduation where I went to online school at Champions School of Real Estate, finished my classes in like two weeks, and then went to college, didn’t take the agents test, but I got hands-on experience with wholesaling real estate and stuff like that, stuff the book can’t teach you. And then recently I jumped back into the book and took a practice test.

I only got thirty two out of a hundred wrong after like a year, so that kinda showed me that hands-on experience can go further or a long way than also reading page by page on a book. Yeah.

Scott Bursey (04:07)
Thank you for sharing your journey thus far. That is an incredible path that you’re on. And you know what really caught my attention about you was the way you’ve been able to channel years of self-taught real estate fundamentals Kentrell into an executing headline making transaction alongside a seasoned real estate mentor.

Kentrell Thomas (04:29)
back in July I had came back from vacation. I had just got fired from my job, you know, and who wants to go on vacation broke, but I had to, so you know, I had to make the best of it, and then when I came back,

reality set back in and was like, I’m broke, I don’t have no job. What what am I about to do? So with my real estate knowledge, I was like, you know what? I’m finna go see if I can find a property, find a way to make some money. It’s like eleven, eleven o’clock at night, finna be twelve in the morning. So I’m on Zillow and I find one and I text my mentor. I’m like, check this out.

The price looks good. He texts me back almost immediately. 11 o’clock at night, mind you. I’m thinking he finna be asleep. He was like, You might have found something. and then he sent a realtor out the next day. Come find out the next day, my birthday. Well, not come find out, but like, you know, in the world. That’s just crazy. And so the realtor goes out there to Gatesville and

That house goes into contract on my birthday. So once it goes into contract on my birthday, I didn’t tell nobody, kept it between me and him. Because sometimes that’s what you gotta do in life. You gotta keep what you’re most passionate about and what you feel the most energy towards to yourself. So that way that energy you feel towards it can come back. But back to what I was saying. So

Yeah, I went in contract on my birthday. That was a nice birthday present. And then

Had ups and downs, went to go see the house, holes in the roof, holes in the floor, holes everywhere. But you know, Mr. Ace ain’t no Ricky. He you know, that’s what he do. So he like it’s no biggie. So house closes, took my family out to eat, and then yeah. That’s really what happened,

this was me on the newspaper. few days after we closed, he said he had a surprise for me. He picked me up. I thought we were just going to see another property. Nope. I get a phone call. It’s a newspaper. And they asked me about it. And they put me on the front page right here. Look at my little smile.

And then this for his business, Integration Homes. I got a helmet from it. I really thought the helmet, because in order to get a helmet, you have to do business with Mr. Ace. So I thought it was gonna take me years. But no, I got it in a few months. So that’s another blessing. anything else you’re interested in knowing?

Call.

Scott Bursey (07:06)
Thank you for highlighting that Kentrell. You know, building that foundational discipline early on clearly sets the tone for long term success. And I would love to hear how do you continuously sharpen that specific strength when analyzing complex deal structures today with your mentor.

Kentrell Thomas (07:27)
so he has this strategy that he uses and he he’s teaching me it well honestly reading honestly that that really helps you with your problem solving because that’s really that I can’t really speak for anybody else but in in the way I view the world every problem I’m not gonna say it’s equal but

If you put enough energy into it, you go and solve the problem. So it’s l it’s like that’s just something I guess I was blessed to be born with. So I feel like my problem solving skills are natural and then along with my real estate knowledge, shut like I can solve anything.

Scott Bursey (08:08)
And getting right to it, what was a key operational weakness or perhaps blind spot Kentrell you had to overcome when transitioning into hands-on investing at 17 with your mentor?

Kentrell Thomas (09:09)
No money. I no knowledge of it. I was I he taught me literally everything I know about wholesale real estate. So it was a big transition. It was a big transition to even want to learn and get into something. You know, career we wouldn’t be right here right now if that conversation never happened about wholesale real estate. So you know, butterfly effect. It it’s a big deal to me, big transition in my life.

To absolutely feel like I I know where my future’s headed finally.

Scott Bursey (09:40)
Thank you for pointing that out. And talking about your journey, what practical habits did you put in place to ensure that weakness didn’t hold you back on deal flow, I guess?

Kentrell Thomas (09:53)
Okay, I study real estate every day, read the books, took notes from the test every time I failed. and I genuinely I genuinely just like looking at houses. So I would just go on Zillow, look at mansions and you know, little kids, stuff like that, the square footage. I would read the descriptions, learn try to learn all the terminology.

So it it was just keeping up in the knowing. Cause the more you try to succeed, the less you’re gonna fail. It’s that simple. So as long as you put the effort in to do what you wanna do, you’re gonna do it. May not be today, may not be tomorrow, may not be next month. Next month, you keep putting that effort in, it’s gonna come back to you. That’s how I look at it. That’s how you gotta stay disciplined with your goals. Not just what real estate, that’s what everything.

Scott Bursey (10:42)
And that’s great perspective right there. Looking at the market, what major market opportunity are you seeing right now?

Kentrell Thomas (10:50)
Commercial. Commercial, commercial, commercial. That that’s really all I can say. Is it’s not really no like I said earlier. The market, I’m pretty sure you know the real estate market is not where it was once at. So you know, just trying to and Killeen, Texas. I don’t know if you ever been to Killeen, but it’s not a big city. It’s not like

Houston per se. So the opportunities they come and go, but recently commercial, commercial, commercial property. Nah non home commercial. That’s what I would say the opportunities are at.

Scott Bursey (11:25)
And Kentrell expanding on that, how are you positioning yourself to capture that the commercial opportunities in your central Texas market over the next twelve months?

Kentrell Thomas (11:36)
invest in them you know I ask the people who’s trying to get get get into them or try to get into them myself that way I could capitalize on any smart well you yeah so I could capitalize invest that’s 12 months invest invest until I’m probably 30 invest invest

Scott Bursey (11:59)
And taking a step back, what do you view as the biggest external market threat to real estate deals in today’s economic climate, especially in your area?

Kentrell Thomas (12:09)
Inflation, people not being able to even afford groceries. I feel like you you need customers to be able to afford something if everybody’s broke, who’s gonna be buying the homes? So I feel like if there’s a way that we could come back in the middle and actually find true value of the dollar, it everything will adjust. So it’s not nothing but real estate that I fear is

Currency itself, I would say.

Scott Bursey (12:36)
And interested to understand how did working directly with your mentor help you capitalize on strengths and and mitigate, reduce risks during the the headline making deal?

Kentrell Thomas (13:29)
You know, he he been he been doing this since longer than I’ve been alive. So having somebody like that in your corner, you you bound to succeed. So he he played a big role in that. Big role. I’m gonna be honest. With without him, I wouldn’t have close. you know, you gotta give respect. Where’s order? Give give people their flowers.

He he made it happen for me and I’m forever grateful for that. meeting Mr. Ace really was a blessing in my life. He showed me new opportunities, new things that got me to that headline. This is our second headline. we made the newspaper before when I graduated his workshop. So

it it’s experiences and stuff like that, that shape a mindset to even want to strive for something better. You know.

Scott Bursey (14:18)
And digging a little deeper, what is your key advice for finding and building trust with a mentor of that caliber?

Kentrell Thomas (14:25)
Honesty. Just be just be honest and you know don’t because I look at him as an uncle. Like he’s a role model to me. So you know, just fine. Find somebody to look up to like mentor-wise, find somebody in in your category that you would want to look at and be like, hmm. I would want to do something like that. And you know.

Just try to ask them. You know, make sure they good people. You don’t want to get mentored by somebody that’s bad and they have you teaching bad ways. Make sure they a good person and you forever stay a good person to them. And y’all gonna forever win in my eyes.

Scott Bursey (15:06)
Appreciate that tip right there. And Kentrell, if you could describe what does your professional network look like right now?

Kentrell Thomas (15:14)
Right now? Okay, so I got my mentor. He’s a real estate invest. Well, I wouldn’t say he’s a real estate. Yeah, he’s a real estate investor. That’s what I would say. He’s a real estate investor. And he he done put me in rooms, title rooms. I done been to closings. That wasn’t my mom. That wasn’t my own, so I had to witness that.

I done met maintenance people that fix up houses, painters, like I said, realtors. I know a bunch of realtors, inspectors, appraisers. I don’t you you probably named something with real estate. I probably done met somebody that’s doing doing it. So yeah, my network. I don’t know every I’m not gonna sit here and say I know everybody because it’s like 300 people in the network.

It’s a decent amount.

Scott Bursey (16:03)
Thank you for highlighting that. Surrounding yourself with active operators keeps deal flow consistent. And if you could take us down this path, Kentrell, what is the most important lesson that you know, from that headline deal that unlocked your ability to focus on scaling to the next level?

Kentrell Thomas (16:22)
What I took from it, I took many lessons from it. the first one being you never know when your blessing gonna come. You never know when the hard work’s gonna pay off. And you know, just just stick to your plan. Like if you see yourself doing this and succeeding, it don’t matter if the world showed you the opposite, it don’t matter.

It it don’t matter who tell you you can’t do it, you can. Like that that’s literally one of the biggest lessons I learned. Cause I I’m so young. Like and I I’m literally just going with the flow with this. Like just here, here, here. You know, so it’s like it’s just telling me I’m on path and stuff like that. Like, trust myself. It’s a lot of lessons in one, honestly.

Scott Bursey (17:09)
Powerful advice, thank you. That golden nugget right there is worth the entire episode. And Kentrell for those of our listeners that want to keep this conversation moving. Stay in your lane or perhaps collaborate with you on future deals. What’s the best way for them to reach you?

Kentrell Thomas (17:26)
my Instagram watchmegettrich, two T’s in the get and also yeah that’s really it for now. I don’t have no business page up yet and no business phone number, but I’m working on it within the coming months. I should have that updated and hopefully I’ll close something else and we be speaking again.

Scott Bursey (17:46)
Kentrell thank you so much for joining us today on the Real Estate Pros Podcast. You’re welcome.

Kentrell Thomas (17:50)
Welcome.

Scott Bursey (17:51)
It’s been a pleasure.

Kentrell Thomas (17:52)
It’s been a pleasure speaking to you too. I hope you have a blessed rest of your day.

Scott Bursey (17:56)
And to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you receive value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ll be fueling your tanks with a lineup of elite guests, just like Kentrell Thomas, who are accelerating, learning, and setting the pace for the rest of the industry. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you in the next episode, everyone.