Transform Your Future: How Real Estate Can Build Your Dream

Stephen S. (00:02.204)
Welcome to the show where we interview the nation’s leading real estate entrepreneurs. It’s your host, Stephen Schmidt. Back again, if you’re joining us for the second, third or hundredth time or it’s your first time you’re in for a treat today. I’m here with Justin Jamison, who has a flourishing career here in the real estate space, played D1 basketball and is into all of it. And he works with investors, buyers, sellers, the whole nine yards.

and we’re gonna get in and talk about his experience here in real estate and what he sees going on in the market down in Southwest Florida. Just remember at Investor Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers, and real estate entrepreneurs, two to five X their businesses to allow them to build the businesses they’ve always wanted, to allow them to live the lives they’ve always dreamed of. That being said, Justin, welcome to the show today.

Justin Jamison (00:48.354)
Glad to be here, thanks for having me.

Stephen S. (00:49.86)
You bet man. So tell me this, before we kind of get into talking real estate, talking shop, what got you into real estate? Man, you’ve got an interesting background. I’d love to learn more about that and share that for our listeners.

Justin Jamison (01:04.878)
Yeah, I’m originally from Cleveland, Ohio. I played professional baseball out of high school, got drafted, played professional baseball with the Texas Rangers for a little bit. Ended up at, you know, after I got done playing baseball, got into basketball, started playing basketball at Texas Tech, played Division 1. So not many people can say that they played at the highest level of sport in two different sports. So it’s a pretty cool, pretty cool little career tidbit on my part. But after I got out, you know, I went in, I went into

sales and I kind of found my niche in real estate. I started working for an investor doing wholesaling and just ended up, you know, moving into the residential realm. And I just really found a, found a love for helping people find their dream homes and accomplish their ultimate goal being a homeowner. And, you know, I started working with first time home buyers back in right before the pandemic. And the pandemic was kind of the perfect time to do it. Cause there was so many people in the market. It kind of exploded down here. So I was really, really busy early on. was kind

thrown into the fire right away. And it was a perfect opportunity for me to learn. And now here I am four or five years later and I’m just, I’m doing well. Looking forward to being on the show and talking real estate and being able to expand my business and spread some knowledge.

Stephen S. (02:25.212)
Love it Justin. So tell me this It’s kind of funny you you Michael Jordan did but backwards instead of Instead of playing basketball and then moving to baseball you did it backwards. That’s hilarious, man And at a high level at both which is which is obviously incredible. So what let me ask you this What are some of the lessons? that you learned through playing sports and some of the tendencies the disciplines that

Justin Jamison (02:32.843)
Exactly, yep.

Justin Jamison (02:38.124)
I did it backwards, yep.

Stephen S. (02:52.826)
have carried you over into your now flourishing career in real estate.

Justin Jamison (02:57.23)
I think the main lessons I learned was just being consistent, being patient, learning how to come back from major setbacks. I got injured in baseball and basketball, pretty devastating injuries in both. And just being able to retool and not let that get me down, retool and just attack those as learning opportunities and opportunities to kind of catapult forward. That’s kind of how I’ve always looked at my life every step of my journey.

has been a learning opportunity for the next step and you know can’t be afraid to really turn that next turn that next page and that was kind of you know what I’ve been learning lately is that you know when one chapter opens it’s just or one chapter closes really just the the turning page to the next chapter so I got two kids now six month old and a or seven month old and a two-year-old so I’m taking all those lessons that I learned in sports

the work ethic, the hard work, the dedication, the preparation, staying prepared and the educations that I received in college and just using that to fuel my passion to coach my boys and teach them the right path.

Stephen S. (04:13.19)
Mm-hmm, love that. Let me ask you this, because you’ve got a budding family, budding career. Is making money more important to you in this season, or is having more time important for you in this season?

Justin Jamison (04:24.888)
Having more time, that’s why I work as hard as I do right now. While they’re young, so when I get to, when they’re five, six, seven and starting sports and things like that, I have the time to be able to take off nights and weekends and still have my business rolling for me while I’m not having to be at like.

right there running it. I want to have a well-oiled machine by that time so I can take time to go and be at all my kids’ sports and be present with the family every night. I got the Blackstone fired up right now for dinner tonight, so I like to get home around 5, 30, 6 o’clock so I can get out there and cook and always record a video with my son.

record video of my son doing the Blackstone tricks and know cooking up some food and it’s always it’s always fun to just kind of do that stuff with the family and you know I got my in-laws here and my whole family lives down here so very family oriented so definitely definitely want to have more time with them

Stephen S. (05:24.22)
So I assume what…

Stephen S. (05:28.444)
What made you decide to pursue real estate with that end goal in mind?

Justin Jamison (05:35.557)
The income opportunity, the freedom that you can have, I know you got to put a ton of hours in it at the beginning and it’s still, it never really stops. You’re always going to be working hard, you’re always going to be on the phone or be on call but there gets to a point in your career where you can have your referrals coming in and you can build a team and you can have people kind of working for you where you can kind of take some of that time and focus on yourself and that’s kind of

I’ve always been I’ve always you know taking my life and really you know I guess taking the bulls by the horns really and I was never really a corporate guy always you know very highly interested in entrepreneurship and you know how I can build something for myself that’s sustainable and growth and can grow and that I can pass down to my kids one day so that’s you know getting into investing and start buying some investment properties and you know having those create income for me in the future

is a big goal of mine.

Stephen S. (06:36.636)
Yeah, totally hear you there. And with that, with real estate being the perfect avenue out of other avenues, like what was like the real selling point for you specifically that made you decide to do this versus something like insurance or whatever else that you hear that might be, you know, other solid opportunities that still provide freedom? Why real estate?

Justin Jamison (06:59.414)
I think it’s the, I’m a relationship guy and I’m a service based salesman. I like to see myself as a service based salesman. And in real estate, that’s the ultimate goal is, know, helping young families find their dream home, helping retirees find their next step at stage in life. You know, helping people is really my goal in all this. And aside from the money that you can make from it and the free time that you can get from it, it’s really just, you know, seeing the

on people’s faces when you hand over those keys for the first time and they’re like I did it you know I made basically I made the American dream happen I came here I got my I accomplished a big goal you know home buying a home is gonna be

probably one of the biggest things that people do in their life. It’s one of their biggest purchases that they’re gonna make in their lives. So being able to be a part of that and be a part of that journey is rewarding for me. And I love it every single time, no matter if it’s a first time home buyer, a retiree, or somebody who is, I’ve sold to in the past and called me again to either buy or sell a second time. It’s just the satisfaction of helping people and…

and helping making people’s dreams come true is what my ultimate goal is.

Stephen S. (08:15.868)
What are some things that you do that separate you from other people that are in the market in the same business?

Justin Jamison (08:23.95)
Mean I go above and beyond for my clients. I will do anything to you know get the deal closed I just closed on a property I sold a property last week for to to a woman who was 95 she had a she had a I was the listing agent on it She’s 95 she had some family issues, so you know I went all above and beyond to get her per property sold in 30 days

got all her belongings packed up, shipped out to California where she wanted to end up at. Got her car shipped out there. I basically cleaned out her entire apartment, her entire place by myself. It’s just those little things that you do that go above and beyond for people that they remember. And when they have a friend who’s thinking about real estate, I mean, she has already referred two of her friends to me. And I’ve only known her for about 60 days. She’s already referred two of her friends to me

Stephen S. (09:13.702)
Wow.

Justin Jamison (09:17.168)
sell a lot to sell a property for them down here. that’s the biggest thing is when you go above and beyond people for people and you do nice things for people and you’re genuine in your activities, then people see that, they feel that, and they want to do business with you. So that’s what I love. I just love helping people and connecting with people on a deeper level.

Stephen S. (09:42.044)
What does the dream look like for you,

Justin Jamison (09:47.102)
Honestly, building a house. I want to, I don’t know if I want to stay in Florida, but I want to build a house on some land and have my whole family on the land. Like got four brothers and sisters. I got cousins and nephews and nieces and nephews and I got a huge family and we all grew up getting together on my aunt’s farm growing up and we would have, you know, family vacations and family reunions and all types of stuff. And I’m a big family guy. I love when everybody can get together. So that’s my goal. I’ve always wanted to have like a

family compound. dad owns 50 acres in Texas right now and that’s what I want. I want to have like 50 acres. I want to have some animals. I want to have like all the family on the property and I just want to be able to you know sit out by the sunset, watch the sunset over my land and you know live the dream. That’s really it. That’s what I see as being rich you know. It’s not all the toys and yeah I love the trips. I love taking the family on trips and stuff like that but to have a happy healthy family in a place where

all the grandkids, all the cousins, all their friends can come and hang out and feel safe is kind of the ultimate dream for me.

Stephen S. (10:54.844)
Why is that important to you?

Justin Jamison (10:58.67)
That’s just how I grew up, man. I’m the oldest of like 60 cousins. Like my grandma is 95 right now. My great grandma is 95 and she’s still alive. And we created a blanket for her for Christmas two years ago. And there was like 85 people on the blanket that are direct descendants of her. And I’m the oldest of all the cousins. So I’ve always, you know, kind of had to be a sort of a caretaker. You know, we grew up from, you know, very, very meat, like slow means. We didn’t come from

money or anything like that. all the kids had to kind of help out. Me being the oldest, everybody kind of looked to me for to be to set an example. So that’s just kind of how I am. I just want to be able to take care of everybody.

Stephen S. (11:41.78)
What is that like being in a position like that as a kid, young adult, growing up, having everybody look up to you? What is that feeling like?

Justin Jamison (11:52.226)
You know, it’s a little stressful, especially when you don’t have somebody to look up to to kind of emulate. So you’re kind of just like kind of figuring it out all on your own. But I think now when I look back on it, it’s a huge blessing because I learned a lot from it and I can take a lot of those lessons and.

pass them along to my children and my nephews. So they don’t say make a lot of some of the same mistakes that we made. That’s the ultimate goal as a father and as a man is to take the lessons that you learn growing up and pass them along to the next generation so they can live a better life than you did.

Stephen S. (12:29.052)
So do you see yourself teaching like your family how to do real estate investing over time? Like what does what does that legacy look like for you?

Justin Jamison (12:38.988)
I don’t know if it’s going to be real estate. It’s kind of going to be whatever they want. My wife is 6’2″. I’m 6’10”. We both were college athletes and I was a professional athlete. So my boys are pretty much off the Richter scale when it comes to size right now. they got some good athletic genes in them. So I’m hoping that they find their own path. They carve their own path. And if they do want to get into real estate, I’ll be here for them. if they, my son, think my son, my two year old is like crazy smart. He’s like already like.

doing math and stuff like that. it’s like, know, if whatever that looks like for them, I’m just going to be there and support them. It’s not going to be like I’m forcing anything onto them. I will have a real estate, hopefully a real estate empire by that time. And so if they want to come in and take over the family business, then they can do that. And if not, then they’re free to carve out their own path and I will support them in any way that I can.

Stephen S. (13:30.65)
But what are some pieces of advice that you might give to somebody that’s like just getting started that doesn’t know where to start, whether that’s investing, becoming a real estate agent. What are some of those pitfalls you see people making that they could otherwise avoid?

Justin Jamison (13:50.37)
I see a lot of people just, you know, there’s a lot of analysis paralysis. There’s so much information out there that people will research and research and research, but they’ll never really do it. And you’re never going to get anywhere unless you just do it. So like, it was kind of like me when I started my podcast, it was like, I was like, I look like this on camera. I sound like this on camera. It’s like, I don’t got the right background or the right, whatever the right equipment. And it’s like, you know what? Just record it and put it out there. And if it’s authentic, people are going to,

vibe to it. Don’t give up because results are not going to come right away, especially in this real estate realm. There’s a lot of instant gratification out there and that’s not kind of, that’s kind of not how things operate. That’s not how the real world operates. Things are going to break for you, but you can’t let the tough times break you. You have to keep pushing through and eventually you will see that.

that plateau or that breakthrough and then those blessings are gonna come. But if you quit before those blessings come, it’s never gonna go anywhere for you. So staying consistent, staying consistent is the main key. Find your niche and keep doing it until it hits. Cuz at some point somebody’s gonna resonate with something that you said or something that you did. And.

it’s gonna blow up for you. So just keep pushing and keep being consistent. Keep showing up every day and working hard.

Stephen S. (15:15.964)
Now what’s got you excited like in the next 12 to 18 months with what you see in the real estate market right now?

Justin Jamison (15:24.826)
Our market is kind of on the down, like on the down climb right now, or the decline right now, just because we had such a massive…

We had such a massive growth during COVID. There were so many people that came to this area that we have an influx of inventory right now. And that’s not always a bad thing. Like people see a seller’s market shift to a buyer’s market and they sometimes think it’s a bad thing or they see prices coming down and they sometimes think that the market’s crashing. But it’s not, it’s not that at all. I see a lot of opportunities out there for buyers. This is kind of the perfect time for buyers to jump into the market because, you know,

you can get into the market now at a good price. And then when the interest rates end up do dropping, you can always refinance and you can take advantage of the savings on the back end. So I see it as a great time for buyers to kind of jump into our market, whereas some of these markets up in the Midwest and up North are a lot hotter and there are a lot more sellers markets. It’s kind of flipped a little bit.

I see it as a great opportunity for buyers to kind of get into our market for a great price and leave the dream down here in paradise. Who doesn’t want to live in Florida when it’s snowing everywhere else? We have maybe two 40 degree days of weather a year and the rest of the year it’s about 60 to 70 degrees during the wintertime. It does get hot during the summertime, but it’s a…

It’s always a good time to get in the market, or it’s a good time to get in the market right now down here.

Stephen S. (16:56.668)
that. Do you think that’s like statewide in Florida or is that just in your specific area in the Fort Myers area?

Justin Jamison (17:02.914)
I think it’s statewide right now. Yeah. I can’t speak on the Panhandle as much because I’m not specifically tied into that market up there, but definitely here in South Florida and Central Florida, it’s, know, inventory is high across the board. We had about 5,000 listings on the market in 2022. We have about 25,000 on the market right now. So we were sitting around. Yeah, we’re…

Stephen S. (17:25.788)
You said 25,000 from 5,000, so there’s five times more is what you’re saying?

Justin Jamison (17:32.834)
Five times more, We went from about a month and a half or a half a month, maybe a month of inventory during like the height of COVID to about 13 months of inventory, 12 or 13 months of inventory right now. So it’s been a crazy, crazy couple of years. And so it’s been a little bit.

Stephen S. (17:34.019)
That’s insane.

Stephen S. (17:53.574)
Why does that mean it’s the best time to buy? I don’t mean to cut you off, but why does that mean it’s the best time to buy for a buyer? If you don’t mind me asking.

Justin Jamison (18:00.162)
because there’s so much out there. There’s so much inventory out there that sellers are ready to make deals happen. We’ve seen about 3,000 price reductions a week in our MLS. sellers, and literally if you go onto the MLS right now, you see sellers are like highly motivated, ready to sell, highly motivated,

This area has historically always grown at a pretty rapid pace. COVID expedited that pace a little bit. So when you come into this market, you know that historically the market is going to improve and you’re gonna get some good equity out of it. So if you can get in at a good price, it’s always good to kind of hop in and at least be in the market. Cause then you can cash in on that equity over the next five, 10 years when this place really starts to boom again.

It’s great because there’s a lot of stuff, there’s a lot of opportunity out there for buyers to find exactly what they want and create some good long-term equity for them.

Stephen S. (19:02.684)
Love it. Well, Justin, thanks so much for being here on the show today. If anybody wants to learn more about you or what you’re working on, where should they go for that?

Justin Jamison (19:09.966)
You can follow me on my Instagram. You can go on my Facebook, Justin Jamison. You can just look me up on Facebook, Justin Jamison. It’s Jamison with an I, not like the liquor. You can follow me on my Instagram and notquite7footrealder and the same on my TikTok.

Stephen S. (19:29.486)
Not quite seven foot realtor. That’s hilarious. Also if you are you know Hiring him as your realtor at some point there in florida He can check the roof for you at the same time of you don’t even

Justin Jamison (19:45.666)
Nope, I dust the cobwebs with my hair all the time in the corners I get up in them corners.

Stephen S. (19:51.92)
Well everyone, I hope you enjoyed today’s episode. Today’s show, we’ll see you on the next one. Take care.