How Jerome Myers Build His Empire From The Ground Up

Pamela Bardhi
Hello, everyone. And welcome to another episode of underdog, today I have an amazing guest here with me. Jerome Myers. Jerome, how are you, my friend?

Jerome Myers
I’m amazing. I’m ready to have a Bardhi Party. I don’t know if that’s a thing, but it’s a thing now.

Pamela Bardhi
It is a thing. Welcome to the Bardhi Party, Jerome. Thank you so much for being here today. I can’t wait to get into your story, your amazing journey, and all the awesomeness that you’re up to these days. But I guess, I gotta start with the opening question for you. Like what led you to where you are today? And like your shirt says, what led you to the red pill?

Jerome Myers
Oh, man. So, I could go down a rabbit hole for three days if we do that. Let me answer the initial question. Me and my buddy Darren are sitting on the stoop, sophomore year of college. And we do some math because that’s what engineering students do in their free time. I’m paying 395. I’ve got two roommates doing the same thing. He’s downstairs and they got the same split up. So we multiply that out across the complex and we know this guy’s making 700 grand a year. We never seen him, we never talked to him.

And, that was when we realized that you can decouple your time for money and we went on a quest to try to figure that out. We had no idea how to do it. Because we didn’t have access to the multi-million dollar real estate investors. When we were coming through. And in fact, that comes back up later in the story. But that was when we made that understanding that hey, there’s something different here. We just got to figure out how to get there.

Pamela Bardhi
Interesting. So this was in college, basically. Your sophomore year of college, you guys. It was off-campus housing? It sounds like?

Jerome Myers
Yeah. Off-campus housing.

Pamela Bardhi
So which college?

Jerome Myers
North Carolina A&T.

Pamela Bardhi
Hey, there you go. There you go and you mentioned engineering, too. So what led you down the engineering route? Those are always interesting stories.

Jerome Myers
Oh, my geez, here we go. So if I take it all the way back, I didn’t even know what an engineer was. I think it was my junior year in high school, I only knew about the person that drove the train, right. As an engineer and I was in this technology magnet type program. And they had us do some job shadowing and in the job shadowing, I went to the people. Who ran the traffic lights for the city and that’s the first time. That I actually got exposed, to what an engineer was and could do. I wanted to be an architect, but I went to architecture camp. In between my junior and senior year and I found out that they start out at like, $30,000 a year.

And my mom told me, that I needed to get a job. When I was five years old. That was going to pay for the lifestyle. I wanted to live and 30 grand. Wasn’t going to pay for the lifestyle I wanted to live and so. The university that I went to had a major call architectural engineering. And so, there’s only 13 of those programs in the country. This is also a school. Several years earlier, I decided. I wanted to go, because I went to homecoming and I saw the band, and I saw the fraternities and sororities, and I saw the football team and I was like. This is what I want my college experience look like.

If you think of a different world for all the babies out there. This was a different world in real life and so that’s what I wanted to do. I went there when I was in seventh or eighth grade for that homecoming and I was like. That’s where I’m gonna go and then everything kind of lined up the major that I wanted.That was going to actually let me be close to be an architect, but get me more money. Because it was an engineering degree was there and I actually, had the opportunity to play football too.

Pamela Bardhi
Oh my god. So it’s funny that you mentioned architectural engineering. Because like in my mind, I always feel like they’re so separate. But they’re still together, but they’re separate. That’s super cool, that you were in your niche like so early on, because like for me, it was like I went in for marketing. And like I thought, I was gonna do like a nine to five when I graduated and I was gonna start businesses when I was like 40. That was my trajectory, so it’s amazing that you were like. I want to focus on this niche and it’s so funny. You mentioned your mom’s at five years old, that wasn’t gonna support your lifestyle. Now, what type of lifestyle were you live? In that you knew 30k wasn’t gonna cut it?

Jerome Myers
Look, man. So I wanted Nikes, I wanted cars. If people get to watch the video, they’ll see the Aventador out there on the bookshelf. You know, that’s aspirational for me. I was a kid who, had Lamborghinis and Ferraris on my wall. Because that’s what I would get when we had the little bookfair thing. I love cars and I knew that it wasn’t gonna work. But, so that story is one of my favourite ones. Me and my mom are in the front yard and it’s trash day. So the trash cans at the edge of the road and you hear the trash truck. Came around the corner and Lani lived in the other end of the cul-de-sac, so he’s hanging off the back of the trash truck like he does every day.

And Lani was just the coolest guy in the world to me. He hops off the truck, grabs the kit, lifts the top on the ground. Lifts it into the back of the trash truck, puts the trash can down. Spins it over to the curb and then, he walks over to the side. And he does the most important thing. That any kid, who gets excited about the trash truck coming does. He pulls a lever right in front of my house, Pam, and I tell you what I go crazy and I tell my mom, I want to be a trash man.

I want to be the guy to pull the lever and she looks at me. As only a mom can do it. She says baby, that’s not going to give you the lifestyle you want to live. You want to buy Nikes, you want cars like you, you can’t do that. When you have that type of job and I said what? I want to be home every day. Because Lani gets the hang out with the kids, when they come home from school and all that. But your daddy comes home at dinnertime.

And you have a very different lifestyle. Because of the sacrifices that he makes and so she snatched my innocence. But she told me life lessons, right. She taught me what it actually takes it. It takes some form of income. Now, I wish you would have told me something a little bit different. I wish she would have told me, I need an income stream to support the lifestyle I wanted to live, instead of a job. But she told me the best that, she knew and she got me on the path and you know. Going into engineering changed my life. It changed my financial situation in a big way.

Pamela Bardhi
Wow. So engineer pretty much after you chose that. You just stuck with it, throughout your whole college career. No pivots or anything throughout the journey just stuck to it.

Jerome Myers
No, I was on full scholarship and there was there’s no pivots. You’re in and out. I was going to be out in four years. And if I pivot it, and it’s funny. You bring that up because all of my electives outside of what, I had to have an engineering in business school.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s awesome. So you culminated the two? Oh, man. And so throughout your journey. First, I gotta ask you like. What did you want to be when you grew up?

Jerome Myers
Yeah. So, when I was playing in the backyard with my Tonka trucks. I was gonna be the person that designed the roads and the buildings. So that I could just change the face of whatever community I was in. That’s what I knew, I wanted to do today, I actually know that as development. But when I was a kid, I had no idea what it was. And I didn’t know anybody who was doing it. I just knew I wanted to change the way that the landscape

Pamela Bardhi
You know, it was crazy. Every single time, I asked somebody this question. Somehow what they wanted as a kid, is directly correlated to where they are now. In some crazy way, which is so cool. That’s I always ask that question. I love it so much. Amazing. And like throughout your journey, who sort of has stuck out to you in terms of like, motivation, inspiration. Like that person that you were like? Or it could be multiple people. You know, that inspired your journey that you’re like. Okay, this person really did it for me.

Jerome Myers
Yeah, I mean. I’m gonna take it to trap music right now, right? Like 2Chainz’ song, I just want to make my mom proud, like. My mom was my best friend coming up like she was there, my dad made it such that she didn’t have to work. So that she could invest in me and so every day. It was playtime with mom and we had the coolest things to do, and we had amazing experiences. While my dad worked away, he did those Carolina half days and so, the two of them together. Made this amazing experience for me.

And I just really have lived my life trying to impress them. I wanted to make them feel like they got. A crazy return on the investment that they made and it was crazy. We just had a article released in black enterprise and I’m sitting at the table. My lady’s beside me, my two daughters on the other side and my parents are at the other end of the six person table. And the article goes live, I get the link in the email saying, it was out and I’m sitting with the people. Who have had the biggest impact on my life and I’m like, this is the way supposed to be right.

Everybody, who actually care about and like I want. To impress on a daily basis is here and for me being somebody, who was reading these magazines on the stupid college. Trying to figure out, how we were going to make our fortune. Actually show up on that same periodical is insane. It’s just totally unbelievable for me and so yeah. If I had to pick anybody, my parents are my heroes for sure.

Pamela Bardhi
Wow. I love that, I love that so much. I’m 100% with you when it comes to that. Because my parents are my number one motivation for everything I do. Like when they came to the US, none of my family was here. They didn’t know how to speak English. No, my brother was six months old and I was five. So my parents had nothing. My grandmother put their names in the visa lottery, they got chosen and they were out. I can’t imagine dropping everything, going to a different continent not having a plan. They only had like, a couple 1000 on them.

I don’t know how and then, you think about the sacrifices that our parents made? And you’re just like. Wow, how can you not want to put everything. You got to make them proud, right? So I feel you, I can feel that when you were talking about your parents to the same thing for me. It was, what makes you hustle so hard. I’m like them, it’s not even me. It becomes, so beyond yourself in such a way. Because you just like, they deserve it. Like they did all of this for us, so it’s such a blessing. And parents are such a blessing in this life.

So I’m so happy that that’s your biggest motivation too, so I feel you on that big time. That’s incredible and you know. Throughout your entrepreneurial journey, the coolest thing in the world. That you used to read those magazines like here, you are now like them. Which is so exciting and the world always makes entrepreneurship look like this. Glamorised thing and like you and I both know what it’s all about, truly. So throughout your journey. What were some of the challenges that you went through? And then of course, we’ll get into the Triumph stuff. But you know, like. Even just starting out, like, how’d you figure it out? We’ll get into that too, but some of the biggest challenges and like how you had to sort of maneuver through them? That’s the most difficult, right?

Jerome Myers
I mean, I’ll go to the very beginning, right. So I did it the worst way I dropped out of Corporate America without a proven plan. I decided, that I was going to go buy an apartment building. And I go to the first bank, I stroll in, I’m me, I just built this $20 million division for a fortune 550. Of course you want to lend to me and so, I give it to him, like, hey, I got this building, I need a million dollars. I’m pretty sure you want to give that to me, like. Who are you? I’m Jerome Myers. Like, what qualifies you to do this? Well, I just built this big business, I’m a licensed engineer. Got an 800 credit score, I think that’s enough.

They’re like, no, that’s not enough. Like what qualifies you to do this? I got an MBA? Nah, Six Sigma master black belt? No, we don’t care about that. It’s just a what do you care about? We want to know that you operated a business of similar size and executed the business plan, that you’re proposing before. This will be my first apartment ownership. I can’t help you. What do I need to do? Go find a partner that’s done this before. But I don’t know anybody. And this is when it hit me. Pam, I wasn’t any better off. Than I was when I was sitting on stupid college.

Pamela Bardhi
Wow.

Jerome Myers
Right. I was no better off. So I go to another bank. Cuz I mean, these guys are crazy. They can’t possibly have the final answer for me. And I did that 10 times and then I realized. That I was not going to buy an apartment building and my one plan, that I had. When I left, corporate was not going to happen right now. Until I met somebody and built a relationship with them. To the place where they were interested in being my partner. Imagine that.

Pamela Bardhi
It’s so bizarre, right? Because it’s like, everybody wants to experience but then like, who’s supposed to give you your first shot? Wow, Wow. So how did you go about finding a partner that fit?

Jerome Myers
I pivoted right. Because that’s what you do and so I started fixing and flipping, I was lending private money. While I was in corporate and learning the game through the people. I was investing with and so, I just started fixing and flipping houses. Got my contractor’s licence and just went off to the races. And I’m sitting on the stoop of my biggest rehab. To date is $90,000 on a 1920 built house and we’re getting close to the end of the road. And a guy pulls up in a white Dodge Ram and he’s like, Hey, man. I’m an investor in a neighborhood, I just want to check out your project.

I see you’re getting pretty far along. Just want to make sure that you know we’re going to be up to standards or use you as a cop, right? Sure, man. Come in. You know, I’m proud, right? Somebody wants to see my house. Like, you took that wall out the granite on the isle it looks amazing. I really haven’t seen many people, put the sink in the island. That’s a good idea. Check out the title and then he’s done and he walking, he gets to the doorway, he stops.

And he’s like. Hey, you know anything about that 23 unit building this for sell? Dude, I tried to buy that. Like four or five months ago and the banks told me. That I needed a partner with experience to do the deal. He said, Yeah, I’m gonna make offer on it later today. I said, Wait, whoa, whoa. You’re the guy I’ve been looking for, you’re the experienced person that I’ve been looking for. Don’t leave me out of the deal.

Pamela Bardhi
Right.

Jerome Myers
You got the access I need. He said, Well, non committal. Right? And so he’s like, man, well. I’ll catch up with you and you have sent us a little truck and he drives off and he goes. And makes an offer without me. I thought I had my end and so fast forward about a week, his offer gets rejected by the owner. He said, he goes and talks to one of the guys I used to lend to and he says. I need you to be my GC on this project. Feel like having a stronger team is going to help me. Get the offers after, he said which project one behind the Jumbo Mart? Oh, Jerome talked to me about that project back January, February. I’m only interested in doing this if he’s in on the deal.

The three of us get together on it and then, we add in the broker he rolls his commission. And the property manager that we chose, comes onto the ownership side of the deal and we take down this $1.3 million deal and take it down to zero occupancy and redo everything. Lighting, HVAC roof siding, parking lot. You name it. We did it on new plumbing, like everything. It was the worst first project you could have ever done. And I’m glad the banks didn’t lend to me. Because I would have went bankrupt, Because I underestimated the construction budget.

Pamela Bardhi
Oh my gosh, I can only imagine the anatomy of cost for a 23 unit building. Because I know the single families, multi-families. Anything beyond three units, I can only imagine what the plumbing was like to do the whole thing on that HVAC. Oh my God. So how did it turn out after you did the rent?

Jerome Myers
Oh, yeah. So I mean, we bought it would average rents of 695 or 697, something like that. Today, we get 1195 at that property per door. So, we basically double what we were in it for and it’s worth at least twice as much, as what we paid for including our renovations. And so it worked out, but it was really long and hard and you know. It’s part of it. Anybody who’s in the real estate space knows that we have to keep going through once we get in. There is no turning around. You just got to keep feeding the beast until you exit the project. And that’s what we had to do on this one.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s incredible. So you still have held onto it since that?

Jerome Myers
Yeah, absolutely, yeah. I mean, we’ll sell it when it makes sense. Like makes sense. And somebody really wants, that property more than we want it. Yeah. But I mean the whole point in buying these things, is to create that monthly cash flow. So that you have freedom and flexibility.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s incredible. And so how do you shift on to your next project from there, because now you have a track record? So that’s the beautiful thing.

Jerome Myers
Yeah, when you go zero to one, that’s everything changes, right? And so I still remember today. Rising Star partners with proven real estate investors to refurbish Churchill townhomes. We are talking about me, so that went into the paper and then, my phone starts ringing. They want to know, hey, Mr. Myers. Have you thought about refinancing the deal? Mr. Myers, would you like to see the products that we have. And see if they are a good fit for your portfolio? Hey, Mr. Meyers, I don’t know what else you have in your pipeline. But I’d love to buy you lunch, so we can talk about. How I can help you? You don’t want to talk to me six months ago, I don’t have any experience.

Jerome Shares His Tips On Building A Team in RE

Pamela Bardhi
Isn’t that crazy? How does that happen, how like? But the team is what got you there, which I love and basically, you just deployed everyone’s strengths. You put the property manager. Because that’s what the property manager does and I tell everybody, to anybody who asked me for advice on business. If you think you’re gonna make it through alone. Especially in real estate, good luck, my friend. Like you need a whole lot.

You need the attorneys, you need the agents. That are going to make deals happen for you and the brokers you need. Like everybody, who’s an expert in their fields, like all the subcontractors and then your actual team. So like, what tips would you give like when you’re first building out a team. Because I know so many people that are like, I want to invest in passive. Passive real estate, I’m like, me too, my friend. If you had to give like a, like a step by step brief. What would you say in terms of like, based on that first deal?

Jerome Myers
Yeah, I think it’s everybody’s dealing with the same four issues. Knowledge, deal flow, experience, and capital. Doesn’t matter what your investment thesis or what your niche is, knowledge, deal flow, experience capital in that order. Everybody who says, well, I can’t do a deal goes to capital. Because they think, well, I just need to buy it. You need those other three things before you get the capital. As I demonstrated with my first trip to the bank. And they bring the majority of the money on most deals, so just keep that in mind.

So first, you need to find somebody to help you, get the education you need. A lot of people spend a tons of money on University. But then they want to go start a business and they don’t want to pay anybody, to help them get started. And for the life of me, I just get so baffled when somebody says. Oh, yeah, I’m gonna start this thing and I’m going to create all the new things and data on it and it’s like. You’re wasting several years of your life, trying to get to a place, where if you paid somebody a little bit of money.

In comparison to what you’re going to make, you’d be so much further ahead. But no, my idea is so unique and new, but it’s not like there’s somebody. That already did it, I can guarantee you somebody already did it. The only thing that is different is the fact that you’re doing it. And so you can speed up your process dramatically. When I learned how to do this, I did in most efficient and effective way. I listened to 40 hours of content each week. Wow, it was my goal to learn everything that I could about it. And what happens is, in the beginning. You’ll learn a bunch of stuff and then, at the end. You start getting to diminishing returns and so I’m listening to 40 hours, to get 40 minutes of stuff that I didn’t know about.

That’s just not a great use of your time. So I encourage people to find an educator, who will take them end to end on the thing that they want to do. And usually starts with some type of mindset stuff and then how you exit. How you sell whatever you create, then I think you need to flow, right? It’s always easier and faster to buy something that’s already been built and to build it from the ground. And so figuring out how to get exposure and access to the deals is the game. But you can’t tell if it’s a deal or lead if you don’t have the education or knowledge in order to vet the two and then. You’re like your own what’s the difference between lead in the deal. Same letters, I know, there are the same letters.

But one’s going to make money for you, no one’s going to lose money. These are things that are just put out there. And real estate is a ruthless game, everybody’s got access to information. Whether or not, you actually know how to apply that information in a way that allows you. To vet the deal is the game changer and so, if you find that you have a deal. Because you applied your knowledge against the lead, then you need experience. You want somebody, who’s been down the path. That they keep you from running off the road.

Most people go through some form of driver’s seat. Somebody is in the passenger seat, keeping everybody in the car alive. And you want that the first time you go through it. You are going to get hit in the mouth. I don’t care how smart you are, hey, and if you don’t have somebody in your corner to coach you through that, you may fold. You may be out for the count. If you got somebody in that corner rooting for you or telling you. Hey, watch the right hook after the jab two times, you probably know much better position.

And usually those folks, that have the experience will keep you from buying something. That’s going to do the exact opposite of what you’re looking for. Which is grow your wealth, there’s a whole lot of deals. That are just going to be money pits and if you got an experienced person. They can whether or not you’re getting one of those situation. And the last piece of that back to the capital, mark money follows experience.

Capital is looking for experiences, experiences looking for a deal. So if you don’t have experience or capital. Find the deal by paying for the knowledge and then, you become super valuable. Because the experienced people are getting lazy, right? They don’t want to spend their time on the deal. Or trying to find a deal, they want somebody else to do that. And they’re willing to compensate you for.

Pamela Bardhi
Right. That process is perfect. But that’s the hardest thing, right is the experience. So I love what you mentioned, with bringing in somebody. That’s gonna like walk you through like a coach, right? Or a consultant or somebody that’s gonna take the time out of their day. Because time is money, right? So you got to compensate and I tell this to people all the time. I’m like, you need somebody especially in the beginning handhold. You and I, both know stuff blows up in real estate. Like things just like you said with your first building. I would have been bankrupt, because you didn’t anticipate those construction costs, right? Who would know? But if you’ve never done before.

Jerome Myers
On a fixer flip on a single family, if you underestimate HVAC by 20 $500, big deal is causing your contingency. If you do $2500 on 20 different HVAC units, because that’s your building. That’s half a mil. I don’t know a lot of people who just write a check for half a mil, there’s some people who can do it. There’s a lot of people who can.

Pamela Bardhi
I totally agree with you, right? Because when you get into these multifamily complexes, it gets more and more expensive. You exit by the amount of units that you have, my gosh, so like, what was one of your disaster deals, if you will. And then we’ll get into the Triumph deals? Because both are important, right?

Jerome Myers
Yeah, I don’t have a financial disaster deal. What I do have is one that I think is kind of funny, but I’ll give you two at two different properties. But we bought them on the same day. So we bought a property, there were two vacant units beside each other, but we new townhome style, so they share a wall. We go on in to renovate one of the units and the water have been off for however long. And when we turn the water on, where to start shooting out of the wall and between the toilet and the shower. It keeps going, keeps going, keeps going. And we turn the water on the street and so now the bathrooms flooded.

The water goes through the wall and goes into the kitchen and the unit adjacent. That’s also vacant and it’s all my fault. Because when we do due diligence, if I would have the utilities on. We would have known that there was an issue with the pipe. Surprise. You’re buying a kitchen that you didn’t expect to buy, right. The second one is a different property address. Same transaction, where we walk into a unit, we do the due diligence. Because I go in every unit before we close, and I see that they’ve got cardboard take over all of the vents in the unit.

This is weird. Why would somebody do that? Essentially, HVAC, they went and bought window units like crazy. Because that costs so much more than your central and so, I tried to turn on the units. This is an awful smell that comes out. Oh, this is weird. We asked the owner, What’s going on man? He’s like, I don’t know. They’re foreigner, they’re immigrants. We’re not sure what’s going on with them, so we go outside, like, is everything out okay, out here, I guess, fine. So he’s like, Look, man, I don’t know what it is not that big of a deal. They’ve never called and complained. You should just go ahead and close. I said okay.

And so we did. So now we have ownership and we’re like, okay. We’re gonna get this thing right. What’s going on and so we get the HVAC people to go out, and they open up the unit. And there is a possum that’s fried on the heating strips in the HVAC and that was the smell of death. We had to take out the indoor unit and the vintage, we had to replace the indoor and outdoor unit and replace all the ductwork. Due diligence is everything, right? You don’t want surprises. Those are two surprises that we got and we did what we were supposed to do, at least we thought we did.

Pamela Bardhi
Oh my gosh, I totally feel you on those surprises. It’s happened to me a few times like this one time, I had this uninvited squirrel. And I couldn’t find where he was coming into and even I brought in like pest control. Like I brought in everything to close up every single hole, that he could possibly be coming through and even after I sold the condos it came in and I’m like. Where’s the thing coming in from? We haven’t seen him in a month. So I don’t know if he got stuck in a wall somewhere. But like these hilarious things that are happening? Oh, man. So the surprises, I could go on for days talking about those. I have plenty of them and now, some of your best deals, what would have been some of your biggest triumphs?

Jerome Myers
Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day. It’s really about the first one, which ended up after getting through the tough parts in the beginning and end up being phenomenal. You know, we like to help people close deals that have a lot of equity in them. So one of my other college friends bought his first deal as a 26 unit in Greensboro, North Carolina. And we bought that one for 1.35 and it appraised at 1.75. That was at closing table so we like doing those types of deals. And I think, the one that’s probably been most interesting is one of my close clients who recently bought a deal. He bought 18 units for half a million dollars, right? Fully occupied in the middle of COVID.

But the cool thing about this still is a 14 unit and a four unit. And so he thought and he sold the four unit for 200 grand and so now, he’s got 14 units for 300,000 and it’s worth three quarters of a million. Where the aid in these huge equity grabs,with chopping on people’s net worth. And oh, by the way. When he sold the four unit or the quad for that 200 grand. He netted like 65 grand and so he’s basically got no money in the deal. He’s got a great asset that he can sell for probably twice what he paid for it and so that’s the game. The game is growing net worth as quickly as possible and having some liquidity along the way.

Pamela Bardhi
I love that. So bring it back to Jerome, who was going to those banks and they were refusing, like. How do you get past that point? Like, what was it that helped you sort of get past that point? I know, there’s a little bit of time before you got to the flipping houses and that kind of thing before. And then of course, before your first multifamily deal. So what pushed you through those moments where you’re like, Okay, I gotta rethink this now.

Jerome Myers
Yeah, I mean. I remember thinking when I was going to that big rehab project. I’m working harder than I did when I had a job and all my money is going the wrong way. Anybody who’s done a fix and flip project knows that, you don’t make any money while you’re doing the fix. You don’t make any money until you flip and all of the money going out. In the hope that it comes back when you get to the closing table. And so, that was super challenging. It was hard, but I just thought to myself, like I’ve had so much success in the past. Because I just reached in a cookie jars like I’m willing to do whatever it takes.

And the thing that I would go back into corporate America, was just something that I couldn’t bear. So the reason why I left corporate was, I was laying people off every year and I just, I wasn’t cut out for it. The first year I did it, I said I would never do it again. And then, I was having the same conversation at Thanksgiving the next year. This is not for me, though. Let me go see if I can build 20 million for somebody else. Maybe I can build 200,000 or 2 million for me. I just figured I was just going to bet on myself and just stubborn and determined enough to keep going and tell.

Pamela Bardhi
Love that. And that’s really what made you take the jump from corporate America to going out and hustling your first deal. Because that’s the biggest thing, right? You see a lot of people in analysis paralysis in real estate. Where it looks like they want to do that first deal. But they’re stuck here. But they want to go here. So it’s like what really catapulted you to make that jump?

Jerome Myers
I think part of it was running away from the pain and the trauma of laying people off. Combined with the fact that I knew, that I always wanted to do my own thing. And this was as good a time as ever, like, you can keep putting it off. But if you think you have the golden handcuffs now. What happens when you make 25,000 more or 50,000 more? When does it actually stop, when is enough enough? And I think the addiction to the paycheck is the kryptonite of everybody who has a dream. I think your paycheck is what people offer you, in order to turn your back on your dream. Just I was over that, I wanted to bet on myself.

Pamela Bardhi
And for anyone. I mean, you mentioned quite a few tips. But like, what would be the number one thing. That would you say for anyone, that’s looking at started in multifamily investing?

Jerome Myers
Yeah, it goes back to those four things, right knowledge, deal, flow experience and capital. If you don’t have the knowledge, find an educator. Who your values align with and then, consume all of their content in the end. Then if they’ve got some educational program, that’s going to help you get to that next face or spot, hate the program. It’s going to speed up your learning curve so dramatically. That you can’t afford not to do it. And people will say, well, I don’t know, I’m telling you that once you put $1 amount on your time. You will see how valuable it is for you, to pay this person to condense what would take you years into weeks.

Pamela Bardhi
You know, and then to that and touching on that a little bit. You know, now with all the wisdom that you have now. Joe. What would your oldest self, tell your younger self with what you know now?

Jerome Myers
Write that step one is to get a coach into a program, where people have already done it. So that you don’t have to figure everything out, I mean. How naive it was of me to think that, I could go to the bank and get a million dollar loan. Somebody should have told me that, but then ask the right people. And I mean, the other piece of that is. If you don’t have the network already. You might have to pay to get around those folks and that’s okay. That’s why people pay to go to Ivy League schools, I want to be in a different network.

Pamela Bardhi
Proximity, you pay for proximity. I mean, because if you think about it, the people who are most successful. Everyone wants a piece of them, right. And there’s only, so many hours in the day and that’s why coaches are so important, and going into these major events. Even though they’re online, virtual now, that’s huge. I always say if this person can save you, I can’t say, I can’t stress it enough to anybody who’s listening.

Hiring somebody, it’s invaluable. Like, you’re gonna save not only time. But money, like I did the same thing. When I started, I hired a coach, because I was like, I am not even gonna remotely try to do this myself when I first start. Because it’s gonna cost me at the end of the day and I’m gonna lose. So instead of losing, might as well invested in that person, right? What’s the harm?

Jerome Myers
Well, let’s be clear, right? I’m super critical on bigger pockets telling people this thing and it’s just take action. Just go do something and if it messes up, then it’ll be your fee. No, find a coach, who’s going to keep you from running a wall and doing something stupid. And then take advantage of that. It’s just going to accelerate you so much quicker. Instead of fumbling through it. You don’t have to learn that the stove is hot by touching it yourself.

Pamela Bardhi
Amen to that. And now, what’s coming next in your world, Jerome? What’s new? What’s coming?

Jerome Myers
Yeah, yeah, laser focus, right. We’ve got the Mid-Atlantic multifamily investing conference coming up. March 19, through the 20th of 2021. Our March 19, through the 21st of 2021. We’ve got just this amazing speaker lineup, we’ve got 25 of my closest real estate investing friends coming in to share their stories. And give people the tools tips and techniques. That they’ve used to go from zero, to wherever they are in the space. And we’re fortunate enough to be having a Bardhi party at the conference.

Pamela Bardhi
Yes, Oh, I’m so honored to be a part of it as a speaker. I can’t wait to talk about. You know, being the underdog. And just levelling up in real estate and basically my experience and I can’t wait to listen in on everybody else, too. I’m so pumped to hear all the stories and all the amazingness. It’s gonna be a huge event and everybody should be there or be square. Join the Dardhu Party and the Jerome party.

Jerome Myers
Gotta join the pack. Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the thing, right. We wanted to create the most diverse real estate speaker lineup in the country. And if you go to our website, I asked you to compare it against your favourite educator. Or podcast host or content creators website and I guarantee you that we win every time and, if you find somebody who’s more diverse than us. I dare you to post a side by side. Because my perspective is that everything’s better when you’ve got diversity. The strategy, the tactics, the techniques, the people, their experiences. And my whole goal with this thing is to destroy everybody’s as you say, nobody looks like me. Oh, that’s not true.

We got everybody from every different demographic you can think of, Oh, well, it’s a men’s world. Women can’t do it. Nope. Got examples of that, too. Oh, well, somebody who was not born wealthy can’t do this. Oh, well, we got plenty of people who came from virtually nothing. On and on, and on and on. We’re gonna kill all of the reasons why you can’t do it and we’re gonna crush all these stereotypes. And the last piece of that, is changing the face of what wealth looks like. We want people to understand that, you don’t have to look a certain way in order to create real wealth. Not only for yourself, but for those generations that follow you.

Pamela Bardhi
Amen to that, my friend. I am so pumped to be a part of it and yeah. I’m so glad that you’re crushing these stereotypes through the conference. And just through everything that you’re doing. Because I hear those excuses all the time. All the time, I’m too young. I was 21 and I had two restaurants at the time, like what is your excuse? You got to keep going, right? Just keep going, so I’m so happy that through your speaker lineup and everything that you’re doing, you’re like. Crushing all the stereotypes along the way. So thank you for your amazing work, Jerome, and now you got to let the world know where to find you.

Jerome Myers
Yeah, I’m on LinkedIn playing in the halls every day. Jerome Myers, Greensboro, North Carolina. Don’t add that extra ‘e’. I’ts just Myers, right? And the conference if you want to grab tickets and see the lineup and do that side by side comparison, it’s myersmethods.com/bon 2021.