Brett: 

I'm excited about our next guest. He is a vacation home expert in Orlando, Florida, and the founder of the Jerry Barker Group LLC real estate brokerage. He's originally from Scotland, and he traveled the world before moving to Florida in setting up the Jerry Parker group. He has assisted owners from 36 different countries in states and in states and has purchased over $100 million in short-term rental vacation homes and properties. He prides himself in ensuring his clients are educated in the Orlando short-term rental market, and that they understand everything that is involved in a successful investment before purchase. Please welcome him to the show with me, Jerry Barker. Hey, Jerry, how are you doing? 

Jerry:

I'm doing awesome, Brett. Yourself?

Brett:

Hey, better than I deserve excited to have you on? Would you give our listeners a little bit more about your background and your current focus?

Jerry:

Sure. I'm originally from Scotland, I came here and in 1989 came as a professional photographer. I was fortunate enough to travel all over the world on luxury cruise ships around the photo departments on board those ships. And as life would take you on this very unusual winding where I ended up in Central Florida. Mostly because when we started though, I answered snappy, though on the original Disney Cruise Ship premier cruise lines that sort of started on that kind of basis in Central Florida. And then when I finished my career on cruise ships, I ended up settling in Central Florida. And ironically, the majority of our business is because of Walt Disney and the vast amount of people that come to visit the most every year. So we started, the real estate business has been licensed since 2006. And found the J Barker group in 2008. And very specific to helping out estate international buyers purchase investment vacation home properties here in Central Florida. And we have to handle everything for our clients or clients are not here. They may come in for a short visit. But most of the work that we do in terms of the entire purchase of the property acquisition, and then the setup of the business and the entity and everything that goes with that. We handle all that for them. We're a very small brokerage, we only have five members on our team. So we're very niche, in that we were able to really take care of people and get down to what exactly they need and what their investment profile is.

Brett:

Beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that I want to take one step back before we dive into some of the strategy and some of the expert secrets you've learned as being as a realtor and broker there in Orlando. And this is the question, I want you to go back to the days in Scotland, maybe where you're a young lad and, and maybe it's, I don't know what the sport of choice is or what your hobbies were. But I want you to go back to maybe the high school days or the junior high days. I believe Jerry, we've all been given certain gifts in this life. And I believe these are God-given gifts and these gifts are given to us to be able to be a blessing for others. So I'm curious, maybe one of those one or two gifts that maybe you believe you were given? And how does that help? How do you help others today?

Jerry:

That's a great question. Interesting. I don't think I've ever been asked that before. I don't even know if I've thought about it that much. I think the guests that I was given and probably because of how I was raised and Scotland tends to be a very black and white place. People are very direct, very candid. And they tend to be very honest and have a lot of integrity. And I think bringing that into the real estate market. It's a very diverse group of people dealing with the real estate market. And I think especially for people who are not here and they rely on Sunday on upon, that is here to look after their property acquisitions. I think they need to be able to rely on someone who will tell them straight. And I think probably over the years. The most important thing I would suggest that I've been able to do is to get the confidence and tell people how it is and I think one of the things that I've done that is pretty unique in my businesses. I've let a lot of buyers leave. I've said no this is not for you, or less investment is not for you. And I think because of that It's helped our reputation because I wouldn't sell some of their property, I don't think it's a fit for them. And I don't think there are very many people in this business that can say that or would do that. And our reputation over the last 10 years, because let's face it if you're 5000 miles away, and you're spending $3 million, you want to make sure the person that's looking after that $3 million is somebody you can trust. And I think that's important. So I think growing up, going back to your initial question, that's probably one of the things that I think is most important, that's influenced me. And my life is just honesty, integrity, and doing the right thing, and helping people. And if you do it right, in the long run, it certainly works out for the best.

Brett:

Absolutely. What a great answer. And what a great part of your story. And I love that cultural part you connected with, you know, being from Scotland, very direct, a lot of integrity, very straightforward. It's very black and white. It's like, hey, I would do this deal or wouldn't do this deal. This deal makes sense or doesn't make sense. Don't buy. I was just actually advising someone today. And he wanted me to represent him to buy a property. And I told him that I said, where do you want to buy? And he said, California. And I said, well, I'm not your agent, because I don't think you should be buying anything in California. Now, because the prices are so high. And there's so much capital on the sidelines, interest rates are so low, I wouldn't want to put I wouldn't want to take your money to put you in it and make a commission for you to be upset a year or two from now because you overpaid I go look but if you want to go out of state, you want to get into commercial real estate syndications mobile home parks multifamily, maybe even like a vacation rental type of thing somewhere that it's very more friendly. Perhaps the landlords, then that's a different story. But he tried to twist my arm or not twist my buddy's like, really what, but I kind of liked that one deal on this. And I go, look, I'm not your person. And I'm telling you don't do it. But that's sometimes you have to take that approach, you have to take a stand for what you would buy. And I like to tell my clients, I wouldn't put you in it. If I'm not going to be willing to potentially buy it myself or have my dad or someone in my family. So any thoughts on making sure that you're bringing value and looking out for your client in the best way?

Jerry:

Yeah, absolutely. For sure. 100% the way I've always done it is that what I tell my clients when they give me the criteria, and they say this is this, whatever it may be, I go find what I would buy, I go say these, if you give me these this money, and you put a gun in my hands, and you got to buy something today with this amount, or else hold on, then what would you buy. So when I go back to those clients, and I say these are the properties, if it were me and you're in your shoes, then this is what I would buy. And in some cases, I would look at it and say there's nothing right now, that fits your profile. But what we can do is we can snipe, we can sit down, and wait for something to come up. And if you're prepared to wait when that unique scenario comes up, then we can jump on it. And the other we're going to get into the property market and the business side of it in a few minutes, probably as we progress. But the key to what we do is unique because it's not just a piece of property. It's not just brick and mortar. It's a lifestyle investment and a personal investment because vacation homes are something that the owners themselves get to use. So it's not just a property set somewhere and it makes sure you know, $50,000 a year $100,000 a year. It's a property that sets on where it makes $50,000 or $100,000, or whatever it may be, and also a place you can use whenever you want. And that's really the biggest difference is finding out exactly what suits them and investment, but at the same time also finding out what they want in a personal place. And I think that's the part that I think we do a great job in because we're able to identify exactly what somebody wants, having these interview conversations. And then that way we can narrow it down to exactly what fits their profile and then get them sometimes I had a client recently actually, not recently, it's not fair to say that because it was three and a half years I actually spoke to them, a fella from Minnesota, and we just couldn't find the property he wanted and three and a half years later, he's ended up purchasing he's on his third property right now. And I think he's probably invested somewhere over $4 million and he's ready to move to the next one. And that was just a time thing and it's sometimes that's it you just got to go through the program and the process to get to where you want to go to do it right. And it's not about selling something, get a commission today. It's about doing the right thing and getting to where you need to go because at the end of the day, I still need to feed my family next year as well as this year so it's all about real estate is good pipeline people who you're working with you have in there and you get it right for them and then they buy more they trust you to bring your friends and I think any good brokerage or a realtor understands that.

Brett: 

Absolutely. That's so well said and I like the connection therewith you can have it as you know the lifestyle and the industry you can have both rights it with short term rentals with Airbnb and the way they have the way it's structured, it can be very lucrative, as well as, hey, it's a great place for you to write off that trip as you travel to like Orlando. Spend time in Florida with your family, and that's your home base, and then you're doing some real estate, you're looking at some more deals and maybe putting an offer on something. And guess what, you get the write-off on that trip, you get that a little bit of best of both worlds. All of the above, there are so many words to that. So the next question would be what's the biggest mistake, maybe you've ever made or see other brokers make when it comes to the real estate professional?

Jerry:

What's the biggest mistake? I think the biggest mistake was back to what we just talked about is not treating people right. And it's something that I hear all the time, I have situations where people come to me and they said, I wish I'd met you, six months ago or a year ago, they may be coming to sell a property for our business, for the vacation homes very specifically, as opposed to residential real estate. Let's think about it. If you're going to go on a trip anywhere you're going to rent a house somewhere. Well, what do you look at photographs, and you look at reputation, the house and the location, and all the things that go with that. And I think one of the things that most other agents don't do a good job of educating the clients and how to be successful, their instinct and I get it, you got to this business is to sell a property, pick up the commission and then move move move to the next well, my thought process is you help them by but that's only 30% of the scenario, there's another 30% or a third, that is setting the property operate so that you or your viewers want to come and stay in that property, and then setting the business aspects up for it or be successful. And I believe that most of the agents and the brokers make the biggest mistake they make, especially if they're not involved with the short-term rental and a lot of just general residential realtors, get involved in it, find a property, and cut the commission check. And then that person is left holding the bag, they don't know what to do next. And I think that's the biggest mistake many of them make, they wouldn't do it. But they should refer laws, clients, to a specialist, and allow them to take care of them, instead of doing it themselves. Because at the end of the day, they probably shoot themselves in the foot. And that's probably the biggest mistake that's made.

Brett:

Very well said and I think it's aligning with them with their financial long-term goals, not just a short, one-time transaction, what I found in the real estate profession is shifting. And for the successful ones, it's more of a wealth advisor, right? It's more of a real estate adviser. Yeah, you happen to sell real estate, right? But you look at them as like a trusted source, like a financial advisor, right? But federal estate, and so that includes finding the right property management and includes doing the right marketing techniques incorrect. Stuff like short-term rentals, finding experts in that niche, like Jerry and his team, right? To execute on that strategy. And then to the lender, right? Or that new opportunity that comes up. It's more than just the transaction. And so now let's shift that Jerry to the actual process.

Jerry:

Do you want a job? I need people like you.

Brett:

Thank you. No, I mean, that's how I've tried it too, to build my business as well, right? And I find the most rewarding part about what we do is the relationships we get to build the families we get to serve and learning their story and then helping them achieve their long-term goals. However, they do that and take that bigger macro view. It's like you're part of the family, right? And that's what I say to my clients. Like you're now a part of my family. It's just it's not just a transaction and so but that being said, I'm curious on the brokerage side now so shifting more to like, from how you serve your clients and the right way to do it to now like how we also serve our teams and for example, starting at Marcus and Millichap this was years ago, selling multifamily properties, the alignment of the structure or the model was oftentimes it felt like stacked against the agent because the agent, a short term can get you could partner with a new agent and recruit them and train them, right? And then long term though they become your competition. And or they leave entirely to another brokerage. And you're like, wait, now he's over there, and I give all my secrets and maybe I got a couple of commissions for two or three or four deals, whatever. Yeah, but now he's gone. So how Jerry, have you been able to I know, you mentioned you have a team that's tight-knit, I think around like five, how have you been able to financially on the brokerage side of the business side, make it a win-win long term for your team?

Jerry:

I think the first thing that has to be understood is we've set up our brokerage, traditional brokerage where we just bring in a bunch of agents and we're getting commissions from their sales. Quite the opposite. We came from actually quite a well-known brokerage originally, when I first started before we became our brokerage, and we had a little team within that. And we set up our brokerage not because we wanted to have more agents, we set up a brokerage, because it allowed us the flexibility to do a lot of additional things that we couldn't do just as agents. And we've moved on to some diversified and some other programs. And maybe that's a good topic, luxury, luxury residential in Orlando is a topic for maybe another day, but we branched off into that. And the short answer for me as we did it way back at the start without another agent weathers the same everything found out everything off and does their own thing. And we just decided we were going to keep it small. And that way we could have a small group of clients. And we could service them and make sure that the information they got was accurate, and they were taking really good care of. And that was our reputation. So I kind of talked about big agencies and how to train people and keep them and all that stuff because we haven't done it and we're not going to do it, I would imagine and if we attempt that we do expand, and is probably going to have to just simply because of the volume that we deal with at some point, I'm probably going to have to bring in maybe one or two more but if I bring them in I'm not going to bring them in as agents I'm going to bring them in as partners for that simple reason is that if not that good and they're able to look after our clients the way that we do I say. My wife is my partner and she's also the broker even though Jerry Parker grips with the company, she's the boss