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Could you imagine doing everything right – and things still not working out for you?
How would you handle it?

For Julian Jackson, he faced this reality head on. He graduated with an Undergrad Degree in Marketing, and he even obtained his MBA. Still, he wasn’t able to secure the “steady six-figure salary” that he expected. I’m sure many college graduates feel the same way.

Julian was laid off from 3 different jobs after graduating college. When one of those job losses occurred within a month of his break up with his ex-girlfriend, he moved from Tennessee back to Atlanta. Cheapest way to live in a Big City? Well, he lived at his mother’s house.

He felt certain that with an MBA he’d be able to land another job quickly. It took 11 months to secure a full-time job. Guess what happened next? Yup – he was laid off again within a year of landing the new role. Fighting frustration and depression, Julian took the opportunity to look into getting his Real Estate License.

Julian had his doubts about Real Estate at first. Why would he go into that field, when he has an MBA and others in the Real Estate office didn’t even go to college. Since he realized that his degrees didn’t guarantee anything, he started studying for his real estate license while driving for Uber and Lyft as an income stream. “It wasn’t something I was going to do for 5 years,” he says. “It was just temporary.”

Entering Real Estate

After passing his real estate exam, Julian found success in helping Atlanta residents purchase homes. He sold 14 homes in his first year, and 44 homes in his second year. He focused on being a leader in the community, attending every event he could, and focusing on connecting business professionals together. “If someone needed an electrician,” he explained, “I could connect them.” Soon he became “The Guy” in his area of Southwest Atlanta and was being referred to more and more potential clients.

At first, Julian was fearful of the lack of a “guaranteed income.” He was able to quickly overcome that hesitation because he had lived through losing salary job after salary job. “No job is guaranteed,” he confidently says. That is absolutely true.

Julian continues to help dozens of families each year purchase real estate in Atlanta. At the same time, he and his wife are investing in real estate properties themselves. “I’m on my third purchase right now,” he told me. His first flip was a joint-venture with an investor he had met. “If you’re going to get into real estate, try to do it by yourself.” He explained that when purchasing and flipping a home with a business partner, it can be challenging when words like “right away” or “soon” can be defined differently by different people. He told me “when it’s just you, you’re more invested in the job getting done properly, on time, and the way you expected it to be done.”

Key Personal Finance Topics 

I discussed a couple of key money topics that Julian found valuable. First, we discussed a Cash Out Refinance on his primary residence as a way to access a big chunk of money without relying on hard money loans. The Jackson’s home was purchased at $215,000 and renovated with an additional $60,000. It is now worth close to $400,000 in appraised value. Living in the home for two years and making mortgage payments that whole time, the family now has roughly $200,000 of equity in their primary residence. A Cash-Out-Refinance of up to 75% Loan To Value would allow the Jackson’s to access over $100,000 of equity at a fixed interest rate around 4%. This is much better than using hard-money-loans that charge double digit interest rates and balloon after 12 months.

We also discussed the importance of Disability Insurance for realtors. Julian said, “That’s funny because I was just saying that to my wife. If I get sick or hurt, and can’t work, we may have to sell our home because we wouldn’t be able to keep up with the payments on just my wife’s income.” Very true. By obtaining Individual Own-Occupation Disability Insurance, Julian will be able to protect his income. If he faces an illness or accident and can’t do his job duties as a Real Estate Agent, he receives a benefit from the insurance policy. He’ll be looking to protect about 60% of his income because insurance companies usually max out at this percentage. His premium would be likely be anywhere from $100 – $200 per month. The plan is worth the peace-of-mind and security of knowing that money will be coming into the household – no matter what.

To see the full interview with Julian, click here

You can find Julian Jackson on Instagram

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