We all want to achieve greatness in one way or another. And we are all out here just trying to find our own secret sauce for success. If there is a person we can draw inspiration from, it would be Mark “MJ” Jackson, today’s podcast guest.

In this episode of Seek Go Create, real estate coach Mark “MJ” Jackson shares his experiences in business and how they paved the way for exciting things in his life, such as growing his faith, becoming a triathlete, and writing his own book. Long time friends Tim Winders and Mark Jackson recall their past experiences together and chit chats away with interesting life experiences and insights.

Tune in to the podcast and discover how you can also set yourself up for success!

3 Reasons to Listen:

1. Learn more about real estate amidst the pandemic from a world-renowned expert.
2. Get insights about how you can create success through passion, faith, and strong will.
3. Discover how achieving goals and success in life is a process full of hard work, determination, and focus.

Resources

• InvestorComps events and activities
• Arise To Live by Mark “MJ” Jackson

About MJ

Mark “MJ” Jackson is a real estate valuation coach for investors in the US and worldwide. He is the founder of InvestorComps, a resource for real estate valuation training and data. He is also an avid golfer and an Ironman athlete. 

To learn more about Mark, you can visit his website. You may also reach him through email.

Episode Highlights

[02:18] Meet Mark “MJ” Jackson

• Mark is a real estate valuation coach. He finds his purpose in valuation in real estate.
• He is also a golfer and Ironman athlete.
• Mark is a long time friend and ex-business partner of Seek Go Create host Tim Winders.

[12:14] Making Decisions on Real Estate Amidst the Pandemic 

• For properties intended to be remarketed: Look at the numbers, your acquisition point, and see where you can test the market as far as pricing is concerned.
• Prioritize long-term hold over a fix-and-flip strategy.
• It is too soon to predict the prices of real estate in the next months.
• Mark recommends being patient for now.

[16:18] Lessons From Past Experiences 

• Mark talks about his experience from 2008 that taught him valuable lessons in handling real estate.
• For a location that lost school district accreditation, he resorted to long-term hold real estate for rentals or local housing projects. 
• In 2016, he transitioned his business model from a flip model to a long-term hold upon realizing the latter’s sustainability.
• Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, you can transition and not just have one exit strategy on a property.

“Where crisis happens, opportunity comes out on the other side of that.” - Click Here to Tweet This

[21:23] Experience in Different Markets  

• Mark started doing appraisal work in Georgia.
• He then got opportunities to travel to places such as Japan and Europe and met people in the same industry. 
• He learned how valuation works around the world and how each country or place has its own unique characteristics or selling points. 
• Mark’s experience with the global market motivated him to build his own company and educate others about real estate.

“It’s unique how there’s always a different characteristic at every individual market area that drives it that you got to be aware of to be successful in these transactions.” - Click Here to Tweet This

[27:28] All About InvestorComps

• Mark found interest in putting up his own appraisal company in 2011 when interest rates dropped after the 9/11 incident.
• He eventually sold his appraisal company and focused more on building a platform for coaching and educating people about real estate and the valuation first approach. 
• InvestorComps is all about coaching, engaging, and educating.
• It is now a subscription-based platform that offers demand training, identifying cash buyers, host selling real estate, and valuation courses, among others.

[37:18] Growing Up

• He grew up in a small town in New Jersey.
• He recalled a couple of setbacks growing up, which shaped his principles and values today.
• Mark’s relationship with his dad has largely influenced his actions and positive mindset today.

[48:24] Journey With Faith  

• Mark talked about his wife, a senior pastor, and their spiritual life together.
• His faith helped him find career opportunities as much as his hard work did.
• Faith enhanced his life, especially in terms of relationships and the dynamic of his marriage.

[55:12] Discovering His Passion for Golf

• Mark got into golf out of curiosity and the desire to be good at something.
• Golf became a hobby, and soon became a way for him to engage with clients and do business. 
• Golf brought him closer to God through the beauty of playing in different and beautiful golf courses.

[59:20] Getting Into Ironman

• Mark started biking and swimming to stay physically fit because he dreams of celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary with his wife. 
• He started thinking about pursuing triathlon as he went along with swimming and biking. He began to learn running too. 
• Mark used the long hours of training to meditate, pray for his family, and even listen to audiobooks and gospels. 
• Ironman taught him discipline and focus, and he mentioned awakening every day with gratitude. 
• What was once a motivation to maintain his physical health became a mental transformation for Mark.

“It really just shows this posture that you always want to be flexible and pliable. And like so many other entities, schools, and businesses, we transition to a virtual event.” - Click Here to Tweet This

[01:11:34] Writing Arise to Live

“One little caveat is I’ve always shared that overwhelmingly, we’ve helped more investors make money on the deals that they’ve decided not to do.” - Click Here to Tweet This

• Arise to Live is a reflection of his experience training for Ironman. 
• He believes that anything is possible if you intentionally and internally focus on your goals. 
• The freedom of lifestyle, the freedom to choose and do out of your own will, was a life-changing perspective which he ought to share about through his book.

“If our time is contracted already, how are we going to go back and duplicate something that we didn’t have to do the first time?” - Click Here to Tweet This

Enjoy the Podcast? 

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To growing and becoming all we are created to be,

Tim