Dan Blackwell's Real Estate Journey | Story by J.P. Morgan – Transcript

Dan Blackwell:

The stress was just adding up, and I was feeding those properties, I was not making an income here. I sublet my apartment that I was renting and I moved into my Tahoe. I basically started living out of my car.

[background music]

I grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, and I knew I wanted to get in the real estate business. And I worked for five years, I saved every nickel. I started buying houses and I bought some land. Then all of a sudden, ‘08 hits and everything just went to a screeching halt. And I knew, quickly, that the opportunity I had was gone and I needed to figure out how to reposition myself. 

I knew going in the market was tough. I don't know any streets, I don't know any schools. I don't know anybody, really. And I remember going to my manager and he said, “So what, what market do you want to work?” And I just said, “Well, what market trades the most?” And he said, “That's Anaheim.” Okay. Well, I want to do Anaheim. Every other apartment broker works Anaheim for the same reason. So it was very, very, very competitive.

The stress was just adding up, and I was feeding those properties, I was not making an income here. I sublet my apartment that I was renting, and I moved into my Tahoe. I basically started living out of my car. 

So I had to really put my head down, understand the market better than anybody. And I got my digital camera and I would go photo every single apartment building in the entire city. There's like 1,251 properties at the time. And I ended up becoming the most active apartment broker in Anaheim. Built up a 20 to 30 percent market share just within that city, built a team afterwards, and expanded into all of Orange County. 

Even though it was a small little triplex, I could relate to an owner, so it allowed me to become a better advisor to clients. And then since then, I've got six or seven buildings, I'm up to 35 units, I’m closing on an eight-unit building here in Orange County, and that'll put me up to 43 units. 

I’m really passionate about helping people and I want to add value any way I can. And I think that really stems back from, maybe not having the best situation lined up for me when I got into the business and I don't want anybody to have to go through that. I want to be there for people.

All ships rise in high tide. And you just got to look at the opportunity that we have to get into real estate, to grow, to build wealth. And that's something that I'm really passionate about.

END