← Living Your Legacy
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A
I had no idea that I was going to be in real estate, basically because I had a bad experience myself.
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B
DeMarcus Hunter is a strategic, purpose driven real estate entrepreneur and developer. Blending corporate precision with deep human connection, he builds development projects, leads a growing real estate team and creates wealth building opportunities rooted in advocacy, education and community impact.
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C
So for folks that are listening, they hear the word real estate. To me it sounds a little scary, but folks like you make it seem less scary. Why is that?
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A
No, I mean, real estate is for everyone. It's the cornerstone of pretty much everyone's wealth portfolio. And if it's not, it should be. I mean, it's that one thing that if you don't do very much to it, it still continues to go up in value year after year and keep close, I guess, appreciation values with how the rest of the world is appreciating today.
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C
What advice would you give to someone just like you 20 years in the past listening to this podcast or watching Go, what would you tell them?
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A
Be open to the possibilities. So be limitless in your reach and always strive to make those strong connections that will solidify your foundation. Along the way,
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It spans the globe like a super highest cold Internet. Elvis Preston. I agree. Today Apple is going to reinvent
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C
Over
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A
Until I Win the Living youg Legacy podcast.
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D
For those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary. The impossible. Oh, that is sensational. Jordan Open Chicago with the lead, Usain Paul is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream foreign.
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C
Welcome back to another episode of the Legacy Makers podcast. I am your host, Ray Gutierrez for the Inside Success Network today. Joining me is DeMarcus Hunter. He's got quite the twist when it comes to real estate. Demarcus, how are you doing?
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A
Great. How are you, Ray?
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C
Fantastic man, thanks for asking. So you just finished filming your episode for Legacy Makers. How do you feel?
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A
I feel great. So, like it's always great to get that story that's within you out there, you know, for everyone to see or everyone to hear. So I'm, I'm really looking forward to seeing it air.
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C
Right on, brother. Well, you've got quite the story you and I share Grandma as our north star. Talk about, you know, your grandma and how she's inspired you till this day.
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A
No, my grandmother instilled a lot of like, life lessons very early in life. You know, doing what's right even when people are, are, I guess, doing, doing the right thing even when people aren't looking. So especially in the face of adversity, always telling Me to, you know, fight the good fight and then, like, standing up for me when, like, you know, things that she recognizes as complete bs.
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C
Awesome brother. So talk about your journey. How does one get into real estate? Was it a happy accident or did you always know I'm gonna sell homes to folks?
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A
Honestly, up until the day that I took the test, I had no idea that I was going to be in real estate. So I was firmly planted in corporate America. Account manager, traveling all around the world for a food, a food design and manufacturing company and like, fell into real estate basically because I had a bad experience myself.
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C
Yikes. So there was a problem that needed to be solved. What was that problem?
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A
The problem was that they saw a person with a little bit of money in their bank account and some good credit and they said, let's close this guy as quickly as possible before he wrecks either one of those two things.
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C
So for folks that are listening that are, that they hear the word real estate, to me it sounds a little scary, but folks like you make it seem less scary. Why is that?
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A
No, I mean, real estate is for everyone. It's the cornerstone of pretty much everyone's wealth portfolio. And if it's not, it should be. I mean, it's that one thing that if you don't do very much to it, it still continues to go up in value year after year and keep, you know, and keep close, I guess, appreciation values with how the rest of the world is appreciating today. So.
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C
Right on. Talk us. Walk us through the onboarding process. How does a client get to you and what are your, the common pain points that your clients have to get
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A
to me, a lot of clients, and more and more it's coming in as just referrals, like word of mouth. They may have seen my name attached to some ad or like, or some type of, you know, some blurb on, you know, some social media channel, Facebook, Instagram, whatever. But then as part of the onboarding process, I really want to see who the person is and not just like, okay, what they, what's written on paper in front of me or what they've texted to me, but really see who the person is. So like, you know, what are their goals, what are they wants, what are they looking to achieve in life and like, really formulating that plan.
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C
Are you very selective with your clients or do you just kind of like open door policy to everyone, come one, come all? Well, how are you? How do you select your clients?
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A
Selecting clients, I have to see some commitment within them. So, like, even if it's, you know, someone walks in and says, I want a $10 million house, I, you know, I, I recognize right away that if that person isn't committed to me, committed to the brand and the way that I'm, I'm working through this, then, then we're not going to be ultimately successful. So either they don't end up with a house, I don't end up with, With a paycheck. So, like, it's better to have that alignment up front and really like soul searching. It's asking a few questions about them and seeing how openly they, Openly they, they answer those questions normally lets me know, like, the trajectory on which we're going, so.
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C
Right on. So where did you grow up again?
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I grew up in rural East Texas, so population 12,000 red dirt. People that wave not because they necessarily know you, but if they did know you and you and they didn't wave that well, they would just hate to be so cold. And with that being like a large majority below the poverty line, what was
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C
it like growing up there for you?
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Growing up, I always felt like I was a square peg and a round hole. So, like, dreams and aspirations that I had for myself, they weren't necessarily always the ones that were shared, you know, with those around me. I was maybe a little bit different, you know, where I was setting my sights, the things that interested me, but, you know, like having the support team around me that says, like, I don't really understand where he's coming from, but it's. But he seems to have conviction, he seems to have drive. And with that being said, like, you know, let me be supportive of him along the way.
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C
Right on. You mentioned Chicago. At some point, I always, every time I hear Chicago, I think of Batman. Does Bruce Wayne live in Chicago?
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A
Unfortunately, Bruce Wayne does not live in Chicago, but. But more importantly, I live in Chicago. So. Yeah.
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C
Would you say you're kind of a Bruce Wayne of, Of real estate, maybe? Ish. Yeah.
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A
And I would say, I would say like a, A jack of all trades. So, like, given my experiences in account management, engineering at the lab, bench in design, like, I, you know, if you throw a problem at me, it's most likely if I don't know the exact answer right now. Give me an hour.
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C
An hour?
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A
Yeah.
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C
It takes you about an hour for it to bake and kind of.
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A
Yeah, well, it takes me about an hour to put it down on paper. So a professor back in college that said, okay, before you solve a problem, step one, define the problem. And it sounds so trivial. But so many people get, get moving in a direction on trying to solve something that they don't realize that step one is really define what the problem is and then kind of like form formulate your plan of attack.
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C
Do you find it helpful writing it down? Because I never write anything down. I always.
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A
Oh, it does. Like there are countless times where like I just go from front to back and I with a problem statement, the steps along the way that need to be, that need to be accomplished. And then at the end with that being said, then like the formulating the plan of attack.
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C
Right on. So walk us through the, the onboarding process again. I'm a client. I call you up and how does this work? Do you, do you meet me at the, at the house or how does this entire process work?
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A
No, and so one of my adages, you know, I have many of them, you know, I meet my clients where they are, wherever they are. So like, if, you know, if I see the drive, if I see the conviction in your voice and it's like, hey, I work graveyard shift. I drop off my kids at 7:30 in the morning by. But 7:45 to like 9:15 I have time to speak before I like basically, you know, pass out for the night. I'm going to stick you firmly in that 7:45-9:15 window because, you know, you've made the first step in like basically approaching me and saying I need help. So the least I can do is like be there when you know, at your time of need.
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C
How do you balance and how do you can separate church and stay? I'm sure it takes a lot of vulnerability and some pieces of yourself to speak to clients, be it negative or positive. Like, how do you continue being a human being while taking all this on yourself?
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A
No, I have to remember at the end of the day that even with any job, I mean this is a job, this is a profession that it can be done with a little bit of sincerity, altruism and just overall like goodwill. So with that being said, I also know that, you know, if I can't get that firm commitment from the client or if I just feel like something is just slightly off, then like, you know, basically I'm not base, I'm not checking out, but I'm not going to necessarily drive in with as much of my own hutzwa as I would as a person. That's like, yeah, let's go. And like feeling exciting about, about the search ahead.
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C
Right on. Back when our grandmothers bought our, bought their properties, the world was there Very different now it's about how many homes you own. Is that correct to still think that way?
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A
I mean, so one interesting fact is that it's the 70 over 70. So like 70% of all the real estate in the, in the US is owned by people over the age of 70. Unfortunately, the first home that my grandmother owned, my aunt, actually helped her to purchase it much later in life. But for her, I mean, I'll just say that generationally, like, it's good to instill those ideas of like, generational wealth, understanding of real estate, how it's acquired, how it's distributed, you know, how you can leverage it to get other things in life are very important.
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C
Well, some folks are kind of stuck not understanding that wealth is a mindset. Can you speak about that? And how folks need to not think poorly. They need to think like, yeah, it's.
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A
I would say think big, but don't be crazy. So, like, look at where you are right now and then set attainable goals that are just beyond where you think you are, are able to comfortably reach, because we should always be reaching for that, that next star in life.
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C
Very cool. What do you recommend? What do you tell. What advice would you give to someone just like you, 20 years, 20 years in the past, listening to this podcast or watching Go. What would you tell them? Or what would you tell your former self?
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A
My former self, I. I would say be open to the possibilities. So be limitless in your reach and always strive to make those strong connections that are. That will solidify your foundation along the way.
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C
So we just finished your episode, your Legacy Makers episode. What does it mean to be a legacy Maker?
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A
So to me, it. It means that, you know, looking forward, my efforts, my contributions left some lasting paradigm shift in society in some way shape or form. So it doesn't have to be that like, okay, now because of the efforts I've done, you know, they've completely rewriting like, you know, real estate acts and, you know, Sherman antitrust laws or something of the sort of. But if people in general just understand that real estate can be done a different way and that, that there's more education and advocacy behind it, you know, Realtor to client, managing broker to Realtor, government organization to. To brokerage, that will make me feel that, like, okay, I've done my part in society and I've left that lasting change.
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C
Right on. Right on, brother. How much of it is values that your grandmother instilled in you, that you still are empowered today?
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A
I would say she's probably the largest driver of my business and just, like, how I run business. So, you know, she would have a lot of, like, a lot of different idioms, like, you know, you know, all money ain't good money. And so, like, I really drive that in my business today. So if. If I smell, you know, BS or if I smell something that's. That's a foul. Like, you know, I'm. I'm okay pushing, you know, although I may be ready to eat. You know, if. If, you know, if that plate of food doesn't feel right, then I'm going to push it back to the middle of the table.
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C
Right on, man. So what can you tell folks that are in. Essentially in real estate and how can they essentially brand themselves so they don't feel so intimidating? Because when I think about real estate, I think about a lot of things that I'm not familiar with. So how does a real estate agent become approachable but also not phony?
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A
Let's see. Approachable but not phony. And this is. This is definitely a lesson that I have. I have learned, and I'm learning more and more each day. Same is, don't be afraid to step in front of the camera. So, like, people want to see your trials, and they want to see your tribulations. They want to see when you, like, you know, when you. When you fall, like, in the sense, like. Like, literally, like, you trip in front of the camera and you're like, oh, shit. And then, like, you know, and then you step up and you're like, oh, you know, throw your hands in the air. Like. Like you're an Olympic hopeful gymnast or something. Because they want to see, like, okay, in the face of adversity, how do you shine?
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C
Exactly. Right on, brother. I really appreciate those words. Well, what can people look forward to in your Legacy Makers episode? Any in a sneak peek.
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A
Sneak peek. So a little bit more about my grandmother, A little. A lot more about how I came to the business, a little bit about my interesting background and how I came to real estate. So, like, this is probably career number four with me, and I do have a little bit of gray on my chin, but, like, I'm still in my early to mid-40s, so.
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C
Same.
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A
Yeah, Very cool.
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C
Well, I appreciate your time and energy, DeMarcus. I'm eager to see your episode. Make sure to tune into our Inside Success Network for his Legacy Makers episode. Again, continue leaving a legacy. I am Ray Gutierrez. Have a fantastic day.