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$85M by 24: This Man's Impressive Rise in Real Estate & Creative Finance | Cameron Burke
00:44:58
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- [00:00]
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- [01:33]
Justin (Podcast Host)
We are back with another incredible guest. I am very impressed by this individual who is 24 years old. He has done over 85 million on the retail side of sales with his real estate agents and brokerage. He holds over $8 million of real estate assets in his own portfolio and and is actively transacting on wholesales, wholesales, fix and flips. Currently my man Cameron Burke is in the house. What's up dude?
- [02:00]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
What's up dude? Thanks for having me.
- [02:02]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Yeah, you know, listen, I've been in this game, I'm considered an old head, right? I've been in this game now for 18 plus years. Going on 19, going on 20. Right. That's just seems like almost as long as you've been Alive. You are 24 years old and you've accomplished more than probably I did in the first 12 years of my business. Right. And so I just think it's incredibly impressive. I really wanted you on this episode. But let's talk to that. What does it take to be a 24 year old? To have this level of ambition, this level of sacrifice? What have you gone through to achieve what you've achieved?
- [02:37]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Thank you, dude. Well, I think that, I think it's your typical story of kind of had a rough upbringing and it primed me up to be Able to come out the gate at 18 and start doing deals. You know, I would say that that's a, that's a benefit for guys that have grown up a little bit rougher. By no means did I have like the, the roughest childhood at all. But like, Quick synopsis. Lived with my mom from 14 to 17. This was before marijuana was legal in Oklahoma. Oklahoma. And her, her main thing was bringing drugs back to Oklahoma City, you know, and selling them off. And so I kind of grew up in that, you know, helping her. I didn't know better. I was 14, 15, 16 years old. You know what I mean? So want to help my mom out. And I grew up, you know, going to Chicago, going to Oregon, going to California, bringing back 30, 40, 50 pounds of, of weed at a time.
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Justin (Podcast Host)
And then you were really helping out.
- [03:38]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
You weren't just helping out. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I didn't, I didn't do any drugs, I didn't drink. I still don't drink, I still don't do any drugs because I kind of just had a lot of anxiety from that when I was younger. But you know, I lived with my mom. We did that. She went to prison when I was 17 for conspiracy of smuggling 2000 kilos and money laundering. And so anyway, she went to prison. At that time I was living, we were renting, my mom was renting my grandma's, one of her houses. And so I lived on my own for eight months roughly. And I can't say it wasn't kind of nice, you know, it was nice. I was like early 17. I lived on my own, I, my wife now, we were together at the time. We're just kind of getting together. And before you knew it, my grandma had found out that I was living on my own. She moved back in. And long story short, that relationship just didn't work out that well. I had some issues, she had some issues. And, and I moved in with my wife and my in laws now, like kind of middle of 17. And so I lived with them at that time. I didn't quite want them supporting me, even though they were putting a roof over my head and they were supporting me. And so I had a little Mercedes that my mom had bought. It was, it's like a 2008, you know, SUV. It's worth five grand. Sold it for five grand. And then I started buying and selling vehicles at the insurance auction. And so I'd buy one at a time, I'd sell it and I'd buy another and I'd sell it. And so Me and B, which what I call my wife, we were in all the same classes and so we were taking concurrent classes and. And of course we were in high school classes together and we're old, so we just roll in her vehicle. And so I did that for a couple years. I bought and sold right around 10, right before I graduated. And then kind of senior year we started buying sale and refrigerators. And so we'd go down to Garland, Texas and a buddy of mine would buy six to 10 refrigerators at a time. You buy them from on liquidation. Com. This is before COVID like 2019 is when I graduated. So there's like right in there. So we buy em 2, 300 bucks a piece and bring em back here and sell em for six or seven hundred bucks a piece. Typically we'd have like one or two that wouldn't work. And so anyways, that was kind of the trajectory. I was always trying to wheel and deal. I was always trying to get deals done. I, you know, I had an issue with authority just because of how I grew up and how, how my mom was and always getting in trouble. And then she went to prison. And so I knew that I didn't want to work for anybody, which was really just like an issue that I, that I had to grow through because I, even though I don't technically work for anybody, I still work for my team, I still work for my clients, I still work for, you know, the people around me now, which I've matured out and I've. I've kind of worked through some of those issues. But you know, at that time I just didn't want to work for anybody. I had my head set on that. I'd grown up, you know, before Luke moved in with my mom, I'd grown up in a mobile home with my dad. Didn't really have any money. And then when I moved in with my mom around 14, it was kind of a boom. It was fast money, you know. So it was. Even though she was making a lot of money, it was, you know, drug money just really isn't like it's not real wealth, you know. And so she or you know, order a bunch of stuff or we want. Yeah, exactly. Real wealth. And then it was gone, you know. And so that's kind of how I grew up. Kind of a weird relationship with money. Never quite got taught how to use money correctly and. But I did watch those around me and kind of what not to do, you know. And so we graduated. I was trying to drop ship. I think every 18 year old was trying to drop ship back in.
- [07:20]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Well, I got caught in that same thing. It didn't mean if you were young. I got caught in it too.
- [07:26]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Yep. Everybody, it was the fad. I mean, it still kind of is, you know, it's had its like, ups and downs. So I was really trying to do anything that made money. You know, in high school, I did fairly well. I was valedictorian, got good grades. So, you know, come 18, everybody's going to college, everybody's going to votech. Everybody has a path. And I'm like, what am I gonna do here? You know, like, I don't. I don't know what I'm doing. Drop shipping wasn't working. You know, funny enough, I actually, I try. I spent all my money on drop shipping. I was failing. I didn't understand business. I just, I didn't have the fundamentals in front of me. You know, I kind of understood the marketing piece. So at one point I had ripped off this like they called a dermaplaner. Like women use them dermaplaner, where they can like shave their face. Okay. Ripped this off off of, you know, Alibaba or whatever. And I started doing like $500 a day in sales for like a week. And I was like, I've made it. This is it. You know, I'm 17 coming up on 18 at the time, and then I get a cease and desist from like this skincare company. Like, we're pretty much going to sue you shut everything down. And after that, I was pretty defeated. I put the drop shipping down. You know, I was still kind of buying and selling whether it was tires or refrigerators, but I needed something. And in real estate was just that stepping stone, you know, it was like either either be a realtor or I don't know, I didn't really have another path other than that, you know. And so long story short, got licensed. We're still living with my, my in laws at the time. And so I like to bring that up because I am young. I've done. Done a lot of deals and I've had a little bit of leg up, you know what I mean? I was able to live with them past high school for a year. We lived with them up until we were, you know, coming up on 19. And so that made a big difference, Allowed us to really snowball our money. And so first eight months, I didn't sell any real estate. I once again just thought there would be clients everywhere. But I didn't realize, you know, when I'm shaved. I look about 15. But I didn't realize that the clients weren't everywhere. And it's really hard to sell real estate when you've never bought or sold a house yourself. I didn't have the confidence. I didn't feel like I even deserved to work with people, you know. And so, you know, from there, sold one house, it was a family friend that it was pretty much a pity sale. And I was pretty pissed off about that because I was like, these people only use me because they knew who I was, you know, and they wanted to give me a leg up. And I wasn't a huge fan of that, which I do really appreciate them for it. But it was an ego thing, you know, I wanted to actually like provide my value. And so I just happened upon this lease purchase company here in Oklahoma City. And I took the marketing skills from when I was drop shipping, started marketing with that lease purchase company. And I think this is maybe April. I hadn't done any sales in from January to April of 2021. And then I sold like just under 10 million by end of year with this lease purchase company. And so I've kind of gotten some traction. You know, I made, made over a hundred grand. I think I made 121 30. This is, I'm 19 at the time, you know, and so anyways, I just reinvest everything. And then the next year I did 14 million. And so then I jumped up. I think I did like 180, 190,000 in sales. And that's when I started buying real estate. We bought a duplex. We bought our first house on, on a lease purchase actually through that lease purchase company. And then I really dove into the creative finance and actually this is my team right here, Creative Homes Group. We're here in Oklahoma City. So I've grown this team over the past five years. Really, you know, I'm. I'm out of sales now. All I do is buy and sell real estate. My team does the sales. We've got eight agents. We've done 160 transactions, 155 transactions year to date. Did about 30 million sales last year. And then this year we're on track hopefully to do 35, 40 million sales. So that's kind of the trajectory, brother.
- [11:24]
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- [12:06]
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- [12:35]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Me unpack a lot of this, right? Because I just think it's so dynamic and you know, not, not nearly the same because it's not quite as, I guess, dramatic as your story. But I had a, you know, alcoholic mother, father and, and stepfather and so I did not have an easy childhood either. Yours is a lot more extreme, I would argue.
- [12:53]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
It's all perspective.
- [12:54]
Justin (Podcast Host)
But you know, listen, I find the bigger I get right with my brand and being around those that have some level of hyper success, the anomaly is the person who doesn't have a child, a challenging childhood. I find those to be the very few. More often than not, those that reach some pretty high levels of success, have some level of a story. And you know, what I say to you is the same thing I think about myself is you kind of create a chip on your shoulder when you go through that. And for me, I would say I wanted to be seen. I knew I was of value and deserved to be loved. Even though my mother and father and stepfather chose alcohol over me, essentially. I knew that I wanted admiration. I knew I could go do you know, I could in Ed Mylett's terms, I could go be the one right to change the trajectory of what we were doing as a family. And I find over and over and over again as I do these podcasts and as I surround myself with people of high success, your story, my story and stories similar tend to find the people that find success. Do you feel like for you that leaned into your drive 100, bro. I, I tell people this all the.
- [14:21]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Time and it, I'm grateful for exactly how my childhood played out, you know, and so it's one of those things that like. And I definitely haven't had the. It's all perspective. Everybody's had their own challenges. Everybody goes through their own stuff, you know. So I Don't want to sit here and say I had the worst childhood ever, because I really didn't. And I had, I had a lot of blessings in there as well, especially with B and my in laws and stuff like that. And you know, for me, I think it, a lot of it boils down to when you suffer it at a younger age, you, you grow up sooner, you know. So by the time I was like 16, I wasn't wanting to go party and you know, do all this stuff. I want to make money, you know, and, and from like 16 to 18, what was difficult for me is as I'm buying and selling vehicles, as I'm buying and selling cars and stuff, I felt like an adult, even though I really wasn't. Um, but I couldn't get emancipated, you know, and so I didn't have the, the same rights as an adult. And so I'd bring in, I bring in four or $5,000 in, in cash in, in my local bank and they'd think I was a drug dealer and I was being prejudice against me, you know. And so. But anyways, I think a lot of it boils down to just growing up sooner than, than the average person. So like when I was 18, I pro. Was ahead of the curve because of that. And I think a lot of the, the other guys that are in our similar situations are. And then beyond that, bro, like there's just not that much to lose. You know, like when you've really gone through the. It's, you know, I think a lot of success comes down to just doing the work. A lot of people get analysis paralysis. And so like guys like me and you that are, are quote unquote successful, we've just done the work, you know, because it's like what's the worst case scenario? And we just send it. So. Yeah, no, I definitely agree with that.
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Justin (Podcast Host)
Yeah. You know, listen, you, you are very active still to this very day. But to, to become a leader when you don't have the role models as a child to be a leader, that is a unique trait.
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Cameron Burke (Guest)
Right.
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Justin (Podcast Host)
You've been able to have, you say you have eight agents right now working with you at Creative. What's the company's name? Creative what?
- [16:22]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Creative Homes Group.
- [16:23]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Creative Homes Group in Oklahoma City. There's a difference between being a producer and then being a manager and then being a leader. Yeah, they're totally different characteristics. And so what I'm seeing from a 24 year old man that I'm looking at right now is you've Turned yourself into a leader without much, if any help. Where are you getting the skill sets, right? To not just be the producer, which is just hard work, put your head down, do it, fuck it up enough, you're going to win along the way, you're going to learn what you fucked up and then you're going to take the good stuff and keep doing that. But then you have to go recruit, you have to go manage and make sure they're doing the thing they're doing. And then you have to go lead them to the promised land. Right?
- [17:06]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Yeah.
- [17:07]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Where are you getting these skill sets along this way?
- [17:10]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
I've definitely had some role models through, through the thick of this, you know, a lot I've seen a lot what to do and, and what not to do, you know. And so like kind of as I grew up, I watched my parents, they were alcoholics, you know, my mom was on drugs. And so I watched that and, and I've never touched it. And I tell people I probably, you know, if I drank, I probably like it too much, you know, and so I learned what not to do. And so I've tried to watch that around me as well. And so like the trajectory, you know, 19, I come out and, and I do that. 9 million in sales. It was a really good year. But I was, I mean I, I was working so much. I was working seven hours or seven days a week. I was working 10, 12 hours a day and I was really running myself into the ground and there was a cost to that. And I've had some health issues that thankfully I've worked through. But you know, like, I've had blood pressure issues as a, as a 24 year old, which is not common, you know, so that's something that like I run really, really high or really hot. And I've had to dial that back over the last, last year, really be strategic in like the way, the way that I scale now. And so I'll get into that here in a second. But you know, I, I had that year and at the time, you know, I feel like any, any 18, 19 year old, they're like, I just want to make $10,000 in a month. That was like really the goal, you know, And I once again had a lot of maturing to do. And so I remember the month that I made $10,000 and nothing changed in my life, you know what I mean? Like, nothing changed. And, and I realized that I was going after more of like an extrinsic motivation rather than an intrinsic motivation and obviously wasn't a midlife crisis, but I felt like I was having one, you know, because I was like, what now? You know, like this was, this was my goal for so long because it seems so intangible with the way that I grew up to be able to make that amount of money. And so anyways, I did that, did a lot of thinking. I had like a little bit of a rut that I had to pull myself out of because I didn't quite understand why I was doing what I was doing. And then I realized that, that I like helping people, which is why I've grown my team. That and I like making money too. So that's the other reason. But I like helping people and. And I've really, truly come to like enjoy the work, you know. And so 19 we joined the Levinson team here in Oklahoma City. And so top team number one team in Oklahoma City. At the time I was reaching out to Terry Levinson. I was saying, hey, can I post your listings on Facebook? Because what I do is I take other realtors listings because I didn't have any. And then I go market them with this lease purchase program to clients that couldn't get traditional financing. So bank financing, you know, maybe they had challenged credit challenge work history. And so my niche was working with individuals who other agents didn't want to work with. And so I was reaching out to Tara Levinson and then finally she's like, hey, let's set up a time to meet. Which in my world was crazy. These people were from admin. They were, you know, I'm from little town, Hera didn't know a millionaire. And here they are wanting to meet with me and so I want to met with them. We joined their team. They showed us Peter and Tara Levinson, their husband and wife. They showed us a lot of guidance, you know, they really on how to lead, how to lead correctly. And so I was able to. To kind of model that and watch how, how they had led their team and how they grown that over time. And being able to learn from somebody like that really fast tracks a lot, you know. And so that fast track quite a bit. And I've had a ton of other leaders it outside of them, but they were kind of like the backbone to being able to scale. And so I watched their team and I was like, that's where I want to be. Yeah, I remember we were, we went to Maui. Me and my wife went to Maui. I like to take nice vacations. So that's like one, one thing I do spend money on. And so we went to Maui I think three years ago, and that's when one had proposed. And so I proposed to my wife. And on that trip I had like this, this deal fall apart. I was working half the time. It really pissed me off because I wanted to enjoy my time. And here I am, you know, working in the middle of this. And, and that's when I realized I'm like, I don't really have business here. Like, I, I absolutely don't have business. I need more leverage. And, and I understand, I understood the power of like leverage and how it could help me out. And so I came back, really put my head down and I just reinvested. Like the first hire I made was transaction coordinator and then the second hire was a personal assistant. And then from there we've, we've hired, you know, property manager and everybody's in house now. And then I have a project manager as well. And so just continuing to leverage out. But to answer your question, definitely the people around me. And then, you know, yeah, I, I don't think people give enough grace to like role models online like Alex Formosi. Watch him a lot. Watched him. I've watched his trajectory over the last couple years and he's not the only guy. But you know, I would say that I've got, I've got mentors that I've never met that I just soak up information. I'm watching. Listen to a lot of YouTube. You, I get asked a lot, like from my YouTube channel, like, what books have you read? I wish I was a bigger reader. I, I don't dislike reading. I actually do like it, but I feel like I'm so fast paced that it's either listen to audiobooks or listen to YouTube videos. And I listen to a lot of YouTube videos and podcasts and stuff like that. And so I've learned a lot through, through that. And so that's, you know, that's one of the blessings I've had just being born in this like whatever I am, Gen X, Gen Z, whatever, you know, is we have, we are the information age, you know, now that we have chat, GPT and pretty much all the information that we need in front of us, there's no reason that anybody can't go out and get it done.
- [22:54]
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- [23:24]
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- [23:52]
Justin (Podcast Host)
So with your team right now, this is how you broke into the space. It sounds like based around even the name of your company, you guys are still heavily doing creative finance deals. Are you still looking at that lease option stuff and working those angles? Talk to us about that because I think it's an angle in the real estate space, especially in today's economy. And I don't know how your business is doing and what it's looking like right now, but with the interest rates where they're at currently, with the challenges in the economy, I mean, I just feel like this is a much easier way for buyers to be able to still buy and sellers to be able to still sell.
- [24:24]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Yep, a hundred percent, you know. So when I got into real estate, everybody's like, you gotta call your sphere. I didn't have a sphere. I didn't grow up with, with, with a family, so I didn't even know other parents and stuff, you know, so I barely knew anybody when I graduated. And so everybody's telling me, call your spirit. Well, if I call the people I know from high school, they're all, they're all 19, you know what I mean? So they're all, what am I going to do there? And it kind of irritated me. I didn't want to be known as the guy that called other guys up and said, hey, please work with me because we know each other. So I wanted to provide value to the market, you know, I didn't want people working with me. It gives me an ick feeling, you know what I mean? Like, I want people to work with me for who I am because I am the best, you know? And so it took me a while to build up that confidence. But once I figured out the creative financing, then I felt like I could actually provide value to the market. Like, here I am, you know, I can help you because the other agent couldn't, because you have a 600 credit score and nobody knows what to do with that. Or, you know, you've had an eviction the last two years, but, but you make good money. Or a lot of times it's business owners. We work with a ton of business owners that write off too much on their taxes. Yeah, they don't understand that they can do bank statement loans. We have owner finance options. We have, you know, lease option. And there's kind of like a, there's a scale. You, you either pay more in taxes and get easier financing or you pay less in taxes. And then the financing piece is a little bit harder. Most business owners go, you know, pay less in taxes and the financing piece is, is a tad harder. So, you know, there are plenty of programs out there, non QM products, non qualifying mortgages that do. They could get you qualified based off of your actual income that most people don't know about. And so we market to those individuals and we're the guys that help when other agents can't. And so we step in and work with the clients that other agents can't get the deals done. And a lot of those medical marijuana is really popular, was really popular back 21 2021, 20, 22 kind of started to taper off because of the regulation here in Oklahoma City. But we worked with a ton of medical marijuana growers being able to get them into houses because banks won't finance that income. We worked with a lot of people that got into trouble during COVID missed credit card, you know, bills, but still make good income. You know, truck drivers, nurses, stuff like that, to make six, seven, eight thousand dollars a month, but maybe just had a couple month hiccup and they can't go and buy a house through traditional financing. And, and that is our niche. We've done a lot of it and that's what we're known for here in Oklahoma City.
- [27:01]
Justin (Podcast Host)
So if you can you do what you do anywhere. Can anyone do what you do?
- [27:07]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
I think so. So you would have to go out and you need to find the local lease purchase seller, finance non QM options in your area. And, and you know, like Barry Rock Homes is one of the companies that we use. I know the owners super well. We've probably done more deals with them than, than anybody in any of their markets. But they're in Oklahoma City. They're in, I think four or five other states. I think they're in Florida now. And so they're, they're an option. But there are other options out there.
- [27:42]
Justin (Podcast Host)
And what do they do? Are they the ones that own the home, that are willing to sell it? Off seller finance, is that what you're saying?
- [27:46]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Or so their program, their program's really interesting. What they do is you come in and they qualify you based off your income and they say, okay, 7% down of any home price and we will buy the home on your behalf. You negotiate it as if you're the owner, we're going to buy it and then we will close on it. You move in with a lease option and then when you are ready to buy it that 7%, your lease option and you buy back from us. And so it's a really cool program. Not only their home, I mean they don't have inventory, they allow you to go pick out your own. And so that's how they have, have structured their company as a whole. So they're really interesting. There are other companies out there, I think Home Path, I mean I would look up lease purchase companies in market or owner finance properties in market and I would figure out what companies are doing those types of deals. But let's just say somebody's out there and they don't have a lease purchase or owner finance option in their market. Then the other option would be just get connected with the non QM brokers, the ones that can do DSCR loans which are really heavy right now. And then bank statement loans, like 12 month bank statement loans are really popular as well. And so yes, I would say for sure, Justin, it just depends on what, what programs are available, where they're at.
- [29:08]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Yeah. And so I think do you, a lot of what you do may or may not change if. If, by the way, I think it's a really big if anything happens with interest rates, how do you think you're going to pivot if. If that happens? In my own belief, just so we're clear, I think we got 12 months of nothing happening. I think people think the Fed rate dropping to zero or whatever is going to do anything. It won't, it doesn't actually directly affect the 30 year mortgage, the 10 year bond does. So you know, people are all caught up with the Fed, but that's not the reality of what can help the housing industry at this moment. So if something happened, which is a big if, how do you pivot or do you not?
- [29:49]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Yeah, so I mean we keep doing what we're doing because I was doing these types of deals in 2021 when rates were zero, you know, 2% and I'm doing them today when rates are 7%. Nothing has changed other than having to get better at converting, you know, and so that is always going to be important is knowing how to convert. And so Peter's always had this saying that, that I kind of live by is like the market doesn't dictate how much income we, we can do. It just dictates how we do business in general. And so if we shift then we'll just increase our marketing from where we're at. But nothing will change because there's, there's one thing that unfortunately I know won't change and that's people will continue to need bank statement options, business owners, and then people will continue to have credit issues. I mean it's always been an issue and always will be an issue. And especially right now it's actually more of an issue. And so those are. We just have to get in front of those clients, which we do through our marketing.
- [30:51]
Justin (Podcast Host)
So let's talk about your marketing. I'm actually curious about it personally. Yeah, you know, I own a decent amount of rentals. I would be interested in saying, hey, if someone's out there willing to buy at a number that I want and it can financially make sense to them, how do I go find them? How do, like, what would I do? Like, I just, I've. I'm thinking about right this second we did this refi with Kiavi into dscr. There's five homes that I own. I'd be willing to sell them. I don't, you know, how would I go find someone to buy those without just listing it on the ms?
- [31:26]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Yeah. So would you want to, you're saying you'd sell or finance them? You'd carry the note? Yeah, yeah. And I do that here in Oklahoma City as well. It's, it's the highest cash on cash return that I can find at the moment. Is, is seller financing. So typical terms like for an owner finance deal is 10% down, 20 year note at 12% interest. I mean that's what I sell or finance all my deals on. I don't have prepayment penalty. I don't typically require. I want people to be able to pay the properties off whenever they like because I get my equity priced in when I sell the note and so I'm pricing in 30% when I sell the note. So if they pay me off, it's like, okay, I'll just take that 30% equity that I had and I'll go buy another deal at that point. So I don't have a prepayment penalty. But I mean we're super heavy on meta ads, so Instagram, Facebook, we run, we run a ton of Meta that seems to be. Seems to work really well. And then just my positioning, you know, I've got a small audience on Facebook and a lot of people know what I do. And so we get referrals from agents. We get referrals where we just get homeowners that come to us directly. And then through our meta ads, we generate anywhere from 550 to 650 leads a month for this type of niche.
- [32:39]
Justin (Podcast Host)
For a seller, finance buyer.
- [32:41]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Seller. I mean really just creative home options. So seller, finance, purchase, you know, bank statement loans, stuff like that. And then we, we educate from there.
- [32:50]
Justin (Podcast Host)
I love the ad play. I don't think there's enough agents out there. You're an investor and an agent. I think this is where I want everyone to understand. The dynamic business he has built is I'm a, I'm a massive advocate of agents and investors need to get along way better. Right. There's this unfortunate divide between us and I think it. Some of it has to do with shitty investors who just have tarnished our name as investors. And it is what it is. But the good investors like myself or you and many others can try to repair that. And because I think agents feel like we're coming after them and trying to steal their business, that's not the case either. Right. Typically, we try to do deals that they don't really want to be dealing with. Right, Right, typically. And so I think there's just this. And you've collaborated even within your own business on here's an investment in realtor space that I can actually combine the two together. And this is like if you're a realtor out there, if you're an investor and you are considering it, like this model, what he's built is replicatable, right?
- [33:49]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Oh, for sure.
- [33:50]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Again, Johnny agent from Alabama listening to this right now. Could he be doing the same thing you're doing?
- [33:58]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
I don't see why not.
- [33:59]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Right.
- [34:00]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
I think you do it anywhere.
- [34:01]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Johnny, investor from Florida, could he be doing the same thing you're doing?
- [34:05]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Surely, why not?
- [34:06]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Right. And so that's what I'm saying is you've built this beautiful model that quite literally, whether you're licensed or not licensed, is a model that's replicatable any state, anywhere. You just need to know what Cameron built. Right. But I really believe all of us listening and watching that are investors and. Or agents. The combination of what we do is. Is imperative. Right. And so I just, I just want to be a voice to that is. I think there's way more money to make collaboratively than there is like siloed office. I'm an investor and I don't, you know, blah about agents or vice versa. I don't like investors. I'm an agent and you know, I want to buy homeowner or I want to list properties and only deal with homeowners. Yeah, I think it's short sighted. I think there's a lot of people that do it and they can do it well, whatever. But the vast majority I think of people should be combining the skill sets and you've done that brilliantly, dude.
- [34:56]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Thank you, Nelson.
- [34:57]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Yeah, well, and I think you should be a voice. I mean you really should. And I'm excited to have you on here. But like first of all, where can people find you if they want to reach out and just ask you questions? Where can, where can people find you?
- [35:07]
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- [35:32]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Try it now for free@wix.com so Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. You know I started, started my YouTube back in on June 1st. Coming back, coming off a, a Florida trip, decided to start the YouTube. We're coming up on 20,000 subscribers. So that's like I'm trying to.
- [35:51]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Just so we're clear, for all of you that have no idea how hard YouTube is, I've had a YouTube channel for I don't even know and I'm still not at 20,000 subscribers. So you are doing something right in the YouTube space. It is by far the hardest. I don't even want to call it social media, but it's by far the hardest one out of all the verticals. TikTok and Instagram for growth by far. So good job.
- [36:14]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
I appreciate that. So YouTube definitely trying to grow that. Facebook is where I've really grown most my following. So it's just Cameron Burke on Facebook. There are a couple I've got right around 39,000 friends or whatever in Sega. That's one, that's me. And then on Instagram it's just C B u R K E E E is my Instagram hand.
- [36:35]
Justin (Podcast Host)
Say that again. So do Facebook and Instagram again.
- [36:38]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Okay, so Facebook. Cameron Bur Burke. So C A M E R O N and then B U r K E and then on instagram it's just c.burke d u r K E. Yep E. Yeah, it'll pop up perfect.
- [36:53]
Justin (Podcast Host)
So I want to lean into this idea of your age.
- [36:57]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Yes sir.
- [36:58]
Justin (Podcast Host)
It just impresses the daylights out of me. Right. Because I'll tell you, especially now knowing your background with your mom and everything, bro, I'm blown away because I remember me at 24 and I was a full idiot. Full idiot at 24. Just exactly who you weren't or who you aren't right now because you are 24 right now. I was the guy, like I didn't really, you know, I was just, I was doing door to door sales, I was making money, I was hustling. But like of course every weekend drinking and of course every, you know, just your t. More typical 24 year old activities than you are doing. Yeah, what, what can you do to impress upon some of the younger listeners right now or what can you advise them? What can you say is like I really want the younger listeners to understand what you've built. You are just starting, dude. You, Cameron Burke is just starting. And if some of this younger generation can understand, whether it's some work ethic or some, you know, limiting excuses or whatever they can do at the young age. Right. Like you brought up, you've been. Some of the benefit for you is the social media and the virality and the, you know, you guys can lean into that where old people like me didn't even have YouTube, you know, when we started. And so give some of the younger, younger to me, more your generation. Some advice on what can they do, where can they start, what should they be thinking about?
- [38:22]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
So here are a few principles I live by. Hopefully this isn't true. Too drawn out. But the, the first one, you know, after I had that $10,000 a month and I realized nothing really changed. I had to change the way that I thought about things and the reason why I was doing what I was doing. And so I went through a little bit of a journey trying to figure that out. And the consensus that I came upon was this. And it's that when you buy something you have a little bit of a dopamine hit, you know, or when I do a deal, I get a dopamine hit. I mean everything revolves around dopamine to a certain extent. That's why short form content is so, so addicting nowadays is because you get dopamine, dopamine hit every time you scroll and so what I realized is like a lot of people are chasing extrinsic motivation. So, you know, keeping up with the Joneses, you know, maybe a new vehicle, new truck, they want the fancy car, they want the fancy house. But my thoughts on it at least this is my opinion. So I could be wrong, but this is just how I look at, at life through my lens is that, you know, if I go buy a new house, I'm going to have a huge dopamine hit, but at some point I'm going to fall back to a baseline, you know, and so like, is that house going to serve me? Like, am I going to be that much happier in that house than I am in the house that I'm in today? Not to say that I don't want nicer things, I definitely do, but it doesn't revolve around just the nice things. I'm not doing this every day just to get a nicer vehicle or a nicer house or whatever that looks like, you know, and so, I mean, I definitely like nice things and, and you know, like I'm taking a trip to Maui next week. Like where I like to spend my money is vacations and really on experiences with my family because I've got, you know, me, my wife. And then I was telling you before this, I've got guardianship of my six year old brother. So we like kind of have a kid, kind of don't have a kid. So I like to, I like to spend money on experiences and then, you know, relationships because at the end of the day you money comes and goes, but relationships don't, experiences don't. And so I, I think I've just been really blessed to figure that out sooner than, than most younger guys. It's like the, the fancy truck is really cool for a couple weeks, couple months, but at some point it's going to wear off and then you're going to want a new truck or the, or the nice house. You know, at some point you're going to fall back to a baseline and then you're going to need more dopamine. And so I just don't associate my dopamine with nice extrinsic things. I try not to. You know, we all do to a certain extent. And so like, for me, I get like my dopamine off of doing deals, helping others, leading my team, being able to hang out with my family, you know, and so that's one thing that I will say is that if you can focus on more of an intrinsic motivation, like who you are Helping people, the journey, you know, relationships, experiences, then I think you're going to work harder than the next guy, you know. And I think about it like this. If I'm waking up every day and I'm doing this for my family, I'm doing it for my team. I know I've got 20 people that rely on me performing every day versus another guy that's waking up that just wants a Ferrari. I'm going to outwork him every single day. I don't have to wake up and reset my. And when he hits that Ferrari, is he going to have to reset his goals to then strive for something larger? So I don't know. That might be a weird perspective.
- [41:41]
Justin (Podcast Host)
No, that's a brilliant perspective, dude, because it is 100% right. I've hit a lot of milestones financially where I've been able to achieve and buy the thing. Just as you said, it is very cool. Maybe it even lasts a year. You're really excited about it. And then what now, you know, the re. What else do I want? And that is a challenge for performers, for men, for the society and the image, right? And so to be able to really internally come to a place of, of drive and ambition and happiness, right? The whole, you know, enjoy the journey, right? Because the end destination isn't that great. I mean, to some extent it's not. Like if you're not enjoying the journey to get to end destination, then you won't enjoy the end definition because there is fruitless. Right, dude. Very wise young man. You are, you know, wise beyond your years for sure. Probably because you had to grow up really fast. And again, I hope no one has to do what you went through or what I went through. I hope not.
- [42:44]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Right?
- [42:45]
Justin (Podcast Host)
But there, there is light in that and there's, you know, incredible parts of that. So what the next journey for you? How are we finishing off this year? As Cameron Burke what's your mission to finish off 2025? What's your mission going into 2026? What's, what's the agenda, dude?
- [43:01]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
I will say my goals are constantly changing and shifting. I mean I'm a young guy at the end of the day, you know, and so I'm still figuring this out. I flip flop, you know, sometimes I'm like, well, I want to make 100 grand a month. And it's like, well and, and I do certain months, you know, and then it's like I want to do it every month. And it's like, well, why, you know, or does it make more sense to just Go buy more real estate and hold more real estate in the holdings company. And so I'm constantly flip flopping, you know, I've got my team, I really enjoy my team. I've focused it a lot on content this year. That's been, that's been a big goal of mine is just growing my social medias in general. You know, Now I'm on YouTube and that doesn't take up a ton of time, but like it takes up some time. You know, I'm trying to post two long form videos a week which, which definitely takes up time. And so I've got that. And then, you know, we'll do 60 deals, bought and sold, bought, sold or held this year. And it just depends on the deal itself, but continuing that, continuing to build relationships so I can get more deal flow. But you know, end of this year, it's been a long year. I've definitely worked a little bit more than I wanted to, you know, in certain aspects. Because at the end of the day, you know, I think about it a lot. You, you hear about those guys that worked until they were 40 and they've got, you know, 10, 15, $20 million worth of whatever of business or real estate, but they're, they've got two divorces and, and their kids never got any time, you know. And so for me, I don't have kids, but I do have my younger brother and I am his role model. And so, you know, I want to show him that I work hard, but I also want to show him that it's not just about working, you know. And so like, I really try to spend time with him and, and leave time to be able to hang out with him. And it's been a weird transition for sure, you know, like I, it's like going from like not having a kid to, to having a kid almost, you know. And even though he's not mine, I treat him as, as if he is. And so does my wife and she does a great job as well. So just spending time with them, you know, like I said, we're going to Maui next week. This can be a lot of fun. I really unplug on vacations. I pretty much just, I put my phone down and my team handles what needs to be handled and, and then hopefully I'm going to go get an elk this year, you know, is the goal. I'm going to go elk hunting, so I'm, I'm up about that. But I mean, outside of that, I want to finish the year strong, you know, My goal this year Coming into the year was to net a million bucks. We're, we're going to be close. We'll see. But now it's, now the problem is, is it's like, okay, well now we got to cost segregate. We're going to go buy something big. But everybody knows that that is looking for larger multifamily flex based warehouse right now. That buying something larger is not necessarily an easy task at the moment. So no. So I'm, I'm kind of stuck. Like, you know, I've, I've built up this, this, this cash that I, I wanted to build all year long. It's, you know, now we're in September. I was hoping to have this by end of July. And so I'm on a bit of time crunch. I'm going to be looking for deal flow and then beyond that, really Justin is just, you know, I'm working on a mentorship. I've got a few people that I'm mentoring here good locally and so I've got a very small mentorship but I'm working on building that out. I want to bring something quality to market that is kind of like my principles and fundamentals behind how I bought and sold real estate through interest rate hikes and have done it sustainably and have grown my business, you know, and so well.
- [46:19]
Justin (Podcast Host)
I will be your biggest champion, dude. Literally, like we'll have a call after this and see how I can help you lean into that. Because what you've done, who you are as a human, this is why I do what I do with these podcasts. This is why, like the community I built with the guests, like, this is awesome and I will do whatever I can to help you lean into becoming a leader in our space. Because you're young, you have the right attitude about this, you look at success the right way. You have a genuine heart, dude. I will be your biggest champion and help advise you and coach you through this as I've been, been around a lot longer.
- [46:50]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
So thank you.
- [46:51]
Justin (Podcast Host)
I know not to do is the key here. Right. And I'll end it with this. You know, being 24 and I'm sure you've had a lot of people give you advice and maybe you haven't. What would be the, you know, most valuable advice you've been given thus far?
- [47:06]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Leave time to think, like, truly, you know, I don't think people think enough. And nowadays with social media, with ChatGPT, we're relying on others and AI to think for us. And so leaving myself time to think like, no Distractions, no social media, no text. And that's what I really enjoy about taking vacations is I go, I go 10 days with pretty much no phone time. That's where I get the best ideas. You know, the last vacation I took is when I decided that I was going to go hard on YouTube. And it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. And so leaving time to think is extremely important. And then, you know, it's, I mean, it's the same thing a lot of, A lot of people hear. But you've, you've got to have the confidence. And if you truly believe that you can, you can make something happen, then, then I think you can. You know, I didn't make $10,000 in a month until I believed I could. I didn't make $50,000 in a month until I believed I could. And then so on and so forth. And so truly believing that you can go and do something is, is huge. And then just executing on it, bro, I appreciate it.
- [48:05]
Justin (Podcast Host)
There is a good book. If you do want to listen to a book, I tell you to listen to it. Yeah, it leans into this thinking idea. It's called the Road Less Stupid. The title, I loved the Road Less Stupid, but it's basically a guy who's done a lot of, um, I can't remember the author's name. He's awesome. It talks a lot about the value of thinking in there because he's made a lot of money, had a lot of success, lost it all, built it back up, lost it all. Built about lost. Like he's like. The power of thinking can actually help you. So if you do have time on these flights to Hawaii, which is far, the Road Less Stupid would be a really good one for you to listen to. And that goes for everyone out there listening and watching this. Guys, this is not the last you'll see of camera Burke. I'll have him on again and again is. I really want to have him as a highlight to all of those out there trying to do some big stuff. Cameron, I appreciate you coming on. If this was pretty cool and you think a couple people need to hear this, please share this with two of your friends. Make sure you look up on Cameron on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. We'll see you on the next episode. Peace.
- [49:02]
Cameron Burke (Guest)
Thank you, Justin.
- [49:06]
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