The State of Real Estate (Episode 4)

Real estate expert Kadijah Johnson, Associate Broker with Hunt Real Estate, breaks down how teenagers and young adults can start building wealth through property ownership. This dynamic conversation features 17-year-old Janiyah from Amsterdam, NY, who brings authentic Gen Z perspective and questions about early real estate investment.

Discover essential insights about:

• How teens can start preparing for property ownership
• Building credit and financial literacy at a young age
• First-time homebuyer programs for young adults
• Strategic wealth-building through real estate
• Capital Region NY real estate market opportunities

Johnson, Owner & Founder of Okay Let’s Talk, shares actionable strategies that challenge the myth that real estate investment is only for older adults. This episode provides a roadmap for young people looking to break into property ownership years ahead of their peers.

Perfect for teenagers, young adults, parents, and anyone interested in early real estate investment and youth financial empowerment. Learn how the next generation can start building generational wealth through property ownership today.

kadijahjohnson.com

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Transcript

Welcome to Mindshift Power Podcast, a show for teenagers and the adults who work with them, where we have raw and honest conversations. I'm your host, Fatima Bey, the mind shifter. And welcome everyone. Today we have with us a real estate agent, a real estate broker, and agent with real estate, Khadijah Johnson out of Albany, New York. And she's also the owner and founder of Okay.

Let's Talk, which we'll find out what that's about. And we also have with us Janiyah Cheatham. She is a 17 year old girl out of Amsterdam, New York. How are you guys doing? Good.

Doing great. Thank you for having me. Oh, no problem. You I I can't wait to talk to you. You you're wonderful to talk to, and they're gonna find that out too.

So and how are you doing, Janiyah? I'm doing okay. Good. Good. Alright.

So let's dive right in. So today, we're gonna talk about, diversity in real estate. And, Khadija, I wanna first ask you, you know, you have, okay. Let's talk. What is that?

Yeah. So, September will actually be my fifth year in real estate. Right? So, during the five years of me being in real estate, I've been exposed to a lot. Right?

A lot of opportunities where the door the doors are wide open and other opportunities where I felt like the doors were actually closed. Right? And it was harder Mhmm. Open. Right?

So because of that, okay. Let's talk was born. Okay? So I realized that in as a real estate agent, there are many black and brown people. Right?

But as you get to start looking at the other professionals within the real estate in industry, such as home inspectors and real estate attorneys and appraisers, and even, mortgage brokers. That's where the numbers kinda decrease. Definitely here in the capital region, it decreases a lot. So the whole point of, okay, let's talk is to increase the numbers of black and brown people, to be in, many different real estate professions, but to also kinda go back to the youth and start there. Right?

Let's start, telling the youth of the many different, you know, career paths within real estate because that's that's really where you make your decision. Obviously, you change careers, you know, during your lifetime, but it's like, you know, I didn't know about real estate until I was in, really, my mid twenties. You know? What if I became a real estate agent at 18? Who knows what what would have been I'm sorry.

So You're good. You recommend, so you recommend, like, the youth to, like if they was interested in real estate, you recommend them to, like, study like, I said study. Get into it in, like, after high school. Right? Yeah.

I mean, you can even do it during high school. Right? You can find internship program high school? Yeah. Like, oh my gosh.

Yeah. Absolutely. Well, like, even so, like and that's one of the programs that, okay, let's talk has. Right? We have a internship program for high schoolers.

Right now, it's only for seniors just because seniors usually get out of school early. So it's usually we usually hold it between, like, the one to 4PM time frame, just because, you know, they have sports that they may be doing or a part time job or, you know, taking care of taking care of family and stuff like that. But, yeah, you can always have a internship program, right, something real estate related, during high school. You can also even have a mentorship program. A lot of people don't know that you only a lot of people don't know that you only need to be 18.

Right? You can be 18 to get your real estate license. You know? And then from there on show. And from there on, you know, that's when you talk to a home inspector.

You're like, okay. Well, how old do I need to be to be a home inspector? How old do I need to be to be an appraiser and stuff like that? But I'm pretty sure I mean, I know a real estate agent, you only need to be 18, and I'm pretty sure that's across board with most, if not all, real estate career path. So the fact that you don't know, that's literally what was just said.

That's what I'm trying to change. Right? I'm trying to change, so that all the youth know. Definitely, the black and brown youth know of the many different career paths that they have that are at their disposal, but they they just don't know about it because, you know, we talk about, you know, we talk about sports all the time. You know, we talk about being a basketball player, going to NBA and, you know, the NFL and all that stuff, and it's like, yeah.

All those things are great, but they're not just for all of us. Just because you're black and brown does not mean you're supposed to go and play some type of sport. You know what I mean? Mhmm. You're right.

Yep. Again, just being acknowledged of other things. There are other things where it makes sense for, you know, some of us to go down that path. So just trying to put the word out there is really what okay let's Talk is about. Alright.

Now I wanna go back to, something you said a little bit earlier. You said that you had some barriers. Now for the audience, because this is an audio only podcast, and it always will be, you can't see that she is a black woman. So that matters because it's a part of the conversation and, that we're having and part of the question I'm about to ask. So you said that you had some you found that there were doors that were open for you that were wide open.

Great. Yep. But you also found that there are some challenges, some doors that were, you know, painted open but really shut is the way I'm a phrase it. Am I right? Yeah.

So can you tell the audience what what what do you mean by that? What did that look like? Yeah. So, I became a homeowner last year. Right?

So last year, I actually bought a two family. Woo hoo. And oh, thank you. So it's my family you know, my family and I, we live upstairs, and then we do have, just an amazing tenant downstairs. We definitely lucked out with our tenant.

So if he's listening to this, thank you for being you. So one of the things that, you know, I kinda ran into was the buying process. Yes. I definitely preach homeownership. Yes.

I don't think homeownership is for everyone. I don't think anyone is just for everyone. We're we're all different, and, you know, we want to embrace that. But for the people where homeownership makes sense, there are it's a roller coaster ride. Right?

And for my clients, I try to smooth it out as much as possible. But for myself, that was not happening. It was not happening. So just going through the financial process of what it was like to buy my buy my house, my the lender that I went through was would be lying if I told you that there were times where not on their part because there's many different parties, you know, when you're buying a house, so not on their not on their part at all. But I'd be lying if I told you that there were times, there were definitely times, you know, when it crossed my mind, like, wow.

Is this happening because of my like, are they really pressing me because of my skin, like, my skin tone? Like, would I be getting these same, you know, would they be dotting their i's and crossing their t's if I if I had my name, you know, if my name was my name? You know? So, like, that that in itself was very, very tough. So Oh, I I wanna I wanna also add because you guys can't see her.

Khadijah looks like she belongs in high school, and she looks very young. As they say, black don't crack, and it definitely applies to her. She looks so freaking young. So that might be a part of it too because look at because, you know, when you open your mouth, the maturity is clearly there. But looking at you, we put you in high school, nobody would nobody pick you out.

He's like, hey, girl. Let's go to lunch. You know? Because you look so young. So I was 12 since I was 12.

Like, just doesn't Janiyah, were you gonna ask something? Yeah. So my question is because I know that if people was, like, in the same position as you going through, like, discrimination, some would have, like, gave up, but, like, what made you, like, still keep going? Yeah. Oh my gosh.

Great question. I would definitely have to say my family was definitely number one. Like, my family was definitely number one. You know, one of the reasons why I reached homeownership is because of generational wealth. Right?

I wanna be able to buy properties and leave the properties to my kids. You know what I mean? So at least they have somewhere to start off at. Right? So family, generational wealth was definitely number one.

Two, I needed to do it for myself. Right? Like I said, I'd be a real estate agent. Next month would be five years. I've helped more than a hundred people buy homes.

There's no reason why I should not be able to help myself buy a home. Right. So I needed to accomplish it for myself. So I fought and I fought and I fought. And I'm telling you, like, you know, I tell my clients, like, make sure you have a great home buyer home buying team.

And what I mean by a home buying team is your real estate agent, your real estate attorney, your lender, like, your home inspector. Like, those people are really going to ride for you, and that's exactly what they did in order to get me to the closing table. So, yeah, I would say number one was family, and two, I needed it was a must. Like, failing is not an option. I needed to buy my house for me.

Great question. So what I hear is that you you had a determination. You had a reason to do it just in owning a just other than, oh, I have a house. Yeah. I really do believe in whys.

Right? Like, I feel like that's taught, you know, also at a young age. Definitely, when it you know, you start to become a entrepreneur, you start to build your own business. Like, what is your why? Start with your why.

And I truly do believe in that same that same concept. Like, that why is going to stop you from failing. It's going to push you. It's going to, you know, bring your determination. You know what I mean?

So, yeah, as long as you have your why and, like, please understand your why can change. Like, I feel like a lot of people do also kinda think that, okay. Well, this is my why and this is my forever why. Yeah. Is that possible?

Absolutely. But, no. Like, you can have multiple different whys. Right? You can, you know, take whys off as you go through the process.

You know what I mean? Or or that whole why can just change. All of a sudden, your why is completely completely different, than what it was before when you started. So I feel like that's also important too that, like, a lot of people just think, like, oh, this is my why. You know?

It's this is a standard why. It's never going to change and, it will. And when it does, oh, man. When it does, most of the times when your why changes, it's because you've grown. You've accomplished.

Yes. Yes. That's when your why changes, and ended as the best feeling ever. The best feeling ever. Awesome.

Awesome. So for for the teen should let me ask you this. Should teenagers right now, look into buying a home or early college? Yeah. So, so through Okay.

Let's Talk programs. Right? So, Okay. Let's Talk goes into institutions. So, like, elementary school, middle school, high schools is really its, priority right now.

We do do, you know, after school, programs and stuff like that. And for our high school programs, we do talk about the possibility of what it would look like, if they were to buy a house in college. Now Oh. What do I mean by that? Right?

So let me break it down for you. So what if just, you know, kinda thinking. What if instead of going to college and paying for a room and board, and I'm speaking from experience, I went to two colleges. I went to SUNY Delhi my freshman year, and then I transferred to SUNY Albany, Great Danes in which I graduated, with my bachelor's degree. I'm I'm sorry.

I'm laughing y'all because she made the symbol. Great Danes, y'all. You can't see it, but she showed her she showed her pride just now. You gotta do. You gotta do it.

So Was you in college when you figured out you wanted to do real estate? Nope. It was after college. It was after college is where I figured it out. Yep.

So hold like, hold on to that because I also do wanna talk about how I even got into real estate. So don't remind me to talk about that. Question. Go ahead. So so when when we talk to our high schoolers alright.

I was breaking it down. So the breakdown is instead of going to college and paying for a room aboard. Right? What if you bought a house? Right?

Now don't get me wrong. Not all freshman college students will be able to break to buy a house because if you were anything like me, you were a broke freshman college student. Right? At this point, you're pretty much leveraging your family. Right?

Maybe mom, dad, auntie, uncle, grandma, grandpa, someone like that, right, who is able to buy a house where you are going to college. Okay? So what if this house that is being bought is a multifamily home or it could be a single family home? Really makes no difference with this specific example. So let's say it's a single family home.

Let's do that. With a single family home, you are living in this house. Let's say it's a three bedroom single family home. So you are living in one of the bedrooms, and then you have two other college students living in the other two bedrooms, and they're paying rent to be there. Okay?

Now what if this is a multifamily home? What what if this is a two family home like my house, right, where it's three bedrooms upstairs and three bedrooms downstairs? Again, you, there's total six bedrooms. You are living in one of the bedrooms, and now you're renting out five of the other bedrooms, two college students. These can be your friends.

These can be your, your classmates, and you're renting them out, let's say, I don't know, $600 a room. Instead of you going to college and paying that university or that community college room and board, what would your financial situation look like? What would be the difference? Does that make sense? Because, again, everyone's path is different.

So does that make sense for you? So that's an example of what I teach to my high school students to get them thinking. Not necessarily saying, hey. This is the one path that you have to go down. Not saying that at all, but, hey.

This isn't an option for you. If it makes for you, then proceed with it. Do it. If not, it's okay. I got a few more that may make sense.

So that's that. Now the way you just explained it, I wanna go back to college and buy a house so I could rent out the roofs and make some money while I'm going to school. Me? I'll probably be debt free right now. That sounds like a that sounds like a really great idea.

How could, let's say you got someone who grew up in apartments their whole life. There's there's nobody in their family owns a home. Because that's true for a lot of people. Whether you live out in the country or you live in the inner city, there's a lot in both areas where that's true for. So let's say you have people like that who've there nobody in their how their their family owns a home, and their families go look at it like, you stupid.

Why are you trying to own a home? Just rent like we did. Yeah. What would you say to those people? Oh, man.

What would I say to them? I would say, that it has to start somewhere. I would say, one, it has to start somewhere. I would say, two, create that generational wealth with you. Right?

And I would say, three, know what you're doing. Just keep moving forward. Again, as long as you have that real estate team to support you, keep doing it. I feel like and this is the other thing because I feel like every single time. Oh.

Janaya, what did you say? You just gotta break the chain. Oh, that's a good way to put it. She's really good with analogies, by the way. You think I'm good?

This girl. She got me beat. Yeah. Break the chain. I like I like that.

You're right. Break the chain because we do grow up with chains around our minds because of Yeah. Our our forefathers, so to speak, our parents, grandparents, and maybe they never got out of the welfare state of mind, the, or what I call slavery state of mind, welfare state of mind. Whatever you wanna call it, because it's gonna be different names to different people, but it's really all the same thing. You gotta break those chains or you end up in the same ones.

You know? Eventually, we're all black. We got out of slavery because somebody broke those chains for us, you know, our ancestors. And, you know, in different ways at different times, but nobody breaks free just by sitting there and doing the same thing. You gotta break free.

Anyway, that's my little preach on. I have I have to do that. No. You're right. Because even a lot of people, like, you know, they look you know, we look at homeownership as a negative thing.

Right? And something that we don't think about is that, okay. Well, there's pros and cons to everything. But when it comes to homeownership, we're so focused more so on the negative that we don't preach the positive as much. Right?

So, you know, we talk about, oh, you gotta have you know, you have to put a lot of money down. Oh, you your credit score has to be in the eight hundreds. You have to put 20% down. Like, just just all of these things to try and stop, you know, yourself or the next person from, you know, becoming a homeowner and creating that generational wealth in in our families. You know?

We're we're just we're just so quick to to, you know, just push out the negative instead of pulling in the positive. Like, okay. Well, yeah, I may need 20% down, but problem solved. What are some ways that you can, get that 20% down? By the way, just put it out there.

You don't need 20% down, guys. You don't. You don't need 20% down. You don't need a 700 credit score. It's it's false information.

It's a myth. And that's the other thing is that we're so quick to listen to, you know, our families and our friends and, respectively, totally makes sense, but let's start reaching out to that professional. Right? That that's their lane. That's what they do for a living.

Right? So if you're looking, you know, someone's telling you, oh, I need a 700, credit score or I need 20% down. You know, how about we fact check it? You know? How about we call up a lender or a few and be like, hey.

I'm thinking about buying a house. Can you run my numbers and let me know, you know, what my score needs to be or what my credit score needs to be and how much I need to put down? Just saying. No. That's that's some pretty awesome advice.

For someone who is considering owning a home and they're 17, like, Janiyah, what's a realistic time frame for them to consider in order to make that happen? Alright. Let me rephrase that. What they're 17 right now, and their expected goal is to own a home. What's a realistic time frame for how long that might take?

So I would say, realistically, I would say by 22, you should own a home. And that's including that's obviously taken care of you gotta be mindful of your credit score. Right? Gotta be mindful of your credit score. You gotta be mindful of, you know, your debt.

You gotta be mindful of your income. Right? Those are all the things and and more, that matters when it comes to buying a house. Right? But I say if you're 17 let's say you graduate from from high school anywhere between seven 17 to 19.

Everyone's lives are different between seven and 19. Right? Two full years of work and experience. Let's say you start working at 19. Let's say you start working at 20.

By 22, you should really be in the process of buying a house, if not just having having conversations about it. And that's really all I want is I want conversations to happen Mhmm. About homeownership. Because what's happening is these conversations are not starting because people believe, oh, well, let me wait until I get married. Oh, let me wait until I have my own children.

Oh, let me wait until I graduate from college. Oh, let me wait until I find my career job. Oh, let me wait until I make 6 figures, 7 figures, 8 figures. Wow. Are you pushing this off?

Why are we pushing this off? What is something that you can consider? I didn't even know that because I even got told that it's very hard to buy a house and, like, move out. And based on what I've seen, I will, like, see people, like, get in their first house or first apartment, like, in their late twenties, early thirties because they say it's really, really, really hard to, like, to move out and buy a house. I didn't even know that you can, like, get a house, like, at 22.

Yeah. You you can. It's hard to ride a bike until you try. And that's the thing is peep you we keep getting told, not just about home buying, but other things, it's too difficult. It's too difficult.

It's too difficult. So we we don't try, and it it holds us back because you really wanna own. If you really wanna own a city, buy up its property. I'm telling you that right now. You wanna own some, buy up some property.

The reason I asked you that that question, Khadijah, about the timeline is I think it's important since we're talking to teenagers and youth and and we wanna give them wanna encourage them to to try this. I think it's important to also let them know what the realistic timelines is. And because if we don't say that, they're gonna think, well, I didn't do it within a year, so I'm a failure. You know, this didn't happen right away, or I tried once and I got rejected, so forget it. And I I want them to know, like you just said, it's not something that happens overnight.

It's something you have to go in with great intention. It is completely and totally possible if you plan it. You have to plan it. It might take a few years, but you can get there, and you'll be better than all your peers when you do. Because they'll be still still be sitting there wondering how they're gonna buy McDonald's next week while you're buying a house.

You know? Am I right? It's it's it's really no. You're you're definitely right. And I and I think the other thing about it is that we don't know, the tools and resources that are out there to help us be a homeowner.

Right? So, like, for grants. Right? I use the grant Mhmm. To buy my house.

Right? So Mhmm. I was just talking to my girls about OPM. Right? I have a a nine year old, and I have a seven year old.

And What's an OPM? Saying, oh, what's OPM? What's OPM? Right? So OPM is other people's money.

Right? So and I I bring this up because definitely to my high schoolers and to everyone, yes, I have the money. Yeah. I definitely have the money. But why am I gonna spend my money when I can leverage?

That's my favorite word. I've been using that word for about six years now. When you can leverage somebody else's money, such as a grant, a homeowner grant, right, to buy your house. So that couple hundred dollars, couple thousand dollars, what have you, of your own money, it stays yours. Why?

Because the cities around you, they have grant money to help you become first time homebuyers. The counties around you have grant money. The states have grant money to help you become first time homebuyers, and a lot of people do not know this. And, also, guys, as a former couponer, because I used to be, yes, I used to be one of those extreme couponers. Yes.

That was me. That was me. So as a couponer, you can stack the grants. So if you qualify for five grants, guys, you can use all five grants to be put towards your closing cost and your down payment. You're winning.

Just winning. I did it. Wow. So if I could do it, I'm sharing the information so that you could do it too, and that goes to my high schoolers and everyone else. Just have a conversation.

Start that conversation. If you're 17 years old, 18, 19, 20, early twenties, mid twenties, what have you, call a lender, a mortgage lender, walk into a bank, and just have the conversation. Hey. I'm thinking about buying a house. Can you walk me through what needs to be done?

That way you have a plan. Right? You spoke to a professional, and you have a plan mapped out from for in front of you, your specific plan, not mom, dad's, auntie, uncles. No. Your specific plan to your financials so that you can go by that plan and get from point a to point b, which is the closing table.

Wow. Well, this is awesome. It makes me wanna go out and get something right now. But, but I really I'm I'm hoping that all of you who are listening and you are teenagers, it's not too early to start thinking about stuff like that because the sooner you you can own your own home, the sooner you can do a lot of other things, actually. Janaya, did you have any other questions for her?

Oh, how did you, like like, what made what made you, get into real estate? Yeah. Yeah. Great question. And thank you for, remembering to bring this question back.

So, my family is all about go to college. Right? Go to high school, you go to college, and then you, work for the state is really what they were preaching. Right? And that's exactly what I did.

Right? I graduated from high school. As you guys know, as I already said, I graduated from UAlbany, Great Danes. Yes. Gotta do it again, Great Danes.

And then from then on, during my senior year of college, I was doing internships. Right? So everything that I all my programs that I run now are things that I did myself. So I I were I was in internship programs. And then one of my internships actually landed me at the state where I was able to get a full time state job.

So I was like, mama, I made it. Like, I did everything that my family was preaching to me, and I was like, yes. This is, like, this is the life. Right? Boy, was I lying to myself.

I was miserable. I felt like I was a robot. I felt like I was doing the same thing over and over and over again. Right? I'm now $35,000 in debt from my college degree.

And although I'm working at the state, which is great because you retire with benefits and all that stuff, well, I also don't plan to retire for another forty, fifty or, yeah, like, twenty, thirty years. So am I necessarily thinking about retirement at the age of 22, 20 three? No. And the fact that everyone is telling me that I have to sit at this desk for another twenty to thirty years in order to get great benefits, to then retire in my fifties or sixties. That was not appealing to me whatsoever.

So if anything, they were actually pushing me out of the state instead of keeping me in. But, anyway, you know, sitting out So glad they did. I know. Right? Yes.

Always always blessed for it. Always blessed. Sometimes you gotta climb out of the box people wanna put you in. Go ahead. You do.

You do. You really, really do. So just sitting behind a computer, eight hours, you know, going for a walk as your lunch break, it just it just wasn't it wasn't appealing to me. So Mhmm. At this time, I had a I had three best friends.

One of them was a real estate agent. One of them was a investor. He was a wholesaler. And the, the other one was a mortgage lender. So three of my best friends, you know, they were already in the real estate industry.

I was the only one who was not. So at this time, they kept saying, hey, Kaye. Like, you should be in real estate. Like, everybody you know, your clients will love your personality. They will love your smile.

Like, oh my gosh. You would be amazing. And, Janiyah, do you wanna guess what I said? No. Great.

Great answer. I said no. No. No. Stop talking about it.

I don't wanna have to market myself. I don't wanna have to sell myself. No. That's not what I wanna do. So they tried for about, I don't know, anywhere to six to nine months.

And then my best friend who was a real estate agent, he said to me one day, he said, hey. I'm thinking about starting a real estate team. And at this time, you know, as he was getting his commission checks this true story, guys. True story. As as he was getting his commission checks, he would take pictures of his commission checks, and he would send them to me.

And then he talked about starting this real estate team. So I was like, Hold on. You think you're gonna do something without me? Like, you think you're just gonna build something and I'm not going to be a part of it? Like, I started to feel left out.

And to be honest with you, I'm so serious. Within I think it took me, like, two months. Within two months, I went to real estate school, and I got my real estate license. I was the first one on the team and on the longest lasting member of the team. So right now, we're we're a team of nine.

That was the first one, and I'm very proud of that. Wow. So you were motivated in a very different way, but we're all motivated differently. And and I think it's important to point that out, and, you know, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Well, I do have to, wrap this up.

But it has been freaking awesome talking to you. I always love talking to you. And whenever you go to the schools, you do presentations. It's not the first time I've seen her. I've seen her do presentations in person, and she's phenomenal.

When you get her in front of a a a group of of youth of any age, really. So if you are in the capital region and you're looking to have someone come speak to your school, to your your community group of kids, you definitely want her. She's got the energy of children, and it works. And it's it's it's a beautiful thing. So, with that, I'm gonna end this session, but it has been amazing talking to you.

And thank you again, Janiyah, for coming on again, onto the show. And I hope that listeners really got something out of this, and thanks again for coming. Thank you. And now for a mind shifting moment. Like Khadijah said earlier, you're not too young to start your real estate journey.

Limiting beliefs have probably kept you from considering it. But outside of real estate, what other limits have you put on yourself, have you kept in your mind to keep you from achieving bigger goals? The truth is the only limits that we have are the ones in our minds. Nobody can stop you from doing what you wanna do except you. And sometimes the biggest stumbling block that we have is our own thinking.

You can accomplish anything that you want with a plan and a decision that nothing will stop you. You just have to try. Thank you for listening to Mindshift Power podcast. Please like and subscribe to my YouTube channel at the mind shifter. If you have any comments, topic suggestions, or would like to be a guest on the show, please visit FatimaBay.com/podcast.

Remember, there's power in shifting your thinking. Tune in for next week.