Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith James. They and their team shared their story with us below:
I started buying real estate at the age of 23 in the neighborhood I grew up in because I wanted people who look like me to see we do not always have to be tenants we can also be landlords.
Growing up in Columbus, Mississippi, Keith James was born into an environment fraught with racial, social, economic, and multigenerational challenges. Not many successful business people emerged from the backdrop of Keith’s childhood, but he is one of them. “I grew up in a pretty tough neighborhood, where I saw things I probably shouldn’t have seen at a young age. The people that we had to look up to were drug dealers and athletes. It was rare to see business people. I come from
a place where I had limited exposure about what I could look up to,” Keith reflects.
Keith was lucky, however, to have the unwavering support of his mother, grandmother, and grandfather, who made countless sacrifices to ensure his success. “My grandfather walked two miles to work every day. He said, ‘Son, I walked so you can run,’” Keith reflects. Keith found further guidance from the sports teams he played on and 100 Black Men of America, a nonprofit that connected him with a life-changing mentor. “Sports, mentorship, and my family helped me expand beyond the barriers I faced. If not, I’d be a product of my environment. I needed that exposure outside my environment.”
Finding His Calling Keith’s mentor was the first to introduce him to the world of real estate. He went on to graduate with a business degree from Tuskegee University and began his working life in corporate America. While at Tuskegee I joined the greatest fraternity on earth Alpha Phi Alpha Inc.. Keith became one of 3M’s top salespeople and was eventually given the opportunity to run the company’s Washington, D.C., sales territory. By all accounts, Keith was on a path to success, but there was one missing link.
“When I graduated from college, I didn’t know anything about money and wasn’t financially literate, so I blew a lot of my money,” Keith reflects humbly. “My now wife gave me ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad,’ and that book changed my life. She knew I was an entrepreneur at heart, and for me to get where I wanted to go, I’d have to build wealth outside of corporate America — and that was through real estate. That book introduced me to real estate, along with my mentor.”
Keith bought his first real estate investment in 2013 at 23 years old. I began his real estate sales career four years later. Since 2017, my company has put more black people in homes than anyone in the country. Since 2019, we’ve sold over 1500 homes, and 650 million worth of real estate and we’ve facilitated over a million dollars to charity.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When trying to be a leader in the real estate industry, it is not always easy. I am very thankful for the power of partnership. My business partners, HARRISON, Beacher, and Ryan Butler have always helped me be the best person and the best businessman I could be. I am always thankful for the mentors and coaches that I have had in the industry.
It is always important to have a coach that seizure blind Spotts, and people that can hold you accountable to be the best person you could be. I would like to shout out my Coach Jen Davis for always holding me accountable and making sure I’m hitting my goals. When you’re trying to create something bigger than yourself, you can’t do it alone. Some of the struggles that I have had have been work-life balance.
Not knowing how important it is to take time off to think and be present with yourself. I have invested in coaching, and I have invested in peace of mind. That piece of mind comes from therapy. When you work as hard as I work, sometimes you need a break and a time to where you can get all of your thoughts off of your mind to someone who can help you be a better person.
In our community with often Look at therapy as being crazy or being not well put together. I would argue that we all need therapy and we all should invest in therapy so that we can be the best person. We can be every single day.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Coalition Properties Group Is headquartered on Capitol Hill and has sold over 1,500 homes for over $650 million in volume since launching in 2019. Perhaps even more importantly, we’ve facilitated the donation of over $1 million to charity. I am the number one black agent in the country with the number one black-owned team in the country at the number one black-owned brokerage in the company. We help people buy sale and invest in real estate all over the world.
Our mission is to be the bridge to our community for all things, real estate, lifestyle, and wealth building. I think the one thing that sets us apart from a lot of companies is that we love our clients and we provide resources for our clients that other Real Estate farms cannot. Our clients stick with us for life because it’s not just about the transaction. It is about being on the bridge to help them get to where they want to go. We’ve helped people find jobs. We’ve helped people find mentors. That is just a small piece of what we’ve done.
We’ve also held conferences so people can be educated about building and how to create wealth within their families. We are also an opportunity platform for other real estate agents to be able to come and plug in and learn how to be the best real estate professionals possible. We’ve launched a hub in Richmond, VA and we just launched a hub in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Baltimore has been a great market for us as well helping people with their real estate needs.
I also sit on the board of a nonprofit called All Abroad Inc. where we take black youth overseas to expose them abroad. All Abroad, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, raises charitable donations to enable service-driven global travel for underrepresented high school students. With our considerable knowledge of travel, heart for servitude, and financial resources, our platform starts youth on the path to global citizenship.
Students can strengthen the leadership, creativity, and communication skills needed for success while positively affecting global communities. We believe exposure is the key to growth and travel serves as a catalyst to inspire young minds. All Abroad exposes youth to global service opportunities that broaden their horizons and ambitions.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Leading with education is the most important thing you can do in real estate. The more education you have the more peace of mind you have going through a real estate transaction.
I make sure my clients understand the long-term effect this current transaction will have on them. Educating the community is very important and that’s why we have educated millions of people about real estate.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://keith.coalitionpg.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keithjamesrealtor/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coalitionproperties?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-james-01695629
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@KeithJamesRealtor?si=4Z1VJX7AR273wSjY
- Other: https://all-abroad.org/
