INVESTOR STORIES
PRESIDENTS' CIRCLE
Presidents’ Circle
Featured Member: Andre Johnson SUCCESS IS IN THE PROCESS FOR THIS REAL ESTATE ENTREPRENEUR
f you have attended a Think Realty event in Bal- timore, you have probably met Presidents’ Circle
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member Andre Johnson, leader of Deal Mastery master- mind and Deals Meetup, an online, nationwide network- ing opportunity for investors to put together profitable deals. His expert-guided tour of wholesale/REO deals and rehab projects is a huge hit at the Think Realty Baltimore Conference. On the tour, Johnson shares expert strate- gies used to find great deals on and off market; how to structure win-win deals, and how to choose the best floor plan and designs to sell or rent your properties quickly for top dollar. This is just one opportunity Johnson thrives on because he gets to exercise one of his passions — sharing knowledge with others and helping them achieve success. Just as not all business owners are success, not all are apt to teach others who are walking a similar path. But that’s not the case for this “Deal Engineer.” Perhaps a natural-born mentor, Johnson always believed he would be a business owner one day. “When I graduated from college with my chemical engi- neering degree, I went straight into the industry working for Merck, a pharmaceutical company doing vaccine biologics research and development. At work, I would look around my office, my laboratory, and I noticed the guy in the cubicle next to me had been in the research lab for 10 years, and he was working from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and that’s what I was doing as a new hire. I thought to myself, “Do I really want to be doing the same thing for the next 10 years?” When staring down 12-hour days became too tiresome, Johnson started directing his eyes to different opportu- nities. As it goes, when looking for other paths, we often call upon a little help from our friends. Johnson’s friend- turned-mentor, the late Shawn Black, taught him the most valuable real estate investment lessons. But it didn’t happen overnight. “My friend Shawn was already investing and wanted me to partner with him to buy more properties. I told him, ‘Bring me deals. Then we will talk.’ He started bringing
10 | think realty magazine :: july 2020
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