We recently connected with Isaac Holder and have shared our conversation below.

Isaac, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success has different meanings to different people depending on their motivation. After 20 years in the Army and multiple deployments, training exercises, and schools, success to me means operating my business in a way that I am profitable and sustainable while being able to spend more time with my kids. For others it may mean earning a certain dollar amount per year or how much of an impact they have made on their community. In any case, in order to be successful you have to weigh every business decision you are faced with. You have to ask yourself if the decision you are about to make aligns with your morals and goals. Sometimes the best financial decision may not align with your morals and you have to decide what’s really important to you. For example, I own two businesses; a real estate business and a full-scale handyman business. For a while, both businesses were booming but I was losing time with my kids because I was always out meeting with new or potential clients. Although my kids and I were enjoying the fruits of my labor, operating both businesses at that level did not align with my goals. I had to make the tough decision to scale down the handyman services so that we could spend more time together.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Growing up, my father and uncle had a home maintenance company where they did literally everything. Flooring, drywall, paint, electrical, plumbing, etc. As a teen, I was “forced” to go work with them. I learned a lot about those systems and how to repair homes. I joined the Army straight out of high school with a goal of earning a four-year degree in business then exiting the military and starting my own business in that field. Of course, I fell in love with what I was doing in the military and decided to make a career out of it. While on active duty, I still had the passion for carpentry so I was building and selling furniture out of my garage. When I retired, I went to work for a General Contractor as the Chief Operating Officer and helped him scale his business. I ended up moving more than an hour away and decided it was time to get back to what I really was passionate about in the first place. I landed my first client and renovated one of his long-term rental properties for him. This client is big on social media and documented the entire process which gained me a lot of attention. However, there are certain times of the year when construction work slows down. During my first slow season I decided that I needed something to fill that void and earned my real estate license and started my real estate business.

The thing that I am most proud of and what I feel provides the best quality to my clients is being able to walk into a potential investment property and tell them about how much they can expect to spend for renovations and what they can expect to sell it for. This is also helpful for home buyers that are not looking for an investment property. When they get their home inspection back, I can help them negotiate the repairs because I know what they should cost, I can help them decide which repairs are most crucial and should be negotiated or which ones are minor and could be done later that we shouldn’t fight over if it’s going to ruin the deal. I am also able to help sellers in the same capacity, after touring the home and identifying the repairs that need to be made, I can help them decide which repairs to make themselves and set a list price that accounts for the remaining repairs to better market their home and get it sold quickly or on their timeline at a price that they are happy with.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think my first client helped me build my reputation within my market. I like to be as transparent as possible with my clients. When renovating his long-term rental property, I set up a Google Drive that had everything from the Statement of Work to spreadsheets showing the schedule, the sub-contractors that were being used and what they were charging me, the receipts of payment to them along with check numbers for tracking purposes. My client had access to all of this. He is very much a “numbers person” and liked that I shared it with him so he recommended me to others looking for my services even during the videos he made while documenting the renovation process.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I was terrible at keeping in contact with people, especially when I retired from the army. I was basically starting from scratch when building my social media presence. Thankfully Facebook shows you “people you may know” so I would check our mutual friends and remember who people were then add them. I still don’t have a large following and I am definitely still learning but I have had a lot of success when I share quality content like how-to’s, tips for sellers/buyers, what’s going on in the market or those type of posts. I think the most successful things are when I show my face, I’m being genuine with my followers, and I’m just talking about me. Allowing them to get to know the real me and why I do what I do.

When I was sixteen, I came home one day to an empty apartment. My brother had gone to jail and my dad emptied the apartment and moved out. After couch hopping for a few days, I ended up moving into a small shack that probably should have been condemned but it was in that place where I saw that army commercial and called the 800 number to join up. Of course, I had to wait until I graduated high school but they put me on delayed entry and that’s when everything changed for me. That part of my story is why I have a passion for helping the under privileged or less fortunate find ways to become homeowners through different local, state, and federal programs. When I told that story on social media there was such an outpouring of love from people that I have never met. Be genuine, be yourself, and tell YOUR story.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://isaacholder.exprealty.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realtor_isaacholder/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/REALTORIsaacHolder
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isaac-holder/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/isaac-holder-exp-realty-fayetteville?osq=isaac+holder&override_cta=Request+a+consultation

Image Credits

Amanda McCollum Photography