Build Where You Live: Why Justin Stays Local and Scales Class-A Mixed-Use in Indiana

Justin Goodin (00:00)

Yeah, I guess what propelled me into going into real estate was sort of like unexpected, but I got fired from my W2 job working at the bank, which sort of created this fantastic opportunity for me to go sort of create my own company, follow my dreams and start that company. It didn’t feel like it at the time because I’d never been fired before and it’s sort of just like a spur of moment thing. So it didn’t feel like it at the time, but it turned out to be, you I think the best thing that ever happened to me. So that was sort of like the

Kristen (00:19)

Right.

Justin Goodin (00:30)

mindset shift. I ⁓ didn’t really have a plan B. I didn’t want to go back to the corporate life.

Kristen (02:08)

Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m Kristen and I’m here with Justin Goodin, who is the founder and CEO of Goodin Developments. It’s a great company out of Indiana and I’m excited to get into it. Thanks for being here, Justin. Amazing. So, you you’ve been able to scale your business very quickly in the last couple of years. Let’s go to the beginning. What got you into real estate? What’s your background look like?

Justin Goodin (02:21)

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Yeah, so what got me into real estate was sort of a behind the scenes look like when I was working at a bank as a multi-company writer.

So before going full-time in a course for real estate, I graduated college with a bachelor’s in finance and supply chain management. And then spent many years working as a multi-human underwriter for a bridge lender here in Indiana. And as an underwriter, you see everything. You see the borrower’s tax returns, financial statements, their net worth, all those things that I saw sort of like behind the scenes and I knew I wasn’t going to achieve those things

sheet like that financial freedom that I was going after solely by you know doing like residential flips and rentals which I was sort of doing like my spare time as well working at the bank. But yeah that sort of like opened my eyes to the possibility of going after these larger size multi-unit assets working with investors, working with the partners to go after these you know properties that I think have a lot more scale a lot more benefits than your traditional fix and flip or rental that the typical investor does starting out.

Kristen (03:42)

I mean…

Justin Goodin (03:42)

So, and yeah,

oh sorry, I was gonna ask you a question, finish your question. But yeah, today we’re good at development, we’re building class A mixed use projects here in Indiana. We stay like very laser focused on that criteria. We’re not doing mobile home parks, we’re not doing hotels or properties in Texas, Florida. Today, my company, we’re just building class A mixed use projects from the ground up here in Indiana.

Kristen (04:08)

Amazing, and can you kind of talk about that strategy? Because I think that there’s two ways to go about it, either go wide or go deep. Can you talk about your decision to really go deep into the Indiana market?

Justin Goodin (04:20)

I think for me, you know, I…

feel more comfortable being within a few hours driving distance of the projects that I’m doing. And like any kind of commercial asset or investment, this isn’t something you can just buy or build and then just go hope the management company or the construction company is going to just do their part and everything goes well, ⁓ sell it, move on. I these are still projects you have to be actively involved in. I’m on site weekly on the construction projects I have going on. And for me, mean, one that’s easier to do

if it’s in couple hours driving distance of my house and where I live. And two, mean, growing up in Indiana, living in Indiana,

I know all the good areas, I know all the bad areas. And so I just feel more comfortable investing in my home state and just staying towards that laser focus of investing in where I know and in my backyard, so to speak.

Kristen (06:01)

Absolutely,

especially with developments because you have to check on everything so often. It’s not really just a plug and play where you can walk away. Yeah, and so talk about kind of how you developed this company. Talk about the mindset shift when you were doing real estate as a side hustle and then now doing it full time. What kind of like got you there?

Justin Goodin (06:10)

Correct.

Yeah, I guess what propelled me into going into real estate was sort of like unexpected, but I got fired from my W2 job working at the bank, which sort of created this fantastic opportunity for me to go sort of create my own company, follow my dreams and start that company. It didn’t feel like it at the time because I’d never been fired before and it’s sort of just like a spur of moment thing. So it didn’t feel like it at the time, but it turned out to be, you I think the best thing that ever happened to me. So that was sort of like the

Kristen (06:47)

Right.

Justin Goodin (06:57)

mindset shift. I ⁓ didn’t really have a plan B. I didn’t want to go back to the corporate life.

didn’t want to go back to a desk job. Nothing wrong with that. That’s what you’re doing now. There are other opportunities out there. You can step outside the norm and go out there and create your own company. It’s not going to be like a rocket ship. I’ve had plenty of failures and plenty of downturns out there, but I just knew that the ultimate goal is

didn’t want to go back to my W-2 and I wanted to grow slowly and surely over time by starting my own company and doing very conservative and doing the right deals.

Kristen (07:38)

Absolutely. No, I think that’s a really good way to look at it and kind of seeing those moments that are hard as opportunities, I think that’s a that’s kind of a muscle that needs to be grown. People, you know, it’s not the natural response, you know, when maybe you get let go from your job. To see that as an opportunity, I think is a really great mindset.

Justin Goodin (07:59)

you

Kristen (08:02)

⁓ And so, yeah, so with Good and Development, ⁓ talk about, you know, identifying the right deals to do, like finding land. What are you looking for when you’re finding land?

Justin Goodin (08:02)

100 % yes.

Yeah, great question. So in development, like really, you know, any real estate transaction, it goes back to the classic saying of it all comes down to location. Location is the most important part of the whole entire deal. And I truly believe that. So when I’m looking for, you know, different sites or different locations, ⁓ I start by finding the absolute best location to build the best location to live in. doesn’t matter if the land is cheap or if it’s

already

zoned correctly, it all starts with finding the absolute best location to build it. So one of the fundamental questions I ask when I’m looking at sites is, would I live here? Would I want to pay the market rent and live in this location? So that’s a fundamental question I always ask when I’m looking at the site. Other than that, I’m looking for sites that are well located, sites that are near a Costco or near

or Starbucks or near a bunch of restaurants and commercial spaces. So I’m trying to find the absolute best piece of land in the best market and then sort of like reverse engineer the process from there. Because it all starts with the site and then we can move on and talk about getting it under contract and what I do from there. But yeah, answer your question. I’m looking for the best site and the best location, the best market and going from there.

Kristen (09:44)

Yeah, and typically, you know, the Starbucks and Costco’s of the world, they have a ton of money to do to look at data in these communities. So it is really a good strategy to kind of like piggyback off of their data. Well, it must be a great, you know, place to invest in, you know, if they think it is.

Justin Goodin (10:03)

Exactly.

Kristen (10:40)

And then what about, you know, find it just capitalizing on these opportunities like.

What’s your mindset going into this kind of stuff where I imagine starting out it was kind of difficult, it was kind of probably scary. Like what’s your mindset going into these opportunities and how do you kind of navigate all of that?

Justin Goodin (11:03)

Yeah, but I’m always thinking about the end goal. So I’m always thinking about what the project is going to be once it’s all fully built and stabilized and leased up. I’m always thinking of that end result and then how can I get there? So it all starts with that, find that perfect location, getting the site under contract. And I know there’s going to be plenty of bumps in the road. know there’s going to be times where the deal is going to die or not work out or maybe

this thing comes up on an environmental report.

So I’ve already experienced quite a bit of things that throw off the deals, throw off the projects, but you never wanna give up on the project you’re working on. Always remember that end goal and just ⁓ find ways to leverage your team to go through all these problems as well. Because as a developer, I’m sort of at the top of the food chain, working with all these different third party companies. ⁓ I’m not really an expert

for it in any one thing. I’m relying on my civil engineer. I’m relying on feedback from my architect, ⁓ feedback from my construction company. All these different third party teams that I have in my Rolodex, I’m using them and using their feedback to get through those turbulent times and ultimately get to the finishing line at the very end.

Kristen (12:31)

Yeah, and I would love for you to talk about, know you’re relatively just getting started with good in developments. What about a time where things really didn’t go as planned and kind of how you recovered from that?

Justin Goodin (12:45)

Yeah, so I would say this is after the first project that we got going. So this is back in late 2023 and sort of got like one project under contract and off the ground, up and running. But as a developer or any kind of real estate investor, you have to build that pipeline. So I went like an entire year, maybe like 14 months.

without having my next project lined up. So it just goes back to lot of self-doubt, a lot of worry, a lot of stress, ⁓ know, because a good project is hard to find, so I needed to start building that pipeline, and it took me another 14 months to do that. So it took me that long to find the next project, and then that second one took another year to get off the ground and start construction.

Kristen (13:18)

Bragging.

Justin Goodin (13:44)

That was not necessarily a failure, but a learning experience that I had starting out, is that in development, these projects take time to get off the ground. So you need to start building that pipeline now. As you’re starting construction on one deal, you should have another one lined up and ready to go a few months behind that one.

Kristen (14:04)

Yeah,

I think that’s really good advice. And how do you go about building that pipeline?

Justin Goodin (14:09)

Always talking to brokers, always ⁓ calling sellers of land. It doesn’t have to be a vacant piece of land like you might picture in your head. This could be ⁓ a blighted building. It could be ⁓ a house that is on a bunch of acres of land. I’m always talking to brokers. I’m always networking with people in my industry, going to local meetups. When you do a combination of all those things, you start to build that really good

Kristen (14:33)

Yeah.

Justin Goodin (14:39)

pipeline. A lot of deals won’t work out, but you’ll find that one, two, three per year that you know that good sweet spots end up do work out again.

Kristen (14:46)

Yeah.

Yeah, and I think it’s a numbers game. Like the more deals you’re seeking out, you’ll end up, one will definitely come your way. You mentioned kind of like local meetup groups. What are the ways that you actually like meet these brokers and get in person with them and start to build those relationships?

Justin Goodin (15:47)

I always love meeting people in person. that’s brokers, other land brokers, other just real estate professionals in the industry. I want to meet people in person. So I want to go there and have lunch with them, have coffee with them. You these brokers are getting just tons of emails and tons of calls from different buyers and investors all the time. I think the people that, I mean, one, take the time to meet them in person,

and to follow up are the ones that build those like concrete relationships. So when those brokers, when those professionals come across a site or an opportunity or a different city or town has a site they need a developer on, I’m hoping to stay top of mind to those different brokers and professionals that will call me when they come across things like that across their desk.

Kristen (16:42)

Yeah,

I think the following up is a really big part of it, because as you mentioned, they’re inundated with people all day and things slip through the cracks. How do you, because I think a lot of people hear that and they’re like, I don’t want to be annoying. I don’t want to keep emailing somebody. How do you kind of get past that?

Justin Goodin (17:00)

Yeah, I think like another good point aside from just you know, the typical follow-up but typical like a I’ll send an email every 30 90 days or whatever it is like I am extremely active on social media Facebook and LinkedIn have been my two primary drivers of my audience, but I’m always talking about what I’m doing I’m always taking a picture of a construction site that I’m walking that day or a piece of land that I’m looking at or sometimes I’ll just go out

Kristen (17:19)

next.

Justin Goodin (17:30)

there and post my criteria of what I’m looking for. So that’s another very valuable asset is just posting on social media. It’s totally free and I’m connected on LinkedIn with different brokers, investors, people in the development space. And when you’re active on a site like that, that’s another way to stay top of mind to them because they’re seeing your content without actually just calling or emailing them directly.

Kristen (17:58)

Absolutely, think that’s great advice to kind of use the free ⁓ opportunities that you have through social media. And it really does help you stay top of mind when you’re kind of just in someone’s algorithm all the time. ⁓ With the social media stuff, was that intimidating for you? Are you, you know, doing on-camera videos for yourself or how did you kind of warm up into that?

Justin Goodin (18:21)

Yeah, in beginning it was very intimidating, ⁓ yeah, social media has just been the most just absolute valuable asset I’ve had for my business as far as brand awareness and visibility. So yeah, today not really worried at all, but in the beginning definitely struggled with that imposter syndrome. We just got to find a way to get through that, talk about things that you’re scared of or uncomfortable with. Those things do the best on social media. And once you put those things out,

Kristen (18:24)

Yeah.

Justin Goodin (18:51)

There’s nothing else bothering you because you’ve already posted about it. It’s already out there. It’s now you have like no choice, but then there’s you know, embrace it and go forward Yeah

Kristen (18:59)

And then you also you’re

launching a podcast or you just launched a podcast. I’d love for you to talk about that

Justin Goodin (19:05)

Yeah, Breaking Ground with Justin Goodin. Thanks for asking. He has recently launched a podcast where we’re interviewing other real estate professionals, multi-family owners and developers, and talking more about the ins and outs of how to get successful in the real estate industry, and more about passive investing tips and things like that where you can vet different operators and how you can evaluate projects for yourself as well.

Kristen (19:27)

Amazing and that’s just is that available on all podcast platforms and YouTube?

Justin Goodin (19:32)

Correct YouTube you type in my name just Justin good in she would have find it there and then Spotify and all the other platforms as well It’s called breaking ground with Justin good

Kristen (19:42)

Amazing.

So I think you’ve given a lot of good practical tips for people making the transition into real estate. To kind of wrap this up, what would be something, like a piece of advice that you wish you learned earlier in your career that you can share with everyone today?

Justin Goodin (19:59)

This goes back to the classic saying of finding a mentor or finding a more experienced person to help you. But the caveat that I think a lot of people are trying to find mentors or more experienced people that are 20, 30 years ahead of you. I think those are the wrong kind of mentors to have. Find somebody that is five years ahead of you, 10 years ahead of you. Not somebody that already has millions and millions of dollars and has been doing this for 30 years, et cetera, et cetera. It’s going to be really hard for

you to have a guy like that to dedicate time to teaching you the things you want to do. So find somebody that’s five, 10 years ahead of you. Find somebody that’s local in your own particular market and somebody that’s doing what you want to do. That’s my best advice. That’s the quickest way to get into the industry, save from making the same mistakes, just skipping ahead and getting ahead further.

Kristen (20:57)

Yeah, I think that’s good advice because you’re right. think a lot of people look for, you know, some top producers to mentor them, but they’re pretty far removed from that stage of getting started or that feeling of getting started. So I think you’re totally right. Just people who are a few steps ahead are great people to connect with. Well, thank you so much for being here. I would love for you to tell everyone where to find you and how to work with you.

Justin Goodin (21:22)

Yeah, thanks for having me. can follow me on LinkedIn and Facebook. Just my name, Justin Goodin. And then also you can go to GoodinDevelopment.com for any info about our projects and working with us.

Kristen (21:34)

Well, thank you so much for being here, Justin.

Justin Goodin (21:37)

Yeah, thanks for having me. I enjoyed our conversation. ⁓

Kristen (21:39)

Yes, and thank you everybody for tuning in. Hope you learned a lot, got some inspiration for your own business. Definitely check out Justin’s podcast. You’ll learn a lot, get some more information there. And yeah, thank you so much for listening. We’ll see you back next time. Bye.