Jerry Starks: Closing a $9 Million Gap in Fort Wayne Development With Tax Increment Financing

Want the best insights from this episode and more in bite-sized nuggets? Sign up for our free newsletter at https://undercontractnotes.com/ Guest Bio: Jerry Starks is the managing broker of JM Realty Associates in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he has built a brokerage serving buyers, sellers, and investors throughout Northeast Indiana. Beyond brokerage work, he is a property investor and developer behind Roosevelt Reserve, a new residential neighborhood on the city's southeast side. Episode Summary: Jerry Starks walks through how he went from skeptically getting his real estate license to building a high-volume brokerage by focusing on underserved buyers rather than chasing high-end clients. He details how land he acquired for investment turned into Roosevelt Reserve, a city-backed development funded partly through tax increment financing, and explains how JM Realty today leans on Zillow Flex to generate leads and scale its agent team. What's Covered: Jerry explains how he built his early client base by serving first-time and credit-challenged buyers in Fort Wayne's inner city rather than targeting doctors, lawyers, and high-end listings that treat agents as replaceable He describes funding his first house flips using maxed-out Lowe's, Menards, and Home Depot store credit cards, with his mother's help, before scaling into more than 100 rental doors He walks through assembling land for Roosevelt Reserve, including negotiating with a farmer in Ohio for frontage acreage, and how that purchase got the city's attention for a southeast redevelopment strategy Jerry breaks down how tax increment financing closed a multimillion dollar funding gap on the project by using future property tax growth to pay for public improvements like streets, sidewalks, and utilities He outlines how JM Realty today runs about 16 to 17 agents using Zillow Flex to target specific zip codes with lead budgets, and his plan to find dedicated leaders for brokerage, property management, development, and construction He closes with his philosophy on mindset and manifestation, encouraging agents to vocalize specific revenue goals rather than talking themselves out of growth Timestamps: 00:02 - Introducing Jerry Starks and JM Realty Associates 01:03 - Getting licensed and landing his first real estate sale 04:24 - Why he chose to serve underserved buyers instead of high-end clients 09:58 - How land investing led him into developing Roosevelt Reserve 14:45 - Explaining tax increment financing and closing the project's funding gap 20:09 - JM Realty today: agent count and Zillow Flex lead strategy 27:09 - Why the current market favors buyers over sellers 32:21 - Jerry's current use of AI and plans to bring in a specialist 34:18 - Final advice on mindset and manifesting revenue goals