The Celebrity-Athlete’s Pathway; Why Professional Athletes Are Investing Heavily Into Real Estate

The careers of most athletes are short-lived. 3.5 years is typically the average number of years WNBA players have to play at a high level. To most athletes, each day isn’t just a chance to get better on the court, but also a day to prepare for what the future may hold.

Liberian-American basketball star Matee Ajavon went on to have an illustrious start to her career by winning the Gold Medal in the Pan-American Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil while attending Rutgers University. Her team, led by the famous Coach C. Vivian Stringer also went to the 2007 NCAA Championship Game vs. Tennessee University only to fall short of a win.

When the Houston Comets drafted Matee Ajavon as the fifth overall pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft, she instantly knew she had been given an opportunity that most athletes only dream of throughout their lifetime. Matee was 1 of the 144 women that could actually call themselves a WNBA pro.

Her career beat the odds by lasting for a total of 10 years. Matee played with the Houston Comets (1 year), Washington Mystics (5 years), and Atlanta Dream for the last 4 years of her career. She also played in 5 different countries that included Turkey, Brazil, Israel, Poland and Romania in the off-season. Going overseas allowed some WNBA players to earn up to 10x the salary they would in the WNBA.

In the latter stages of her career, Matee admits that she always felt the need to diversify and invest her earnings. Her search eventually led her to Real Estate Gurus; a company led by Real Estate professional Justin Giles. Giles introduced a then-retired Matee Ajavon to a whole new world by helping her build a real estate investment business.

Giles is a well-known real estate advisor and licensed real estate broker of 17+ years and has been behind the making of quite a few athlete-turned-real estate investors. He utilizes his social media platform on Instagram to educate and connect his many followers on ways to simply start investing in real estate.

His strategies, as explained in two of his books, Zero Down and Learn To Fish And Eat Forever, have also been widely received and critically acclaimed.

The number of former and current athletes investing in real estate has multiplied over time. Roger Staubach, Emmitt Smith, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Alex Rodriguez, & Martin Braithwaite immediately come to mind,

A Familiar Market

Professional athletes, especially in leagues like the NBA, WNBA, or the NFL, are traded quite often from team to team during their careers. This also means they have to purchase or rent properties from different parts of the country.

Athletes rarely have the chance to play for their home teams, which means they are likely to maintain at least two properties at any given time. One of them being their home state and the other being their current location.

While many A-list players may have people who put property deals together for them, most others have to get involved personally. In turn, this puts them squarely in the bustle of the industry. Whether knowing or unknowingly, many athletes end up as real estate investors or somewhat develop an idea or love for the industry.

Senegalese-born former Chicago Bulls star Luol Deng started a real estate symposium to educate players on the value of the sector. At the time he said, “I’ve always had a love for real estate and wanted to do something in Chicago for a long time,”

“We talk about players going broke, but we don’t talk about why that is happening,” Deng says. “The symposiums were a way to teach players about real estate and foster a better understanding of these kinds of investments.”

A Low Entrance Bar And High Availability

Few people consider the real estate market as having a low entrance bar because of the high prices quoted for properties. Not every athlete can afford to splash $36 million on a Beverly Hills mansion like LeBron. But according to Giles, they don’t have to;

“Athletes are often looking to invest their earnings and savings into the real estate industry. So they have to learn the art of finding the best deals from anywhere in the country. At every price point, there will always be an available and lucrative property somewhere and also loans available to help anyone acquire properties.”

“Even though some pro-athletes may be familiar with buying and selling properties, they still need to learn the small details of how to actually buy and sell properties as a ‘real business’. The first thing is learning how to find these deals that may not be in plain sight, next how to renovate these properties with the help of contractors, and last and definitely not least, how to turn it into healthy profits.”

The real estate market also offers many options for investment; while athletes like the NFL’s William Sweet buys and rent out their properties, others could choose to flip homes or buy and hold assets as part of their real estate portfolio.

“There are properties that are entering foreclosure, and I teach people how to stop a foreclosure even 24 hours before the auction.” Giles explains, “There are houses owned by deceased individuals who passed on without a will. Whenever that happens, there are ways to help their heirs claim these properties and then purchase the properties from them. If you know where to look, properties are always available using these strategies”

Robbie Fowler, an ex-Liverpool Football Club and England FC star who is now estimated to be worth roughly £30 million ($34 million) also opined, “Don’t get me wrong, not everything went into property at the time. And I didn’t just invest on my own, because when I was 18, I was on next to nothing and I couldn’t afford it, regardless of what people think about football players”.

“I invested with partners. It was all through the advice I was given, not because I knew anything or wanted to know it, it was totally by accident”.

He continued, “When you’re 18, I think it is probably the last thing on your mind. You’re obviously signing new contracts and you want to go out, you probably want a new car, and you’ll get all the things that you haven’t had”.

“But then all of a sudden, there comes a time when you think: Uh, I need to pull the reins in a little bit here and maybe look after my life after football. When I was 18, that was far from my mind, but over the years, it does materialise that way”.

Passive Income

Every investor’s dream is to have a portfolio that yields more passive income than active income. Athletes and celebrities often invest in stocks and bonds to get passive income, but the fluctuating markets have dissuaded many of them and made real estate investing a bit more attractive. This desire for passive income has led several pro athletes to invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs). While REITs are often considered safe, they are also more of a long-term strategy.

“After the housing crash of 2008, I found myself in so much debt. But somehow, I decided to stick with real estate, and over time I have devised investment strategies that make investing in real estate virtually recession-proof.” Giles believes that there is no such thing as a bad property market.

If the storied investment successes of NBA greats like Shaquille O’Neal and Magic Johnson are anything to go by, pro athletes will be investing in real estate for quite some time.