From $50K to $5.5M: Katie Kim on Creative Development & AI in Real Estate

Update: 2025-10-04

Description

Katie Kim shares how she turned a $50K bakery investment into a $5.5M project, scaled her family business, and now teaches others to develop smarter.

In this episode of RealDealChat, Jack sits down with Katie Kim, real estate developer, CCIM, and founder of The Kim Group, to talk about her journey from growing up in a construction family to leading multimillion-dollar development projects.

Katie reveals how she turned a $50K bakery investment into a $5.5M project, why scars and setbacks led her to get her CCIM designation, and how she now teaches aspiring developers to avoid costly mistakes through her Real Estate Developer 101 Bootcamp.

She also shares why negotiations are where the real fun happens, how to build resilient teams, and why she believes in “AI-enhanced, human-powered” real estate.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this conversation:

How Katie got her start in real estate at 16 with a no-money-down deal
Lessons from running her family development company & launching The Kim Group
How a $50K bakery project became a $5.5M development with incentives
Creative financing strategies beyond seller financing & down payments
Why failure and scars often teach more than wins
The role of mindset, grit, and negotiation in getting real deals done
Why short selling during 2008 motivated her to become a CCIM
How to build partnerships and choose the right team members
Tips for leadership: “Don’t bring me problems without 3 solutions”
How AI, Airtable, and automations are transforming development today
Why Katie believes in “fail faster” and taking reps in real estate

📌 Learn more and register for Katie’s bootcamp at KatieKim.com

💡 Want help scaling your real estate business with AI and automation?

Schedule your free strategy session today: https://realdealcrew.com

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Timestamps

00:00 – Negotiation & why scars teach more than strategy

01:00 – Katie’s upcoming Real Estate Developer Bootcamp (Oct 10)

02:00 – How she helps business owners become “bankable”

03:00 – First deal at 16: no money down, tax strategy play

05:00 – Detour into tech: Accenture & Oracle before returning to real estate

07:00 – Launching The Kim Group in 2015 & helping developers nationwide

09:00 – The $50K → $5.5M bakery project explained

12:00 – Creative financing with incentives, TIFs & sales tax reimbursement

15:00 – Stress testing businesses before expansion

17:00 – Lessons from 2008–2009 downturn & short selling condos

18:00 – Why she pursued CCIM for education & deal protection

20:00 – Building teams & picking the right partners

23:00 – Leadership lessons: “bad news is bad news—share it fast”

25:00 – Teaching ownership & problem-solving to team members

27:00 – Using AI & custom GPTs for buy boxes & JV structures

30:00 – How automation & Airtable save time & boost efficiency

33:00 – Why solopreneurs may become billionaires with AI

36:00 – The future: AI-enhanced, human-powered real estate deals

38:00 – Bootcamp attendees get custom GPTs to use immediately

39:00 – Rapid fire: lies, advice, books & tools

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