For Jordan Cauthorne, real estate isn’t just a family business. It’s a way to build wealth — and she’s using her dance moves and social media to encourage younger people to consider buying a home.
The Baltimore real estate entrepreneur has generated hundreds of thousands of views on Instagram with videos that feature her dancing in front of and inside affordable homes on the market.
Cauthorne, who is licensed in Maryland and Washington, D.C., says real estate has been part of her life since childhood. Her mother, Dr. Janie Cauthorne, is a serial entrepreneur who owns the brokerage where she works, Real Estate Executives. She was also inspired by her older sister, who obtained her real estate license at 18.
“When I was young, and I saw that, I was like, ‘Oh, well, I got to get my license at 18, too,’” Cauthorne said during a recent appearance on WJZ CBS News Baltimore.
Her early exposure to the industry also showed her the impact homeownership could have on families.
“Seeing people enjoy ownership of a home and just seeing how that just takes a stress off of their shoulders definitely inspired me to want to help people in that exact same way,” said the Howard University student.
When Cauthorne initially began making real estate content, she tried to follow a traditional playbook and created informational videos designed to look like conventional realtor content. However, she said the approach wasn’t connecting with her audience, so she began incorporating her love for dancing into her videos.
“I grew up dancing in dance classes, ballet, jazz, hip-hop, [and] contemporary,” she said. “I ended up bringing it into my content actually because I was just trying to bring some authenticity to my work.”
Bringing those skills into her videos gave her a way to showcase more of her personality. It also helped her realize that she had been creating content while worrying that people would dismiss her because of her age.
“I was making my content with fear of people thinking, ‘Oh, she’s young and uneducated,’” she said.
Instead, she leaned into what made her different, and it worked. In addition to racking up tons of views, she’s introducing younger viewers to homeownership. Rather than aiming to simply move out of their parents’ home and rent an apartment, Cauthorne says her content aims to challenge young adults to consider homeownership as another possibility.
“You can own a home,” she said, noting that some buyers may find the cost of a mortgage payment comparable to some rent prices.
“You might as well just save up [for a] down payment. Maybe if you have to live with your parents a little longer, go ahead and do that,” she continued. “When you put your money into a mortgage, you’re basically putting money into a savings account that you can pull from later at some point rather than putting it into an apartment and renting or something like that where the money is just going to the landlord.”
Cauthorne, who is pursuing an architectural degree at Howard, says her goal is to make real estate approachable while using her platform to encourage young people to think about ownership earlier.
“I want young people to understand that you don’t have to wait until you’re older to start thinking about your future,” she said in a statement to BLACK ENTERPRISE.
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