In this YouTube interview, hosts Cody and Christian Osgood sit down with Pacific Northwest real‑estate personality Jesse Lee Back to dissect his unconventional, attention‑grabbing marketing tactics. Jesse recounts how a deliberately provocative MLS listing photo—featuring him in a neon yellow Lowe’s shirt—earned an $8,000 fine, which he leveraged into viral notoriety. He explains his philosophy of being unapologetically himself online, using humor, memes, calendar‑style photos, and deliberately controversial content to stand out. Jesse shares how he amplifies negative comments by screenshotting and reposting them, turning criticism into engagement. He also emphasizes showing the messy, failure‑filled side of real‑estate projects rather than polished success stories, positioning himself as a transparent, relatable figure. The conversation highlights the importance of authenticity, embracing criticism, and simple, consistent branding across platforms (Facebook, Instagram @TheJesseLee, TikTok). The hosts distill actionable takeaways: stop trying to “build a following” and instead be yourself, use controversy wisely, and let humor defuse negativity.
Chapters
Hey YouTube, this is Cody. I am here with Christian and we have the real estate NWMLS menace, Jesse Lee Back. Today we're talking about marketing and the reason I opened with that is because Jesse is well known here in the Pacific Northwest. He's an absolute master of creative marketing. He doesn't do it the traditional way and we are super stoked to have him on to share how he markets with you. Jesse, welcome back.
Thanks for having me again.
So the first time I ever saw you, Jesse, was with your pictures on the NMLS with you in like a bright— I think it was like neon yellow Lowe's shirt. Was that it? Was it Lowe's? Yeah, Lowe's for pros laying across the table on the MLS and Everyone talking about it. The MLS hated it.
I think they actually fined you, didn't they?
Yeah, I ended up with like $8,000 of fines over it, but it's more of just because I was argumentative more than anything else, I think.
Most people spend money on ad budget. You just posted and then they billed you for it. You got an invoice afterwards.
And you know what? When people talk about what to do and not to do on the MLS, you are talked about every single time. I'm going to say that was a well-spent $8,000.
I'm actually in the MLS class for new agents. Like, I've been told this by a couple people that they use that picture of me in the listing as an example of like what you're not allowed to do.
Everybody knows who you are. Absolutely brilliant. Did you plan it that way? How did that go about?
I didn't. It was, it was literally just on the spot. Like, wouldn't it be funny if I laid in the counter, like, you know, one of those calendars, right? And then next thing you know, we're taking the picture and then like, oh, wouldn't it be hilarious if this was in the listing. Yeah, that'd be really funny. We should do that. I didn't have any idea that the MLS would get so pissed off about it. Like, the guy was so pissed about it that he emailed my office like Sunday evening just to tell the designated broker, tell Patrick what a disgrace that I am. And obviously, and I'm literally getting on a plane to Hawaii, right? And I saw that and I have to respond, right? I can't just sit there and say nothing. I'm like, I don't know who the fuck you are, but you can go fuck yourself, basically. And by the time I landed in Hawaii, it just turned into this huge thing.
So you really rolled with it. I mean, you, you took it and played it about as far as it can be played.
I think so. And this is the thing about anything that I'm doing that, that ends up being that way is I'm not— I don't think about it. I'm trying to do marketing, get exposure. I was just completely upset that I was being told that I can't do what I want with my own listing or my own house or whatever it is, right? Like, and I'm like, I would rather— I'd rather get into the trouble, I'd rather be fined than have you tell me what to do kind of thing. And then, you know, and that's sometimes for better or worse, that the way that I, that I feel. But, uh, these things are just that— what I've learned from all this is that a lot of people feel the same way that I do. And it's just that they are restricted for whatever reason that they can't necessarily say what they feel, right? And I understand that because a lot of people, most real estate brokers and real estate people, you know, their business is different than mine, so they have to kind of stay neutral on some of these things. But I've lost count of how many people will come to me and be like, I'm so glad you said, you know, X, Y, and Z about what whatever it is, because I know I feel that way too. So I'm kind of just an outlet at this point for people, for gripes in our industry, I guess.
So basically you execute on and share everybody else's intrusive thoughts.
Yeah, exactly. That's exactly it.
Through memes and calendar-style photos. Yeah, I love it. What we learned from watching you and how you branded yourself is, like you said, it's not a ton of effort. It's just be who you are online unapologetically. And for you, your humor is hilarious and at times inappropriate, which is awesome. And again, you're saying what everyone else is thinking. So you have these fantastic posts that are hilarious. I think it resonates with a lot of people, but at the end of the day, the thing that makes, I think, you so attractive online and why so many people know who Jesse Lee is, is because You get what you get with Jesse, and people love that. They're like, I'm always going to get Jesse Lee exactly what he thinks with no filter. And it's fantastic. And I think for anyone else building their channel, you could be as intentional as you want about it, but if you're just you and you put your personality into it, it makes a huge difference because it's really easy to copy what everyone else is doing. I hear a lot of people like, oh yeah, I'm going to make, uh, Alex Formosi style videos. I'm like, well, that's cool, but you're not Alex Formosi. You're you. Do your own thing and put post your own thoughts, and I think you do that better than just about anyone else.
Now, speaking of the brand, I mean, can you tell us what your hat says?
It says Rents Due. Uh, I don't know if you can read that in that Old English, but that's what it says. And then I got a friend of mine had a joke. He says he's an affordable housing provider, and that's a, that's a nice word for slumlord. But I don't, I don't, but, um, no, you know, I, the more rental property that I buy And the more I advertise stuff for rent and the more I— I am someone who I make video and I post it out, right? But the reason I'm doing is I like to showcase the failure in our industry, if that makes sense, right? Whereas I think most people doing this go and show their beautiful project when it's done, right? But I like showing all the bullshit you're wading through from the beginning to the end, right? And all the things that can go wrong.. And I like making it clear to people and showing them this is something I've lost on, right? Because I think it's important that people who haven't done this before see that, that this is something that can happen, right? And this is why this happened to me and this is how you can avoid it kind of thing, right? That's kind of my thought process. And when I started doing these, but I, I, I do that and it's just, I want it to be, I think you guys said it already. I want it to be authentically me as possible. I want it to be as real as possible. And the more people that see me, the more people who will— we have a lot of the anti-landlord and the anti-homeownership group who, like, I'm a leech because I'm living off of the tenant or whatever it is. And rather than shy away from it, I don't argue, but there's no way I'm going to change that person's mind about what we do. There's just no way. So I'm going to take this caricature of a landlord and I'm going to run with it. So if that's what you think I am, fine. Here's rent's due in my hat. It's on my license plate. I'm going to go buy a boat and I'm going to name it Rent Increase or something. So I'm just going to be an absolute, just 100%, I'm going to be exactly what I'm going to act like, or at least show it, look like this is exactly what I am. None of my tenants hate me, the ones I've chosen at least. The ones I've inherited is a different story. I don't have any tenant that doesn't like me. I have a great relationship with the tenants that I have. I really, even now after I act like I'm jaded by some of this bullshit, but I'm not. I do what I can for the people who rent from me because, you know, I want them to be happy there, right? And, but, you know, as far as what everybody's going to see, I am posting really who I am, but The only thing that I've had people tell me is I'm nicer when they meet me than they thought I was going to be. So, but no, I do like running with this. If you think I'm so terrible, then fine. I'm not going to, I'm not going to change anything I'm doing or saying because you don't like it. I'm just, now I'm going to say it more because, you know, you hate it. So, yeah.
Well, it definitely works.
Almost everybody I meet knows your name in the Pacific Northwest.
You're infamous.
Yeah, it's funny. People say that, like, oh, you're this marketing master. I don't really feel like I know what I'm doing. All I'm doing is just trying to just be myself.
That just must mean that you're an interesting person because everyone knows who you are and they like, they like you being yourself, which is fun. That was, uh, for anyone trying to build a following, because this is, this is one of my favorite pieces of this. My takeaway is the easiest way to build a following is stop trying to build a following and just be yourself. Like one of the things Cody and I do that I, I got a lot of value out of watching, uh, Conor McGregor market was call your shot and back it up. That's one thing we try to do all the time. We're gonna do stuff. We tell the world this is gonna happen and then we make it happen outside of that. Like a lot of the stuff we film, I'm sitting in the sauna. I'm like, content's due. Let's, uh, I'm just going to film something while I'm in the sauna. We're in the hot tub. Like, okay, I'm not getting out of the hot tub. We're going live on YouTube.
And when we don't have shirts on, we get a lot more saves than when we do have shirts on, which is very uncomfortable.
I wish people didn't do that.
But it doesn't work as well for me. Yeah.
I found the, uh, I found the negative comments on all these platforms. Tend to get a lot more engagement and those posts actually do better. I actually like the fact that you're doing the caricature of like, I'm going to play into it. Have you found that those posts do better than posts where you say nice things?
Absolutely, actually. I've actually started a whole, like, not series, a whole thing where I will screenshot comments that are terrible. I think they're hilarious, right? Even though they're taking shots at me, I think they're funny. But I screenshot the ones I think are best and I try to post them regularly. Right? Just like— and I call it, uh, what did I call it? I called it my favorite section of comment section or whatever like that. And I post those, and you're right, that gets way more activity and way more attention than, uh, something I guess positive. But— and I think the key is I don't take myself very seriously, which is, uh, I don't know if that's— I don't feel like I ever have. And I don't know if that's a learned behavior or if that's just Either you do or you don't, but I think in our industry too many people take themselves way too seriously. And if everyone could just calm the fuck down a little bit, then I think we'd all be a lot better off. But, you know, it doesn't bother me and it doesn't hurt my feelings that someone I have no idea who they are hates me completely, and that's fine. As long as they're not showing up at my door, I don't have an issue with it. So, you know, I'll have as much fun with it as I can. Especially when I'm advertising rentals a lot lately. It seems like, you know, everyone's always, you know, oh, I can't believe it's this much money, or it used to be this much, or whatever it is, right? But those ones are the best because they don't realize the more they complain about it together, the more that post gets spread out. That's what I want when I'm advertising something. So, you know, let people do it, don't get upset about it. And even if you can interact a little bit, it's even better.
Absolutely love it. Those are some of our favorite stuff. I know the Business Insider post, everyone who ever gets on that one, it's only hate. And you just get in those comments and just play along with them. You'll have fun with it. It helps you not take it personally. If you're someone who does take themselves seriously, it's like dive right in, have some humor. Uh, if you try to defend yourself or get upset about it, you're not going to have any fun. Just have fun with it. Laugh along. It's so much fun to see how aggravated you can get someone who's just totally mad at you for Providing great housing. Um, but yeah, that's, that's been the strategy. Tons of takeaways from this. Anyone who is getting started and wants to broadcast their story, like take a bunch of notes on this video, rewatch it, share it with a friend. Um, this is the best I've seen someone play the game. Like you are, we look up to you on like personal brand. Uh, be your personal self. It seems like a simple principle, but that's my takeaway from this. Uh, if anyone wants to learn more, uh, Jesse, how do they actually follow all your social media and find you for all of your hilarity?
Um, I don't have a business page, but just my name, Jesse Lee, and Lee is L-E. I have a Facebook page. I post a fun— I do have an Instagram now that I've been trying to post this stuff on. Uh, and that is just my name, but it's the @TheJesseLee, I believe is what it is. I hope that's right. Um, but that's, that's where they can find me. I think I have a TikTok too, but I don't remember, but Uh, yeah, I'm— that's, that's, uh, probably the best way to do it.
But I go on Facebook, find them on Instagram at The Jesse Lee, or just Jesse Lee on Facebook. Awesome. Thanks for joining, and we'll see you guys next Monday.
