From Active Duty to Commercial Real Estate in Jacksonville, FL with Miguel Charles, USNA ‘07
Nov 15, 2026
“You probably know a lot more than you realize.” Miguel Charles, USNA ‘07
Miguel Charles is a commercial real estate broker and investor whose path into the industry began while serving as a Naval officer. After a mentor encouraged him to consider real estate, Miguel purchased his first property and continued building a portfolio alongside his Navy career. Before long, he became the unofficial real estate resource at his commands, helping fellow sailors think differently about buying property and building wealth.
During his final Navy assignment, Miguel’s exposure to larger commercial projects pushed him to look beyond residential real estate. He began seeking out mentors, learning the commercial space, and eventually made it the focus of his post-military career. Today, Miguel works across Northeast Florida and encourages other veterans to consider opportunities in commercial real estate that may be more within reach than they realize.
In this episode of the SABM podcast, Scott chats with Miguel about:
Building a Portfolio While Serving: How a mentor encouraged Miguel to start investing and how he continued building his portfolio alongside a demanding Navy career.
Asking Your Way Into the Room: Why Miguel credits reaching out, asking questions, and learning from experienced professionals with helping him break into commercial real estate.
Making the Move to Commercial: How Miguel’s final Navy assignment exposed him to larger commercial projects and helped shape the direction of his post-military career.
Finding Opportunity in Northeast Florida: What Miguel is seeing across Jacksonville’s growing market and why multifamily can be an approachable entry point for commercial investors.
Building for the Next Generation: Miguel shares his vision for investing in larger commercial assets and creating long-term wealth that can benefit his family for years to come.
Timestamps:
01:09 Navy Career Beginnings
02:07 First Rentals and Airbnbs
03:43 Scaling with Low Rates
05:07 From Residential to Commercial
08:05 What Commercial Means
09:36 Jacksonville Multifamily Trends
11:37 Hot Areas and Deal Sizes
13:30 Goals and Moonshots
15:05 Warehouse Vision with Classmates
16:57 Veterans in Commercial Real Estate
Connect with Miguel:
If you found value in today's episode, don't keep it to yourself—share it with a colleague or friend who could benefit. And if you're a Service Academy graduate ready to elevate your business, we'd love for you to join our community and get started today.
Make sure you never miss an episode; subscribe now and help support the show:
Leave us a 5-star review!
A special thank you to Miguel for joining me this week. Until next time!
-Scott Mackes, USNA '01