Frazier worked for Hensley Custom Building Group, starting out as a project manager and working there for seven years before branching out on a full-time basis into his own company, Frazier Homes, which he launched in 2011.
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He turned to construction because he worked with his father, former Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Guy Frazier, on home construction projects, hanging cabinets, running baseboard, setting doors and performing a plethora of interior trim work.
“It always just stuck with me, and real estate in general, and while I was playing I amassed 48 rental units with my wife and we rehabbed a lot of them, we flipped some and others we kept and held them as rentals,” he said. “So real estate had always been something I considered lucrative and was something I really enjoyed. It was an easy transition for me out of the NFL because I already knew what I wanted to do.”
Part of that transition was made easier by Frazier earning a degree in finance at the University of Cincinnati with a minor in real estate. He played college football at UC from 2000-04, earning the University of Cincinnati 2004 Strothman Award for academic and athletic excellence.
He said it was “a no-brainer” for him and his wife to relocate to West Chester Twp. after his NFL career ended, and that he did so out of “a sense of family” because both have relatives in the area and both consider the Cincinnati area their home.
Frazier Homes so far has constructed the majority of its homes in Liberty Twp. and Lebanon, but also some in other communities, including Hyde Park and Union Twp. He said Frazier Homes are known for their functionality and designed along the lines of how a client lives.
“I think that’s huge,” Frazier said. “A lot of homes … you might walk through and say ‘Who would live here? It doesn’t flow.’
“Whether it’s contemporary, whether it’s traditional, all of my homes … they work, they flow, they integrate the homeowner’s taste along with the style and the architecture that they have in mind.”
In 2018, the 36-year-old was included in Home Builders Association of Cincinnati’s Homearama which he said was “great for the business.”
“It gave my company a lot of exposure and allowed people to put a face with a name,” he said. “It allowed me to showcase my home-building skills and it was really instrumental for my company. It’s given me a jump start.”
Being included in the Homearama was also “momentous” and history making, as Frazier was the first black homebuilder in the show’s 55-year history.
“I was just blessed to be part of the show and I’m happy that I was the first,” he said. “Hopefully, there’s going to be many more African American builders, female builders, just different builders. It should be a snapshot of life. There’s so many different people in all walks of life. For me to be the first (African American), I’m just humbled and I’m thankful and hopefully I can get in it again, as well.”
Frazier said many of the traits he recognized in his father, including hard work, honesty and perseverance, are traits he sought to emulate.
“Even to this day, my father and I talk a lot about real estate, about next plans and I’m really pushing to get him to really come on board,” he said. “It would be a great accomplishment for me to get my father to get back out and get back into real estate with me.”
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