After a successful career as a professional musician and teacher, Jim began his career in real estate in June of 1977. He formerly served as the 1990-1991 President of the Southern Indiana Realtor Association and was selected as the Southern Indiana Realtor of the Year in 1991. Jim is also a licensed appraiser, certified property tax assessment representative and has earned the CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) and SIOR (Society of Office and Industrial Realtors) commercial real estate designations.

Currently, Jim is president of Baker Commercial Real Estate which specializes in the sale, leasing and valuation of commercial real estate in the Southern Indiana/Louisville, Kentucky MSA. He served as the 2012 President of the Kentucky CCIM Chapter, is on the steering committee for the Kentucky Commercial Real Estate Alliance (KCREA.com Commercial Information Exchange), was the 2019 President and the 2016 Realtor of the Year for the Indiana Commercial Board of Realtors and is the current VP of the board for the Clark Regional Airport. In 2013, Jim served as the Region 7 Vice President for the CCIM Institute and served on the CCIM Institute's Board of Directors from 2013-2019.

Jim also enjoys writing and recently published a book titled Confessions of a Commercial Real Estate Broker which is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

In 2022, Jim ran as a congressional candidate in Indiana's 9th district Republican primary.

Jim and wife, Kim Baker, CCIM, CIPS, currently reside near Charlestown, IN.