Justin Stoddart 0:00
Hey, welcome back to the Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I'm your host Justin Stoddart, very excited about today's episode before I introduce the topic, let me just restate my mission, which is to help you think bigger. And when you think bigger, you end up growing as a person. And as you grow as a person is so good. So grows your business, which opens up all kinds of opportunities, more options, as well as more impact. So I'm excited to have my good friend Josh Hackenjos with me here today. Let me just begin before I fully introduce you, Josh, thanks for being on the episode today.
Josh Hackenjos 0:30
Yeah. Good morning, Justin. It's an honor to be here. I really appreciate you letting me come on here to chat.
Justin Stoddart 0:35
Yeah, man, I appreciate you let me twist your arm to have you come in for value into this audience. I know. Every time you and I have conversations, I walk away a little bit smarter. And so I knew that you do that for this audience as well. So for those of you that don't know Josh, he got his start in the real estate industry back in '05. He was a guy that would show up at the front yards of homes were getting to be sold he would dig the hole and the sign in the yard. So little humble beginnings. But he was a talented guy. So he moved from that to actually being a team owner, kind of ran his own real estate team, then was promoted, and I should say, recruited into a role in which he was, had a very big leadership role within a very big Keller Williams office here in the Portland metro area. He's now a solo agent. He owns Hackenjos Property Group, as well as has built a coaching company called Community Empire, and which he helps agents with many of the things we're going to talk about today. So with all that being said, Josh, you and I both have a background in the construction industry. I had a contracting company, you've built homes yourself. And there are some common threads that you and I started to talk about, that that industry is well known for its craftsmanship, but not well known for its professionalism. Would you agree?
Josh Hackenjos 1:49
Yeah, absolutely.
Justin Stoddart 1:52
You know, for me, I didn't aspire to be in the, in the construction world, I really grew up in a very business oriented family. And in the early 2000s, that was just a great business opportunity. And so I hopped on as, as did many, and was able to benefit greatly from the construction industry. Until it will kind of wasn't a more but in that timeframe. It was interesting. As the construction market started to crash, I had asked myself, I was asking mentors around me, I was like, What do you think this is going to mean for the industry? And their comment was, you know, I think five years it'll be back. And for me, it had I really loved building homes. And I really loved working with contractors day in and day out, I probably would have said, I'll wait for it right, I'll do kitchen and bathroom models because I love this work. For me. I realized my passion was not building homes. It was building people and building businesses. And so the construction world actually at times was quite aggravating. Because of subcontractors again, they were they kind of fall into this typical concept of the E-Myth. Right? If anyone's read the book, E-Myth, I know, Josh, you have that people are very good craftsmen, very good technicians. So they assume that they're going to be good business owners, they just kind of like Well, I'm good at doing finished carpentry. So I'm going to be good at building a finished carpentry business. And that wasn't always the case. Josh, I would imagine you had some similar experiences in a Ha's and your time in the contracting world.
Josh Hackenjos 3:12
Yeah, absolutely. And it's and it's funny, as we've been riffing on this, you know, the similarities, real estate are going to start popping up as-as we talk through this, because, right, you've got these, I came out of the new construction, world framing and then doing finished carpentry and in the remodeling world. And you've got these guys who are amazing at their work, you know, as a tile setter, as a Finish Carpenter as an electrician. And while they are masterful in what they do there, they never went through the courses on how to run a business, how to hire, how to retain talent, how to run QuickBooks, and get billing out how to just show up as a business owner. Is this starting sound a lot like realtors, right? low barrier to entry, high level of skill and talent up here, and maybe not the business background to run it.
And this is something you know, we were talking about this in terms of these, these general contractors who are out there who are so good at what they do. And yet the customer experience the customer service and communication expectation setting is where things fall apart. Right? How often have you been in the middle of a remodel? And it turns out, well, that sink is out six weeks. And so because this thing's not here, then the guy can't do the counter. And because the counter is not here, the plumber can't come in, right? And then we say, Oh, my contractors had our place torn apart for six months. The frustration is due to a failure of setting expectations. Yeah, and all of this right, let's draw parallels right out the gate. You know, I wrote an offer. And then I never heard back whether we got it accepted, or we have no idea we were going to have to do these repairs as the seller, right? In the real estate world. There are all these correlations, in terms of a failure to set expectations leads to frustration with the experience, is it I mean, I think I'm drawing a parallel, it feels it feels right.
Justin Stoddart 4:57
Well, it's, it's interesting, because the people that again, come into the construction world, typically we're raised by a very craftsman, you know, artisans, in the woodworking space, or in the concrete space or whatever. without really a business background. And in real estate agents, they don't necessarily the industry doesn't necessarily attract. To start people who have kind of deep business backgrounds is typically people that are great salespeople, they're great customer service people. So very similar to a contractor, like you're saying that they've got a certain skill set that that lends itself very well to serving clients to getting a certain product complete a certain finished product. But the business and you know, to not pick on real estate, not pick on construction. The same thing happens in the dentist, you know, in the dental industry, and even doctors, right, they're fabulous doctors, but a lot of times they're not great business people. They're fabulous dentist, but they're not great at running a business. It's two separate hats. It's two separate businesses. And I know what Josh, what you and I have discussed, we believe that the future for well paid real estate agents now I believe that there will be a place for a lot of real estate agents, I think I buyers will take a chunk of the pie, I really do think that there will also be a place for low paid real estate agents, ones that are more like Uber drivers that are in a certain neighborhood and someone needs them to come to open up a door. And they'll get a little ding on their phone. Hey, you need to open a door over here. They'll get paid. Not well, but they'll get paid for that service. Right with, a functionary role?
Justin Stoddart 6:26
Yes.
Josh Hackenjos 6:28
Right. Yeah,
Justin Stoddart 6:29
exactly. And then there will be a group that you and I are really trying to cater to, and really help as many as we'll listen. Say, Hey, guys, there's a green pasture over here, right? There's, there's ...
