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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Michelle Kesil speaks with Amy Dills, a real estate agent and brokerage owner, about her journey in the real estate industry. Amy shares her insights on the importance of home ownership as a foundation for wealth building, her transition from agent to brokerage owner, and the significance of a client-centric approach in real estate. They discuss the challenges faced in real estate investment, strategies for new agents, and the path to home ownership. Amy emphasizes the need for focus and the value of professional guidance in navigating the real estate market.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Amy Dills (00:00)
I think the biggest one is about focus, especially like if you think back during the pandemic, it was like terrifying and also exciting. And I don’t know, I just felt very swept up and carried away by things that other people were doing because I knew that I could do them too. And ultimately I ended up getting myself spread too thin. I was building a house and running a brokerageMichelle Kesil (01:57)
I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Amy Dills, who runs a boutique brokerage helping buyers, sellers, and investors buy great homes. So excited to have you on the show today, Amy.Amy Dills (02:10)
I’m excited to be here, Michelle.Michelle Kesil (02:13)
Awesome, I think our listeners are going to take something away from how you’re supporting people to find the right strategies to purchase their homes. So, let’s dive in.Amy Dills (02:26)
awesome.Michelle Kesil (02:28)
First off, for those who are not familiar with You and Your World, can you share what your main focus is?Amy Dills (02:36)
Our main focus is always home ownership because we think that owning real estate is the foundation for wealth building. So when I first got into real estate, it was actually because I bought my own house. I found myself broke, pregnant, no insurance, ⁓ and trying to figure out what I should do with myself. I had just graduated from college. So I got kicked off my parents’ insurance. And at that point, having a baby was a preexisting condition.So I bought my first house at that time because the president was giving an $8,000 tax credit. And I knew that the birth of my child would cost $4,000. So I was up four grand if I bought a house. And the thing that I wasn’t expecting was how that home ownership would lever me into learning about wealth, learning about budgeting. What is real estate? How does real estate work? So I bought that house, had a baby.
learned how to be a grownup, and then sold that house and made a little bit of money, more money than I made in a year, most years, and decided that this real estate was a thing and I should figure out how it works. And that’s when I went ahead and got licensed and started selling homes and began investing in real estate.
Michelle Kesil (03:51)
Awesome, and what markets are you operating out of?Amy Dills (03:57)
We are in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. So we serve the Twin Cities about an hour or two in all directions and the Western edge of Wisconsin just over the St. Croix River.Michelle Kesil (04:07)
Awesome. So how did you go from, you know, getting your license to having this brokerage?Amy Dills (04:19)
Ooh, that’s a good question actually. When I had no plans or vision of having a real estate brokerage or teaching other people how to do real estate, I was really after it for solving my own problems. So I had been in school, I had student loans and I did not want to have them. So I started reading finance books and one of the books I read told me that I should get a second job. So my real estate license was my second job in myprimary goal was to pay off those student loans in as short amount of time as possible. So I just hustled. I ran my mouth on the internet. I hosted open houses. I told everyone that I was a real estate agent and I sold 19 houses in my first six, nine months in real estate. And at that point had a tax bill that was bigger than I had earned an income the previous year. So I had another problem I needed to solve.
During that time, I was really cranky about the brokerage that I had joined because they were charging me monthly fees for no value that was being provided that I was aware of. So I started complaining on the internet again and ended up at a hundred percent brokerage, which was a good spot for me at the time. But ultimately I had to learn everything and do everything and figure it out on my own.
And then once I had been licensed for three years, which in Minnesota, that’s what you need to become an independent brokerage. I decided to start my own company simply because that brokerage should not have direct deposit and I did not want to drive one hour every time I had a closing in order to get paid. So what started as just again, solving my own problem turned into a really cool way for me to impact the lives of others. So people started coming to me and say, Hey,
I saw what you’ve been doing in real estate. I’d like to do that too. Can you show me how? And we’re still here today. We’re like, I don’t know, it’s been 11 years now we’ve been doing this and we’ve been as big as 20 something agents during the pandemic. Right now we’re about 10, 12 agents and we’re all set up to grow again in 2026.
Michelle Kesil (07:19)
Awesome. That’s so exciting. What do you feel are some of the main keys that have made the biggest difference in allowing your business to be able to grow and run smoothly?Amy Dills (07:36)
think the things that make my business grow and run smoothly is remembering that it’s not about me. I’ve always gotten into things to solve my own problems, but when people start working with you, you have to remember that you work for them. So for me, as an agent or a team leader, I actually work for the agents. I think a lot of times a brokerage perspective has that flipped where the agents work for the brokerage. But if I’m not doing my job as a leader,and helping the agents win and grow their businesses like we are all dead. And it’s the same thing for buyers and sellers and investors. If an investor or a buyer partners with a real estate agent and the agent isn’t coming at it from the mindset of I work for them, it always goes bad. Buyers feel like, that agent didn’t do anything. I found the property myself. I paid too much for it. But when we look at it as
actually I am working for you right now, how can I help? How can we get you to the outcome that you’re after? Everyone wins and things go more smoothly.
Michelle Kesil (08:45)
Yeah, absolutely. You mentioned that you are also investing. What does that journey look like?Amy Dills (08:56)
Actually that one started out as curiosity. ⁓ After my first year, I had this big tax bill. So then I got on the internet and I was like, how do I avoid paying taxes as a real estate agent? And I read again, a couple of books that had some strategies and found out that investing in real estate is a great way to reduce what you have to pay in for taxes.So I really found that being a real estate agent and a real estate investor go hand in hand really nicely because you can generate a bunch of income as an agent and then you can deploy that into real estate investments. So I started out with flipping, which again, a lot of people don’t consider as an investment, but I always have to scratch whatever itch I got. So I started out with flipping homes and that taught me how to work with hard money lenders.
and build a scope of work and hire contractors and price to sell and what problems come up as a seller when you are the seller and the agent and you know, all that kind of stuff. So now I have this experience that I could teach and pass on to agents and clients. I’ve done the same thing with rental properties, gotten some on the market, off the market, then we can help agents and our clients figure out how to do that. ⁓ I’ve done short-term rentals
Currently, this is a ground up new construction that will be a longer term investment, but basically we bought 25 acres, subdivided it into the maximum allowable parcels, built a house, we’re living in this one, we’ll eventually build on those other two lots, sell all three and sail off into the sunset.
Actually, I don’t know what we’ll do after that. We’ll probably go somewhere else.
Michelle Kesil (11:14)
Awesome. That is so exciting. What are some maybe obstacles or challenges that you’ve faced as an investor that you have now overcome and can see the lesson in hindsight?Amy Dills (11:29)
I think the biggest one is about focus, especially like if you think back during the pandemic, it was like terrifying and also exciting. And I don’t know, I just felt very swept up and carried away by things that other people were doing because I knew that I could do them too. And ultimately I ended up getting myself spread too thin. I was building a house and running a brokerageand working with buyers and sellers and I…
flipped a cabin and started an Airbnb and I was doing a commercial development. Like it was just actually all too much at once. And so I was spread very thin financially, of course, but also like focus wise. So I think one of the biggest challenges, honestly, for people in general, but for real estate investors and real estate agents is, you know, they’re doing a little of this over there and a little of that over there and
then someone calls them up and asks them if they want in on this. And I think by nature, people who are attracted to real estate are opportunity seekers. And so it’s exciting to see all these different ways that you could get into a new opportunity. But when you do that, you actually wreck the other ones. So I think the biggest lesson that I’m still learning every day, but I think is important to overcome is about focusing on focus and do less to do more.
Michelle Kesil (12:53)
Yeah, that makes sense. It’s good to know what your end goal that you’re focusing on is.Amy Dills (13:03)
for sure. And give your work some time to compound too. If you’re always moving this to that, moving that to that, you don’t get the benefits of compounding.Michelle Kesil (13:13)
Absolutely. So what are you most focused on solving or scaling next in your business?Amy Dills (13:24)
For us, we are focused actually on generating listings and getting to people before they hit the market. I think at present, there are a ton of incredible opportunities that are active on the market and sometimes they’re harder to put together once they’ve been on the market. You’ll see a lot of great homes that are for sale or fixer uppers that could be a great investment ⁓ or somebody’s first home, but sometimes when they get on the market, they get on for way too high.And then we have all these agents involved and it just makes it not work for a lot of people. I’ve seen a lot of homes go to market and cancel or expire out. So I think we’re going to have a huge opportunity coming up with bringing some of these properties back to market at an appropriate price that that will sell. And also with just placing our buyers directly in cancel or expired listings that failed to sell the first time around. I’m like pretty excited for what’s going on in our market right now.
Michelle Kesil (14:23)
Yeah, amazing. That’s awesome. What are some ways that you’re looking to continue to expand your business and your personal growth in this process?Amy Dills (14:41)
I think right now our main focus is simply on our agents. think I love telling houses. I’m good at selling houses. I could tell houses all day long, but I think what’s more magical now is watching new agents come on who’ve never sold a house and get their first buyer under contract, get their first listing and work through that process and then take their experience immediately and help other new agents learn and grow and come in and learn the systems.I just think it’s so beautiful, even if you have like not a new agent, someone who’s been in the business for a year or so, but hasn’t really gotten to a point where they can quit their day job or pay their bills with their real estate income ⁓ and teach them how to go find business and actually have conversations that lead to contracts and just like really growing their own business because the more that the agents can do together, the more people we can impact and
Honestly, it’s just more fun. I can do whatever I want all by myself, alone in the woods and only I will know about it. But when I can help all of these agents on my team and then they can go help people in their worlds get into home ownership or get into investing or whatever they’re interested in, we can just have a way bigger impact.
Michelle Kesil (16:39)
Absolutely, that’s exciting.And are you also working with investors when you’re on the brokerage side of things, like supporting them?
Amy Dills (16:55)
We do actually, because we’re well set up from a tech standpoint, we can help buyers get into great properties and also keep our eyes out for investments ⁓ on the market and off the market. I think a lot of times, like I said, when things hit the market, the pricing isn’t right. And sometimes people wanna drop the price and sometimes they don’t. But also if you’re looking at things every day and consistently outworking there, you will find some really incredible deals that.might not look like a deal from the face. For example, I’ve seen homes that were listed for a million one, a million two and have price reduced, price reduced, price reduced down to 650. Like someone might look at that as, okay, this is still a $650,000 home, but actually like this is a half price home and you’re not gonna have an opportunity like this. And it’s a perfect move in ready situation.
So I think sometimes looking outside of the box and outside of some of the traditional MLS searches at different criteria and how you cut it up is a really, really great way to find great properties for people. And then also just like staying in good contact. Like one of the best ways I think to work with investors is to make sure you’re in communication with them. So then when you find something, you know who you should call and send that deal to. And that can be really hard because everybody’s busy. It’s easy to forget.
about someone who might be the person who will buy the thing when you find it. But then when you find, you know, a seller calls you up and says, hey, I’m getting poor clothes done next week, who can help me buy my house? And you know exactly, this person can simply because you’ve stayed in communication. It’s really win for everybody.
Michelle Kesil (18:34)
Yeah, amazing. You mentioned when we were chatting that you like to help people figure out the best strategies for home ownership. Can you expand on what that looks like?Amy Dills (18:48)
For sure. think, I mean, honestly, based on my personal experience that people should get their first home as soon as humanly possible. And if that means you just graduated high school and you buy the grossest townhouse in your neighborhood that you can afford and you live there with five of your friends and they all pay you a couple hundred bucks a month, I think you should do it because someone is going to…Why shouldn’t it be you? And I see so many people delaying, delaying, delaying home ownership to the point where they have all this extra stuff. They’ve got kids in school districts and spouses and aesthetic goals that might limit them from actually making a purchase. And when you get that first house, even if it’s gross and it smells bad and you have to wear your shoes inside for the first little bit until you get the flooring replaced.
It’s gonna build you as a person while it’s kind of going to work part time for you. So if you’re a high school student or college student and you buy your first house and you get a couple of buddies to rent from you, now you have your mortgage getting paid down every month, your living expenses are lower, and you’re probably gonna hold onto that for a while. Eventually you’re gonna sell it, you’re gonna buy like a little bit less gross of house. And now your first gross house bought your second less gross house.
And you’re gonna live there for a while. Maybe you have roommates now Maybe you don’t have roommates but the whole point is if you were renting and you just kept renting and kept renting You’re never gonna walk away from a rental with 13 grand or 20 grand or 50 grand to put down on your next property You’re probably not even gonna get your deposit back And so really homeownership is that foundation that I think a lot of people are saying this isn’t for me I can’t do it. I don’t know how or they’re saying
I’m not going to buy until everything is perfect. And we love to sit down with people, see where they are, see what could be a fit for them and find a path to get there. It’s not always, ⁓ here’s where you’re at, here’s where I want, let’s go get it. Sometimes it’s a year, sometimes it’s two years. We’ve had people we worked with for three or four years before we got them into the right situation. But you’d be surprised how many people can get into home ownership within 12 months if they want to, if they make a plan and work it.
Michelle Kesil (21:12)
Yeah, amazing. That’s such an interesting perspective. What would that kind of plan look like?Amy Dills (21:21)
For a lot of people, it’s actually just going through the process, right? So just like you shouldn’t talk to Dr. Google, you probably shouldn’t take to the internet if you wanna buy a house because there are so many opinions. You probably also shouldn’t talk to mom and dad or your coworkers or your boss because people who’ve done it one time have one experience. And a lot of people haven’t done it in five, 10, 15, 20 years and they’re…the ones who care about you the most. So they’re going to have more conservative opinions. So I think the first step is always talking to somebody who is a professional and does this every day and sells hundreds of houses because to them, this is a process and we need to figure out how to work you into a process that’s predictable. Then I think we want to talk about that person’s situation. Is it, ⁓ I’m drowning in debt, so I’ll never get pre-approved for a mortgage.
Is it like, can only afford this much a month, so I need to save up a big enough down payment so that I can get something at that price. Is it sometimes the mindset of, again, this house needs to be pretty imperfect and I don’t even want to paint or change a light fixture to like, okay, actually guys, see this cute house? See this gross house? They’re the same. In order to get it from here to there, it could be.
a weekend warrior project or $5,000 or what have you. I think a lot of people at the beginning just feel so overwhelmed and afraid about what it’s like to hire a contractor. How much is this gonna cost me? But when we can kind of work through the process of how things go from nothing to something or from stinky to beautiful, like it gets less scary as we create the clarity.
Michelle Kesil (23:06)
Yeah, absolutely. That is such an awesome perspective. Thank you for sharing.So before we wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more, where can people find you?
Amy Dills (23:22)
I think Instagram is the best place. I’m always running my mouth on the internet. My Instagram is Amy underscore Ranae and that is spelled R-A-N-A-E. So it’s a little weird. Amy underscore Ranae, you can find me on Instagram. And if you are a real estate agent and you’re struggling with some of the objections that we hear all the time, like I’m not ready yet, rates are too high, maybe next year.I’m gonna wait. I have a super cute little cheat sheet of words you can use to handle some of those objections. So just get in my DMs and type objections and I will get you that cute little handout.
Michelle Kesil (24:02)
Awesome. Well, I appreciate your time and your perspective. Thank you for being here.Amy Dills (24:09)
Thanks for having me.Michelle Kesil (24:11)
Of course. And for those that are tuning in, if you got value, make sure you’ve subscribed. We have more conversations with operators like Amy, who are building real businesses, and we’ll see you on the next episode.
