Real Estate Wholesaling at 18: Overcoming Age, Doubt, and Landing Big Deals

Renden Henson (00:00)
I would say this first deal that we walked into, you know, if we can make this one a success, it’s only up from there. Never would have thought I would have walked into a deal like this, especially on the first one. But it’s an eye-opener. It’s a realization. It’s like, again, for the people that think they can’t do this, they can because… I didn’t think I could do this and here I am doing it. So if I can do it, anybody can do it. Really.

Michelle Kesil (02:02)
Hey everybody. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. Today I’m joined by somebody I’m looking forward to chatting with, Renden Henson of Midwest Coast Property Solutions, focusing on wholesaling and wealth management. So excited to have you here today, Renden.

Renden Henson (02:19)
Thank you. Appreciate it.

Michelle Kesil (02:21)
Sure, let’s dive in. So, first off, for those new to your work, can you share what your main focus is?

Renden Henson (02:28)
I would say for a main focus, it’s probably, you know, being able to connect off market deals with buyers. And I mean, obviously that’s kind of the main deal, the main focus of it. But my personal focus of this business is just kind of sweeping the dirt off my last name. That’s one of the bigger things that I started this for. And the reason that I do a lot of the things I do is, my dad didn’t put a good look on my last name and I have a mentor who she had enough past and now she’s, well, she’s been probably the best realtor in like the Ozarks for over 15 years, 10, 15 years. And if she can do it, I mean, I would say anybody can do it. And I want to be able to show that to people my age and you know, if they think they can’t do something or if they, you know, they have a wild dream, is definitely achievable. All you gotta do is do it. Dedication is one thing and it’s great if you have it, but you’re nothing if you can’t execute. And that’s the biggest thing. So that’s what I wanna prove with this business.

Michelle Kesil (03:38)
Perfect. And what markets do you operate in?

Renden Henson (03:41)
We do kind of off-market real estate, a little bit of on-market, it just depends. So your referral deals, bigger land deals or development possibilities, anywhere in that kind of scheme of things, we do a little bit of consulting. So someone who’s just wanting to get into it or not even just from the consumer standpoint, but from a business standpoint, you know, if someone wants to get into wholesaling, more than happy to show them how to do it. And the same goes for wealth management. It’s been a learning curve and it’s been a, you know, open-minded thing. So I would say we’re, you know, open to both things. In kind of a little bit of everything, you know, try to keep where we’re needed, but—

Michelle Kesil (04:27)
And how did you get started with real estate?

Renden Henson (04:30)
I got started in real estate probably two years ago, maybe a year and half ago. I’ve got a really close family friend who, her mom and grandparents had been in real estate at the lake for over 30 years. And I got closer with her and then that grew me closer with her family. So getting to know her family and be around them, kind of seeing how much they valued what they did and how successful they got at it was just one of the things I was like, “Man, I wouldn’t mind giving this a shot.” And I’ve always been told that I’ll never meet a stranger or that, you know, I’ve got more, I don’t know what the right word for it is, but up to go out and talk to people. Not afraid to go out and talk to someone I’ve never met before. I can sit down in a restaurant and you know, end up leaving with three or four new friends. And for some reason, some people, well, I mean, not for some reason, some people don’t have the ability to do that and that’s okay. But I’m blessed with the ability to do that. And real estate is one of the things you can do that with. And it pays off very well because that’s, know, 80% of the job is being able to talk to people and understand them. So that’s kind of why I like getting into it. Anything with a service-based deal is kind of like what I like. I like gaining connections. I like seeing people happy. I like making myself happy. And when I’m happy, I like to make other people happy. It’s just a win-win situation for everybody. One good sale for me is a satisfied seller and a happy buyer who is looking for something. Or in this case, I guess, because I’m not a realtor yet. I’d be a happy real estate agent because they don’t have their listing anymore. So that’s a good thing too.

Michelle Kesil (07:10)
And what do you feel are some of the main keys that allow your business to be able to grow and run successfully?

Renden Henson (07:17)
I would say I don’t think there’s too many other people in our area that are doing this necessarily, wholesaling I guess. Obviously wealth management there is a lot of, but I think it depends on the person who’s doing it too. I think that plays a huge factor because what some people think whenever they get into a sales-based position such as this, and a lot of people don’t think sales comes into play whenever you get into any kind of job, but honestly it does because you got to be able to sell yourself to not only maybe it’s your boss or your future boss. You’re at an interview. You got to be able to sell yourself to them to be able to gain that position. but being able to, again, being able to talk to people and understand what they’re looking for and kind of set in that supply and demand type of mindset, you know, they’ve got a demand. You come in and supply that. So I would say just again, being able to sell myself to people. I got a little taste of that last year. I did car detailing with one of my best friends and we just, we started it just for why not? There’s a side deal, make a little extra money and it ended up turning out we won the best of the lake award and we beat out bigger companies that are owned by corporations. We didn’t think anything of that. Whenever we started it, we just thought, you know, this is a side hustle, you know, two kids making some money, but we ended up becoming the best at it. And I think that was kind of an eye opener and a realization. If you want, again, if you want something and you not only have the dedication, but you have the execution and you’re able to do that, do it. There’s nothing stopping you. Absolutely nothing. The only thing stopping you is yourself. So I would say that’d be mindset plays a huge factor into it. Ability does and just kind of how you work yourself does. That’s what I would say.

Michelle Kesil (09:19)
Yeah, absolutely. And what have been some obstacles or challenges that you’ve had to face and overcome in your role?

Renden Henson (10:03)
I would say the biggest one would be age. You know, a lot of people who have been in business for decades and they’ve been doing this for way longer than I have, longer than I’ve been alive. They see someone who’s 18 years old and they’re like, “Well, this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. This guy can’t do what he’s here to do. So I’m going to go find someone that’s more experienced.” And I have nothing against that. I completely understand where they’re coming from. 99% of this generation doesn’t know what they’re doing, doesn’t have a clue, doesn’t want to know how to do anything. And I guess I’m more happy to let people know that there is still people in this generation that are doing things, that are willing to do things, take chances, take risks, get up and work. I was, know, the age is a big factor. It’s one of the biggest walls that we run up against. But sometimes it’s a blessing because I went to meetings where people are like, “I’ve never seen someone so young get into this. It’s, you know, that’s really good to see. I wish we saw more of that.” And that kind of gains us a connection above anything. I don’t even have to talk about what I do. And if it’s the right person that I walk into a room with, all they know, this is that I’m a younger guy getting into it and they hear me talk. They know that I know what I’m talking about. And then, you know, it’s kind of like a, “Wow, there is actually people that are going to get up and do this and we’re not going to be the last ones to do it.” So that’s kind of, I would say that’s my biggest wall that I run up against too.

Michelle Kesil (11:45)
Yeah, absolutely. And what would you say you’re most focused on solving or scaling to next?

Renden Henson (11:53)
I would say, I don’t— there’s a few. As far as scaling is just gaining as much credibility as possible and knowledge as possible too. Knowledge is power. making honestly making mistakes because they’re only mistakes if you let them be. I take mistakes as learning moments and lessons on what to do and what not to do. So I want to make mistakes. Not that I want to, but I want to learn. I guess that’s what I’ll say. I want to learn. I want to get lessons. Want to… you know, do it, do what I got to do. And if, if there’s wins and losses, then there’s wins and losses. I mean, you can’t avoid that. Every successful person’s had their number of losses and their number of wins. I— I’m, I’m big on the, miss a hundred percent of the shots you don’t take. So I don’t like leaving any stone unturned. And even if there’s something that’s not good under there, well, at least now I know. Versus if I would walk past it and never turned it over, I would have never known what’s under there. It could have been something a lot better than what it was. So the focus is just to be 100%, gain as much knowledge and advice and experience and credibility as possible and connections to. I really don’t think there’s a limit on how many connections a person can have. Think the more the better. But I also, having said that, think that’s where the same quality over quantity comes in too. You can have a lot of good connections. And I’m not saying it’s bad too, because it definitely is good. But the quality of the person that you know and that you establish a connection or a relationship with is by far more important than how many people you shake hands with. It’s good, but you gotta make sure you and them are gonna gain something out of it. Otherwise, what’s the point? So I think it’s definitely a… again, one of those learning moments, because you can shake as many hands as you want and think you’re like, well, you walk into a room and you’re like, “Well, I’ve got all these people to back me. I’ve got, you know, I’ve got an answer for every question. I’ve got a person for every problem,” until you go to make that phone call and then they pick up and it’s, “Who the hell are you? Cause I’ve never talked to you.” So unless if you make, you know, take the effort and take the dedication of establish that relationship. Don’t just shake their hand, know, introduce yourself, talk about what you do, talk about what they do. Make sure that they save your name in their phone. Make sure that you get their business card and you guys do a follow-up, you know. And if you do a deal with a client, don’t forget about them. Cause they probably won’t forget about you. Especially if it’s a smooth deal, you know. Client satisfaction should be one of the number one most important things. But you’ve also got to make sure that you like what you do. So that was that’s one of the biggest things about this job too. Again, I like talking to people. Like meeting new people. And I like seeing other people happy. So when they’re not happy, I’m not happy. It makes me feel like I’m not doing what I should do. And I’m not doing what I can do 100%. So teaches me the lesson that I need to know and exchange for a better outcome later on. It’ll take a little more time, but it’s worth it in the end. So my focuses are kind of scattered around the board. That was kind of a rant, but there’s so much to focus on. Really, there really is. So it’s not just one easy cold answer, but I could go on and on about it, really.

Michelle Kesil (16:26)
Yeah, thank you. And what are you most excited about, opportunity or goal wise?

Renden Henson (16:31)
I would say this first deal that we walked into, you know, if we can make this one a success, it’s only up from there. Never would have thought I would have walked into a deal like this, especially on the first one. But it’s an eye-opener. It’s a realization. It’s like, again, for the people that think they can’t do this, they can because… I didn’t think I could do this and here I am doing it. So if I can do it, anybody can do it. Biggest goal is to just make everything go as smoothly as possible and make sure everybody’s happy. I’ve been working for almost three and half weeks on this thing right now and never let up because why would I? It’s not done yet. I don’t know when it’s gonna be done, but I’m gonna make sure that I do 100% until it is done. It’ll be, I don’t know, it’ll just be kind of crazy just to think that something like that could happen. You know, it’s a business that I never really thought about. I mean, obviously I want to do real estate. I wanted to do real estate, but wholesaling, never thought about doing that before. And then because I made a good relationship with somebody that offered a deal on a $21 million property that is one of a kind and like the Ozarks, there is absolutely, and I’m almost 100% positive of this. There is no other piece of property that has what that property has here. I really don’t believe there is. I’ve looked and I can’t find one. I think it’s one of a kind. And I think whoever gets it is extremely lucky. And perhaps to them because it’s a crazy deal. It’s not only a property, it’s a legacy. It’s formerly owned by Anheuser-Busch. And it’s just something you gotta be there to see it. You gotta be there to feel it. It’s crazy. So getting to see it, getting to walk around on it, getting to look at it, getting to be a part of it, getting to talk to the people that I’ve talked to about it, it’s just been… and it’s surreal and it’s, you know, it’s something I’m not going to give up on at all. And it’s just, it’s a good first— yeah. It’s crazy first deal, but it’s going to make sure that I’m going to make sure that these standards set on this deal are on every other deal, no matter the size, because you never know when you’re going to come across a deal like this one. So that’s kind of the lesson and the goal that I have on this opportunity. And that’s probably my biggest opportunity right now. At least in this business, but yeah.

Michelle Kesil (19:17)
Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing all of that.

Renden Henson (19:19)
Yeah, thank you.

Michelle Kesil (19:20)
Before we wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more, where can people find you?

Renden Henson (19:26)
On Facebook, it is just Renden Henson and then Midwest Coast Property Solutions. You can find our email, phone number, website, everything on there, really big on Facebook. If you’re ever down at the lake, always around here. I’m always around here. Most of the networking events, but yeah, that’s where you can find most time in the office, but yeah.

Michelle Kesil (19:51)
Okay, perfect. Well appreciate your time and your story. Thank you for being here.

Renden Henson (19:55)
Absolutely, thank you very much.

Michelle Kesil (19:56)
And for the listeners tuning in, if you got value, make sure you’ve subscribed. We’ve got more conversations with operators like Renden who are building real businesses. And we’ll see you on the next episode.