Why Real Estate Is the Best Path to Wealth, Passive Income, and Affordable Housing Solutions

Dusten Hendrickson (00:00)
I don’t know if there’s anything super general. would just say that everybody should invest in real estate. That’s kind of what I push everybody to do is to become an investor and investing in real estate is a for sure path to wealth. You do not have to be smart to become wealthy by investing in real estate.

And all wealth eventually flows to real estate because it’s the only truly passive thing that can hold your money.

Quentin Edmonds (01:58)
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds, and I am excited to be here today. I am excited about my guests because one of the main things I asked him when we started talking, his reply was this. I want to solve the affordable housing crisis, part of his mission. And I think that is a mission worth undertaking. And I’m so glad that he’s here going to talk about it. I’m excited to see, you know,

if someone out there can partner up with him, push the mission forward. And so I’m super excited to introduce you all to Mr. Dusten Hendrickson Mr. Dusten how you doing today,

Dusten Hendrickson (02:35)
I’m doing good. Thanks for having me, Quentin.

Quentin Edmonds (02:37)
Oh, no, absolutely, man. So glad to have you on, And I am the type I like to dive right in. So I would love for you to tell the people what’s your main focus these days. If you can give us a little bit of an origin story, kind of how you got into the space you’re in. People love the origin stories. So and then also, man, tell them a part of the world you’re in. People also like to know what people are geographically as well. So what you’re up to, your origin story and where you are, if you don’t mind. Mr. Dusten, sir, you have the floor.

Dusten Hendrickson (03:04)
All right, well, first thing is, is my main interest is Jesus Christ. He’s my Lord and Savior.

Quentin Edmonds (03:10)
Let’s go! I’m sorry, no mind to, I get excited, sorry about that. Yeah, yeah.

Dusten Hendrickson (03:12)
Yeah.

Hello. ⁓

I’m living in Brookings, South Dakota, right in the middle of the heartland. We are on Interstate 29, where it’s kind of the last road before you get to the Wild West. So you go past us and it’s very barren. We’re kind of the edge of civilization until you get to the West Coast. And we’ve developed an affordable housing model that I think will work across the entire nation.

because affordable housing is kind of the top three topics talked about on almost every city council meeting. If there’s growth in that town, usually affordable housing is in the top three. And so that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to solve that issue and we’ve come up with a model that solves it very well in my opinion.

Quentin Edmonds (03:57)
Yeah. Love it.

Where did this passion come from, man? Your origin story, kind of how did you get started down this path,

Dusten Hendrickson (04:51)
Okay. So my mother wanted to buy a duplex when I was about 25 years old and they were extremely expensive. It was about 2003. It was before the crash. So everything was very expensive. And I was, I owned a roofing crew and I said, why don’t we just build one? Because I know all these people, they’ll help us figure it out. And so we just built one and we made a bunch of mistakes and we figured all those mistakes out and we did everything ourselves from

The clearance from the buying, acquiring of the land to the clearing of the forest, the trees, to doing most of the work, the general contracting. We did the roofing, the siding, the insulation, the trim, the tiles, the cabinets, as much as we could. We didn’t do the foundation. We didn’t do the framing. and we didn’t do any of the trades, but that was amazing project. And one side from doing that one side paid for the entire, duplex.

So we then we realized let’s do it again. And we just kept doing it again and again and again. And it was actually cheaper to develop than it was to buy. And so we gained a lot of equity doing that. And that was back in the day where you didn’t need to bring cash forward. You could just sign your name, use the construction note and put whatever cash would get needed on the end of the note, which is not possible anymore. Another barrier to entry. So yeah, we got in when it was a little, little easier and it’s going to be the same way.

Quentin Edmonds (06:02)
Yeah.

Dusten Hendrickson (06:09)
Going forward, it’s just gonna be harder and harder to build as time marches on.

Quentin Edmonds (06:12)
Love it, man. Thank you. Thank you for taking us through the journey. Thank you for showing us just kind of like the origin story a little bit, how you got to where you are. Thank you for repping out Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I appreciate that. And as you was talking, man, I was just I was writing some things down and I’m going to regurgitate just some things to you. But.

You guys developed an affordable housing model that works and it works across different states. One of the ways you got into this is that your mom wanted to buy a duplex in 2003. So you said, Hey mom, I’ll just go in and build you one. Guys made some mistakes, but you figured it out. And after you figured it out, you just kept wash, rinse, repeat, wash, rinse, repeat, doing it over and over again. And so I kind of said some of these things back to you, one, let you know I’m actively listening.

But two, I have a saying, Mr. Dusten, where I say destiny has no wasted moments. I mean, what we go through in life, momentum is building. And we’re borrowing from different moments in our life. And they kind of shape who we are now. Like, we know our why. We know what we’re passionate about. We know our purpose. We know why we do what we do. And so I would love to know, throughout your journey, throughout the moments in your life leading up to where you are now, when you was

building a duplex, making mistakes, but now you got that thing down pack, you know, and you’re in the space you’re in. What has these moments taught you about yourself? What has these moments, this destiny, this journey revealed about you, has it revealed discipline, humility? Like, what has these moments taught you about yourself?

Dusten Hendrickson (07:41)
taught me that I’m the humblest person I know. Just kidding, I love using that, whatever someone says, talks about humility. ⁓ But yeah, so it’s taught me lots of things. It’s taught me that perseverance is one of the most important things in business, or in life in general. And to be kind, your attitude is more important than your aptitude. You can learn almost anything, but your attitude is super important.

Quentin Edmonds (07:46)
Yeah, yeah.

Dusten Hendrickson (08:04)
And this is why we hire for attitude and train for aptitude as well. Yeah, hire for attitude, train for aptitude.

Quentin Edmonds (08:11)
Wow. Yeah. Wow.

Dusten Hendrickson (08:13)
Because

if someone is smart and they’re have a really good attitude they’re gonna be more open to learning and Teach them a lot of times bringing in someone who doesn’t know anything is almost better because you can mold them exactly how you want

Quentin Edmonds (08:19)
Wow.

Yeah

Dusten Hendrickson (08:27)
And then

if you can retain those employees, then great. And if not, and then they move on, well, then you’re just proud that you created a really good employee for someone else or a business owner or whatever they move on. And then always look to provide value because you will be compensated. You don’t have to really worry about getting your money. Yes, always protect yourself, have the contracts.

Quentin Edmonds (08:38)
Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

Dusten Hendrickson (08:52)
but provide value first and then ask what you’re gonna get later because you’ll always get the reward by just putting yourself out there.

Quentin Edmonds (09:01)
I appreciate that. I appreciate everything you just said. Definitely wrote down higher for attitude, trains for aptitude. Never quite heard that before. I think it’s brilliant. I think it’s brilliant. It’s funny that I was laughing when someone, I’m the homeless guy. know, you know, I was laughing because, know, we love Jesus Christ and we Bible people, you know, I was hit over the head with that scripture that says humble yourself, right? So like, woo, like,

Sometimes you got to take humility in your own hands and humble yourself or you will be humbled. it’s like when you said that I was recalling that, know, and I think humility is an amazing thing, an amazing tool. But I love men, love, cause we’re going to talk about probably relationships a little bit later, but I’m really stuck on that higher for attitude. That just makes so much sense. Because somebody character, somebody that came on the show, they said, everybody has a brand and it’s your character.

Your character is your brand. It goes before you. So I love the fact of hiring people with the right attitude and then train them for aptitude. That’s amazing. Let me ask you this. What is the next goal for your business? I’m gonna love hearing this from you. What’s your next goal for your business? What are you looking to solve or scale next? Are you looking to just run real fast and blow things up? Now I’m just messing. I know we talked a little bit, but please, what’s the next goal for you, man?

Dusten Hendrickson (10:53)
Well, my next goal, the big goal is to build one apartment complex per month. And eventually, and we’re, we’re probably do one every two months right now, but get to one a month, then get to one a week and eventually get to one a day, which is very, very, very lofty goal. But that’s how much affordable housing is needed. And even if I’m just a consultant for other firms, but we bring in a lot of partners. So.

And the goal is not to own everything. The goal is just to create it. And so if we just own a little percentage of each and we’re solving a massive problem, we’re going to be, we’re going to do very well. But I don’t really worry about how much I own or any of that. just worry about putting it out there. And if I put it out there, I will either be compensated for putting it out there or get some of the ownership for putting it out there. And so the goal is just to help solve all these affordable housing initiatives that are.

across the country. I like talking to municipalities in different places, know, places like Raleigh, Washington, DC, they need this housing really bad, all through the Midwest, West Coast, down to even Texas, like some places are overbuilt, but they tend to get overbuilt and not enough affordable range, they tend to get overbuilt in the class A apartments or the homes that are still unaffordable. So it’s

We haven’t seen any overbuilding in the affordable housing space.

Quentin Edmonds (12:18)
I love it. And I’m glad you answered that question because as you said, said, listen, I don’t have to own everything, but you just want to be a part of the solution. And so that’s why I was joking around because I knew kind of that was the mindset about you. Like you’re not trying to own everything and have your name all the way out there, but you are definitely trying to solve the affordable housing crisis. And I love that, that you want to build an apartment complex a month.

eventually a week, then eventually a day. And like you said, it’s a big goal, but it’s achievable. One of the books that I’m finished reading is a book by Mark Batterson. He’s a pastor in DC. You’ve probably heard of him before. But gradually, then suddenly. And so in his book, he talks about success happen to his ways gradually, then suddenly. And he talks about long obedience. And he says, know,

things start off as impossible, then they become hard, and then it becomes done. And so when I think about a month, week, a day, maybe the day may sound impossible, but the week they get to building an apartment a week, it’ll be a little bit hard. But then once you do that one every day, it’ll be done. And then the process will be complete. And so I know you’re going to do it. There’s no doubt in my mind because you know what you’re doing.

and what you’re doing it for. So I’m going to be excited, man, when that goal is reached for you, I want to say this word, and I would love to hear your perspective on it. When you hear the word relationship, what comes to mind for you?

Dusten Hendrickson (13:48)
Relationship is what you do for the other person and what the other person does for you. Whether that’s just being there in need or if it’s a monetary relationship or a business relationship or a father-daughter relationship.

Quentin Edmonds (14:06)
Yeah. Yeah.

Dusten Hendrickson (14:07)
So

just what’s the dynamic of that relationship and how is it benefiting you? Because every relationship benefits both people. Otherwise it will cease to be a relationship.

Quentin Edmonds (14:17)
I love it. so within within, I mean, that was so eloquently said, has relationships impacted your business? Because it seemed like you are the type that really wants to really be partner up with people. And I say partner up like making sure that everybody ability is able to shine at what it is that they are specialized in. So how does a relationship work within your business, within your sphere?

Dusten Hendrickson (14:38)
Well, I rely on relationships because I don’t really do any of work. I’m the guy that has the ideas and I connect people together. So I do a lot of connecting and a lot of lifting people up, inspiration at times. I try to just give a lot of my time or my knowledge. So I try to give that away freely.

because it’s guarding, doesn’t really help anybody. I’ve found that giving it away will lift everyone up and, know, rising tides lift all ships. I have a, and then people stay with you forever too. So I have a partner, he’s the day-to-day operations guy. have another partner. He’s the day-to-day asset management guy. have a executive assistant, which is she’s now the

growth, head of growth or director of new business development. I don’t know. We gave her some cool title and she’s just my right hand, my right hand person. She’s actually my wife’s sister, but she is, she helps me all the time. She’s like the glue for our whole company. So without her, I have to do so many more tasks and I don’t, I’m not able to be proactive.

Quentin Edmonds (15:39)
Mm.

Dusten Hendrickson (15:47)
So I’m much better at being proactive. And then I try to put reactive people around me that can do the day to day. And then I just feed them things. So I rely on people constantly.

Quentin Edmonds (16:37)
man, that sounds beautiful. It sounds like you’ve built a culture, or also what I like to say, a community. You’ve built a community, a community and a culture. And I’m always saying that community is common unity. It’s people who doing different things, but they’re doing it with the same mission in mind. Uniformity is when everybody look the same, do the same, talk the same. But unity is when people do different things for the same common mission.

And so that’s what community is, common unity. And that’s what it sounds like you’ve built there and it’s building there with the culture and giving people autonomy to really push the vision forward. That’s ultimately to solve affordable housing crisis. And so, man, I love it. I love what you guys are building. Tell me the name of the company again, because I don’t think we’ve heard it just yet. Tell me the name and tell me if there’s a story behind the name.

Dusten Hendrickson (17:27)
Mailbox Money is the name. And yeah, it’s just as it’s, it’s an older type of slang because you used to get your checks in the mail every month. So when you own real estate, the landlord collects his check every month and you get it, deposit the money. Now it’s all ACH and you get a deposit every quarter. It’s not quite the same, but my, my main partner that I do the most business with was just talking and he says, well, sounds like you.

Quentin Edmonds (17:29)
Yes, we did not say that. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Dusten Hendrickson (17:54)
give people mailbox money. And I was like, I’m stealing that and I’m using that for a company name. And so it’s very memorable. Some people think it’s a little bit cheesy or too slangy for the amount of business we do, but it seems to work and people seem to remember it.

Quentin Edmonds (17:56)
Ha!

I’ll tell you one thing, I’m definitely gonna remember it. That’s for sure. I definitely think it works and it’s working too at the same time. So yeah, why not? It’s working. Absolutely.

Dusten Hendrickson (18:19)
Yeah.

And if you Google it, Nipsey Hussle actually comes up first.

Quentin Edmonds (18:23)
Are you serious? That’s hilarious. That’s hilarious. Wow. Okay. That’s hilarious. That’s a good point. I mean, that’s a good fun fact. That’s good. So listen, Dusten, is there any topic that I have not brought up that you would like to talk about? Or is there any other words of inspiration, education, motivation? It’s just, if you came in here with a thought on your mind that you want to do is to know, I just kind of want to open up the floor that way you can deliver that message.

Dusten Hendrickson (18:50)
Well, I’m not as good with broad based questions. I’m better with pointed questions, but

Quentin Edmonds (18:56)
Gotcha.

Dusten Hendrickson (18:56)
I don’t know if there’s anything super general. would just say that everybody should invest in real estate. That’s kind of what I push everybody to do is to become an investor and investing in real estate is a for sure path to wealth. You do not have to be smart to become wealthy by investing in real estate.

And all wealth eventually flows to real estate because it’s the only truly passive thing that can hold your money.

So eventually you have to put your money in real estate. That’s why over 90%, 90 some percent of millionaires own real estate. And if you look at Bezos and Bill Gates, their money is flowing into farmland because farmland is the most passive type of real estate. And

It holds its value. I mean, there are always ups and downs, but for the most part, if you look at it in a linear progression, producing farmland that produces is always going to be highly valuable. Plus you have a cash crop, so it produces cash, but you have to be super wealthy to buy it because it doesn’t give you the best returns. So you can’t, it’s not a good asset to borrow against unless you’re a farmer. But if you have a lot of money to place, farmland is one of the absolute best things to put it in because.

you can put billions into farmland where it’s very hard to put billions into most things. And so that’s what I’d say. I’d say land or real estate always that’s where wealth always flows to. So figure out how to own some real estate and your family will really thank you because real estate is a generational asset. The person collecting the real estate might not get enjoyed as much as the person underneath, but it sets your family up. can change your whole family tree.

Quentin Edmonds (20:35)
There he is. Mr. Dusten, sir, thank you so much. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing. How can I get in contact with you,

Dusten Hendrickson (20:46)
MailboxMoneyRE.com. So it’s MailboxMoneyRE as in realestate.com. And then all of our stuff is there. You can find our LinkedIn, our Instagram, our Facebook, our YouTube. And so we put out a lot of social media on LinkedIn. So you can find me on LinkedIn, just Dusten Hendrickson, D-U-S-T-E-N. And we post daily on there and it’s family stuff, work stuff, life stuff, inspirational stuff.

but all tied into real estate.

Quentin Edmonds (21:14)
There he is. Sir, let me say three things to you. One, thank you for your time. Couldn’t be doing anything in the world, but you’re here with us. So thank you for your time. Thank you for your story. Thank you for your narrative and sharing it. I believe stories have a way that can course correct somebody’s life. Like I believe our words build our worlds. So I believe you’ve given enough word that maybe somebody is going to rethink the way that they’re doing things, strategies. So thank you so much for that.

And lastly, thank you for your perspective, for your mindset and the way you think and bringing that mindset to this platform. I greatly appreciate you coming on, Dusten.

Dusten Hendrickson (21:49)
Hey, thanks for having me, Gwen. And ⁓ I like your background there, the monopoly man. That’s cool. That’s very true. Very true. Very true statement.

Quentin Edmonds (21:55)
I appreciate it. Yeah. Yeah,

absolutely. My working definition for luck is when opportunity meets preparation. And so we’re going to make our own luck. We’re going to be to say prepares. And when the opportunity comes, we’re going to strike. So I appreciate that. Well, listen, y’all definitely check out Mr. Dusten looking at show notes. His information is there. Get in contact with him. Definitely make sure you’re subscribed here because we’re going to continue to bring up amazing people just like Mr. Dusten. Thank you, sir. Everyone else.

You’ll have a fantastic day.