Guru Jacqueline (Trout) Huser with First Focus Realty

Rick Ripma: 0:00

Welcome to India's real estate gurus. I'm Rick Ripma, your hardworking mortgage guy. I've been in real estate and mortgage industry for over34 years, I've helped over 5200folks finance their homes, my team and I believe in custom tailored loans, not a one size fits all approach. We believe there is the right mortgage for you. And we believe we are the team to deliver it.

Ian Arnold: 0:20

And I'm in Arnold per Rick's hard working mortgage team. I've been in the financial industry for 15 years helping customers rebuild their credit,get the best possible interest rate. I also have a passion in helping you secure your overall dreams and real estate and hopefully even pay your home off even faster.

Rick Ripma: 0:34

And to remind you for any real estate questions in the real estate questions or more questions on mortgages,please go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com.That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com, or you can call 317-672-1938.That's 317-672-1938. And today,we have a real you know,someone's had been in business a while but you don't look like you've been in business very long.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 0:59

Well,thank you. I'll take that as a compliment. You

Rick Ripma: 1:01

look like you've you just started but 12 years. Yes.That's phenomenal. So you started at 10? Yeah,

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 1:08

well,yeah. No, not quite. I was I was worried when I first started that people wouldn't take me seriously because I was relatively young. But yeah, 12years now, and very, very confident and happy with where I am

Rick Ripma: 1:20

awesome. Well, well,we really appreciate you joining us. And it's I know you're it's Jacqueline trout. Huser. Yeah.And you're and you're with first focus Realty, which is a company that you started.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 1:32

Yes.Just started it. Yep,absolutely. I started it this year. And so my previous company was trout Realty. Hence, you know, last name was trout, but that was family name grandmother's brokerage. And so when I opened first focus this year, at the beginning of the year, I had to kind of keep both names so that people would still remember my past 11 years with my previous brokerage and you know, I'm transitioning into the new name. Okay,

Rick Ripma: 1:59

so your, your grandmother started trout real estate. So yes, this is a family deal family business. Okay. So before we get into how that happened, let's get into what did you do before real estate if there ever was a before real estate, and, you know, Where'd you grow up that kind of thing.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 2:16

So there was a before real estate,I did not go very far. I live in Avon with my husband and three kids. Now I graduated high school from Avon. So been there for a long time. Went to Avon high school graduated, had big plans to go to Ball State for a while was my plan, I actually did not do that I had a period of time where I was, you know,kind of not sure what direction I was gonna go in floating around, you know, made some poor choices. And ultimately, that led to where I am now, which,you know, everything happens for a reason. And, you know,everything works out the way it should. So I didn't end up going to Ball State, I ended up joining my family business,which at that point, I was working for my dad, and he owned a construction company. So I then went to school at night for business, doing night courses,and got a degree in business administration. But I worked in my dad's office, and it really taught me you know, everything I needed to know about running a company, which then prepped me,you know, to be a realtor,because we're all self employed,right? So I learned how to do everything, how to manage money,how to make phone calls, how to track people down customer service skills, doing, you know,basically everything being an executive assistant for him. And so I was doing that for a long time working in the office. My aunt, at that moment, worked in an office across the street,also doing construction. And we would go to lunch with my grandma multiple times, you know, every week, sometimes twice a week, and she was a realtor. So we would hear her stories, her situations, and then all of my my dad and my aunt also owned several rental properties at that time, as well. So I would be involved in here, you know, some of that aspect as well. And so then,when I got pregnant with my oldest who is going to be 11Tomorrow modulations Thank you,I decided I wasn't going to go back to the nine to five. And so I decided to join my grandma and dive into real estate at that time, so I could hopefully work from home and have more time with my kids. Oh, awesome. Has it worked out that way? It absolutely has. For me, I have made that workout. It's kind of part of who I am as a realtor.You know, having my children with me sometimes. Other people may frown on that, you know and go for that more kind of professional approach, you know with a briefcase and a suit and a laptop and often I'll have three kids in tow in You know,yoga pants and have just left the gym and running like a crazy person. And so you get just me,you know, all the time, you know who I really am, there's really no separation of me, you know,as a realtor versus me doing everything else, they've kind of just intertwined at this point.And so the people that I work with, you know, I'm the same no matter where I am. People accept

Rick Ripma: 5:27

that now, though.

Ian Arnold: 5:28

Well, actually, I think it's overall acceptance also just depends on who you're working with. So if you've worked with anybody who's had kids, we all understand.Babysitter got sick, I have no babysitter or the kids sick. I had to bring them or we all understand that. I mean, Rick has three old kids nowadays.Yeah, that's me who said? Yeah.So I think but if you ran into a young couple of doesn't have it,then they might think a little bit more, oh, she really brought her kid. But I think any person who's been in that situation, we all understand what there's sometimes there's nothing you can do.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 6:01

Yeah,so a lot of times, I try one for professional reasons. And two,for safety reasons, right? Real estate can actually be, you know, kind of a dangerous job.And so, at a first meeting with clients, I won't bring kids, you know, unless there's an emergency. But upon that first meeting, I will see kind of Who are these people that I'm working with? Do they have their kids with them, you know, kind of gauge the situation and then moving forward. And, you know,additional times in meetings, I mean, it's, I've brought kids to closings. You know, one of my pictures on my website is my daughter when she was a couple years older, you know, holding up the, I love my realtor sign.And so because I guess also, I am so deeply family oriented,both with my family's construction, you know, their property management, and then my beginnings in real estate that I, you know, I like for my kids to be able to tag along and see what I do. And then now that I've started first focus, I actually have hired first time I've ever hired anybody, but I've hired my brother to kind of do some of my admin and teaching him some of the same skills that like I got when I started with my dad, you know, some basic bookkeeping and just real life stuff that you don't necessarily get at school or in college,even, you know, the actual, what it's like to really run a business. You don't you don't always see that from a classroom.

Rick Ripma: 7:32

No, I was talking to somebody the other day, and it was a younger person. And they were, they had finally realized that when they graduated from school, they didn't actually know, you know, they you graduate from school, and you think that you're special,right? Oh, yeah. And you come into this business, and they're gonna be like, Oh, my gosh, he just graduated college. And he realized very quickly, he said,he didn't know anything he got in their business. It's like,wow, I don't know anything. But that's why I think working makes a big difference. So you were in construction? I know, you learned a lot about admin and running a company. But what about construction? Did you learn much there?

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 8:11

I didn't, to be just very honest,I didn't I didn't handle that.But what I handled was the communication and the problem solving. And, you know, I would see my family and, and a lot of kind of what we do, you know, so the owner of the business, you know, they had guys on site running things, there's owners of the, you know, buildings that are being built commercial,commercial. And so, you know,there's problems that arise, we get an email, there's an issue,you know, jumping on that calling, whoever you need to call to resolve the issue is kind of what we do in real estate, right? I mean, at least that's what I what I view it as,so I try not to I don't even think about myself as a salesperson I never have. When I started doing real estate, that was what I did not want, right?Because I kind of had in my mind. You know, realtors are like a step above the car salesman, you know, and they show up with their briefcase,and they're all knowing and you know, they're smarter than you better than you. And they're going to show you everything wonderful about this house. And you know, and I didn't want to be that right. I wanted to be like the opposite of that. I wanted to be more of an executive assistant for my client, what do you need? What can I help you with? And with technology the way that it is,that's what's going to be valuable, they don't, they're not going to need me to just unlock the door and show my house right? Pretty soon they can probably, you know, call a hotline and the door will just magically unlock and who knows there could be the voice on a speaker you know, look at the look to your right and and see this. So I don't want to be that I don't want to be the realtor that just shows houses I want to be whatever it is that you need for me, which is different with every client and learning how to figure that out and adapt to what it is that they need even if they don't know what they need, sometimes they need a marriage counselor, you know,sometimes they need, sometimes they need someone to help them,you know, pack their stuff,right? Sometimes they need somebody to, you know, calm them down when they're, you know,blood pressures boil and over,be a voice of reason or, you know, whatever it is. And so that's what I try to be. And that's what I look at more. So which I did, I think, learn a lot of that being in my previous role in an office situation,because, you know, I don't care who you are, what field you're in, there's going to be some sort of issue that happens,right, some sort of problem,some obstacle, some hurdle that comes up, and anybody that says that there's not, you know,either one hasn't been doing it for very long or two, they're lying. Right? So learning how to overcome those obstacles is what makes our industry more human,and why we will need humans because a computer can't, you know, necessarily solve an issue between two people, you know,without an a bit of a, you know,human emotion and understanding and empathy

Rick Ripma: 11:13

right now, I don't see it going away from real estate agents. In fact, when you talked about it, that's kind of a mic. I don't think I'd want it that way. And have somebody come into my house that I don't know,if it's already kind of, you know, you don't know him, but you know, there's a professional real estate agent there. So you feel comfortable with that, but somebody just walking into my house, because they have a code,they heard a voice, that would not that would bother me, I don't think I would want to do that. I think that'll be a tough,

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 11:39

I don't, I wouldn't want to and I hope that the majority of people don't want that. But you definitely see a push, you know,where people are kind of trying to make it that, you know, you can buy a car now from the vending machine. And so, you know, some of these properties with a buy now option, you know,where they'll do, you know, the mortgage, they'll set, you know,everything from beginning to end, you don't need a person,it's all electronic. And so, I think there might be something,you know, investor owned, big,empty, corporate owned places that might go that way. But I feel really sorry for the buyers of those types of situations,because they're not getting any guidance, you know, or no,really, I don't think what they're buying. So I think it's really risky. And I hope that,you know, people will continue to recognize that risk and, and call a person, you know, call me call anybody just call somebody,

Ian Arnold: 12:33

and how would they call you what number

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 12:35

my phone number is? 317-491-3041?

Ian Arnold: 12:42

Is that the best way to reach you or absolutely

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 12:45

best way to reach me, you can call me you can text me, my email, you can email me as well. It's Jacqueline, which is really hard to spell. Jacque L I N E, at first focus realty.net. But I pride myself on being available,basically all the time, except maybe really early in the morning. I don't I'm not a morning person. So, but late,you know, anytime for maybe, you know, eight 9am Up until 12,midnight, weekends, holidays,birthdays while in labor. I was my family teases me, I was definitely working while in childbirth, at the hospital with a laptop. answering phone calls,emails. You know, that's kind of my thing that some people don't do. And maybe they have a point,you know, to shut it off sometimes and you know, focus on other things, but I haven't really been able to do that much. I'm, I'm big on you know,the, if somebody calls me I answer, and whatever it is that they want, I do it right, then I don't like to kind of leave a list of items that I need to handle and handle them later.Because that that's a possibility. I might forget something. Right. So if I do it right, then I know that it's done. I know that I've provided,you know, an immediate service to that client. And I know that there's no chance that I didn't answer in they're gonna call somebody else.

Ian Arnold: 14:18

So sometimes when you're in labor, it's one of those things that you can you don't generate the conversation.So one of the things that my wife and I joke about is when she was in labor with our first kid, the doctor comes in, and he's telling her to push and everything. He goes, Oh, I heard you so high in cars. And I'm like, Yeah, I do. I'm like, I might, in my mind. I'm like, I don't want to have this conversation right now. But he wants to and I'm like, I don't know what you're doing. But it's like, all right, whatever. Let's go.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 14:46

You know, Labor's a long thing sometimes, right? So it could start and you know, then you get the epidural and you're just waiting. So you know, you have some downtime, and I knew life would be very hectic. Uh, once I brought the newborn home so I'm like, What can I finish? You know, right now let me let me check my emails, my text messages, be sure that there's nothing, you know, hanging out there that once I bring this newborn home that, you know, I'm going to not be able to do so.Yeah, holidays, you know, all that stuff? I don't, I don't really shut it off. There is no,I don't have a lot of separation from Me, you know, personally versus me working. And so part of that it all kind of goes together is for a lot of years.I just really pushed that personal service and, you know,maybe not being as professional and show up and have nine to five hours in this big company.No, I'm just a person, but I'm your person. Like, anytime you need me. I will be here.

Rick Ripma: 15:47

And Rick, the best way to get a hold of our inner eye? Yes, go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com You'll have all our information there. Or you can call317-672-1938. That's317-672-1938. And thank you for listening to indies real estate gurus. The guru's we interview,share valuable insights. They reveal their strengths,personalities and how they'll work for you while we hardworking mortgage guys secure your best mortgage. Real estate agents work hard to real estate gurus. Not all of them just gurus. They avoid problems the amateurs don't see they listen and they find unrealized opportunities. If you're buying or selling a home a real estate guru is a valuable asset. If you're even thinking of buying or selling the home, keep listening. And definitely call one of Indy's real estate gurus.

Ian Arnold: 16:40

Alright, Jacqueline,for I get into my one of my favorite question to find out more about you. I'm kind of curious. So what since your grandmother did real estate and when you got into it, what is one piece of wisdom she gave you that you've always kept in mind?

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 16:55

Um, I want to quote her right? But I'm not sure but it went something along the lines of if you have to swallow a frog, swallow the biggest one first, something like that, right. So, um, I do remember that occasionally. And so it was you know, if you have something hard to do, or bad news to deliver a difficult task, a daunting task, you know,you do that first you get it over with you get it done. The longer that you sit on something or dread something or procrastinated or put it off,you know, it only gets worse.And so anything anything, you know, big, I just do it immediately handle it immediately. And then I can move on to other things. She has a whole bunch. She's got a bunch of sayings and a bunch of quotes more of them. If they pop up in my mind, I'll share more of them with you. But she's um, she's She means business, very serious woman, go getter, you know,everything for her clients. She definitely. She definitely was a great role model. So that was great to work for her. But I never, I never really did any sort of like formal training,you know, I went to school for real estate, which, you know,taught me the license law. But then after that, I never went to one of the big offices and did hands on training. I never really followed anybody. And so even when I went to work for my grandmother, she was my grandmother right now, right?Not my mom. And so she was almost kind of already semi retired, she was only doing kind of a few deals. So I kind of just hopped in, took the reins,but then would call her, you know, with any questions that I had, and it was a good resource for a lot of years.

Rick Ripma: 18:49

That was great to have that though, you got to have a mentor. That's one thing we've learned from the show is that almost every single guru real estate agent we talked to,I would say every single one has had a mentor somewhere along the way, most of them multiple mentors. And they also are mentors. Right, right. It's not just a one way street. And it's really helped them develop as real estate agents. And as people,

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 19:16

right,right, yeah, for sure. So he said that I did. She was definitely my mentor. But what's interesting is, you know, I was doing the the business admin stuff, and I really thought that that was what I was going to continue to do. It wasn't until you know, my son was born 2012And so 2011 I was pregnant.Well, 2010 I bought my first house, right? So obviously I use my grandmother, but I didn't know you know what I was supposed to be doing at that point as a client. But because she was my grandmother and we were super close. I without knowing it and she kind of allowed me acted as my own realtor through that transaction without you even realizing I was doing it, I thought that that was normal. You know, I was calling the other agent, like,you know, what's going on with the situation and what's going on with the house. And, you know, we had home inspections,you know, so I'm, I just kind of stepped in. And, you know, she's like me, and you know, you basically brokered your own transaction, I was finding all the homes, you know, that I wanted to see. I had one deal fall through. And then I ended up buying something different.But the whole process I was a lot more hands on, than I think most people would be when they're buying something. And so then that was kind of what sparked it. When I decided I didn't want to work a nine to five anymore. I was like, You know what, I was pretty good at that, you know, and I kind of was doing it without even knowing that I was doing it. And so maybe, maybe that's the path but it, it wasn't easy. It didn't come overnight. People call me all the time. And they're like, oh, you know,you're in real estate. That's probably you know, such an easy,easy job, right? You do it and then you make all this money.And no, it takes time. I didn't I didn't do well, my first couple years, it was a lot of years to get to where I am now.

Rick Ripma: 21:12

It's a lot different than what people think. Right?Because they see, they see something on TV. And they think it's like that.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 21:22

Yeah,right HGTV three houses. Yes.Which one do you want? Boom,you're moving in next month?Yeah,

Ian Arnold: 21:30

it is that way, I don't know what you guys are talking

Rick Ripma: 21:32

about. Only for you,only for you. But it's it's not only that, they also I think that there's a perception out there that it's it's an easy job. And it's what you have to do that customers never see is so much. And there's so much detail and, and really, it's kind of a compliment. If they if they get done. They think Man,this is easy. You did you know,that means you did a phenomenal job of of, of keeping them from the all of the stress and worry that goes along, right? Because there's a lot of things that you just I'm sure you just handle.Right? That's your customers just never know, if they did they would really appreciate everything you do.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 22:10

Absolutely.And to me, you know, that aspect of being on call is huge. You know, you think about other industries, when someone is on call, you know what they make versus when they just clock in and clock out, right? Well,we're always on call, right? And the added stress that comes with that it's not for everyone. And that's one thing, you know that I love my job all the time, but the only thing that I sometimes think about is me and you know,it'd be nice sometime to be able to shut that off. And like, you know, go to work, come home, be home, go to work be at work, but that's not that's not the reality. And so, there's an added level of stress, you know,if you have something going on that, that you can't leave at the office, you know, you bring it home with you if you have something going on, you know,I've I've laid in bed and lost sleep and trying to think of possible solutions and answers or, you know, I take I take my job very seriously. And it doesn't leave me when I leave you. Whatever situation is happening. Good, bad. You know,we're having trouble finding something or, you know, there's an issue or your budget, you know, whatever it is, I take it with me 100% As as my problem just as much as it is yours.

Rick Ripma: 23:32

Yep. I hate hearing about a problem. Friday night at five o'clock. Yeah, because if I hear about it at five o'clock on Friday night, especially if it's something there's nothing you can do about it over the weekend, right? All you do is think about it all

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 23:45

weekend,you can't quit thinking about right, you can't, and it always

Rick Ripma: 23:49

ends up. Okay. You I mean, it just always does. But

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 23:52

it does. You know, I've been doing this now, you know, about 12years. And there's only been,you know, under a handful of times that I've really even had a big big issue. I've had a lot of small issues. But you know,even the big issues at the end of the day, you know, they they work themselves out what's meant to be usually will be if somebody loses a house and they're devastated. And then you know, sure enough they find another or even if they had to wait a year, you know something in their life happens, you know,things do work out the way that they should. But man it can be stressful in the meantime. And so that's that's one thing I try to work on that especially at the beginning was really difficult for me like I am a people pleaser by nature. I'm a you know, service industry service minded person. And so if anybody was unhappy, gosh, about anything. I would just I would take it so personally. And so that's something after all these years that I've had to kind of dial back a little bit but I still do You know, I mean, it's just part of my personality, you know, and I think it makes you,you know, be a better service person when you when you care,right, when you're not faking that care for your client, you mean it, it's real, you're going to give, you know, 100% and give your all versus, you know,somebody that's here, you know,to do the job and go home when they're done. People can

Rick Ripma: 25:20

tell, yeah, you know, people can tell, so i This leads into this. So what would you say your superpower or superpowers are

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 25:33

kind of that same thing, you know,figuring out what it is that,that they need for me. Because like I was saying earlier, they may not even know what that is,and they contact you. And they think, you know, I need a realtor to buy a house, but what they don't realize is, you know,if they were working with a for sale by owner there, you know,whatever it is, and that owner without having you involved to broker that they would never get it done. Right. And so, you know, or being that voice, like I said earlier, that, you know,helps find the compromise between a husband and wife that,you know, would maybe be difficult without, and just being, being whatever it is that they need. And being adaptable.You know, and being able to work with almost any type of person,right? We see a lot of types of people from a lot of different walks of life, I don't have a normal type of person that, you know, this is who I work with all the time. This is my, this is my price point. This is my side of town. I don't I don't have that. So I've gone all the way almost to Chicago, I've gone to the east side, I've done stuff at Geist, you know, I've sold two or $3 million houses.And then I've sold several$20,000 houses. And so adjusting how I communicate with people,based upon their level of knowledge need, what they want to know versus what they don't want to know, right? Some people want to know all of it, they want you to educate them and be a teacher, you're a teacher now.But then other people, you start to tell them that and you're freaking them out, you're stressing them out, they don't want to know. So figuring all that out without, you know somebody explaining it to me,because they don't even know, we would probably be what my superpower is.

Ian Arnold: 27:34

All right. And if somebody wants to work with you and your superpower, yeah, how will they get in contact with you?

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 27:39

I think calling texting is definitely probably the easiest317-491-3041 and expect, you know, immediate response.

Rick Ripma: 27:50

That's 317-491-3041And it's Jacqueline trout user.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 27:58

That's right, right. So Jacqueline trout Huser, I got a rep the trout Realty that I was with for a lot of years. My grandmother Patty trout is who got me started. And so I actually I've been married and my legal name has been Heuser for quite some time. I got married in 2014. But I kept trout because I was with trout Realty. Right. So who wants to have a different names and their business name? And so slow transition when I opened first focus? You know, my husband, I think was glad you know, are you going to finally go by your your married name.And I was like yes, but it will be a it will be a transition to that. So even my, my voicemail says, you know, formally with trout Realty. So that people know, but most of my clients,right, our referrals or people that have worked with me or I have business pages, but I invite most of my people to, you know, follow my personal pages because as I've said, it's so closely intertwined, that people that other than my leads, I do,I do pay for leads. And so those people contact me and don't know me at all, but in that case,they don't care which which name I go by either way,

Rick Ripma: 29:12

either one. And to get a hold of the inner I go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Or you can call 317-672-1938.That's 317-672-1938.

Ian Arnold: 29:25

And now we'll get into the question of the week and the question of the week is sponsored by Hey, Rick and I the hard working mortgage guys where we believe in helping supporting you and your realtor by sending constant updates to the loan process. We don't like living in a black hole. So we don't think you should either. So contact us today at hard working mortgage guys.com All right, so here's a tough question. What was your first car?

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 29:46

My first car was a 1996 Pontiac Sunfire it was gold. And I had leopard seat covers.

Rick Ripma: 29:56

Wow leopard seat cover. Yeah,

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 29:58

yeah,do

Rick Ripma: 29:59

that your car Customize that yourself.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 30:01

Customize it myself. Yeah, I was lucky. I,my dad and my mom and I think my grandpa I don't remember what percentage but they they chipped in and got me that it wasn't,you know, man nowadays, like you see some of these 16 year olds,their parents are buying them like brand new cars. But so I don't know, my math isn't my strong suit, but it was a 1996.So it wasn't new. But it wasn't old. It was it was nice. And it wasn't nice for very long because I ran it into everything. I'm not a good driver. I'm really not. I was showing houses recently and had a client following me right.Sometimes they ride in my car,most of the time they follow me.But she was following me. And luckily, you know, she was following me and she I'm backing out and I hit a trailer, a parked trailer. And she gets out. She's like, Oh, my gosh,are you okay? I'm like, Yeah,it's fine. I look at the trailer, there's no damage. I'm like on to the next house, you know. So I do warn clients, if they ride with me, I don't often hit moving objects, but a lot of curbs, parking blocks, you know,parked objects, you'd think that the backup cameras and the beeping and all that would help but it doesn't. So I'm definitely in this industry for my people skills, not my driving skills or my navigation skills.Because without GPS, I would not be able to do what I do. So thank goodness for that. So

Ian Arnold: 31:32

you don't have anything appeared now. So since you were just on this, and everybody's gonna listen to this. Nobody want to ride with you.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 31:38

Yeah.Well, I'm very honest, I don't I don't keep my flaws or my shortcomings, you know, secret.And I don't know, I don't know if that's good or bad. I guess it's just it is what it is. So I actually though I had some buyer clients, that they were looking for an agent, and they're the only people that have ever done this, but I thought it was really interesting. They had like a whole they had an interview process, like sat me down, we went to Starbucks.They're like, what's your favorite book? You know? Are you a dog person, cat person, you know, non real estate questions just to see, you know, if you meshed as a person with them,which I thought was really cool,because so many realtors, right,so many and so many knowledgeable realtors. But you got to mesh with them as a person you're gonna spend time together. But one of their questions was, what's one of your biggest mistakes that you've made in real estate?Well, this was a long time ago,I was I was really new. And I was being very honest, I didn't have a lot of transactions under my belt, and I truly couldn't think of one was like, I honestly I, you know, I don't know. Well, they didn't work with me. And they told me it was because I didn't tell them something that I had messed up on. And they thought, you know,I was being dishonest. Well, at that point, I was just very inexperienced, which is what it is. But um, so they, they appreciated that and people, you know, being open and owning their mistakes and their errors.And I like that, and it's kind of stuck with me. So if I make an error, I'm a human, I own it immediately. I don't hide it.And I hope that, you know, that honesty comes through to my clients, you know, if I mess up,or if there's something wrong with this house, or if there's a problem, you know, we're going to talk about it. You know, just like the frog saying, if there's something that needs to be addressed, we're going to get it out there and deal with it right then. So full disclosure, you know, often probably too much disclosure when it comes to myself. I don't I don't put on much of a filter. Well, I

Rick Ripma: 33:44

have a big frog. I gotta I gotta know the answer to this. I want to know what you drive now because I want to avoid it. Yeah.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 33:52

You probably should. Um, I am driving a 2022 2023 Hyundai palisade okay, what color there's my as of those why it's white. It's got the big cargo racks on the top because I wanted to be able to find it in the parking lot because like you said, there's so many and I don't see very many with the racks on all the time so I just leave those on there so that when I'm when I forgot where I parked, which happens also frequently I'd come out and like look for that and spot it. I also this is bad too. I after I backed into that trailer, my husband was like should we put the tow hitch on just all the time and so that way if you're gonna like almost hit something like maybe it'll hit the tow hitch and not damage your car and I was like, that might be a good idea. But now I like back out and just like drag the tow hitch you know, like the ground first. And every time I'm like unloading loading groceries I'm running into it getting there Yeah, I got to take it

Rick Ripma: 34:52

back off plus it wouldn't damage your car is bad but if you run into something with that it's gonna damage

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 34:57

Yeah,a lot more. So it was it was a thought that

Unknown: 35:00

maybe not the best one.Yeah. So does he like to drive his car? No. All right. Yeah,he's a smart man. Well,

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 35:06

and honestly, he drives my car most of the time. Like, if we're going somewhere as a family, he,you know, mines the newest. And so we typically take mine and it holds all the kids. Kind of we really should have got a minivan. I didn't want to be the minivan mom. And I was trying to like, hold off on that. And so like I said, my youngest, or I don't know if I said that. But my youngest is nine months while my car is like, I don't know,any I didn't have the baby when I got the car. Maybe my cars are2022 I don't know, but I didn't have the baby yet. And so I'm like, oh, we'll fit in this one,you know, it has third row. But then the baby came and the baby fits and the family fits. But then you try to add like a pack in place, all the stuff roller,you know, all these extra things. It's tight. And I'm like, Why? Why didn't I get the minivan? I really should have?

Ian Arnold: 36:00

Yeah. So what would you consider one of your most memorable deals? It could be a failure, if you want to go that route? And answer those people's question and it'll feel bad not going with you.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 36:10

Yeah.Um, memorable deals? Well, I don't know, I'll highlight two briefly. One of my longest, you know, term clients, who has been with me forever, they were investor clients to start with.Finally, finally, you know,years after working with them on these low price point homes on investment properties, they're like, we're gonna, you know,we're gonna buy a new primary residence, we want to be on Geist, we want to be on the water, we want to boat lift, you know, we want all this stuff. So we're million dollar range. So that was exciting. It was, you know, my first million dollar transaction and some of the things that you handle in a million dollar transaction,which is different than a non million dollar transaction, we came? Well, a few things. One,we had to figure out a boat with, I don't remember I'd have to buy a boat sell a boat anyway, I had to be a boat,salesperson, as well assist in the buying and selling of the boat. And then artwork, I had to become a high end, you know,artwork, Major, because we were discussing what was going to stay and what was going to go and there was really expensive pieces of art. And it came down into the negotiations of the deal. Wine in the wine cellar,you know, trying to assess and determine, you know, not only the value of the house, but the value of the art, the value of the wine, the value of personal property, the value of the boat.And so doing that was definitely memorable. And then that client shortly after, then it didn't work out. And they went back to their other home which had not sold yet. And then they they so they went back to their other home that had not sold because their kids missed their home,right that their family was like, Oh, we're gonna get you on guys. It's gonna be wonderful.And then the kids were homesick.Well, you know, being the loving parents, they were they're like,alright, well, if you don't want this, you know, we'll go back home. So then I ended up selling the house twice, and then picked up another deal in Geist from that one. So that whole situation was very memorable.Memorable as far as on the other end. This one's lighthearted,but also a failure. I had somebody fire me once from a listing after an open house,because I had moved there, throw pillows on the couch. And I had not, you know, valued their personal property because, you know, I had let people touch their throw pillows and some ice there were ice cubes on their floor. Somebody had gotten, you know, we had an open house and gotten a drink. And you know,there were ice cubes on the floor. So I was fired for that,which at the time I took very personally I you know, what could I have done what you know,now I kind of look back and it is memorable, but I have to chuckle because maybe someone is for them, but I'm not really for people that are wound quite that tightly. I prefer a little bit more of a laid back client. And,you know, I don't want to work with somebody that's quite that uptight. But someone else can and do that perfectly, I'm sure but it wasn't me. So it worked out.

Rick Ripma: 39:33

Yeah, sometimes it's, you know, you have to find the right people. Yeah. Right.And they have to be the right people to work with. And that's okay. Right. Absolutely. Goes back to the one that you said that they didn't because you didn't answer the question. They didn't hire you that what they were trying to do is find the right person.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 39:48

And I think it had you know, it came down to I didn't have a mistake to share with them but also swear I think it was a big factor that they were dog people and I was a cat person. You know Oh yeah, that's huge. happen.That's huge. If you're, you know, if you're a dog person working with a cat person, you know, it may it just may not work out. My wife has both. Oh,yeah. So you have a lot a lot of pets then.

Rick Ripma: 40:14

Well, she doesn't have any dogs. But she does have four cats. Oh, well,

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 40:17

the night. I think she's more on the cat person side. No, she,

Rick Ripma: 40:21

I mean, she'll stop at every dog that's walking down this. Yeah. She loves she loves animals. So yeah, they're really into animals.

Ian Arnold: 40:27

So next time, you're that somebody starts conversation, like go through all those questions. What's your biggest mistake? Well, not getting this coffee with little hard liquor in it?

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 40:39

Yeah,no, I mean, I could share some mistakes with clients. We do have them. But I can say that.There's never been a mistake that I haven't done everything in my power to fix promptly,immediately, correctly, you know, and do that. So I think that's, you know, what says it all and like I said, full disclosure, you know, not not hiding them hiding behind, you know, a fake persona of Here I am, I'm perfect. is not is not what I'm about. I am more about,you know, just being that agent for you. That gives you 100% All the time.

Ian Arnold: 41:20

So let's get into you very briefly mentioned your company. Yeah, I know, you said your brother now works for you.And you asked him around and use a whip on him. And I fully understand I have siblings.Yeah. So are you looking at growing your business? Or what what do you see towards the future,

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 41:37

I finally did decide recently,when I started my business that I wanted to grow it. So I pride you know, I had a lot of pride in being small family owned,close knit, you know, personal service. And I was scared that if I grew my business, that I could lose some of that, because I would tell people, you know,you're always gonna get me,you're not gonna get an assistant. It's a huge pet peeve of mine, one to call a realtor who doesn't answer or call you back within an hour or two to to call a realtor. And then you get transferred to some sort of assistant, or the worst, as you call a realtor, and no one answers and you get like a press one for press two, and then they shouldn't send you to someone.So I never want to be that big.I don't ever want to be that big, be big and not do that. And not do that. Yeah, so I was scared to grow because I didn't want to do what I disliked so much. So I decided though that absolutely, you know, I can grow, I can have other like minded agents with my brokerage now that it's mine, who are, you know, doing the same thing and sharing the same business principles as me. And then also,by bringing my brother on to do some of the back end stuff actually frees me up to be the one that always answers and you always get me and that I'm not,you know, drowning in paperwork from deals. Because there are definitely times I'm busy. I mean, and sometimes I don't even know how I think it is that close knit service and referral base by doing a good job for people then they call you back.But there were times you know, I would have 10 or 11 or 12transactions happening at one time. And so when you're doing that, plus have three kids and a husband and a house and soccer and you know, gymnastics and dance class and everything else that face to face service never left, but I really realized,man, the paperwork side and having some, you know, some sort of assistant because then I get to the end of the deal. And I'm like, Man, my file is a wreck.You know, I have answered every call, but like, what is happening with my paperwork. So I have hired him, I've brought him on to help me kind of keep some of that in order so that I can remain always available. By you know, phone, text, whatever.

Rick Ripma: 44:07

What helps a lot,because I have a system and it makes all you know, I can't answer every call because we're busy, right? Oh, yeah, the key is, as you call back, you call back right? You got to call back and you got to call back quickly, quickly. And I to me,that that's important. But but having somebody like I have people who do the things, some of the things I really liked to do, but it wasn't the best use of my time, right? You know, I would rather I'd rather be able to answer your call or call you back right away than be spending you know, an hour taking an application that somebody else can take

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 44:45

absolutely and so I'm learning that for a long time I really didn't even realize that I was a somewhat big agent you know, I I'm always shocked you know you guys call me like oh we want you for real estate grab like I'm gute, you know, and I'm like, oh, and I started getting recruiting calls and especially as an independent agent, specifically, because if you look at numbers and sales volumes, you know, of Agents around four independent agents,you know, they're like, oh, you know, your numbers are, like,really, I didn't even know, you know, because I, I had no idea.And then I'm like, Well, no wonder I'm feeling really overwhelmed, feeling really busy. And then I look back. And it's like, yeah, you're doing 30Something transactions, by yourself without a big brokerage without an admin without a CRM without anything but me and my cell phone, right. And so,coming up, now, I'm learning that if I want to continue to grow, or even to stay at the level that I've been at, there's a better way to kind of streamline some of these processes,

Rick Ripma: 45:48

which will actually make you more available to people. Yeah, I mean, some of the things that you'll do,you'll find that you'll go Why didn't I do that before? Yeah.Right. Because yeah, it makes you more available, and it makes life better for not only you but your clients.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 46:00

Absolutely.So I'm excited about that.That's something that you know,maybe I wish I realized I had a need for sooner. But I see the need now and I see the benefit.And so I'm excited to grow first focus Realty, I'm excited to one bring on agents, but also, you know, bring my brother on, or,you know, if life takes him elsewhere, because he's, he's at Kelley School business right now. So he doesn't know for sure where he's going. But whatever opportunity there might be to grow. I'm definitely excited and up for, you know, up for doing that.

Ian Arnold: 46:34

So in our defense,when we call, we were actually looking for your grandmother,but not Yeah. But if somebody is looking to work with you either buy or sell a home, how are they going to touch with you?

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 46:45

I definitely, like I said, text message is wonderful. I love a text message, because it's kind of like a visual voicemail. So it's 317-491-3041. But obviously, by phone works as well, email, Jacqueline, at first focus realty.net. You can also find me on Facebook, I have a web page, I have all you know,all that stuff is on there. And so any of the ways that you reach out, I'm more than happy to help.

Rick Ripma: 47:16

And that's if you're looking to buy or sell real estate or if you're looking maybe to change companies, or maybe you're looking to to get in the business

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 47:22

for sure. Yeah, or you know, just to learn about the process. That's another thing that I find that sometimes, you know, sets me apart is a lot of times a client will call a realtor and say, you know, want to see a house and they'll say very quickly, are you pre approved? No, I can't help you till you are by you know, and so whether they're pre approved or not, especially at the beginning, when I was you know, looking for clients, I would absolutely go meet people who were not pre approved,knowing that they may not be pre approved yet, but meeting with them in person and taking the time to one hopefully point them to a appropriate mortgage broker. Mortgage. Absolutely. So one pointing them in the right direction to answering any questions that they have about the buying and selling process in general, right. So I don't mind to do some education with people to help them to be ready,because if they're not ready right now, but you didn't, you know, brush them off so quickly and spent some time with them.You know, they might remember that and call you back. You know when they are

Rick Ripma: 48:30

right. Yep. And to get a hold of Ian or I, it's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Or you can call 317-672-1938.That's 317-672-1938. And please follow us so you don't miss any real indies real estate gurus

Ian Arnold: 48:46

and reminder if you're looking to buy sell or refinance contact records. We'd be more than happy to help you.Jacqueline, thank you for joining us. It's been a pleasure having you on our show today.

Jacqueline (Trout) Huser: 48:55

Well,thank you for inviting me. I've really enjoyed it.

Announcer: 48:58

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