Ep62 Building Roots: Family, Real Estate, and Resilience with Colin Panzi

[00:00:00] Worry about yourself and eventually your competition will sit around and worry about you. You can't worry about what someone else is doing or how they're doing it or what their social media looks like. What are you doing today to get better? From cornfields to high-rises, office to industrial, houses to hotels, and every other asset class in real estate, we cover the people, the projects, and the profit. Welcome to the Investing in Iowa Show. This show is for go-doers, action-takers, and business owners.

[00:00:28] It's for people like you who are sick of Uncle Sam taking a huge bite of your apple. If you're looking to get ahead of what's taking place in Iowa, learn who is doing what and how you can get in on the action. You're in the right place. Hosted by Neil Timmins, an Iowa native who has been involved in over $300 million in real estate right here in Iowa. Recording in studio from West Des Moines, here's your host, Neil Timmins.

[00:00:57] I've got Colin Pansy here on the show. Colin, welcome. Thank you. I'm excited you're here. Say, for the audience's sake, who are you? Where are you from? What do you do? Yep. Name's Colin Pansy. Grew up in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Went to Iowa State University. After Iowa State, sold commercial real estate with my dad in and around the Des Moines area. Life kind of threw me a couple curveballs and moved to Fargo, North Dakota for three years. Fargo. What year was that and how in the world did you end up in Park?

[00:01:26] Well, I was selling commercial real estate with my dad and he unexpectedly passed away. And so life kind of took me up to Fargo, North Dakota. I was up there for three years. Had an opportunity to work for a fantastic custom home builder, fantastic family. So learned quite a bit while I was up there and I was up there for about three years and Fargo's great. I mean, there's Midwest nice and then there's like North Dakota nice. Oh, really? I used to joke that I used to call people obviously around Des Moines for commercial properties and they'd be like,

[00:01:55] why are you calling me and leave me alone? And I'd call someone in Fargo and they'd tell me why they bought it, when they bought it, what they've done to it, and then thank me for calling them. It was fantastic. Incredible. I think too many of us, our exposure to Fargo is the movie where, you know, one guy stuffs another guy in a wood chipper. Yeah. And that's technically was filmed in Minnesota. So. I knew, I knew Fargo would make an argument against that. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:02:20] But yeah, I suspected it was a, it's just, you're, you're, you're in the heart of the Midwest and incredibly nice place. Blue collar town, super nice people, hardworking people, a little bit of an accent up there with the, Oh, betcha is everything else. So, uh, it was just a great, it was what I needed at the time with my dad passing away. I needed a fresh start and get myself back on my feet. And, um, Fargo did just that.

[00:02:49] Yeah. You got that. And then you decided to come home. Yep. 2012 moved home, uh, married my now wife, Ashley, um, Braxton, our son was born later that year and, uh, been back selling real estate and helping people buy and sell both homes, new construction, land, commercial. I just kind of dabble with everything. Yeah. So 2012, why, what was your entry point back, you know, back home here? Where'd you start in the real estate?

[00:03:17] Yep. So very fortunately, my wife, Ashley was looking for a place for us to, uh, cause I was moving home to live and met Rod Clarkson at an open house and Rob Clarkson is someone that's been in the real estate industry for 40 years. And, uh, she started mentioning him. Oh, my boyfriend at the time is a realtor and he's moving home. And, uh, he was like, great, I'm calling him. So I got on the phone with Rod Clarkson.

[00:03:43] And I think the one thing about that is it was, again, I'm a huge believer. Everything happens for a reason. And joining that Coldwell banker office, when I first moved back, like they dominated and considered it. There was Tammy Heckert. There was Chad Ireland, Daryl Bresson. Like it was an office moving real estate. And it was, you know, I was 27 years old. And so I've always, from my dad and starting in commercial real estate, just hang around the people you want to be like. Sure.

[00:04:10] And I was very fortunate that that's where I was. And then I was there for about three years. I realized I was paying more in real estate dues to my office than I was taxes and thought it was time to jump. And so went to a Remax Concepts with Rob Spearman, had a lot of success there. Uh, started my own real estate team, Pansy real estate team. Was there about five years and then I went to Remax Precision.

[00:04:36] And I was there for about five years. And then just recently in February, we went to LPT Realty. Um, it's a cloud-based brokerage residential side. And I definitely think cloud-based brokerages are, they're taking storm, you know, in the Midwest, I think the cloud-based brokerage model will work, but realtors still want to feel part of something. Yes. They don't want to be on a cloud just to want the benefits of it.

[00:05:01] And so, but that cloud-based brokerages efficiencies and, um, cost savings. And a lot of those savings, the way that these cloud-based brokerages are growing, they're passing it back to the realtors who really are the business. Well, there's, there's, there's doubt about that. I mean, you look at the structure of any, any real estate company and where the costs are associated with it. I mean, the realtors run this thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, but they're the ones at the soccer games and they're the ones showing on Saturday night, a Sunday morning.

[00:05:31] And they're the ones doing the work. They're the ones earning. Yep. And they all come from that entrepreneurial mindset to where I'm going to get paid what I'm worth. Yep. And if I'm doing the work, I should be paid accordingly. Along the way, you changed the name of your real estate team. Tell me about that, that thought and that process. What went into that? Yep. I, um, I love selling, managing people and a business isn't probably my strongest suit.

[00:06:00] And I think with my own name, Colin Pansy real estate team, I was struggling to be confident behind my realtors with them having to use my own name as their marketing and on their signs. And so I was fortunate enough to, uh, meet another realtor, very similar in age to me and Ankeny, um, Michael Heider, his dad had started Ankeny real estate services, uh, you know, in the 1990s. Yeah. 1990s. And so he was kind of raised in real estate as well.

[00:06:30] And we, we both kind of said, look, we need something fresh. We wanted to make it about our realtors. Um, we don't want our names on it. And so we created in January, 2021 Ankeny real estate group. And, uh, we're just finishing our fourth year and I'm super proud of it. I, you know, I think we've, we're not done achieving what our goals are, but we've got a great foundation of systems and processes.

[00:06:58] We have a, a CEO that basically he runs the business, which allows me to go and sell and do podcasts like this and allows Michael to do more of the management of the team and keep that culture. And, um, future is bright, you know, so we're. How many on the team? Uh, there's 14 licensed realtors. Uh, we have a couple of different staff that help us out. We've got a great backend that helps us with all of our closings and making sure that the customers are happy.

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[00:08:22] So super organized checklist, you know, it, it blows my mind. And I knew early we started this in 2021. I think it was like by April and I'm with my family somewhere and I'm like, we need to hire someone because this business is going to grow and neither one of Michael or I are going to sit down and, you know, manage all the intricacies and the websites and all the everything else and the people.

[00:08:52] And, you know, and so, uh, pull the trigger early, have a great person in that position. And, you know, he does his thing and we do our thing. And, and I think that's with this, it's everyone has their own lanes. We all cross over and help each other out, but essentially we want to make our realtors the best salespeople possible. They're not worrying about the marketing or the website and just get in front of your clients, add value to them.

[00:09:20] Um, you know, it just streams a little faster. As we, uh, we close in as we're recording this, we close in on the 2024 calendar. You're running out time here. How many units you guys get closed for 2024? Uh, we'll be right under 300. Last year we were right around 200, which I've had numerous conversations with a lot of realtors and it definitely feels like, and again, it happened in 08, 09. It's a breaking.

[00:09:48] Are you in this business as a career? Are you just temporarily here trying to make some money? Um, and so we were very fortunate in 22 and 23 when the market, well, not so much 22, but in 23, we sat in Michael's basement and worked on our processes. Yeah. And we really built this thing out to, you know, be able to support 20 to 30 realtors. Yeah. Independent of what's taking place in the economy. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:10:16] I think there was a lot of realtors and, you know, people in general in 22, they were making good money and they took their money and bought new cars and went on vacations and just thought that it was always going to be like that. And we just fortunately timing. Yep. We're reinventing and reinvesting and just doubling down on what we were doing. And I've always said in that business, you don't compete against the market. You only compete against other agents. Yeah.

[00:10:44] It, the market turns and, and sales aren't as plentiful. It is about market share capture. Yeah. Playing that foundation. Well, and I think my dad used to always tell me, you know, worry about yourself and eventually your competition will sit around and worry about you. You can't worry about what someone else is doing or how they're doing it or what their social media looks like, like, you know, what are you doing today to get better? Yeah. You know, and with the shift of the market, I get that asked all the time too. Like, what are you going to do in the market shifts? We're just going to shift with it.

[00:11:14] Yeah. You know, 22, it was a seller's market. Well, 23 became a buyer's market. It's a little bit more equal now and we'll see what 25 brings, but I'm not going to get out of this business. It's just going to shift with it and keep on rolling. One of the things I find interesting about you is that you, you had investment properties off and on over the years, but you've largely drawn that down instead of chosen to invest in businesses. Tell me a little about that and that thought process and maybe what you experienced along the way that helped shape that.

[00:11:44] Yeah. I think it's just opportunities that present themselves when they present themselves. I definitely think we will get back into investment properties. We'd still own, I mean, part owner in the foundry. Yeah. When you say part owner in the foundry, you're all referring to. Just the real estate. Not the operating business. Not the business. Yeah. We're landlords there. Yeah. And so we'll definitely get back into properties and investment and that cashflow income.

[00:12:13] But I think the businesses that we've got into, my wife's a bookkeeper and I think any successful business, if you don't know where your numbers are at and where you're going and what you've spent and what you've earned, I mean, all those elements, then you're in a rocky road ahead. And so having that confidence to really understand the numbers gives us confidence in being able to buy or be a part of businesses. And so in 22, we bought in and became one of the original investors in Northern Vessel

[00:12:42] coffee company, which so proud of that place. It's been open two years officially yesterday. We've had some bumps. We, in fact, had two cars smashed into our shop. Yeah. I remember seeing it prominently on the news. The first one was wild and surprising. Yeah. But you're like, this is a once in a hundred year occurrence. And then 12 months later, it happens again. You're like, wow, like what is happening?

[00:13:09] And so, um, but like in life and business, someone hits your store with a car, you fix it and you keep on moving. And so, um, very proud of Northern Vessel and what they stand for and who they are and how they do business. And then, uh, that same year we bought the Madison County auction barn, which we renamed the Winterset sale barn. Um, we wanted to really tie it to Winterset. And I think the play behind that is low overhead.

[00:13:39] Um, it's a business that I think that I knew that could be grown and more efficiently ran, but it sits on 17 acres, right? In Winterset. And so worst case scenario, we'll, we'll do something different with it. So describe that business to, to, to, to a lay person who's never been to, yeah, to, you know, walked in there and been to an auction. Yep. So happens to be the Saturday after Thanksgiving is our biggest sale.

[00:14:06] Um, so we will have a thousand head of cattle brought in from the surrounding areas. We pin them all in the back. We bring them up and through the ring, people buy them and then we send them back. And, you know, so cattle are dropped off on Friday and Saturday, 30 minutes after the sale, they're loading up and going out to either, uh, um, uh, butcher or, uh, you know, locker. Yep. Um, some are calves. And so basically we're like a consignment store.

[00:14:36] We make a percentage off the total amount of sales and we just provide the, you know, the arena for stuff to come in animals to go out. What have you learned in the last two years being involved in that business? Um, government stuff, the, uh, the guidelines and the USDA, the hoops and the USDA.

[00:15:00] I mean, the audits, the, you know, pick and choose what industry you're in because the more it's governed by the government, the more challenges and hiccups that you bring. Um, I think whether it's livestock or coffee or real estate end of the day, and I think always and forever, it's going to come down to relationships. And so not that the customer is always right, but the customer needs to be heard.

[00:15:30] They need to feel appreciated. It's the same way with employees and team agents and, you know, people you work with in general. Um, they want to feel value in what they're doing and that you value them being there. I think with the sale barn, bringing up the technology a little bit was important. We're now live streaming all of our auctions and got better lighting in the arena and furnace is working a little bit. They're brand new furnace in there. So keep it warm and comfortable.

[00:15:58] And, um, and then just, again, my father-in-law goes out and meets these guys and talks to them and take them Christmas gifts and tell them thank you for the business. And just, again, just continue to build that relationship. As a result of live streaming, do you now bid online? Yeah. We'll have people. Versus that did not occur before. Yep. So there'll be quite a few people in the arena when the, the auctions are actually happening,

[00:16:22] but there's always three, four, five, 10 different people online also bidding, you know, maybe they're out of town, but they still need to buy that day. And so, um, the sellers, they like that, you know, again, it's supply and demand, same way with houses or coffee, the more spots you can put your product, the better, the more you'll get out of it. And so, um, just little tweaks. And I think, you know, the winter, the Madison County auction barn was essentially owned by

[00:16:51] three different families for 73 years prior to us buying it. Not that they were resistant to change, but they were resistant to change the other day. So small tweaks, little things can make a big difference. And I think that's in business in general. It's, you know, you're not going to go in and do one thing and overhaul the whole thing. Yep. It's a little bit of this, a little bit of that takes time, you know, over your course of your career, you know, you've invested in property, had some sold, some, um, sold,

[00:17:20] you know, at the end of the day, almost everything or everything. What got you to that point versus, you know, keeping things over the years? Well, ultimately what, what, you know, how do you get to that decision and then decide to invest in businesses versus more so in real estate? Um, I think it was just the opportunity and the timing, you know, I don't, like I said, I think we'll definitely, we'll get back into investing more in real estate and rental properties and hold them long-term.

[00:17:49] But, you know, when I first moved back from Fargo with my wife, we bought a duplex and fixed up one side and rented the other. Well, we went and bought another house and to avoid that capital gains, maybe we bought it for like one 60 and sold it for two 50 and two years. So, you know, and again, I think we kind of met, talked about this a little bit, just managing your money. Sure. Um, knowing now what we knew 10 years ago, we, we might've held onto that, but at the

[00:18:17] time it was like, Hey, no taxes and let's take a hundred grand and move into our next house and it made sense. And so, um, yeah, I mean, I think it's buying our opportunities and selling our opportunities and so what are you most excited about? 20, 25. Um, I think the optimism, I mean, I think everyone's waking up and thinking, you know, today's a new day and, uh, you know, I think for two years we've kind of been stagnant on what's

[00:18:46] the market going to do and, you know, and no one can predict what the market's even going to do next year, but I think they feel a little bit more positive about it. And the government needs to be ran like a business and sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't. And, you know, and I think the business minded person may be in the office. Hopefully some things will get straightened out and figured out. But I think there's been a lot of people also on the sidelines for two years that have been

[00:19:13] sitting and waiting and, and, you know, it's not, it's like the McDonald's effect and the Apple phone effect. You know, the snowstorm comes through Iowa, McDonald's loses that sale on a Monday, you know, with Apple and an iPhone, if they don't go buy that phone on a Monday, when the snowstorm's over, they'll go on Tuesday. It's the same way with real estate. They didn't buy yesterday, but they still want to buy. They're going to go buy tomorrow. If you're a house flipper, execute the burst strategy or do double closings and are in

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[00:20:12] I think our team, we've grown quite a bit in the last year. We look to continue to grow next year. And so just finding those right people, pouring into them with the resources and the encouragement and the accountability, you know, watching them grow. I get tremendous, I just, I love watching people succeed. And so having those people join us, pouring into them, like I said, more so holding them

[00:20:39] accountable because they have goals and they don't, are nowhere near their goals. Well, it might be a little bit hard on you because this is what you said you wanted and we could all just hang out and act like it's okay. Or what do we need to change? What do we need to get done? For you, why Iowa? You could do what you do. You know, I suspect you could have stayed in Fargo. I mean, you could, you could, and you could probably go back if you so choose. You could do this, what you do in a number of places. Why here? Why do you choose to be here?

[00:21:08] My wife has to get that question all the time. She would move to Texas or Arizona tomorrow for the warm weather. Yeah. I think it's because it's home. When I lived in Fargo, most of the trips I took were back home, you know, so it's nice to be home and actually go on trips where I remember coming home and it'd be like, well, I got to stop and see my, my mom or my grandma or my aunt or my sister. And I'm here for two hours. I got to go here for two hours.

[00:21:37] I want to go see that buddy for two hours. Now it's time to get back in the car and go home. And so Des Moines, Ankeny, Iowa's home base. Um, you never know though. We might five years, 10 years, just pack up and go somewhere else. I don't know. It could happen. That's partially why my, you know, I think we maybe sold some stuff too. It's like, I don't know. Just don't want to be tied down. Keep buying businesses. That'll keep you here for good. Just find good operators.

[00:22:07] Yeah. You can do the books from anywhere and, and oversight and come back and check on them. And yeah, well, I think that's true of real estate too. You think about how real estate has to be managed. You must have a good manager. I would classify it almost as an operator. You got it. You got to be able to execute. Yeah. So you guys, you can, you can buy it right. And then your manager can screw it up. Yeah. And you got to have a, a beat on it. You know, the pulse of it.

[00:22:35] You can't buy something and be like, all right, it's just going to work. I read it in a book. If I buy investment properties. Right. You know? And so some of it's trial and error learning as you go. In college, I worked at an apartment complex. So I got to see a lot of, you know, college kids. Yeah. Going through apartments. Yeah. And so, but it's relationships. I've owned quite a few rentals and, and whatnot, and people have a bump.

[00:23:03] And so, you know, Hey, it's all right that you pay the rent on the seventh this month. Yeah. You know, we're not going to make a habit of it, but I'm not going to come and serve you notice either that you're going to get kicked out because by law, it says I can do that. Yeah. So. Colin, you ready for the final three questions? Yep. If you had one piece of advice for your 20 year old self, what would it be? Start tracking your money earlier. Like I said, my wife's a bookkeeper.

[00:23:29] And when we really locked in on the income we were making and where that money was going, it changed our life. So manage your money. Two books that changed your life. Rich dad, poor dad. I read that when I was really younger. And then there's an autobiography about FM Hubble. And I read that when I first year in commercial real estate. I don't know if that's my second most influential book, but it's always stuck with me. He bought stuff that was local. Stuff that he put his hands on.

[00:23:59] And I like that aspect. If you were cast away on an island for a year, you could only get three pieces of data about your business each and every month. What three things must you know every month to know how your business is running? Sales expenses, obviously. And what's the culture of the business itself? Got to have good people. And you got to make them feel valued and a part of something bigger. And so how are the people doing? It's been a great conversation.

[00:24:29] I appreciate you being here. Say for the audience's sake, they want to find you, follow you, connect with you. Where can they go? What should they do? Ankeny Real Estate Group is my day-to-day, everyday business. And so you can find that on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn. LiveAnkeny.com is our website. So if you go there, you'll find me. Thanks for blowing the show notes. Actually, before we go, I'm going to ask you one more question. I asked a lot of questions.

[00:24:56] What's one question I did not ask that I should have asked? No, you always save the tough questions for the end. Why do I do it? Yeah. Let's do it. What keeps that engine running? What's the why? Yeah. My family. Yeah. My family today and what I hopefully can leave them when I'm gone. Yeah. Yeah. Did your father passing early in 2009 influence what you just said? Oh, yeah.

[00:25:26] A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. He unexpectedly had a heart attack and he was my best friend, my dad, my boss, my, you know, everything. And a Tuesday morning, he just wasn't there. And I was young and trying to sell commercial real estate and is in the financial crisis and sitting there spinning around. I'm like, I don't know what I'm going to do. But from Office Park Road. Yeah. Three buildings up. Yeah.

[00:25:56] My girlfriend at the time got offered a job in Fargo, North Dakota. And probably two, three weeks prior to that, sitting there talking to him, he was like, look, you need to let her go. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. And so I stuck with that. And I told her that and I moved her up there. And a week later, he passed away. And I followed her up there. We didn't work out. Uber depressed, obviously because my dad, but also they should run a class in Fargo, North Dakota.

[00:26:26] If you're moving up there in October, what to expect over the winter. But they don't. They just throw you into it. And so we didn't work out, unfortunately, but met my now wife and moved home where I should be. And so, again, everything happens for a reason. I say it all the time. And, you know, bad things will happen. There's got to be some good in it. Something will come from it.

[00:26:51] And I think, again, with like my dad passing away, it's definitely had a huge impact on me. And not only today, but what happens to my wife and kids if I'm not around? Yeah. And I think that's a lot of why I took my name off my real estate team. Like I said, if I got hit by a car, what's a pansy real estate team if I'm not around? And so it's about my agents. It's about my people. It's about my family. They can be in the front.

[00:27:17] And I'm taller like you, and I'm used to standing in the back where I'm comfortable. That's incredible. I appreciate you sharing that. Yeah. Thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. Thanks for listening. If you're enjoying the show, may I ask a favor of you? Naturally, subscribe so you never miss an episode. But would you rate and leave an honest written review on Apple Podcasts? It does a lot for us here at the show, and I appreciate reading your thoughts. Great guests make for a great show.

[00:27:45] If you know of another Iowan who would be a great guest, or you yourself have interest in being a guest, well, get on our radar. Visit Investing in Iowa to fill out an application or recommend a guest. And if you want to connect with me one-on-one, go LegacyImpactInvestors.com. Click on the Invest With Us button in the top right corner. And there, you can pick a time for the two of us to get on the calendar and connect. Until next time, keep investing in Iowa.