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Justin had the pleasure of attending an event put on recently by this episode's guest that benefited Embrace Oregon. Justin will have the privilege of leading a panel discussion that will be a fundraiser for the West Linn Youth Music Project, of which today's guest will be a part of.
Joe Fustolo of Soldera Properties, Inc. contributes to making the real estate industry better through his incredible group, Masters in Real Estate. As you listen to the episode, think of some ways you can contribute to those around you and help grow your business at a larger scale. Opportunities will open up!
Show Notes
Justin Stoddart 0:00
Hey, welcome back to the Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I'm your host Justin Stoddart, fired up excited to be with you here today. As you know, my my passion and my mission is to help you think bigger, so that you can build the kind of business that will produce the kind of life that you want, giving you the options and the impact that you really want. I'm very excited to have returning guests with me today, someone who's locally famous and probably becoming nationally famous at this point. But the topic today is contribution. And so I have just the right person who spends his life contributing to the real estate industry, helping agents get better. So I want to thank first and foremost, Mr. Joe Fustolo, for being on the show today. Thanks, Joe.
Joe Fustolo 0:36
Thank you so much. I have to start every compliment with a compliment back from the place of contribution Justin you're doing an amazing job given great media, great content to people. It's a selfless act. And we all appreciate these videos and the knowledge and the people you interview. So thank you, the spirit of contribution. You're up there with a lot of people.
Justin Stoddart 1:02
Well, thank you. That's very kind of you, Joe, I appreciate that coming from a guy who, again gives so much so let's delve into some of these topics. And let me kind of build some like him a frame of reference for those who maybe need a little more background on on Joe. So Joe is the owner of Soldera Property Group, which I understand just turned 11 on St. Patrick's Day Happy Birthday to Soldera properties.
Joe Fustolo 1:24
Yes. Soldera turned 11 years old on St. Patrick's Day. And I own it with my business partner, Patrick Kraus. And we're having so much fun is just a ball.
Justin Stoddart 1:37
You know, it's funny, because today actually is my son's 11th birthday today. So after this, I've got a birthday date. With my 11 year old so 11 years ago was a very special year apparently. And it was fun, actually, I got a chance to see Patrick and Joe in action at their big Easter event. And it was a blast. And that's maybe kind of a lead in a fight. Let me get to that here in a second. Let me finish my bio on Joe. So for those that don't know, Joe, been in the business for 28 years, just been a great producer, and a great, great contributor. In addition to his his success within his own business and his own brokerage. He's served on about every board you can imagine. And that is the founder of the well known Real Estate Group called Masters in Real Estate. So if you by chance are an agent, whether you're inside the Portland metro area, or in the state of Oregon, or even nationally, I would really encourage you to search Masters in Real Estate. I'll put it up here on the screen here a little bit later in the episode. But search this out, Joe does such an amazing job of just helping real estate agents get very, very good at the business of real estate of being great real estate agents. So huge thanks to Joe. I know so many people are so appreciative of the work and sacrifice that you make to make that happen. Joe, it's just great stuff.
Joe Fustolo 2:50
Thank you.
Justin Stoddart 2:52
So let's talk a little about this great community event that you held. You know, I've been invited as you can imagine to a number of events. I'll tell you what, my wife and I and our little kids were amazed, we rounded the corner at the Soldera Properties Easter egg hunt, like there were oceans of people and I thought yeah, goodness, and you guys were prepared like you're like totally handling it with with cool calm. I think I'd be like choking like oh my goodness, what are they going to stop the Stoddarts are coming, they had six kids just in love themselves. And you guys handled it handled it so well. And the cool part that ties back into our theme today is this topic of contribution. Talk to us a little bit, Joe about the cause that you guys were supporting and kind of what came of from that event to this cause that you care deeply about?
Joe Fustolo 3:39
Well, so what a fun day, that was the mother nature shown down on us. We had room for about 600 people, we had about 1200 RSVP. So as comfortable and collected as we looked, there was a little freak out earlier in the day, but we're pretty passionate about contribution and giving back and this year was Embrace Oregon, which helps foster kids and foster families. And I can't think of anything better than you know, foster kids and their families out there. We did an Easter egg hunt. We had face painting, we had a guy doing balloons, we had, you know, temporary tattoos. People were playing cornhole, the adults were wine tasting. And then this massive Easter egg hunt where out of the 5000 easter eggs, there were a good couple hundred golden eggs that had extra special treats in there and we had two different photo booths and the Easter Bunny, and it was an absolute ball. everybody was appreciative and and we just filled up with, you know, they say when you give, you get back tenfold. And it was really great to see people having a good time. And I sent it out to friends and family and past clients and it was just a great day talking with people that I haven't seen in a long time. And I don't know the actual numbers, but we raised a heck of a lot of money for Embrace Oregon, and let me tell you a little bit about them. So it's for foster kids and foster parents. And they usually are pretty heavy on financial contributions. And then clothes, boots, school supplies, you name it. It's normally around Thanksgiving, Christmas, right? When everyone feels like giving. They're pretty heavy on donation. But come January through October, they're a little lean. And so we specifically wanted to make sure that they have all their needs met, if you get called. And you have to pick up foster kids overnight and bring him back. It's nice to have, you know, toiletries and clothes. And so that's what we did. It was a it was a huge success. So we plan on doing it again next year, I don't know if we're, if it's the same place or same charity, but we plan on doing for a quarter, or for a year, every quarter quarter.
Justin Stoddart 6:25
You know, it's interesting, Joe actually met a new agent yesterday. And she came out of the foster care program. And she said from a young age, she found herself grabbing like the free home magazines, in grocery stores. And she said for her it was a way to like fill that void that she didn't quite have the home that she wanted. And so later in life now here, she is a real estate agent, she said it brings me great joy to know they'll be able to help people have what I always wanted as a kid, and I thought was pretty touching. And so I think there's definitely this tie to those of us that have been blessed by the real estate industry to give back those who maybe don't have the ideal home setting.
Joe Fustolo 7:03
Absolutely, you know, it's interesting, it's like, the more you work in, the more money you you make, it allows you to do more things for other people and put on events and and donate. And you know, if you look at the balance of life, you know, your, what you have, socially, your family and inside your four walls, you know, spiritually, physically, charitably, all these other things. The stuff you do for others is one of those things that just sort of feeds you and keeps you going. So it's a you know, I'm not selflessly given to other people I'm getting a lot in return my cup is full, let me tell you.
Justin Stoddart 7:43
I think you know, that's how I feel is as selfless as some of this contribution may look, there's so much value that comes when you just give and I think that's, you know, one of those things that you don't really understand and get until you start to give. And I'm sure everybody here on the episode has has done that in some way, some form or fashion. But it's true, the more that you start to give and contribute like your life just gets a lot better opportunities start to open and no, that's not why you do it. But opportunities for example, this conversation that you and I are having, you know, wouldn't come about unless this this show existed. And similarly for you, I would imagine that part of the huge way in which you were able to contribute, Embrace Oregon was in part because of the contribution that you've given to so many brokers and so many agents and so many families, like it just compounds The more you look to contribute, the better life gets, the more opportunities you get to contribute back even more.
Joe Fustolo 8:32
Yeah, and you know, aside from giving financially, and donations and stuff, a lot of the path I've been going down has been trying to make people better and more knowledgeable and more ethical and more professional. And so I don't think I've spoke I think I've spoke more so far this year than I have and a lot of years combined. And and it just seems like every week there's a new panel or a new forum or a new mastermind or something like that. And I think it's important because I do have things to share with people. And look, I'm going to be in the trenches with everybody. I have real estate transactions, we hire brokers all the time, try and make them more knowledgeable and ethical and better and professional. And I mean, that comes around to because someone who's in masters in real estate or someone who goes to a forum, and they're a little bit better, we might be in a transaction together. And it'll be just a much easier transaction at that time.
Justin Stoddart 9:38
Yeah, yeah, there's no doubt, all kinds of benefits. Let's talk a little bit about an another event that you're on, which again, is an opportunity for you to contribute, which is Young Professionals Network. They've got a big event coming up. Is it tomorrow? Is that right?
Joe Fustolo 9:52
No, it's Thursday. May 2nd, and its Young Professional Network, real estate Roundtable, Mastermind event. It's from 4:30-7 PM at the lucky lab, down in northwest in the in the Pearl area. And I don't have the list of people in front of me. But they're just remarkable. People on this round table, and it's around table because each one of us kind of hangs out at a table. and then you have this group of people that just sort of bounces around to each person. And then we have our little theme of what we're talking about. So yeah, there's some great on that.
Justin Stoddart 10:38
And then, of course, we have coming up on May 9, for those that are listening to this before that date. It's the Masters in real estate forum from 10 until 1130 at the West Linn Music Project, again, in an effort to contribute to a great organization offer scholarships, and music lessons to two young people, which I know I'm passionate about out about the education and the mind expanding on the topic of thinking bigger, healthy. I know In fact, I was just learning the other day my wife was telling me the data on how much better kids are able to learn typical subjects when they're engaged in music, it opens up the mind to be able to help them to think more clearly. So what a cool project that you and I get to be a part of in on that panel, of course will be you, Joe Fustolo, we'll have Heather Robbins, we'll have Terry Sprague, Amy Savage, and Debi Laue so become star studded lineup there, I'll be leading that panel and trying in a very difficult challenge of in 90 minutes trying to extract enough enormous amounts of wisdom from those five people. So again, if you're not signed up for that, we'd encourage you to do so it's going to be an awesome event. I'm super, super excited about that one.
Joe Fustolo 11:48
I told a friend of mine that only reason I decided to go on the the panel is so I can sit next to Debi Laue and Heather Robbins who I just absolutely love. I mean, if you can learn anything you can learn from those people, Amy Savage is great, too. And I just, I looked at that panel, I thought oh my gosh, I need to go to this. So maybe I'll learn something. So it's gonna be fun. And the fact that you know, Heather is so sweet. She turned this into a fundraiser for the Youth Music Project. And it's right at the bottom of the hill and West Linn. And it's like, why wouldn't I do that? I'm absolutely doing it. I hope they raised lots of money. And I hope we share lots of knowledge to a sold out venue.
Justin Stoddart 12:30
Yeah, yeah, no, I agree. It's gonna be exciting. So kind of last last topic, or maybe illustration of contribution? Is this this group masters in real estate again, I know we have an audience that's extending outside of the Portland area. So let me put up here in case anybody isn't familiar with this, I would say most people in the area are familiar and are members of this group. But talk to us about about masters in real estate. Joe, obviously, there's an enormous amount of time and effort that you put into this to moderate it be sure everyone's getting along and, you know, offering pop positive comments. I mean, that's you are I mean, you're the guy behind that's kind of policing that whole thing.
Joe Fustolo 13:03
Well, I kind of have a team. Now it's a little bigger than me. There's about 5000 real tours and real estate related services, right. So I want to emphasize that people think it's only real tours, but we were not going to get any smarter, if we don't have you know, Real Estate Attorneys and title people and lenders and home warranties and vendors. So it's a mix of every thing that involves real estate, and it's primarily Oregon and Washington, but it's getting longer and longer arms. Andif you're in masters, you already know what I'm talking about. If you're not in masters, you will get a there's questions that you need to fill out and and answer. And then you get a little video of how and why masters was created, which sheds a little bit light on what we're all about.
Justin Stoddart 14:04
I love it. And again, best practices for people that are in there. Obviously, there's a search function you could go in, and and type in, as all Facebook groups have type in any particular topic that you have. And there may already be a deep discussion with tons of comments, right? You might not have to sit there and wait and hope people respond. There might already be answers there for that's probably the first golden tip. What else would you say Joby on that that would really help people get maximum value from this?
Joe Fustolo 14:31
Well, the search feature is great, because masters has been around for seven years. So if you want to refer a stage or whatever, those have all been posted a million times. So search First, if you don't find anything recent, then by all means, start a thread and ask your question. Another thing is devils in the details. If you're looking for particular vendor, for example, let's say a roofer maybe say where it's located, where the house is located, the size of the house, what it currently has, and what you need to go to, you know, it's 2400 feet and Beaverton it's a comp roof and we need a new comp roof. It helps us help you. And there's people that say, oh, who's your Best Roofer and, and then you find out Oh, they they're posting from Medford, you know, that really doesn't help us. So, as detailed as possible, and when people are looking for, hey, I have someone who wants to sell their place in San Diego, give me a good San San Diego real tour, instead of like just tagging someone's name, Brian Johnson, that doesn't really do much. If If this particular person that you tag has very restricted visibility of what other people's could can see, if they're not a friend, then it doesn't do anything, buddy any good. So tag someone put a little blurb about who they're with what they do their phone number, their email, make it a one stop shop, you see it and you don't have to go anywhere to find any more information. So over provide information to make it easy to get the person down that path.
Justin Stoddart 16:24
a great tip, I would even ask this of the audience that I know because I have a group myself big, big Real Estate Group. But if you go inside the group, you'll see an opportunity to add members. And if you see people that are suggested there that are good agents, great agents, whether they be here or in another area, help this community grow, the community only gets bigger and better based on the caliber of the people. I remember when I was a general contractor, I would always say I'm only as good as my subcontractors. And any group is only as good as the members in it. So if there's people that that you think should be in the group, do Joe and the other masters real estate community members a favor and add people like don't feel like that's that just falls upon Joe's shoulders like absolutely not, like start adding members again, be sure that they're you know, that there's some relevance to the real estate industry, of course, and that they're there. They're good, reputable people. But if they are, Joe, would you agree in?
Joe Fustolo 17:18
Absolutely. Make sure you tell them to fill out the mandatory questions. There's people that have submitted, hey, I want to be in the group. And then it hits them with two or three questions that quantifies that they are really are either in real estate or real estate related services, and they don't fill it out. And the first question is, you know, prove that you are a realtor or real estate related services by posting something that shows us. And if you don't fill out these questions, you are not getting in the group. And it's amazing to me the number of people who just don't feel anything out. And so they don't get in the group. It's a very protective group. That's why the atmosphere in there is so great is because we don't allow soliciting, we don't allow a lot of screwing around. So it's kind of tough to get into. And, you know, we're, we're slow to hire, quick to fire, I guess, we're going to vet you out to make sure that you belong in the group. And then if you break the rules, you're immediately out. So I would, I would say suggest people that you think are professional and fabulous, that will be an advantage to the group. Make sure you tell him to answer the questions. And hey, we're looking for more great people. Right.
Justin Stoddart 18:43
Yeah, good stuff. So last question here, Joe, one that you weren't prepared for. But I know you are prepared for it was just kind of my signature question. Kind of playing on the theme here behind me that the TV think bigger theme. What's something that that you would recommend that an agent, or even something that you do on a regular basis to help yourself like think bigger to expand your own possibilities? Obviously, you've done some great things and building a great community building a great brokerage, building a great business, like you're a big thinker. That's why you're on the show here today. Give us a tip on what you do to continue to think bigger yourself.
Joe Fustolo 19:15
Well, that's pretty easy. It's never stop learning. So where I got this head cold was I just spent a week in San Antonio, Texas. And I was in a windowless conference room getting pumped full of air conditioning. And it was absolutely amazing. And yes, this is my 28th year, but I am constantly looking for the new technology and and how to learn it. So learn it so well. So I can teach it. It's a little amazing to me that. So everyone's talking about a shift. And I don't want to add 20 minutes to this. But there is a shift happening, not necessarily so much market our markets pretty good. There's a shift in how real estate is being sold by buyers and open door and Zillow, and all the technology and how you do Instagram and Facebook ads and LinkedIn trolling and all this other stuff. And people who think, gosh, I've been doing this forever, I know it all. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing, are quickly going to realize that it doesn't work as well. And it hasn't hit us full force, we're in the midst of a technology shift right now. But we still have a year or so before it lands on us. But if if you don't prepare yourself for the way real estate is conducted in the future, you're going to have a tough time. And it's not technology, that's going to phase out the realtor. It's other realtors using technology, that's going to phase out the real tour. So master your craft and learn new stuff. And there's there's no such thing as old dogs can't learn new tricks, because I'm still learning and I'm one of the oldest farts around.
Justin Stoddart 21:16
Joe, it's always such a pleasure to spend time with you. I want to thank you for your contribution to the industry and to this group. I think that your Real Estate Group our audience today is benefited greatly as a result of what you've shared what you continue to share and contribute every day. So thank you again, man. I really really appreciate you and our friendship.
Joe Fustolo 21:32
Thank you. I do too. And I want to say thank you for all you do. I'm a big fan big follower and and anytime I get 5-10 minutes in a waiting room or something I just look on my phone and and watch the videos. It's always fabulous content. And you're an outstanding moderator. So thank you for that.
Justin Stoddart 21:52
Thank you my friend. Appreciate it. Alright, thanks, everybody.
Hey, welcome back to the Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I'm your host Justin Stoddart, fired up excited to be with you here today. As you know, my my passion and my mission is to help you think bigger, so that you can build the kind of business that will produce the kind of life that you want, giving you the options and the impact that you really want. I'm very excited to have returning guests with me today, someone who's locally famous and probably becoming nationally famous at this point. But the topic today is contribution. And so I have just the right person who spends his life contributing to the real estate industry, helping agents get better. So I want to thank first and foremost, Mr. Joe Fustolo, for being on the show today. Thanks, Joe.
Joe Fustolo 0:36
Thank you so much. I have to start every compliment with a compliment back from the place of contribution Justin you're doing an amazing job given great media, great content to people. It's a selfless act. And we all appreciate these videos and the knowledge and the people you interview. So thank you, the spirit of contribution. You're up there with a lot of people.
Justin Stoddart 1:02
Well, thank you. That's very kind of you, Joe, I appreciate that coming from a guy who, again gives so much so let's delve into some of these topics. And let me kind of build some like him a frame of reference for those who maybe need a little more background on on Joe. So Joe is the owner of Soldera Property Group, which I understand just turned 11 on St. Patrick's Day Happy Birthday to Soldera properties.
Joe Fustolo 1:24
Yes. Soldera turned 11 years old on St. Patrick's Day. And I own it with my business partner, Patrick Kraus. And we're having so much fun is just a ball.
Justin Stoddart 1:37
You know, it's funny, because today actually is my son's 11th birthday today. So after this, I've got a birthday date. With my 11 year old so 11 years ago was a very special year apparently. And it was fun, actually, I got a chance to see Patrick and Joe in action at their big Easter event. And it was a blast. And that's maybe kind of a lead in a fight. Let me get to that here in a second. Let me finish my bio on Joe. So for those that don't know, Joe, been in the business for 28 years, just been a great producer, and a great, great contributor. In addition to his his success within his own business and his own brokerage. He's served on about every board you can imagine. And that is the founder of the well known Real Estate Group called Masters in Real Estate. So if you by chance are an agent, whether you're inside the Portland metro area, or in the state of Oregon, or even nationally, I would really encourage you to search Masters in Real Estate. I'll put it up here on the screen here a little bit later in the episode. But search this out, Joe does such an amazing job of just helping real estate agents get very, very good at the business of real estate of being great real estate agents. So huge thanks to Joe. I know so many people are so appreciative of the work and sacrifice that you make to make that happen. Joe, it's just great stuff.
Joe Fustolo 2:50
Thank you.
Justin Stoddart 2:52
So let's talk a little about this great community event that you held. You know, I've been invited as you can imagine to a number of events. I'll tell you what, my wife and I and our little kids were amazed, we rounded the corner at the Soldera Properties Easter egg hunt, like there were oceans of people and I thought yeah, goodness, and you guys were prepared like you're like totally handling it with with cool calm. I think I'd be like choking like oh my goodness, what are they going to stop the Stoddarts are coming, they had six kids just in love themselves. And you guys handled it handled it so well. And the cool part that ties back into our theme today is this topic of contribution. Talk to us a little bit, Joe about the cause that you guys were supporting and kind of what came of from that event to this cause that you care deeply about?
Joe Fustolo 3:39
Well, so what a fun day, that was the mother nature shown down on us. We had room for about 600 people, we had about 1200 RSVP. So as comfortable and collected as we looked, there was a little freak out earlier in the day, but we're pretty passionate about contribution and giving back and this year was Embrace Oregon, which helps foster kids and foster families. And I can't think of anything better than you know, foster kids and their families out there. We did an Easter egg hunt. We had face painting, we had a guy doing balloons, we had, you know, temporary tattoos. People were playing cornhole, the adults were wine tasting. And then this massive Easter egg hunt where out of the 5000 easter eggs, there were a good couple hundred golden eggs that had extra special treats in there and we had two different photo booths and the Easter Bunny, and it was an absolute ball. everybody was appreciative and and we just filled up with, you know, they say when you give, you get back tenfold. And it was really great to see people having a good time. And I sent it out to friends and family and past clients and it was just a great day talking with people that I haven't seen in a long time. And I don't know the actual numbers, but we raised a heck of a lot of money for Embrace Oregon, and let me tell you a little bit about them. So it's for foster kids and foster parents. And they usually are pretty heavy on financial contributions. And then clothes, boots, school supplies, you name it. It's normally around Thanksgiving, Christmas, right? When everyone feels like giving. They're pretty heavy on donation. But come January through October, they're a little lean. And so we specifically wanted to make sure that they have all their needs met, if you get called. And you have to pick up foster kids overnight and bring him back. It's nice to have, you know, toiletries and clothes. And so that's what we did. It was a it was a huge success. So we plan on doing it again next year, I don't know if we're, if it's the same place or same charity, but we plan on doing for a quarter, or for a year, every quarter quarter.
Justin Stoddart 6:25
You know, it's interesting, Joe actually met a new agent yesterday. And she came out of the foster care program. And she said from a young age, she found herself grabbing like the free home magazines, in grocery stores. And she said for her it was a way to like fill that void that she didn't quite have the home that she wanted. And so later in life now here, she is a real estate agent, she said it brings me great joy to know they'll be able to help people have what I always wanted as a kid, and I thought was pretty touching. And so I think there's definitely this tie to those of us that have been blessed by the real estate industry to give back those who maybe don't have the ideal home setting.
Joe Fustolo 7:03
Absolutely, you know, it's interesting, it's like, the more you work in, the more money you you make, it allows you to do more things for other people and put on events and and donate. And you know, if you look at the balance of life, you know, your, what you have, socially, your family and inside your four walls, you know, spiritually, physically, charitably, all these other things. The stuff you do for others is one of those things that just sort of feeds you and keeps you going. So it's a you know, I'm not selflessly given to other people I'm getting a lot in return my cup is full, let me tell you.
Justin Stoddart 7:43
I think you know, that's how I feel is as selfless as some of this contribution may look, there's so much value that comes when you just give and I think that's, you know, one of those things that you don't really understand and get until you start to give. And I'm sure everybody here on the episode has has done that in some way, some form or fashion. But it's true, the more that you start to give and contribute like your life just gets a lot better opportunities start to open and no, that's not why you do it. But opportunities for example, this conversation that you and I are having, you know, wouldn't come about unless this this show existed. And similarly for you, I would imagine that part of the huge way in which you were able to contribute, Embrace Oregon was in part because of the contribution that you've given to so many brokers and so many agents and so many families, like it just compounds The more you look to contribute, the better life gets, the more opportunities you get to contribute back even more.
Joe Fustolo 8:32
Yeah, and you know, aside from giving financially, and donations and stuff, a lot of the path I've been going down has been trying to make people better and more knowledgeable and more ethical and more professional. And so I don't think I've spoke I think I've spoke more so far this year than I have and a lot of years combined. And and it just seems like every week there's a new panel or a new forum or a new mastermind or something like that. And I think it's important because I do have things to share with people. And look, I'm going to be in the trenches with everybody. I have real estate transactions, we hire brokers all the time, try and make them more knowledgeable and ethical and better and professional. And I mean, that comes around to because someone who's in masters in real estate or someone who goes to a forum, and they're a little bit better, we might be in a transaction together. And it'll be just a much easier transaction at that time.
Justin Stoddart 9:38
Yeah, yeah, there's no doubt, all kinds of benefits. Let's talk a little bit about an another event that you're on, which again, is an opportunity for you to contribute, which is Young Professionals Network. They've got a big event coming up. Is it tomorrow? Is that right?
Joe Fustolo 9:52
No, it's Thursday. May 2nd, and its Young Professional Network, real estate Roundtable, Mastermind event. It's from 4:30-7 PM at the lucky lab, down in northwest in the in the Pearl area. And I don't have the list of people in front of me. But they're just remarkable. People on this round table, and it's around table because each one of us kind of hangs out at a table. and then you have this group of people that just sort of bounces around to each person. And then we have our little theme of what we're talking about. So yeah, there's some great on that.
Justin Stoddart 10:38
And then, of course, we have coming up on May 9, for those that are listening to this before that date. It's the Masters in real estate forum from 10 until 1130 at the West Linn Music Project, again, in an effort to contribute to a great organization offer scholarships, and music lessons to two young people, which I know I'm passionate about out about the education and the mind expanding on the topic of thinking bigger, healthy. I know In fact, I was just learning the other day my wife was telling me the data on how much better kids are able to learn typical subjects when they're engaged in music, it opens up the mind to be able to help them to think more clearly. So what a cool project that you and I get to be a part of in on that panel, of course will be you, Joe Fustolo, we'll have Heather Robbins, we'll have Terry Sprague, Amy Savage, and Debi Laue so become star studded lineup there, I'll be leading that panel and trying in a very difficult challenge of in 90 minutes trying to extract enough enormous amounts of wisdom from those five people. So again, if you're not signed up for that, we'd encourage you to do so it's going to be an awesome event. I'm super, super excited about that one.
Joe Fustolo 11:48
I told a friend of mine that only reason I decided to go on the the panel is so I can sit next to Debi Laue and Heather Robbins who I just absolutely love. I mean, if you can learn anything you can learn from those people, Amy Savage is great, too. And I just, I looked at that panel, I thought oh my gosh, I need to go to this. So maybe I'll learn something. So it's gonna be fun. And the fact that you know, Heather is so sweet. She turned this into a fundraiser for the Youth Music Project. And it's right at the bottom of the hill and West Linn. And it's like, why wouldn't I do that? I'm absolutely doing it. I hope they raised lots of money. And I hope we share lots of knowledge to a sold out venue.
Justin Stoddart 12:30
Yeah, yeah, no, I agree. It's gonna be exciting. So kind of last last topic, or maybe illustration of contribution? Is this this group masters in real estate again, I know we have an audience that's extending outside of the Portland area. So let me put up here in case anybody isn't familiar with this, I would say most people in the area are familiar and are members of this group. But talk to us about about masters in real estate. Joe, obviously, there's an enormous amount of time and effort that you put into this to moderate it be sure everyone's getting along and, you know, offering pop positive comments. I mean, that's you are I mean, you're the guy behind that's kind of policing that whole thing.
Joe Fustolo 13:03
Well, I kind of have a team. Now it's a little bigger than me. There's about 5000 real tours and real estate related services, right. So I want to emphasize that people think it's only real tours, but we were not going to get any smarter, if we don't have you know, Real Estate Attorneys and title people and lenders and home warranties and vendors. So it's a mix of every thing that involves real estate, and it's primarily Oregon and Washington, but it's getting longer and longer arms. Andif you're in masters, you already know what I'm talking about. If you're not in masters, you will get a there's questions that you need to fill out and and answer. And then you get a little video of how and why masters was created, which sheds a little bit light on what we're all about.
Justin Stoddart 14:04
I love it. And again, best practices for people that are in there. Obviously, there's a search function you could go in, and and type in, as all Facebook groups have type in any particular topic that you have. And there may already be a deep discussion with tons of comments, right? You might not have to sit there and wait and hope people respond. There might already be answers there for that's probably the first golden tip. What else would you say Joby on that that would really help people get maximum value from this?
Joe Fustolo 14:31
Well, the search feature is great, because masters has been around for seven years. So if you want to refer a stage or whatever, those have all been posted a million times. So search First, if you don't find anything recent, then by all means, start a thread and ask your question. Another thing is devils in the details. If you're looking for particular vendor, for example, let's say a roofer maybe say where it's located, where the house is located, the size of the house, what it currently has, and what you need to go to, you know, it's 2400 feet and Beaverton it's a comp roof and we need a new comp roof. It helps us help you. And there's people that say, oh, who's your Best Roofer and, and then you find out Oh, they they're posting from Medford, you know, that really doesn't help us. So, as detailed as possible, and when people are looking for, hey, I have someone who wants to sell their place in San Diego, give me a good San San Diego real tour, instead of like just tagging someone's name, Brian Johnson, that doesn't really do much. If If this particular person that you tag has very restricted visibility of what other people's could can see, if they're not a friend, then it doesn't do anything, buddy any good. So tag someone put a little blurb about who they're with what they do their phone number, their email, make it a one stop shop, you see it and you don't have to go anywhere to find any more information. So over provide information to make it easy to get the person down that path.
Justin Stoddart 16:24
a great tip, I would even ask this of the audience that I know because I have a group myself big, big Real Estate Group. But if you go inside the group, you'll see an opportunity to add members. And if you see people that are suggested there that are good agents, great agents, whether they be here or in another area, help this community grow, the community only gets bigger and better based on the caliber of the people. I remember when I was a general contractor, I would always say I'm only as good as my subcontractors. And any group is only as good as the members in it. So if there's people that that you think should be in the group, do Joe and the other masters real estate community members a favor and add people like don't feel like that's that just falls upon Joe's shoulders like absolutely not, like start adding members again, be sure that they're you know, that there's some relevance to the real estate industry, of course, and that they're there. They're good, reputable people. But if they are, Joe, would you agree in?
Joe Fustolo 17:18
Absolutely. Make sure you tell them to fill out the mandatory questions. There's people that have submitted, hey, I want to be in the group. And then it hits them with two or three questions that quantifies that they are really are either in real estate or real estate related services, and they don't fill it out. And the first question is, you know, prove that you are a realtor or real estate related services by posting something that shows us. And if you don't fill out these questions, you are not getting in the group. And it's amazing to me the number of people who just don't feel anything out. And so they don't get in the group. It's a very protective group. That's why the atmosphere in there is so great is because we don't allow soliciting, we don't allow a lot of screwing around. So it's kind of tough to get into. And, you know, we're, we're slow to hire, quick to fire, I guess, we're going to vet you out to make sure that you belong in the group. And then if you break the rules, you're immediately out. So I would, I would say suggest people that you think are professional and fabulous, that will be an advantage to the group. Make sure you tell him to answer the questions. And hey, we're looking for more great people. Right.
Justin Stoddart 18:43
Yeah, good stuff. So last question here, Joe, one that you weren't prepared for. But I know you are prepared for it was just kind of my signature question. Kind of playing on the theme here behind me that the TV think bigger theme. What's something that that you would recommend that an agent, or even something that you do on a regular basis to help yourself like think bigger to expand your own possibilities? Obviously, you've done some great things and building a great community building a great brokerage, building a great business, like you're a big thinker. That's why you're on the show here today. Give us a tip on what you do to continue to think bigger yourself.
Joe Fustolo 19:15
Well, that's pretty easy. It's never stop learning. So where I got this head cold was I just spent a week in San Antonio, Texas. And I was in a windowless conference room getting pumped full of air conditioning. And it was absolutely amazing. And yes, this is my 28th year, but I am constantly looking for the new technology and and how to learn it. So learn it so well. So I can teach it. It's a little amazing to me that. So everyone's talking about a shift. And I don't want to add 20 minutes to this. But there is a shift happening, not necessarily so much market our markets pretty good. There's a shift in how real estate is being sold by buyers and open door and Zillow, and all the technology and how you do Instagram and Facebook ads and LinkedIn trolling and all this other stuff. And people who think, gosh, I've been doing this forever, I know it all. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing, are quickly going to realize that it doesn't work as well. And it hasn't hit us full force, we're in the midst of a technology shift right now. But we still have a year or so before it lands on us. But if if you don't prepare yourself for the way real estate is conducted in the future, you're going to have a tough time. And it's not technology, that's going to phase out the realtor. It's other realtors using technology, that's going to phase out the real tour. So master your craft and learn new stuff. And there's there's no such thing as old dogs can't learn new tricks, because I'm still learning and I'm one of the oldest farts around.
Justin Stoddart 21:16
Joe, it's always such a pleasure to spend time with you. I want to thank you for your contribution to the industry and to this group. I think that your Real Estate Group our audience today is benefited greatly as a result of what you've shared what you continue to share and contribute every day. So thank you again, man. I really really appreciate you and our friendship.
Joe Fustolo 21:32
Thank you. I do too. And I want to say thank you for all you do. I'm a big fan big follower and and anytime I get 5-10 minutes in a waiting room or something I just look on my phone and and watch the videos. It's always fabulous content. And you're an outstanding moderator. So thank you for that.
Justin Stoddart 21:52
Thank you my friend. Appreciate it. Alright, thanks, everybody.
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Justin Stoddart
What is Think Bigger Real Estate?
The road to success for real estate agents is well-marked. The road to significance is not. Here, we help you to Think Bigger than just your business. We inspire you to seek success AND significance, income AND impact. We do that by interviewing the biggest thinkers and highest achievers in the real estate industry, extracting the secrets to having it all.