Today we’d like to introduce you to Ben Hahn.
Ben, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started in real estate in 2018 with a different real estate broker in Minnetonka helping a few friends find their first homes while I really learned how to be a professional in the real estate industry. It was incredibly difficult to navigate through a real estate transaction with little to no experience, but I kept working and trying to learn. I started talking to everyone in my office and tried to learn as much as a could from the successful agents. Being able to talk to the experienced agents and the little details that they caught really made me evaluate my business to continue to grow.
In 2019, I joined a team of agents in Eden Prairie. It was the number one team in the state for that broker. It was a completely different experience that was not as client-focused and more about selling as many houses as you possibly could. It was a fantastic opportunity to learn from a top producing team. I quickly became much better at communicating and more knowledgeable about the transaction from start to finish. However, after 2 years on the team, I felt I need to refocus and start a brand that supported the community and provided an outstanding customer experience.
In 2021, I started Local Roots Real Estate brokered by eXp Realty. I created this brand because I wanted to be able to make a difference in Minnesota. I knew I could sell houses and I had become pretty good at it. So, I decided to put a cause behind why I wake up every morning to help people with their real estate needs. That cause was to promote locally owned businesses and help support the homeless population in the Minneapolis area. It has been an amazing experience. We are continuing to grow our network by talking to locally owned restaurants, service companies and boutiques. One of the coolest things we do is a housewarming party for homeowners that buy with us. We bring in local drinks, food, and cheesy local real estate trivia (it is not that cheesy) and share all the great things that Minneapolis has to offer. Lastly, we donate 5% of our commissions to a local nonprofit – Bridging which helps people transitioning out of homelessness. It has been a dream come true to start my own real estate team and I cannot wait to continue help buyers and sellers in the Minneapolis area.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been extremely challenging. When I was starting out in real estate some agents try to take advantage of you or won’t even talk to you unless you have been in the business for a few years because 87% of real estate agents fail in their first 5 years. However, if you keep coming around and not giving up you can achieve anything in real estate (just like most things in life). It was also challenging seeing friends, close friends, buy or sell houses through another real estate agent. However, I also had many friends give me an opportunity and for that, I am incredibly grateful.
As you know, we’re big fans of Local roots Real Estate brokered by eXp Realty. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
The mission of Local Roots Real Estate is to promote local business and support the homeless population in the Minneapolis Metropolitan area through buying and selling real estate. At Local Roots Real Estate we believe everyone should have the opportunity to own a home and that is one of the reasons why we give back 5% of our commissions to help the homeless population. Giving back to our communities in the southwest suburbs is the focal point of our business, it’s the “why we get out of bed in the morning.” Having that singular focus to help the community has changed how we look at real estate and how we help buyers and sellers through the challenging process.
Throughout the entire process of buying and selling real estate, we try to introduce local brands to our buyers and sellers. We have different services providers that we work with to try to keep everything local, so if a homeowner has an issue, we have locally owned experts there waiting to help. We also enjoy meeting buyers at local coffee shops or breweries to have our buyer consultations to introduce places that they may not go to very often. Lastly, we work with local restaurants and artisans for our closing gifts, pre-listing packets and housewarming parties to introduce local places. There is so much to explore in Minnesota and bringing these places and items into our client’s homes has been so much fun to help support local businesses.
What makes you happy?
I could probably go on all day about what makes me happy, I have so much to be thankful for in life. I am extremely fortunate to have a loving and supportive family. My wife and I grew up about a mile apart in Eden Prairie, although we did not start dating until after college. I am so lucky to have her in my life and so thankful that we have our beautiful, energetic, and loving daughter Oaklyn and a little boy on the way in June of 2022.
Being able to grow with my wife, Natalie, and watch our daughter grow up has brought me so much joy and I cannot wait to see what the future will bring for us.
Contact Info:
- Email: ben@localrootsrealestate.com
- Website: https://www.localrootsrealestate.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benhahn_lrre/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Localrootsrealestate
