A Single Layoff Can Become Your Breakthrough with Jeff Riley, Carolina Results Team

0:00Welcome to Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Cliff McRae with Action Coach Business Growth Partners. Every week, we sit down with business owners, founders, and leaders to uncover the real stories behind building a successful business. The wins, the setbacks, the lessons learned, and the strategies that help them grow. No scripts, no fluff, just honest conversations with entrepreneurs who are in the trenches every single day. Whether you are a business owner yourself, thinking about starting a business, or simply enjoy hearing how successful people think and operate, you are in the right place. Let's jump into today's episode, shall we?

0:58All right, everyone, welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am Cliff McRae with Action Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work with local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth. Today, I'm excited to be joined by Jeff Riley with the Carolina Results Team. Jeff, how are you doing today? Doing fantastic. Thanks for having me. Yeah, yeah, we're very excited to have you here. So let's, you know, if you don't mind, let's go ahead and jump right into things. Let's go. All right. So for those of you who may not know it yet, you know, what is the Carolina Results Team and what do you provide for the community?

1:30Thank you for asking. So we I have been a business about 23 years as a real as a licensed real estate agent. And then the last 16 also have a property management company, have a pretty good extensive background of flipping homes as well as own rentals and help entrepreneurs who want to build rental portfolios. portfolios, we can help them find them and then manage them as well. So we offer kind of a unique package there, being able to do both, a little bit of everything there. Perfect, perfect. And who are you as a person? Who's Jeff Riley? Great question. Number one, a God-fearing man. I'll tell you that for certain.

2:05I hit my knees every night and get my conscience clear with God. That's first and foremost. And that is the underlying principle behind my business. I want to make sure everybody is treated fairly. I've said for many, many years, if the phone rings, that's as if God himself said, hey, Jeff, go help that person. So early on in my career, I had a young lady that gave me a call and said there were three other real estate agents that told her no, that they didn't work under the price range of $100 ,000. And I said, I apologize. Number one, nobody should be treated like that because I love making money.

2:36Money's great, but money's not everything and it should not buy love or respect. So I said, I will be glad to help you. And I went and helped that lady buy a house and she couldn't afford more than$100 ,000. So that's important to me. I, again, love making money, but, you know, helping people out that don't have a lot of money is also a passion too. I'm going to do what I can and show them all love and dignity at the same time. And that transfers into the property management side as well. We manage about 600 doors right now currently in the Central Carolina area of South Carolina, Columbia, and the outlying counties and stuff right now.

3:10And we try to take care of the owners very, very well, but also the tenants. I don't want to be a slumlord, so we take very good care of our tenants as well. So that's where we are. Oh, also, let's see, married. Yeah, married, got a second marriage for me. I've got three stepchildren, all between the age of 20 to 30, and I've got three children myself. So my wife and I have Brady Bunch, so we have six kids total, ranging from 14 to 30. So busy life there. Yeah, busy life. That's what we do. Right. Yeah, yeah. Perfect, perfect. So, Jeff, let's go ahead and get right into the business side of it.

3:45You know, what's something about running your business that people think is amazing, but it actually isn't when you hear about it? Well, for me, I hit the ground running every morning and go, go, go until I stop. And I think I'm unique about that in my business is I just have an internal drive that runs faster than most people's motor. motor, you know, a lot of folks don't run that way. And they, the capacity wise, and I sound like I'm being horribly arrogant. I'm just extremely confident in what I do, you know? So I hit the ground running every morning and run hard until I quit. So long days are pretty average for me.

4:17And a lot of folks look at me and go, how do you do it? And I just look at them, I don't know any other way. And, and that's, that's kind of my secret, secret to success. What makes me different is I won't say I'm smarter than, you know, most people out there, but I'll outwork you in heartbeat in terms of that. So that's, that's what I'm known for. My clients know me for that. I'm going to give them 110 % of everything we do. That's a big piece for me. Yeah. Yeah. No, I love it. Love it. Now, what was the exact moment where you realized, you know, this thing could either really work or it could completely blow up in your face and you lose everything.

4:49All right. I'll go back. I'll go back to before, before I really even got started into real estate. My background was human resources. Coming out of college, I worked in HR for about six years. And I found myself all of a sudden, got a phone call, says, we got bad news, Jeff. We are filing bankruptcy, the company I was working for at the time. And you got two weeks. And I said, do I really want to do this and continue to climb the ladder of corporate America? And that was my least favorite part of working for corporate America was basically just red tape. I hate meetings about meetings that were anti-productive and just, you know, and just just bureaucracy of corporate America.

5:25And I found myself saying, well, while I'm trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life, I'm going to go to real estate school to literally kill time because that was kind of my focus of real estate at the moment was I was just going to go because I was pretty handy and I could, I wanted to flip houses and get involved in remodels and own rentals. I knew that was going to be a part of my life. And we're talking when I was in my late twenties, you know, a while ago. And so I went to real estate school and I watched all these agents go through at the final day of real estate school, they did something called the All-Star Panel where they brought in top producers and interviewed the top producers, you know, and they were all making, you know, six figures, some of them making$200 ,000,$300 ,000.

6:04And I said, it's going to take me 20 years to get there doing what I do in human resources to make the kind of money that they're making. And I'm going to have to move my family all over the planet. And I didn't want to do that either at the time. So I said, what in the world can I do differently? And I said, And it kind of hit me at that moment. You asked about the big bang moment, right? That was it. I looked at them and said, what do they have that I don't? You know, and it goes back to what I said already. Nobody's going to outwork me, you know, in terms of that. And what they have is they have contacts, they have a database and a little bit of experience.

6:35And I said, I'll get there pretty quick. So I said, I came home and told my wife that day, I was like, this is something I'm going to do and I'm going to kill it. And she looked at me and said, you better keep looking for a job because you don't know that many people. Because we had just moved here. About a year and a half prior to that, yeah, we had moved here to South Carolina from Indiana at the time. And she was from here, and she brought me back home, basically. Yeah. So I said, this is what I'm going to do. And she kind of doubted me. And it was one of those moments of, if you want to get me to do something, challenge me.

7:05And she did, and I said, look out. So that first year in business in 2003, I did 40 homes for a rookie. That's a big deal. That's unheard of. I worked for a company that had 400 agents, and I finished in their top 10 and selling 40 homes. and instantly became their rookie of the year and, you know, and took off pretty fast. You know, in the following year, I just continued to climb and, you know, and grew and grew and grew in my success. And it was mainly because I just outworked everybody else. But that was the moment it happened really for me as I looked around and said, what do they have that I don't?

7:36And I said, a little bit of experience in the database. And I said, I'll overcome that because I'll outwork them. So that was the moment I knew I could make it at this. And when I went home and my wife challenged me and said, you better keep looking for a job, that that was the motivation i needed to say you know hold my beer watch this and you know and took off so that was it for me okay yeah yeah so and it's definitely been challenging yeah i'm sorry go ahead oh no i was gonna ask have you ever thought about quitting and going back to a 95 yeah yeah well and that's where i was going to kind of go with that because it was along about 2010, you know, the market had shifted in 07, 08, 09.

8:19In 2010, I'm hitting my knees going, Lord, this sucks. You know, I'm not, I'm making half the amount of money I was just a few years ago because the business shifted and, you know, everything was either a short sale, a fire sale, a foreclosure, distress sale. And it was just really difficult. We were literally working twice as hard for half the money during those years. So I hit my knees and said, all right, guy, I need a big sign. You know, kick open the door and shove me through it. I said, I don't need a little sign. I want a massive burning bush sign to tell me if this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

8:51So, and I kid you not, there's two phone calls that week that happened. My financial advisor that managed a 401k for me called me and said, hey, I want to take you out to lunch. And he pay stubbed me and told me how much money he was making and basically tried to recruit me. I had not told anybody I was thinking about leaving the industry at that point in time, but he kind of pay stubbed me. And he's like, you know, the average person in my industry makes 70 grand first year. Do you think you're average? I'm like, well, absolutely not. You know, I'll kill that. And he said, well, great. Think about it.

9:19And he was basically recruiting me to go work for him. And then a former client of mine by the name of Keith, who is my business partner, called me and said, I've been praying and thinking about what I'm going to do. He had had a phenomenal career working for the government. Basically, he worked for the state of South Carolina, then on went to work for President Bush, believe it or not, in Washington, D.C., worked for Bush for three years and came home and said, I'm sick and tired of politicians. And I've been praying, deciding what I want to do with the rest of my life. And God said, get into business with Jeff Reilly.

9:51True statement. He said those words to me. And I went, wow, I can't get a bigger sign when I say, hey, God, you know, give me a sign. And God, within a week says, you know, someone comes to me and said, God said, get into business with Jeff Reilly. And I went, oh, my Lord, what are we going to do? And he, you know, shortly thereafter, we decided to form a property management company, which is now Midlands Property Management, and continue to grow. And the beauty in that is I'd never looked back after that and said, you know, what am I going to do? Because I knew, you know, it was pretty much laid out.

10:20And it has been, it has worked hand in hand because most real estate agents, their businesses are focused on folks that are trying to transact their primary residences. They're buying a home for themselves to live in or selling the home that they live in, right? And that's 95 % of most real estate agents, that's what they chase. What my eyes were opened up to, it was an opportunity to do something different because, yes, I still do that, and that's a big part of my business. But the longer we've been in business, it's allowed me to work with investors that want to build portfolios. during those recession times of 07, 08, 09, those were the times that I was introduced into that world and just, you know, by luck fell into my lap, you know, investors that I still work with today that wanted to build portfolios.

11:04And I was recommending property managers to them at that time, I'll help you sell them and you should call so-and-so to help you manage the property, you know, and they kept asking, would you do it? Would you do it? Would you do it? My philosophy at the time was, no, I don't want to go collect rent and have to threaten to break kneecaps over 50 bucks, you know, of profit or something, I focus on selling houses. And when Keith came along, he's the one that convinced me of how it tied into the greater picture of business. And it's allowed me to morph my business that we still work with folks that want to transact their primary residence, but we now are able to focus on investors, you know, and find them great deals.

11:42And I love that. And that is a niche or a specialty that I've grown into is focusing on on investors that want to sell off some of their portfolio, do 1031 exchanges, or they come to me and just say, hey, look, I've got a client right now that says, hey, I just made$4 million and I need to find property for it. Okay, great. So I go out and find him deals because he's a cash buyer and can do volume. We manage a bunch of properties for him, so I can go to builders and developers and stuff like that and structure pretty good deals for him. And he loves that. So it's created a completely different niche for me that I didn't see before the property management came along.

12:18And it also allowed us – the other piece of that too is a lot of those clients – Keith asked me at the time, he's like, well, what are you going to do with all these properties? At the time, I had like 70 properties listed. And every week, I'm calling my sellers saying, reduce price, reduce price. And a lot of them were so far underwater, they couldn't reduce it anymore or they had to bring money to the table. And they just couldn't afford to do it. So he said, eventually, this is what's going to happen. They're just going to get mad and fire you and go down the road, and you're going to lose them.

12:46He said, why don't you offer to manage the property for them until the time that the tide shifts? They're suddenly in an equitable position. They pay down their equity, and the value of their home grows up. And he said, that way you can keep in touch with them and build a relationship. And I said, you're right, because in 2010, my systems weren't very strong to keep track of these clients. And now I've been able to create another avenue, which is really a system, which allows me to keep track of them by managing their property. So that's been fantastic and something I didn't see coming originally, but it just helped feed into that business.

13:21So I don't know if that answers the question completely, but that's my long-winded answer. No, it does. It does. Now, if you could wave a magic wand and instantly fix one part of your business tomorrow, what would it be? I love that question. So that's actually a question I ask a lot of clients when I sit down and meet with them about their transaction. I said, if I had a magic wand and could wave it over your transaction, how would this go for you? So I appreciate you asking that. So love that. And for me, let's see. I am far more in tune being a relationship-driven business than what the world is becoming right now.

14:01it's a necessary evil to have to be involved in social media and AI and things like that, that I don't necessarily love. And maybe it's because I'm just getting old. I'm 51. And I've got, I've still got a long way to go. I plan to do this another 20 years, but that part isn't my favorite part, you know, and, and being in turn, you know, you've got to focus on the social media aspect of it. And I'm, I'm there, I'm on the platforms and stuff, but it's just not my natural proclivity. I would rather shake hands and kiss babies and go have lunch with you and build a relationship and talk to you on a phone or in person as opposed to, you know, being a handle on a social media account.

14:40So that's not a part I've loved, but it's part I've had to adapt to. And, you know, part of the way to overcome that is just engulf yourself in it when you have to, take classes on how to figure it out. And also, I have a pretty good staff of folks that surround me right now on both sides, on the property management side and the transactional buying and selling side that are pretty good at it. You know, they're younger than me and they like that stuff more than I do. So they prompt me and say, Jeff, record this video or do this or do that, you know, to help keep me in tune with that. But yeah, if I could go back to doing business the way we did 20 some years ago, it would be less social media driven than it is today.

15:19Okay. Now, and this next question might be hypothetical, but let's say if someone shadowed you for a full day or let's say even a full week, they shadowed you and followed you around and kind of watched the way you work. What would surprise them the most about how you operate your business? Probably the pace at which I run and I would say organized chaos because I probably to them look like I work as a hibachi chef because I'm just slinging things left and right. Be a good way to say it. So, and it always amazes people that do that, just say, you know, that have shouted me because a lot of folks have asked to do so, or just other agents that I've known that have had chance to work on my team or watch me have said, how do you do everything you do?

16:02And it's just, it just developed over time. I've been a high producer, I think, since I was born, you know, and I just, I thrive on the ability to do a lot of things at once. A lot of people will say you can't multitask and do a good job at anything. And I would disagree. Some people can. So, and I also know there are times where I just have to, you know, if it's super duper important, I have to stop and focus on one singular task and just give 100 % to it. But for the most part, I'm really good. I call it being a buzzsaw and I just rip through things. So it's just rapid fire for me one after the other.

16:37And I really don't have to take that time to stop and exhale, you know, or whatever. I just go. And that's probably fueled by Mountain Dew as much as anything. So I love it. I love it. So what would you say is something that you're doing today that's giving you kind of an unfair advantage over your competitors? Yeah, great question. I would I would go back to the investment piece of that, because, again, most of my competitors are chasing the primary resident transactional those transactions. right? They're not focused. They don't have the expertise of being able to evaluate property, find them, construct deals, and then turn around and seamlessly manage them and transition them into that.

17:21Most don't. They can go out there. They can do part of that. They can do some property management. But again, they're not as experienced and well-honed as we are. And then on the other side, if you're an agent, you know, transacting, you know, homes, you know, they don't manage them. So there's a hiccup in between that that they don't do a good job at, I guess. So there's not as many of us that are able to give the full package to investors, I think. And then the ability to look at that and really analyze it and tell you whether or not it's a good deal or not. It's a very unique time right now that the majority of the money in the United States right now is not held by young folks.

18:02And that's pretty much typical throughout history. but all the money right now is held by folks above 60 years old. Well, guess what? Those people are less likely to be worried about their primary residences and things like that. They're looking at end of life and setting themselves up for retirement and setting their families up for after their life is over. And I think that's something that we add, my team adds to the picture, is we understand what that looks like. And most of the agents out there today, they're chasing that first-time homebuyer. The average first-time homebuyer right now, I just went to a Keller Williams national meeting that we had back in February.

18:41The average first-time homebuyer out there right now is 40 years old. That sounds insane to be 40 years old for the average first-time homebuyer, but that's the facts right now. And most of your agents out there are chasing that first-time homebuyer, but that's not where the money is. So we understand that and can cater to that because we we've had such great experience over the years for that so yeah okay now what would you say is the hardest leadership lesson you've learned you've had to learn while growing your team great question hardest leadership lesson I think I think the biggest challenge in any business and especially for me is people people change and and Gary Keller the founder of our company once said, even himself, he's considered to be brilliant, but even he's only right 50 % of the time when he makes a hiring decision.

19:36And that was kind of impactful to hear Gary Keller say that, right? So I would say that's the hardest people is finding, that's the hardest challenge of the job and leadership is finding the right people and then training them and retaining them, right? And I should patent this expression. Everything is great until it's not. And people are the same way. I've hired great contractors and great employees who were fantastic in the beginning. And nobody makes a choice without thinking it's a good choice. We naturally don't go around making bad choices, correct? You know, we make good choices when we make them because we think it's the right choice.

20:11So, and they're always the great, they're always the right choice until they're not. And what I'm saying is you don't, you don't ask a girl out on a date without thinking she's fantastic. You, you know, you think, oh, this is potential, right? This is a good choice. And every first date is great until it's not. Every first drink we have is great until it's not. You know, every choice you make is great until it's not. And that goes the same way with hiring people. You know, they start out fantastic and then things happen in their life. And I like to say as well, life be life sometimes. You know, life changes for people.

20:43I've hired great contractors who were phenomenal until something happened, until they had a fallout with their spouse, you know, and went through a divorce or they developed a bad habit and things like that. And suddenly that contractor was not, you know, so that's the biggest challenge is just navigating people, you know, in my opinion. And if you can figure that out, then you've got it made, but it's, it's really, really hard, you know, to, that's the hardest piece I think of any business is simply navigating people. Yeah. Yeah, no, I totally agree with that. Now we're going to head into what's called the quick fire round and how this works is I'm going to give you one word and I just want you to give me the first thing that comes to mind when you think about running your business in each word, how it kind of aligns.

21:24And then kind of give me a little small paragraph after you chose that. Yeah. First word is success. Yes. I guess everybody defines success differently. So the first thing that comes to my mind is monetary success, as most people would. But also, as I mentioned earlier in the show, I like what I do. I feel good about helping people. And my success isn't just monetary. It's the fact that when I'm at a closing table and I can get a hug from somebody who says, thank you, you changed my life and you've done a great job, I really appreciate that. That is more valuable to me than money at this point in time.

21:58And if I can do a great job of that, then the money comes. That's what I would say. Failure. Failure. Each and every single one of us also have those two. And it's not, I'm going to quote Rocky, it's not about how many times you get knocked down. It's about how many times you get back up. And again, that's hard. This that there's a lot of agents in this business that have difficulty that really quickly punch out because it's hard. There are hard moments, you know, when you go through transactions and you were dealing with somebody's life, you know, and things fall apart that you had no control over.

22:32And they're put in a really tough position. That's not a fun spot to be in when somebody loses a deal a day or two before closing and they had a contract on another house to purchase. And the dominoes were lined up or this had to happen or this had to happen. And suddenly, like, I'm sorry, but you don't have a place to live. Go rent or go to a hotel or go live with mom and dad. Those are hard moments. So you have to be in real estate to overcome those failures. You have to be somewhat of a shrink or a counselor to put your arm around them and say, hey, look, we're going to get you through this.

23:01So that's what comes to my mind with failure. Burnout. Burnout. Everybody happens. Yeah, it happens to everybody as well. And I certainly have had that moment or two. But I think we say in real estate, again, this is something that Gary Keller stood up. A lot of people talk about balance in life. In real estate, it's really hard to have balance because you drink from the fire hose. And if you're going to be successful at it, you better get used to that and learn to like it, which is not balance. And Gary said what you have to have is counterbalance. So I've kind of developed the philosophy over my career is work hard and play hard.

23:38So we take a lot of time off. I recently just went to the Coca-Cola 600 this past Memorial Day weekend. So I had a blast at that, even though it rained half the time. Yeah, yeah. So I took some time off, and my wife and I love to go to music concerts. So we have got tickets for about eight different shows between now and October, truthfully, that we'll be at. So we'll take long weekends and take off. And even though I'm gone, I'm still on the phone negotiating deals, but it allows me to unwind and go to music concerts. We've got a week at the beach planned and a week at Nashville planned here over the rest of the year.