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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Q Edmonds interviews Chris Gormley, a passionate real estate entrepreneur. Chris shares his journey from medical device sales to becoming a successful real estate investor, focusing on residential properties and commercial development. He discusses the importance of lead generation, building systems, and maintaining a strong business culture. Chris also shares valuable lessons learned from challenges faced in the industry, emphasizing the significance of authenticity, core values, and networking in achieving success.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Chris Gormley (00:00)
there is one in particular, Quen, I can share with you is it was a novation deal. So essentially I got it under contract and you you get all the forms filled out. I was getting ready to market out the property.But it was right around the holiday time, Christmas time, she owed almost five grand on a utility bill And I ended up advancing her the money to keep her bills on.
While I was in the process of getting ready to market it, She had essentially went under contract with somebody else during that time. And before I was able to place a lien or a memo on the property, she closed on it. And, you know, basically I lost almost eight grand literally trying to help this seller out.
You know, I was trying to do the right thing by the seller. She was super thankful for it. Meanwhile, she’s backdoor me. And ultimately, I think the biggest thing that I took away from that was what lesson and what control can I gain of the situation?
So I look at that as, Hey, that was just a really expensive lesson.
Quentin Edmonds (02:24)
I am your host, Q Edmonds. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. My guest has me excited. Y’all know I always say I’m excited to be here and I mean that I’m excited to be here. My guest, I cannot wait for us to just see things through his lens, see things through his perspective. ⁓ For me,And you may have heard it, but for me, he’s the only person that I heard say Mondays is his favorite day. Monday morning specifically is his favorite day of the week. I normally don’t get people coming through with that type of energy, but this dude coming through with the energy, he’s coming through with the perspective, and he’s going to tell you about his business, what he’s doing in real estate. So please help me introduce you guys to bring on the stage, Mr. Chris Gormley. How you doing today, sir?
Chris Gormley (03:13)
Quen rock and rolling my man. Like you said Monday morning, got the cup of Joe, we’re flowing. So I’m ready to get into it.Quentin Edmonds (03:15)
Absolutely.See
that this guy’s ready and Chris, man, I appreciate you bringing that energy. I appreciate what you’re about to talk about. Just seeing things through your lens, right? You are the expert for today and I want you to just take us into your world, man. ⁓ Tell us the different things you involved in. Tell us, you know, what’s your main focus is these days. And if you don’t mind, also tell us what market you’re operating in as well, brother.
Chris Gormley (03:45)
Yeah, absolutely. So heavy, heavy focus on residential. So I got the sales and marketing arm. So think wholesale, novation, subject to, and then I have the fix and flip in the new construction. A lot of my deals from my sales and marketing company, I’m sourcing to take them down and flip them or build. So heavy focus on residential. And then I also have experience with a commercial development project. So I’ve got my eye on my next commercial development that I’m trying to do.And ⁓ right now my markets, I live in Charlotte, North Carolina, so I’m heavy in the Carolinas, heavy in the Southeast, but I’m also in California, Texas, and then that Midwest belt as well. So think Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and then a couple of East Coast states. So I’m in about 12 to 13 states right now. So.
Quentin Edmonds (04:28)
Absolutely, man.Now know you told me a a little short version of your passion, kind of how you got into it. Man, tell the people how you got into it, like where that motivation came from,
Chris Gormley (04:37)
Yeah, so I’ve always had a strong interest in real estate just ever since you know, growing up through middle school, high school, seeing buildings go up kind of always wondering like who was behind that who was building. You know, my dad was a drywaller. So I was on site a lot too. And just always always had a strong interest in it. And then I got into medical device sales after college, which was a great industry, but always knew I wanted to just be the man not work for the man and run my own show. So ⁓Late 20s, real estate was just always still on my mind. I had friends that were brokers. I got my license as well. Didn’t really want to go down the brokerage route. And then I came across fixing and flipping right when COVID hit. man, I tell you what, Quinton, the light bulb just went off. It’s like I was halfway through a book reading about fixing flips. And I knew I like, I’m going to flip a house. And then I’d say five, six months later, I was all in. I left my corporate job and just went all in on fixing and flipping and never looked back.
Quentin Edmonds (06:15)
Come on, man. So I love it, man. So you read the book, you halfway through, you like, yeah, I’m about to crush this. Monday’s about to be my favorite moon. It’s right. So, bro, so you left your corporate job, you got into this, and you mentioned a word earlier. You said a word, systems. So I mean, so it’s not always easy in this climate, man. So what’s been the key to keeping that machine running smoothly for you, brother?Chris Gormley (06:17)
Yeah.That’s right, that’s
Yeah, so that’s a good question. So like you said, a lot of it boils back to the systems. I think every business has to start with lead flow. If you don’t have leads, you don’t have revenue, you don’t have revenue, you don’t have a business. like leads are the lifeline of the business. Obviously, you got to convert those. you know, I got I sought out mentorship on generating leads through Google, Facebook. You know, I paid my dues with cold calling and door knocking. So I really went into this business with warm inbound leads.
And then once you get those leads in there, you got to build the systems to make sure that leads are getting hit. You know, they’re being followed up on, you know, it takes an average of six to seven touch points to get somebody on the phone. And so ⁓ I came in with a knowledge of really wanting to build a heavy foundation on. You know, nurturing those leads, converting those leads, I have a sales background, so yeah, it really leads in systems and then you could throw in sales as well has been the, you know, the biggest key to the.
the sales and marketing business being successful.
Quentin Edmonds (07:36)
you said start with the lead flow and you said, I think you said six to eight touch points. Did I hear that correct? Did you say six to eight or seven to eight? Yeah, I love it, man.Chris Gormley (07:42)
Yeah, about 68. Yeah, about 60.Yeah.
Quentin Edmonds (07:45)
I love it, bro. Systems, man, systems are everything. I love it. I love your perspective on that because once you get a great system in place and that thing proves to be reliable, you can just run that thing. And so, yeah, I love that. kind of take it as a slightly different direction because I always tell people, especially the audience, like we want to normalize the heart, right?Chris Gormley (07:58)
That’s right.Quentin Edmonds (08:10)
We can talk about the success, but we gotta also talk about the process to kind of get us to the success, right? So I know you’ve been in tour, I know you attacked the day, but I also know there’s times when moments get real, right? There’s times when deals go sideways, when you gotta pivot fast. And I was just wondering if you would mind sharing one of those moments, you had it, would you mind sharing one of those moments like that with us?Chris Gormley (08:22)
⁓ hell yeah.Yeah, like an example of like a hard a hard deal kind of thing.
Quentin Edmonds (08:36)
Yeah,man, time you had to pivot when things got real and you had to work that sucker out. Yes, sir. Yeah, right, right, right, right. Let me put on that Japanese song. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. ⁓
Chris Gormley (08:42)
man, let me go through my Rolodex. Give me about 20 minutes now. Goodness. Where do I even start? That’s right. There’sthere is one in particular, Quen, I can share with you is it was a novation deal. So essentially I got it under contract and you you get all the forms filled out. We’re very upfront with the seller that we’re going to market out the property and I got it under contract. I was getting ready to market out the property. There was a possibility I was going to take it down and flip it myself. It was in a market here locally.
But it was right around the holiday time, Christmas time, she owed almost five grand on a utility bill and she had her lights turned off on Christmas. And I ended up advancing her the money to keep her bills on. And of course I do an addendum to the contract that I’m gonna advance you the money. And then I ended up paying like an extra 2,500 bucks to advance for moving and things like that. Well.
While I was in the process of getting ready to market it, and it falls back on me because I was a little slow in the process of trying to figure out, do I want to list it? Do I want to buy it? She had essentially went under contract with somebody else during that time. And before I was able to place a lien or a memo on the property, she closed on it. And basically I got a call from the guy who bought it he’s like, hey, you need to take, know, we had, had gone live at that point on the market. And he’s like, Hey, you got to take the property down. And, you know, basically I lost almost eight grand literally trying to help this seller out. And, uh,
You know, just I was like, do I go after her? Do I file a judgment against her? You know, pay all these court fees. She probably has nothing to her name. And ultimately, I was like, I’m just going to chalk this up as an 8K loss of, know, so that was tough for me because I lost a lot of money. You know, I was trying to do the right thing by the seller. She was super thankful for it. Meanwhile, she’s backdoor me. And ultimately, I think the biggest thing that I took away from that was what lesson and what control can I gain of the situation? Well, I could have filed my memo sooner.
I could have said no to advancing her the money and just, you know, said, Hey, you know, I’m sorry, tough times are tough times. Like there’s things I could have done to where now I know not to do it again. So I look at that as, Hey, that was just a really expensive lesson.
And, uh, that was it. So that, that one sucked though. And that was a good deal. That was going to be a, I was going to probably make about 40 to 50 on that deal. So yeah.
Quentin Edmonds (10:48)
Yeah, yeah.Bro, so Chris, you put me in a tough spot, man, because you making me love you more and you make me kind of jealous of you. I’m like, how is this dude get this mind, this mindset, right? Like, you know what I mean? So the story shows where your heart is, right? Your heart is for people to be able to help people. But then also you like flip it back on yourself. Okay, we got $8,000 loss, but what lesson can we get out of this? Man, bro, I don’t know if I could have did that, Chris.
Chris Gormley (11:47)
Yeah.Quen listen, I was was fired up. I was pitched. I was like, man, if this was the mafia days, I’d be sending someone to the front door with a bat saying, hey, I need my money. know, I get I get trust me, I get real competitive and crazy in my mind. But I was like, you know what? She needs the money more than I do. She’s if she’s going to go do something like that, karma comes around, you know, God, God will, you know, do it, do his thing or karma will do its thing. And I’ll say, that’s it. That’s it. Move on. Don’t let it bother me.
Quentin Edmonds (11:59)
Yeah.Yeah.
Yup. That part. That part. That part.
That part. Man, interesting enough, I’m watching the Sopranos for the first time. So when you said the Mob Days, I’m literally watching episodes when they like, run me my money. Like, what is, like, you know? And we see what the repercussions is, right? ⁓ But I love how you said, you you reap what you sow. And so for her, she’s gonna reap what she sow, but also you’re gonna reap what you sow.
Chris Gormley (12:21)
itThat’s right.
Mm-hmm.
Quentin Edmonds (12:37)
That’s an $8,000 investment in somebody helping you out when you be suspected, right? Cause that’s going to come back for you. And so you put an $8,000 investment from somewhere. If it hasn’t already, that’s going to come back to you in great karma. Like you said. And so that was the investment in your future. And I’m glad, and I know you could probably understand that because you got that perspective, right? Like you learned the lesson, but also somebody’s going to take care of you and you’re going to make sure I’m going make sure you don’t feel the pain that she made me feel like.If you take a, if you take a gamble on me, I’m going to make sure, you know, that we come through with the right results at the end. And so, um, I appreciate that. I appreciate your honesty. And for me, that shows you somebody that’s just not dabbling, but you’re somebody that’s in it for the longterm. And so I appreciate that perspective. Um, let me ask you this, man. What, what, what are you most focused on solving or scaling next? Like what’s the next real goal for it?
Chris Gormley (13:06)
Yes.Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. So good question again, ⁓ culture and hiring the right people. Those are my most immediate. Like I want to, I want to scale the sales and marketing business. You know, I run my business virtually. So, you know, culture can have its challenges, but ⁓ I’m real keen on running, you know, one of the, if not the best virtual culture, bringing in the best people, putting the right time and resources and mindset into recruiting, onboarding and retention.
Quentin Edmonds (13:36)
Mmm.Chris Gormley (13:57)
And just making the workplace a fun spot where people want to show up. We have fun. We make money. And that’s the next immediate six to 12 months is just scaling this with the right people.Quentin Edmonds (14:07)
Yeah, man, bro. Yeah, man. Yeah, man. Bro, bro, you got that type of leadership. People is going to be excited. You got me over here excited. I’m about to send you my resume.Chris Gormley (14:15)
Thank you.Let’s go. Let’s go send it, Quen. Yeah. ⁓
Quentin Edmonds (14:20)
gonna show you my strong points, man. It seems we can work,we can do together. But when you talk about building culture, again, that’s another key point is building the right culture with the right people. Because when you got the right culture, people who’s in it, and you got the same mindset that you got, again, that’s another system in itself that keeps things running the way you want it to run. And like you say, you want to make it fun, want it be exciting for everybody and worthwhile for everybody. And so.
⁓ Yeah, man, bro, brother, I’m super excited. That’s really big. And I know, I mean, we know, you know, you just said it, you know, helping people out. are people, people do people things, right? So we know that the next move, it can either compound things or create total chaos depending on the people that we are connecting with, right? And so I like the fact that you’re gonna seek out the right people to make the right connection.
Chris Gormley (14:52)
Thank you, ma’am.Yeah.
Quentin Edmonds (15:14)
And this kind of leads me to my next question because, you know, we have people that’s watching. A lot of people are either early in their journey or some people are looking to level up. And I think they’re benefit hearing this from you because you sound like to me the type of person that love to connect with people. So let me ask you, when it comes to building your relationships and building your network, what’s made the biggest difference for you?Chris Gormley (16:17)
man, another good question. Thank you. ⁓ first and foremost, always operating off of core values. You know, it’s a lot of people think it’s this cheesy locker room thing, but like, you have to literally and I mean, personally or professionally, you have to hire and fire people in your life off core values. And you have to first know what core values you stand by. So if I get into which this has happened, if I get it, get it, you know, get into an opportunity where I can partner with somebody on a deal.Quentin Edmonds (16:23)
Mmm.Chris Gormley (16:40)
and they kind of rubbed me the wrong way or you maybe they’re doing something in their personal life that I don’t care for or something like you got to be able to discern. I don’t want to do this deal. I don’t want to do business with this person and know that that abundance mindset will bring the right opportunities. And so that’s the first thing, man. When you network and you get involved with people, don’t just go after it because they have financial success, right? Like it’s okay to extract certain things from certain people. Like I don’t particularly agree here, but they’re really good at this and take that for what it is.But man, if they’re a bad egg, just steer clear of those people. And I think that’s what allows you to really attract your tribe, attract the right people, because there’s good and bad people at every level. And I’m not gonna go just do a deal with someone because they’re financially successful. Like I wanna see how they operate in their personal life, their mindset. ⁓ you know what I mean? And so I think that’s a big one, just to operate off core values.
Quentin Edmonds (17:27)
Mm-hmm.exactly what you made, There’s a, there’s an old proverb that me and my circle, we live by. I mean, we don’t go a week probably without saying this to each other. sharpens orange. Orange sharpens orange, man. Yeah, right? And so when you talk about values, you talk about the fun of living, I’m like, yeah, I’m really hitting with this. I know he gonna know what I’m talking about. And you have to be another.
Chris Gormley (17:43)
Love it. It’s one of favorites.Quentin Edmonds (17:55)
another core value that we live by, the two, how can the two walk together unless they agree, right? So we gotta be lock and sync. You know, we gotta be lock and sync and aren’t sharp as iron. Like if you are iron and you’re rubbing up against a metal that is not rough enough to sharpen you, you’re not gonna get sharp. And so that’s why I love when I hear you talk about culture, building the right culture, connecting with the right people, hiring and firing off of your core principles.that lets me know that you’re gonna have Arne beside you. You’re Arne and Arne’s gonna be beside you. We’ll continue to sharpen each other. And so you’re absolutely right, man. You’re absolutely right, And so listen, man, listen, I wanna ask you, know, probably my last question, but I just wanna get a chance, man, if there’s something on your heart that you feel like maybe people need to hear, something that can motivate them, educate them, inspire them, right? I wanna put the ball in your court. Maybe it’s something you feel like a message that
Albu is need to hear. I just want to offer you that chance to give it,
Chris Gormley (18:55)
Yeah, thank you. Thank you. It kind of ties into the core value conversation. But I think the best piece of advice and the most amount of growth I’ve gone through in my 30s is just always maintaining authenticity and not living to be a crowd pleaser. Don’t stand on the fence. When you stand for core values, you’re going to naturally piss people off. You’re going to naturally rub people the wrong way. Learning how to say no, learning that sometimes no doesn’t need an explanation.standing true for what you believe in and really attracting your people knowing that you’re also going to detract other people. You’re gonna outgrow people. And I just think so many people get consumed to try to people please and they get consumed by their wrong environments and you’ll see good people in bad environments. And it’s just people just lack the courage I think to just stand up for who they are. But once you do, it’s so liberating and it’s so freeing that you can go through anything, a personal relationship, an intimate relationship, a professional relationship, hardship, highs, lows.
And if you’re always true to yourself, you’re always going to have a level of groundedness that is always going to keep you just forging ahead. You know what I’m saying? So you’ve got to just stay true to who you are no matter what. So take that time of solitude, that time to just know who you are. So.
Quentin Edmonds (20:02)
⁓ what am I, you know, and one of the most hardest points in my life, I heard a speaker say this and it stuck with me and it motivates me. So when you talk about your core values, right? He, I heard a speaker say, when you know who you are, you know what to do. And that has always stuck with me, like me identifying who I am. Who are you Quentin? When I know who I am, I know how to move in every aspect of my life. And so.Chris Gormley (20:19)
Hello there.That’s right.
Quentin Edmonds (20:27)
Man, I love it, man. I absolutely love it. Yeah, yeah. I absolutely love that. Yeah, yeah.Chris Gormley (20:30)
love that.I love that, I love what you said, man. When you know who you are, you
know what to do. It’s so simple, but it’s powerful. So.
Quentin Edmonds (20:37)
Yes, Yes,sir. And so, so yeah, so you see why you had me excited, man, right? Like I, you know, I knew, yeah, I knew this would be great, man. But, listen, listen, Chris, before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, maybe even collaborate with you, what’s the best way for them to reach out to you,
Chris Gormley (20:43)
Yeah, same man.Yeah, yeah, and I highly encourage that I love networking. love trying to add value, partnership, all that kind of stuff. So easiest way is either email, which is Chris at network ventures group.com or just the Chris Gormley on Instagram. I’m active on Instagram. So
Quentin Edmonds (21:14)
Absolutely. There he is y’all, Chris Gormley. Sir, man, thank you so much, man. Thank you for your story. Thank you for your perspective. Thank you for your time. ⁓ Yeah, we definitely need more people in this space that’s doing it the right way and that’s being authentic just like you, man. So, sir, I appreciate you for coming through.Chris Gormley (21:28)
Yeah.Thank you, man. I appreciate it. Thank you for everyone who listened to this. So feel free to reach out to me. I’ll help however I can.
Quentin Edmonds (21:39)
Absolutely. There he is. Now you heard him. Reach out to him. And then also make sure you’re subscribed, right? Listen, you would not have seen Chris on this platform unless you tuned in, right? And you do not want to miss out on the great other conversations that we have coming. Listen, we got a way of getting great people. And so you’ve seen what Chris just gave and you don’t want to miss out on these great conversations. So Chris, thank you again. And everyone else, we will see you on the next time.
