Skip to main content

From Law Enforcement to Real Estate: Building Trust That Scales Wealth

By January 22, 2026Real Estate Pros Show

Subscribe via:

Show Summary

In this conversation, Chris Horrell shares his journey from law enforcement to becoming a successful real estate agent. He emphasizes the importance of building relationships with clients, focusing on their needs, and creating a positive impact in their lives. Chris discusses his approach to client engagement, community involvement, and leveraging social media, particularly YouTube, to grow his business. He reflects on the challenges and motivations that drive him in the real estate industry, highlighting the satisfaction he derives from helping others.

Resources and Links from this show:

  • Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode

    Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

    Chris Horrell (00:00)
    I think back to one difficult transaction where at the closing table, this couple was there and the, the lady, the house, she gets done at the closing table and gives me a big hug. I was pretty sure that’s not the first time that’s happened, but I walk out to the parking lot and go to get my car and she comes walking up to my car and tears running down her eyes, hugs me again. It says, we know how hard you killed yourself to make that happen for us. You’ve changed our life.

    Quentin Edmonds (01:57)
    Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds, and I’m excited to be here today. I have someone that kind of speaks my language when he talks about organic relationships, organic referrals. Like I am a person, I believe in relationships, but I want them to be organic. So I love this gentleman because he talks about the process of just letting relationships grow organically.

    If he’s going to have referrals, they’re going to come organically through the relationships that he’s built through the years. I love his background. I’m hoping I can get him to talk about his background a little bit more. ⁓ But I just want to introduce you all to Mr. Chris Horrell. Mr. Chris, how you doing today, sir?

    Chris Horrell (02:39)
    I’m doing awesome. Thank you. appreciate you. I appreciate you having me.

    Quentin Edmonds (02:42)
    Absolutely.

    Well, listen, sir, I thank you so much for being here. And honestly, I want to dive in. I want you to tell the people what your main focus is these days. If you want to give us an origin story, like I said, we love origin stories. So you want to tell us how you got to real estate. We would love to know that. And then also tell us what part of the world you’re in, Mr. Chris. So sir, you have the floor.

    Chris Horrell (03:02)
    Sure. I am first off located in upstate of South Carolina in the Greenville area. I’m born and raised here and I’ve lived a couple of other places for short periods of time. Loved it, enjoyed it, but coincidentally was drawn back here maybe because I like the weather, like the outdoors, the seasons, all of that. And it was, you know, a

    a little more about what kind of led me where I’m at. And I think what motivates and has kind of set the principles by which I operate by is that prior to getting into real estate full time five years ago, I had previous to that at 15 years in local law enforcement at the Sheriff’s office. And you know, as cliche as it sounds, I got into the business or into that job rather just to help people.

    And while I enjoyed it, know, that many years and most of those years were spent on the road, sustained a number of injuries and I was on the SWAT team there as well, which is a tier one team for a number of years as an entry operator. So got to experience a lot of things, some good, some bad, all the above, but it’s one of those things that each and every one of those experiences has definitely molded me, but also I think probably created a lot of disciplines that.

    I’ve realized that I have benefited me in the real estate business and what kind of led me to real estate was just the fact that I had, know, in the Southeast law enforcement does, they barely get paid enough to pay the basic bills. So I had a background in construction previous to that. So I would do some investment flips as I could. And it was one of those things where I’m like, you know, I really enjoy this. And I stepped away from law enforcement and moved into real estate with the…

    the first year being with a team, which I felt like I was being held back. when I was starting on my own after I won your commitment, hadn’t looked back since. ⁓ It was kind of unusual in that I was, you know, when I left the team, coincidentally, I was told that I didn’t have a plan and I would fall flat on my face. But my rainmaker, which I took that as a challenge because

    don’t tell me I can’t do something. in my mind, in fact, I actually told my wife, said, at our brokerage, which was pretty large, had about couple hundred agents, large for our area, has a production board. You can see where everybody ranks monthly in volume. So in my mind, I was like, I just want to be above my rainmaker over the team one month this year. And I worked pretty hard to get there.

    that was January of 21.

    There hadn’t been a single month since then where I wasn’t. So, and he was the rainmaker. And for me, I never said anything, but it’s just one of those things, I took it as a challenge because I didn’t know what I was getting into. And that’s why he expected me to fail. But referring back to my background, like the mindset of you do whatever it takes, whether it’s to survive or get a job done, you do whatever it takes ⁓ to find a way to solve a problem. I find myself thinking back to a lot of the difficult deals.

    that I’ve made happen, a lot of which I’ve had other agencies say, why didn’t you walk away or refer that out? Why would you take that on? And I think back that for every difficult challenge, I learned something from it. And there’s multiple other transactions that I would have never made it through had I not taken some other challenges on. But I think back to, and going back to your initial question.

    Getting into law enforcement to help people is one thing, but I think I get so much satisfaction out of being in real estate is that I create relationships. I get to meet people and I’m helping people in a powerful way. When I look back at, you know, I help people make a financial decision that builds wealth and while everybody needs a house to live in, I review every transaction with them and say, hey, if life happens and you’re forever home, you have to sell it next month, are you going to make money? Is it going to be a good deal? Can I help them make?

    future transactions and make money. And I’ve even had clients that I went to and said, hey, if you invest about five or 10 grand in your house, I can get you 20 grand more. We don’t have the money. And I see those as opportunities where I’ve invested my own money in their own house to make some upgrades, knowing that I’m going to make $75 more in compensation, which is menial and not worth the time and trouble and the risk.

    I make them another $20,000 and those kind of relationships, people appreciate that. And I get a lot of satisfaction out of those helping people do those things. so that’s kind of in a nutshell, what has led me to get into real estate and what I appreciate about it and has driven me in a lot of different ways because I focus not as much on cold calling or buying leads, but creating relationships. I have a lot of large and small client events.

    might have over 100 people at. And I never talk about real estate. I just want to hear about how they’re doing, how the family’s doing, and whether it’s a past client or a future client. And I recommend that to a lot of agents out there is to focus on the relationships. Everything else will come because…

    Typically clients don’t come to you because of the brokerage that’s on your letterhead. They come to you because you’re

    Quentin Edmonds (08:50)
    Yeah.

    So listen, you’ve let our conversation off, even when we were talking backstage, you’ve let it off talking about relationships. So we’re gonna end with relationships, but before we get there, I wanna dig a little bit more into you from being honest, because as I say, I say this a lot of times on podcasts, destiny has no wasted moments, right? And I think you’ve proven that because every reiteration of your life or career, however you wanna say it.

    You have tools that have helped you there that you’ve kind of transferred over now. And I’ll tell you like what I hear when I hear you talk, you’ve gotten to law enforcement to help people, but now even in real estate, you feel like you’re helping even more people in a more dynamic way. So obviously there’s something innate in you that want to help people. So what are some of those personal strategies, personal tools, personal things that you know, kind of reinforce the person that you are that want to continue to help people along your journey in life?

    Chris Horrell (10:24)
    I think there’s a two-fold answer to or two-sided answer. One is the client and one is me in that I’ve made it a point. I’ve made it a point. I don’t know if you’ve heard the term of care calls. I do lots of care calls and care texts. It’s not to get leads. It’s because I want to see how they’re doing. see on Facebook, they had a baby. see on Facebook that their dog died. I can relate to both of those.

    and they’re both pretty intense moments for anyone. ⁓ But just touching base, whether it’s commenting on social media and saying, when you have a quick moment because you see them, I have a six foot tall board next to my desk here that is covered with names of people that I’ve done gear calls and there’s a reason and I make sure to check on them every so often. I’ve heard horrible news and found out that there was a need.

    and, you know, try to fill their shoes and show up and help where I can. you know, those are the things that help them. ⁓ But I think for me, I enjoy it as much as they do because I get to, you know, whether it’s one client who’s a professional baker that shows up with a box load of the world’s most amazing cookies, better than Chick-fil-A. come on. You know, by creating those relationships, you know, it’s not just about what I can do for them.

    Um, it is to me, but I’ve created relationships that folks then become my friends. And I tell most folks, most of my clients, 75 % of them remain friends. Um, and I have get togethers and I them over to the house and things like that. And, know, over the years, those numbers continue to grow and be more difficult. But, um, like I said, it creates a friendship, um, and a loyalty both ways. And I always want to look out for them.

    Quentin Edmonds (11:55)
    Mm.

    Chris Horrell (12:12)
    And, ⁓ and it’s pretty cool. mean, I think back to one difficult transaction where at the closing table, this couple was there and the, the lady, the house, she gets done at the closing table and gives me a big hug. I was pretty sure that’s not the first time that’s happened, but I walk out to the parking lot and go to get my car and she comes walking up to my car and tears running down her eyes, hugs me again. It says, we know how hard you killed yourself to make that happen for us. You’ve changed our life.

    I want you to know we appreciate that.” she walks, know, blown away. She walks back to her car, sets her stuff down, and she’s still crying. And she comes back and just hug me again and just reiterates. And I’m like, you know, it was that moment that stuck with me. That was relatively early on in my career. But it was that moment that I went from going, you know, I’m still transitioning from the law enforcement mindset where you feel like, you know, most people hate you and you’re just coming because they called you. to a different…

    spot where I’m still helping people, still doing things, still changing lives in a very positive way, whether it’s giving them an awesome home, helping them on an investment deal, which I have 11 investors that I work with. have a number of investments of my own that I work on. ⁓ All the above, all of those things are helping change lives in a positive way. So for me, ⁓ that’s probably one of the biggest takeaways that I realized early on and try to focus on.

    just doing what I like doing really.

    Quentin Edmonds (13:36)
    ⁓

    Absolutely, man. you know, of course we haven’t known each other for essentially a long time, but I can just hear your through line, your consistency of organic relationships, building relationships, helping people. Like I told you, I’m going to end there because we really want to drive that home. But I do want to know what is the next real goal for you? Like, what are you looking to solve or scale next?

    Chris Horrell (14:01)
    So in March of 25…

    I’ve been posting occasional YouTube videos and things like that, just like about any other investor or realtor. ⁓ But I really made a focused where I contracted a company, ⁓ spared no expense and doing regular weekly long form videos and plenty of shorts and things like that. But everybody wants to add value and there’s a lot of agents. And over the last two years, a lot of agents have jumped on YouTube as well. ⁓

    My focus, because I’m born and raised here and I don’t know how much you know about Greenville, South Carolina, but it is a very unique, very cool, big small town. ⁓ Charlotte’s bigger than we are, but very similar, but a lot more affordable here. What’s interesting is, ⁓ well, recently, think you probably read, U-Haul came out with their latest stats saying South Carolina is now the number one state to move to, with most going to Charleston or Greenville, two very different. ⁓

    two very different towns and ⁓ the luxury custom builder that I work with pretty close is based out of Charleston, ⁓ has a branch here that I work with. it’s two very different towns, ⁓ but it’s one of those things where it’s just like, if we can, sorry.

    I must be training thought there a little bit. I’ll guess. Ran off on a change there,

    Quentin Edmonds (15:24)
    No problem.

    So

    we were talking about the goals and I think he was talking about Giga.

    Chris Horrell (16:15)
    Yeah, sorry. I kind of have tried to incorporate a little bit of what we’ve already talked about as far as creating relationships and sharing the lifestyle of the upstate. It is a lifestyle. ⁓ And of course, no one place is for everybody. But I focused mildly on real estate, which you can get for this much, that kind of thing. But more than anything, the different types of lifestyles are here because there’s so many different ones. Each of my videos, I’m real big into the outdoors too, which is a very common thing. ⁓

    for the upstate, but it’s also very family oriented. There’s a lot of green spaces, outdoor spaces where, know, mom and dad can sit over here and have a, you know, glass of wine or there’s lots of breweries, things like that while the kids are out there playing in the green space. There’s a band over here with some music playing and we have a lot of great weather except for January and February. It tends to be cool, but I’m really focused on just making people feel what it’s like to be here. I get, my call is pretty regular. I was, you know, filming last, this week’s video last week.

    get back in the car and there’s a text message from somebody in Dunedin, Florida saying, hey, would you mind giving me a call? I’d like to relocate. ⁓ Have a 20 minute conversation with them, have them set up, know, because they follow it generally, see enough about it to learn and, you know, understand that, hey, this guy’s from there. I mean, I worked the streets for 15 years, so I know every street.

    in town and everything there is to know about it born and raised here. So I’m able to share with them and I ask them, know, what’s like a podcast? I interview them and find out what makes them tick what they’re interested in. And sometimes I’ll tell them, hey, this area, you know, not for you. ⁓ But then I can also share that information and show a value. But in doing so, even that remotely without ever meeting these people, I create a relationship with them by helping them and be empowered.

    in making their decision to relocate here or not to relocate here. But I think the empowerment is probably the most important thing there, but to answer your question, that’s kind of how I’ve integrated the two and it creates connections that way as well. A lot of folks tell me, I’ve watched all your videos. I feel like I know you so well already. Because I I talk about me and what makes me tick and how it applies here and that’s not going to be of interest to everybody.

    But it’s real. ⁓

    Quentin Edmonds (18:26)
    Yeah, absolutely. So here we go. I want to put the bow or the cherry on top when it comes to relationships. I want to drive this home. Because like I said, you started our conversation talking about relationships. So I want to end our conversation talking about relationships. So I want to ask you, because this is what I hear. I hear that relationships matter to you. And I want to know point blank, why is it that relationships matter to you so much? Why is it important to make these connections?

    Why is it important to make people feel comfortable? Why is it important to be your authentic self showing people why they should come to South Carolina or the lifestyle of South Carolina and you connecting that with really relating to them? So why is relationships important to you?

    Chris Horrell (19:06)
    say three reasons. You know, I have maybe more than three, but family is important to me. People knowing their value is important to me. As I mentioned, you know, working in law enforcement in the southeast, you most typically work every day off just to make ends meet, doing other things. So the money’s not great. So I do work with a lot of law enforcement. I’m a founding member of a

    13, 14 year old nonprofit law enforcement charity as well. that’s a whole nother story as to how that came to. So I work with a lot of law enforcement. I sponsor a lot of different things, different law enforcement agencies. As I told the sheriff of our local agency is the things that I have, my successes in real estate, I directly attribute to the thousands of front porches that I had to stand on at 2 a.m. and in five minutes figure out.

    that person that I’m talking with, figure out what makes them tick, what will fix the situation, what will make them happy, how do we solve this for the greatest good or make a bet and make it a good or mitigate the issues. And I apply that in law enforcement or in real estate from law enforcement.

    in hopes of just being able to help others make wise decisions and financial decisions that will benefit them in the future because I didn’t have that advantage early on because I didn’t know those things. We all wish we knew 10 years ago what we now know. Absolutely. I just want to share that knowledge with others. It sounds arrogant, but I put

    every 110 % into everything I do. ⁓ And I’ll touch on this real quick too, but a lot of folks, some folks have said, you really feel comfortable working with friends and family? I’m like, absolutely. Had this conversation with somebody yesterday. Said, I honestly prefer to, and here’s why. ⁓ Because I know they’re not going to be in anybody’s, any better hands. I know there’s a lot of good agents out there, but I also know how I take on a transaction, how I’ll handle it, what I’m willing to do for them.

    And there’s no one else I know that will do that quite like I will. And I have their best interest in mind because I’ve talked myself out of a job on more than one occasion. And I have walked away from decent amounts of money for the greater good of them. Or, you know, in one particular case, I ⁓ wanted to work a charity and had to give up thousands of dollars to see to it that this client was cared for.

    because I’d already committed to do work for a week for this charity. You know, it’s one of those things that, very principle-based, but it’s collectively, I know I gave you more than one answer, but collectively, I think those things coming together really are what drives me, and I think that is what motivates me.

    Quentin Edmonds (21:49)
    Absolutely. Now, Mr. Chris, makes total sense, Again, this might be the first time I’ve repeated this twice in a podcast, but destiny has no wasted moments. And when I look at you, that statement rings true even more and more as I listen to you talking. So I sincerely thank you for being here today. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing.

    What’s the best way that they can get in contact with you, Mr. Chris?

    Chris Horrell (22:18)
    ⁓

    Phone’s always the best way, phone call, text. My YouTube channel is “Greenville SC Living with Chris Horrell” . My website, pretty extensive, is just chrishorrellrealtor. Pretty easy to remember, but I imagine we can drop that in there. But phone number is really the best way. I’d love to communicate. I like coaching or mentoring if somebody has something they’re trying to do, because at the same time, I’ve done the same thing with others where I have an idea that I have

    want to integrate, I look out there and find out who’s good at it. I always love meeting new people and seeing what works for them and always helping, seeing how I can help others too.

    Quentin Edmonds (22:56)
    But

    Mr. Chris again, thank you so much sir. Thank you for your time. This time is definitely precious and valued. Thank you for your story. I really appreciate your story walking us through. Thank you for your perspective, your mindset, bringing that mindset to this podcast. And man, thank you for your service. Thank you for the way you have served the community and the way you still serve the community. And so I really appreciate you being here today sir.

    Chris Horrell (23:19)
    Appreciate it. I appreciate you having me.

    Quentin Edmonds (23:21)
    So listen, you guys can’t tell me y’all didn’t get the value from Mr. Chris. You’ve heard it. Check him out, collaborate with him, connect with him, but definitely make sure you are subscribed here because I promise we’re going to continue to bring up incredible people just like Mr. Chris. So sir, thank you again and everyone else. We’ll see you on the next time.

Tags:

Share via
Facebook
X (Twitter)
LinkedIn
Mix
Pinterest
Tumblr
Skype
Buffer
Pocket
VKontakte
Parler
Xing
Reddit
Line
Flipboard
MySpace
Delicious
Amazon
Digg
Evernote
Blogger
LiveJournal
Baidu
MeWe
NewsVine
Yummly
Yahoo
WhatsApp
Viber
SMS
Telegram
Facebook Messenger
Like
Email
Print
Copy Link
Copy link
CopyCopied