How Eric Schultz Built a $5M Real Estate Business After Being Laid Off

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In this conversation, Eric Schultz shares his journey from corporate America to becoming a successful real estate agent and renovation business owner. He discusses the challenges he faced in transitioning careers, the importance of building relationships with clients, and the strategies he employs to grow his business. Eric emphasizes the significance of faith and perseverance in overcoming obstacles and achieving success in the competitive real estate market.

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Eric Schultz (00:00)
I kind of got tired of the grind. I’m tired of putting all my effort into something that was building a business for somebody else and not building my own business. And so through a layoff that just caught me in a tailspin, you know, I was just like, man, after all those years, I did this, this and this, and I made all this money for you. And then you just send me out, you know, like that just didn’t feel right to me. And I’m like, I can’t do that to myself. I can’t do that. My family anymore, you know, and, know, it’s just, it was kind of a big risk.

That was like this opportunity I had came from God.

Quentin Edmonds (02:01)
Hello everyone, welcome to the real estate pros podcast I am your host Q Edmonds Super excited super excited about my guest. This person has me fired up He has me feeling comfortable right most of time is me trying to make people feel comfortable He has me feeling comfortable with his energy. He’s gonna talk about how his 20 years of experience Within sales and marketing has leveraged him

to be prepared to do this real estate thing. This thing we call real estate, right? And so I’m so excited about what he’s doing. So excited because there is a path forward that’s clear for him to just really just explore and just, I’m just excited for you just to hear things from his lens. So please help me welcome Mr. Eric Schultz. How you doing today, How was the intro? I ain’t do too much, did I? Good, man.

Eric Schultz (02:49)
Alright, that was good.

Quentin Edmonds (02:52)
I’m excited. I’m excited for our listeners to be able to see things from your lens and from your perspective, because I know they’re going to get a ton of value from it. And so I’m just so grateful to have this conversation. And so I just be honest, man, I kind of just want to dive in. I would love you to just take our listeners into your world. them what you’re familiar with, what you mainly focus on these days, what markets you’re operating in.

and kind of just how you got started, man. So it’s all yours, Mr. Eric. Close your.

Eric Schultz (03:23)
That’s

great. Now really appreciate the opportunity. know, real estate is one of those things that sometimes it’s not the person’s first thing they go into, right? It might be something that they land into later and that’s the case for me. I started out in corporate America, you know, most people are in that phase right now if they’re not, they’re maybe owning a business or something like that, but that was ultimately my dream. I’m very entrepreneurial and I wanted to get to something that I could own for myself. And corporate America just didn’t really do that for me. After a couple of layoffs and, you know, getting kicked around a little bit,

I kind of got tired of the grind. I’m tired of putting all my effort into something that was building a business for somebody else and not building my own business. And so through a layoff that just caught me in a tailspin, you know, I was just like, man, after all those years, I did this, this and this, and I made all this money for you. And then you just send me out, you know, like that just didn’t feel right to me. And I’m like, I can’t do that to myself. I can’t do that. My family anymore, you know, and, know, it’s just, it was kind of a big risk.

was a big.

risk to say, okay, I’m going let that go and I’m going to slide into this thing, right? And I got to tell you, like, it didn’t happen by chance.

That was like this opportunity I had came from God.

I will just tell you, it came down like a lightning bolt. And I’ll tell you what, I was sitting there one night trying to figure out, you know, as any bread, butter, wood for their family, how am going to provide for this family? Right? I’ve got three little kids, my wife, you know, we just moved here to Charlotte from Chicago and I’m going, now what?

You know, like I left my sphere. left my people in Chicago and now I’m down here. I don’t know a soul. Right. So I need to start this thing up from scratch, like from the bottom. Right. And, and see how I can get this thing to build. So God was like, you know what? gave you some abilities that you’re not even touching right now. And so you’re going to start touching those abilities. And I want you to get into this, this is renovation business, right? You built homes that your dad growing up. Go do that. I was like,

Okay, I can do that. You know, and then while you’re doing that, go get your real estate license because you can be doing both at the same time. Right. So I just was like, dang, let’s go. You know, so I got on the web, I, you know, someplace found a website URL, started a website. You can do those pretty easily online now, you know, you need, you don’t need a whole lot to get that going. And went to Vista print, you know, put some business cards together and put a flyer together and.

I started like within the next week, I’m putting this on people’s flyers on people’s doors, you know, and, and putting a post together for our website saying, Hey, I do this work now. And that’s, that’s what got me started, man. It was, was just this word from God and like, go do this. And I obeyed and you know, five years later, I’m looking at, you know, this real estate business now that I’m looking to scale and grow and really kind of take off. it’s, it’s been a grind, right?

but everything, every good thing is a grind. You gotta get there. You gotta put the time in, the effort. And I’m really excited about kind of where that’s gotten me today.

Quentin Edmonds (07:01)
Man, I absolutely love it. I’ve been telling people lately all the time is that faith is actually when you hear what you’re supposed to do, you actually go do it. That’s faith. Faith is when you actually, when you hear a word from the Lord and you take that knowing this, what he told you to do, and then you take that word and go to do it. That’s the faith. That’s what faith is. Faith is not sitting around like, ⁓ it’s going to happen. No.

Eric Schultz (07:13)
Right.

Quentin Edmonds (07:26)
You heard what to do. Now go do it and know that it’s going to work. And that’s and that’s what you did, man. That’s what you did, man. I love it, man. I absolutely love it. So I thank you, man. So now we know how you got started. Now, my question is, it’s not always especially easy in this climate. So what keeps you going? That’s how you got it started. But what keeps you going? What keeps the machine kind of running for steam ahead?

Eric Schultz (07:30)
Yeah.

Yeah, well, you know, I mentioned earlier having a family, right, and to have people to provide for that’s that’ll light a fire on anybody. you want to make something happen, you’ve got to go for it. know, I thank God for my wife. You know, she’s she’s great, very supportive. You know, during the last couple of years, you know, it’s she jumped into the business world as well and got back, you know, doing her job. But like we first got married, one of the things I wanted for her to stay home with our kids and.

So we’ve got one in college, we’ve got a senior in high school and I’ve got a fourth grader, you know, so he’s kind of pulling up the rear a little bit with us, but you know, it’s been such a blessing to have her home, you know? And so that to me is like one of the things where I want to get to a point in my business where she can go back to being home, right? And like help raise this four, this 10 year old that’s still got, you know, eight, nine years in front of them. If she chooses and she wants to leave, you know,

the working world and go back and being a stay-at-home mom, I think that would be a blessing for our family. So that’s a little bit of a goal that’s driving me in that. And I think with anybody, I’ve got a competitive spirit. I mentioned it earlier. I played professional baseball for a few years after college. it didn’t work out for me, but I learned a lot through that process. getting to that high of a level, getting to a place where like,

less than a percent of the people that play the game ever get to. And then for it’s just to kind of fall apart on you, man, is that can be really kind of hits you really hard, you know, but like those hard knocks in life or what treat teach you to kind of get back up and go. Right. So, you know, when, when the corporate stuff didn’t work out and the layoffs happen, my kids were watching, right. What is dad going to do? Well, dad got up and he got a better job, you know, okay. He laid off again. What’s he going to do? he got back up. He got another job, you know, okay. Now.

He went off and started two businesses now. It’s like, if my kids run into anything in the future, I know that they’re going to know that if they just worked hard and did something and went for it, they’ll be okay. They’ll figure it out. So I think a lot of lessons learned in that. just put your head down sometimes and grind. And there’s people around you watching. I do it because I want my family to have a good life and be good.

to feel like they’re taken care of and provided for and that they’re safe. I think that’s what any dad would wanna have for their family and it’s certainly true with me.

Quentin Edmonds (10:35)
So listen, so from one husband and dad to the next, you’re absolutely right. I mean, that’s what motivates us. That’s what pushes us. I love when you started talking about your kids and just, you you’re going out starting two jobs and having you as an example for them. My wife has a saying that, well, she probably, I get it from her. I’m sorry, other people probably said it, but she say with children, things are caught more than they are taught. Things are caught more than they’re taught. like just…

just your perseverance, your example, they’re catching that. And that’s going to be a teacher to them itself. You know what I mean?

Eric Schultz (11:10)
Yeah, it’s it’s funny you say that, because that’s one of the things we have on our on our wall in our bathroom is like Morris, Cotten, Todd. So you see that? you serious? yeah.

Quentin Edmonds (11:17)
My My

wife

Eric Schultz (11:17)
It’s it’s it is pretty amazing. Yeah, for sure. I’ve heard some people that I’ve sat down with that, you know, had lost their job. Right. And I was like, so how’s the conversation been with family? And they’re like, I’m not talking to them about it. Like, what do you mean? Like my wife knows, but I don’t want the kids to know. I’m like, really, why not? I just don’t want them to feel like, you know, things are going wrong or this and that. I’m like, how is they going to learn? Right. Like your job is to teach them. So introduce them to what happens when you get laid off and what you do in order to get the next job. He’s like, yeah, I don’t know.

I was like, I think you’re missing an opportunity there, man. know, like, that’s a good teaching opportunity. And so you’re right, you you persevere and you get up and you go after it again. And, I think my kids, they’ll, if there’s anything they’ll take away after, know, being raised in our family is that my dad works hard and, and, and, you know, nothing, nothing put him down, you know.

Quentin Edmonds (12:04)
Yeah, absolutely. Listen, man, I know this is not a part about our kids, but you’re absolutely right. I just love, I want to piggyback on that nugget you said about talking to your children, sharing the ups and downs. know, there’s my son, I took him to football practice and he kept telling me that, Hey, we’re going to practice on this field back here. I totally disregarded him. Right. And so I seen his teammates, I dropped them off and he got out, but you know what wound up happening? They wound up going to the field that my son

said they was gonna go to. And I took that as a moment to apologize to him. I said, son, you know what? You were right. Like sometimes me as your father, I’m not always right. Sometimes I have to listen to what you’re saying. You’re not always right. I have a ton of experience, but hey, you’re not always wrong at the same time too. And so I love that nugget. And I think even as transferable when it comes to business, right? When you’re dealing with clients, being honest, being authentic, like telling them, having real conversation, not trying to hide stuff. Let’s talk, let’s…

Let’s normal let’s make the covert over. Let’s let’s put it out here. Like if there’s something’s going on, let’s talk about it You know, and so I might switch there the over covert covert not gonna make over over. So yeah, so now I Appreciate your perspective now. I’m loving this conversation. Let me ask you this mister Eric What’s the next like what are you focused on solving next or scaling next? I was the next real goal for you

Eric Schultz (13:23)
Well, the next goal is 10 million just to put a number out there five million was last year I hit five million five point one. I’m on track right now for to do better than that My goal is ten, but how do I get there? Right? That’s always a question. It’s like well, how are you it’s not just gonna happen Yeah, and so I’ve been doing a lot like with my online presence not so much like Doing the videos and all that kind of stuff because man, that’s like a full-time job you know, but like

For me, it’s like my website. If somebody were to look me up, what does my website look like and what does it say about me? So you could have a decent website that maybe your company puts together for you or whatever, and it’s a little blurb on you and that, but I wanted something better than that. So I went out and found a website company that does a really good job of more or less targeting for real estate agents. So they know the business, they know the field, and they know what you’re trying to do. then…

trying to create content, blog posts, things like that, that’ll create more search engine optimizations or somebody looking for me specifically for my market. Maybe it’s Matthews or Weddington area where I live or maybe even the neighborhood I live in, Brookhaven. Like if somebody is searching for that and they search Brookhaven, for instance, I want my name to kind of pop up as somebody who knows a lot about Brookhaven, right? So that if somebody is from a different state, which we’re getting a lot of people moving here, 150 people a day come into the Charlotte region.

you know, how am I going to take care of those people that might be looking in the South Charlotte area and looking for a realtor that can show them houses in this specific neighborhood? You know, that’s a really small, you know, piece of business maybe, but hey, if I get two or three clients from that, then it’s working for me in a year, you know, like that, that would be great. And then just really trying to scale in terms of growing my sphere in a sense. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Ninja sales process, but it’s a

Yeah, look that up. Yeah, it’s, it’s a game changer, just in terms of like, the way they set it up for you to be successful as a real estate agent, things that they say you should do on a daily basis, weekly basis, monthly basis, you know, writing letters and cards and notes for people having phone calls, conversations, you know, doing this, the parts of the business that you require you to be successful, right? And I don’t think anybody’s put it together in such a succinct way as

as the Ninja training has. And there’s a book that you can buy on that and you can take the courses, which I’ve done. And that’s, think, has been something that’s been really helpful for my business and will continue to be something that’s really helpful for my business. So any listeners out there that know about Ninja or they don’t, like definitely look into it or spend some time, you know, digging into that content. I think that’s really important. you know, really to scale my business efficiently, continuing to kind of grow that.

is top on my list right now for sure. And doing what I have to do in order to get that, I don’t know, that vision out there for myself to kind of go for those things, to get the support from around me. It could be my family even supporting me. A lot of real estate happens on the weekends, which is never a great time for family, but trying to balance all of that, right? And be able to do the business on the weekends when I need to and when I don’t have to, then taking the option to not.

You still got to have that work life balance, I guess, in there.

Quentin Edmonds (16:27)
Absolutely.

No, no, absolutely, man. Another saying me and my wife, already say is your presence is a present, right? Your presence is a present. And so we want to make sure we’re not robbing our family of that, that balance, right? Of being, being present. And so no, absolutely get you. Yeah, absolutely get you. Man, thank you, man. It’s, you know, that’s big, you know, the goal, you know, you hit the 5 million, go into the 10 million, it’s a new goal and that’s huge. And I know, you know, you know,

Things the next movie the compound things or create total chaos and it’s just depending on how we play it, right? Yeah, and so, ⁓ yeah, but but again, you will be listening for those little words and when you get that word, there’s no doubt in my mind. You want to, you want to press forward and you’re to be successful. You know what I mean? ⁓ yeah. And so, man, you know, a lot of people, you know, they’re listening to either early in their journey or they’re looking to level up. And I think they’re benefit hearing this when it comes to building.

relationships and growing your network, what’s made the biggest difference for you?

Eric Schultz (17:28)
Yeah. Well, you know, it’s the other part of me, right? This renovation business that I have. And that’s been huge, right? So starting in a market that I didn’t know anybody in and trying to become a real estate agent in that market, that’s a really tough grind, right? Like, you kind of have to, sometimes you got to start, most people that go into real estate, they’ve already kind of got a, maybe a book of business, you would say, just from friends and family that live around them, they’ll refer them and help you get your business started. I didn’t have that. So.

The renovation thing was really a blessing for me because that was the catalyst to getting into homes and meeting people that I never would have met otherwise. So they’re inviting me into their house to help solve a problem that they already have with their home. And then those problems turn into opportunities because then it turns into a potential real estate transaction either sooner or later. One of my very first customers that I did handyman work for four years later,

had me sell their $1.2 million house. know, so it’s just staying present and being there with them. that, that like helped really get my business off the ground. It didn’t hurt that I lived in a really nice neighborhood too. You know, when you’ve got houses that are in the millions and you’re selling those, you know, you could do three or four of those transactions and you are, you’re at $5 million real quick, right? But, but I’m learning a lot through that process too. And becoming a luxury.

real estate specialist was really important for me too, because that designation for people, think comes with a lot of clout. you, people want to know that you’re going to be taking care of them. Like there’s a different level of clientele maybe, you know, or sophistication and those types of opportunities or those sales and the buyers coming in are different as well. And so you just got to be able to play both sides of the fence on that one with the other agents and with your, with your sellers or your buyers. so

I’m spending that 20 years in corporate America that I had and, learning how to balance between my boss and my director and the boss at the other place and their person and their sales team and my sales team, you know, and like really being able to have conversations that are win-wins for everybody, right? Like you talk about in real estate, you want a win-win situation. That was how it was in corporate too. It’s like you want them to feel good about hiring you and you want to feel good about the work that you’re doing for them. Otherwise it doesn’t work.

⁓ and so somebody’s not going to feel good on the other side of that. So I, I, I’m looking for these opportunities that are win-win. The win starts with me being able to like work on their home or help them with something or get them out of a jam or, you know, help them get through a stressful situation where maybe they had a leak in their house and then I got to fix this drywall and paint this and they hear about you and you go over and you help them. And, they’re thankful for that, right? Like you came the next day and you fixed it for us. Like, my gosh, who does that today? You know?

Yeah, I mean, was just, know, growing the business and having the, you know, the ability to kind of scale something, you’ve got to start with those relationships with the people that you have around you. And so that renovation business really helped me, you know, get myself established just by starting to, you know, work with people around their homes. And then those, you know, relationships turn into better relationships as they have me come in and do more things or refer me to other people. And then for me, it’s just, you know, it’s been such a blessing because that’s been the

the opportunities I’ve seen where I’ve then turned those into real estate transactions. And without the handyman business, I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now. I guarantee it, right? So being able to have those opportunities just to walk into somebody’s home that I never met before in my neighborhood and help them out and get them out of a jam or get them out of something stressful situation and being able to solve that for them, you’d be surprised. People are like, I cannot get this pocket door to close.

It has been driving me nuts. And you come in there and like two hours later, I got a fix. just like, my gosh, can I make you dinner? You know what I mean? It’s just like, this was like, I’ve been dealing with this for three years, Two hours, like what was I waiting for? But like it’s stress, it got to a bubbling point for them. Maybe they had guest day over, whatever it was, and they’re like dealing with this stupid door won’t close. And I go over and solve that problem.

Quentin Edmonds (21:52)
We’ve got a done in

Eric Schultz (22:05)
Now, granted, the problem solved for them at the time, but now who are they going to think of the next time they need anything around their house? Right. And I’ve already explained to them, like, look, I’m a real estate agent and these kinds of things, I take care of for free. You know what I mean? Like, let’s go. So people resonated with it. It started to stick, you know, and I talked to other agents about that. They’re like, wow, that’s really, that’s really great. You know, like, I can’t offer that. like, there’s not a lot of people that can. So for me, that’s been, you know, such a driver to my business is being able to have both that.

that real estate abilities and like you said, the transferable skills of sales and then being able to be handy and helping with different things around the house. it’s like, it takes that stress away. You know, had the seller earlier this spring that had all these little things around their house. just like, Eric, you just took the stress away. Like I was thinking I’d had to call like five or six different people to get all this stuff figured out. And you just knocked it out in a weekend, you know, like, my gosh.

That was amazing. Now I can focus on my job and you can focus on selling the house and everybody’s happy, right? So.

Quentin Edmonds (23:05)
Yeah, yeah. Now, man, I love it. One of the things you led with when we first opened up talking was that 20 years of experience, right? And we talked about how it was transferable. You know, and I heard, you know, somebody say destiny has no wasted moments, which means like everything that we go through, every experience we pick up in life is not wasted. Eventually, it’s that that that experience is going to put a demand.

on an investment like, it’s time to bring it out. And you see it made you being a people person making these connections, the renovation being the lead generation for the investment. it, destiny has no wasted moments. Even just like we talk about your professional career, that drives your competitiveness, like everything ties in together. And so I love to hear that you are putting everything you got to full use with what you do. I absolutely love it,

Eric Schultz (23:59)
that. It’s like I said earlier, it’s been a blessing, right? You go through these ups and downs, you never know, okay, God, why am I doing? What’s this for? What’s that for? What’s this for? And then in hindsight, you go and you start putting the pieces together like, man, you just playing

before, you right? That’s how you go. And I yeah, looking back, you just go, okay, wow, you were putting those pieces together. And now as I get older, right, and I’m starting to feel like, I don’t know, getting into this this sage kind of place, right? I’m getting older and wiser, right? And yeah, and I turned 50 this year. And it’s just like, wow, you know, like, what’s

next, right? Like, and so I look at real estate as a thing that I can do for the next 30 years if I want to, you know, like, there’s a long runway in front of me that I can continue to grow and build this business through. ⁓ But like through this podcast, how can I help somebody else that might be thinking, man, that sounds really risky. Like, what do I do? Go for it. Like, what’s the worst that could happen? Right? It doesn’t work out for you. well, try something else. You know, like you can you can do it, you got to put your mind to it. Nothing’s just going to come to you for nothing. But like,

Quentin Edmonds (24:46)
Yeah.

Eric Schultz (25:03)
People are smart, they’re smarter than they give themselves credit for, right? Like go for it. If you feel like you’re gonna go for it, right? Especially the younger people out there, man. I’m like, if you don’t have a significant other yet, you don’t have the children potentially, right? Like you have a lot of room to make mistakes. So when you get to my age, like that’s a lot of risk, right? Like I can’t, got a mortgage payments, car payments. I got this payment, this payment. You know, you’re just like, kids are traveling.

volleyball, baseball, you you’re just like, my gosh, the money is just flying and like, know what I mean? You’re just so, but you’re young, like you can fail five, six times. Go, try some stuff, you know, like, so I don’t know. give that info. just give that as wisdom is like, look, if you, can do anything you put your mind to, like you said earlier, like you can, you gotta go for it. Like you can do it. You gotta put a passion behind it and go do it. And there’s always going to be somebody that’s going to doubt you. That’s going to say, yeah, I don’t know, man.

Don’t listen to that, right? Don’t listen to that. Listen to yourself. Listen to your gut. Like what’s your gut telling you to do? And just, just try it. That could be real estate. could be anything else, you know, it could be a new career. It could be going back to school, whatever it might be that you’re, that you’re considering right now. Like just take it, just go for it. I mean, I try to bathe, I try to bathe everything in prayer and say, okay, God, what do you want to do? And that’s where I ended up. That’s how I ended up here one night praying really hard. What am I supposed to do?

Pa-pow, like here you go. This is what you’re gonna do. And it’s like, okay, I will do that. know, like, don’t be afraid to say yes.

Quentin Edmonds (26:30)
Yeah. Don’t be afraid to say yes. Man. Now that’s how you…

Eric Schultz (26:35)
I’m wearing a-

Quentin Edmonds (26:37)
I love it man, I love it man, I love it. Don’t be afraid to say yes, man I absolutely love it. Absolutely love you man. I’m so glad to this conversation with you. Listen, before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, maybe collaborate or learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to get in contact with

Eric Schultz (26:55)
Yeah, honestly, my website, ericschultzrealtor.com, pretty easy ericschultzrealtor.com. I’m on all the social platforms as to the same thing for Facebook as Eric Schultz Realtor, Instagram as Eric Schultz Realtor, trying to keep the brand, know, kind of the same across everything. And, you know, on my website, you’ll find my phone number and email address and all that kind of stuff as well. So that, that’d be a good place to go and connect with me. I love to talk with people, you know, talk shop and

What are you doing? What am I doing? How can I help? And even if you’ve got something that you’re like, hey, I think this could really help your business. Let me know. I’m open. I got my ears are wide open for ideas and suggestions. And how do I land more business or where some technology tools I could be using that I’m not right now. Let me know. So that’d be awesome.

Quentin Edmonds (27:39)
Well, listen, there he is, Mr. Eric Schultz, sir. I thank you so much for your time. I thank you so much for your story, for your perspective, for your patience, your perseverance as we dealt with technical issues. Man, I just, I appreciate you being here. Thank you so much for just your valuable contribution.

Eric Schultz (27:57)
Thank you. I appreciate your time and thanks for putting this together and thanks for the great dialogue.

Quentin Edmonds (28:01)
Absolutely. Now to everyone else that’s listening, listen, you found value in this. So please make sure you are subscribed. You don’t want to miss out on these amazing conversations. So Mr. Eric, thank you. And to everyone else, we will see you on the next

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How Eric Schultz Built a $5M Real Estate Business After Being Laid Off

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