How to Build Long-Term Wealth in Real Estate (21 Years of Experience)

Rhett Barnes (00:00)

It’s truly you have to have a servant’s heart and if you have a servant’s heart this is a good business for you. If you do not have a servant’s heart you should find another business because you have to be able to come with that love. The license plate on my truck is verb love. Love is an action. It’s something you do. It’s not the feelings you get or the warm and fuzzies with your girl. When you’re loving somebody it can be a perfect stranger, can be the homeless guy that you got a sandwich,

Micah Johnson (00:09)

Right?

Right.

Rhett Barnes (00:28)

It could be volunteering at the warming shelter at night when it’s really cold, which I don’t have that down in Florida, but we do here. But ⁓ that’s loving people.

Micah Johnson (02:11)

Hey everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Micah Johnson. And today I’m joined by Rhett Barnes, who’s been making some serious moves in real estate now for over two decades. Rhett, welcome in man, glad to have you.

Rhett Barnes (02:24)

Thanks for having me, I appreciate it.

Micah Johnson (02:26)

Absolutely. I’m excited for our talk today. I think our listeners are going to take something away from how you’re approaching your business, the long road that you’re thinking about, the long game you’re trying to play. I think it’s very important for those getting into real estate to have that in mind, because this is one of the best get rich slow schemes you can do. And it’s almost for sure if you do it the right way for long enough. So let’s dive in there, man. For people who may not know you yet, what’s your main focus right now and what markets do you operate in?

Rhett Barnes (02:43)

Fair.

Well, we are in middle Tennessee. I live in the Clarksville area, we operate throughout Nashville and several other areas around Nashville. And our focus is residential sales and property management. So helping folks.

change to move on to their next chapter and sell what they have. Buyers, whether it be first time buyer or an experienced buyer that’s bought several homes. And then trying to be an asset to those folks that want to have a portfolio of rentals that follow them either from military base to military base like what we have here or just in their community wanting to have assets that at some point can cash out, become the retirement income, that sort of thing.

Micah Johnson (03:42)

Excellent man. So take us back. What led us here? How’d you get to where you are today?

Rhett Barnes (03:48)

Well, so when I was 20 years old, was not in real estate.

had a connection there. had just a desire at some point I’m gonna own, because we never owned a home as a kid actually. My dad passed away when I was a young kid and when we had a house, it wasn’t very big. We lived in a lot of mobile trailers that we rented and whatnot. And so, you know, it was just, I recognized something I wanted different for me, for my children and whatnot. So I bought my first two rentals when I was 20 years old.

out here don’t think because you’re 19 or 20 you can’t buy a house. I bought my first two rentals before I even bought me something to live in. So uh you know I bought those first two.

Micah Johnson (04:35)

⁓ Also what your early 20s are for.

Rhett Barnes (04:45)

in my experiences were on one, I definitely learned some lessons which have proven valuable through my entire career. Although I was mad at him at the time, you know I learned a lot of lessons that even my clients today benefit from that experience. And so I’m not mad at that anymore. And then with those two properties and the result that brought into my personal finances was fantastic. And I was like, I need to rinse and repeat.

like the shampoo but I need to do this again and and that’s where it started and so I didn’t get professionally into real estate at that point you know have my rentals and and I managed those and I still had a job

but I knew when I left that job where I was going, and I was in that job for about four years, September 15th of 99 to October 10th of 2004, I remember it well. And so I knew when I left that where I was headed. And I think I probably delayed it too long, but…

October 10th, 2004, I knew that day, it’s time to go, and we made that happen. I went straight into real estate school and tutored some kids on the side to make some extra money in real estate school, and this is, all in. so, became a real estate agent in May of 2005. And not looking back, you know, so.

Micah Johnson (06:22)

Love

that. do you have your own brokers today? you have a team within a different broker? How are you set up now?

Rhett Barnes (07:18)

So I was within Keller Williams for about 15 years and a lot of culture and lessons learned and things that I appreciate from that time. then after about 15 years, we opened our own. So we actually opened two different…

company names so we operate property management separately but the Barnes Group is our sales company and I have a couple of platforms there we’ve got team member agents that are on a team platform and then we have the individual agents typically more experienced have at least three years in the business have certain amount of sales under their under their coat and and so they need a little bit less

and have maybe a little bit different setup for themselves. And then on the team platform, we provide different things. Like we provide admin for our team. The other folks are going to provide their own admin. know, different things like that. So we have both of those set up within the barns group. And then our company, our rental company is That Rent Life. And so we only do property management under That Rent Life. Trying to develop that.

did a good job this last year developing property management, looking for way bigger even this year, 2026. And so that’s what we’re doing today.

Micah Johnson (08:48)

that man and why property management what led you to that part here this this section of your career

Rhett Barnes (08:55)

One in very beginning before I was an agent.

I wanted rental property. I wanted to be the person that was getting paid the rent instead of paying the rent. And that’s really where it started. Property management today, some of both, some of those properties we manage are my personal properties and I want that to be a part of our property management company. But then managing others because that diversifies within the property management company where the income comes from, the overall value of the company and developing

Micah Johnson (09:03)

Right.

Rhett Barnes (09:24)

the contracts with the owners and the contracts with the renters to develop the overall value of that company. We’re doing that because at some point I want to be more working on the business and less in the business. And I think that’s the avenue for that.

Micah Johnson (09:38)

Gotcha. Gotcha. I

love that man. And it is, it’s one thing I love about real estate, especially the guys I know that have been going at this for quite some time and girls that I know. There comes a point in their career where they’re so good at one thing that they add in that next thing. It just makes sense. And it always is some kind of vertical integrations. The term you hear a lot and all it simply means is it’s another business that lines up with what you’re doing where

The actions you’re taking benefit pretty much all of them. And what I love about, one thing I’m big on, I got in the business as a realtor as well. And the best realtors you can work with in my opinion are the ones that operate in the business themselves. But being a realtor showed me was like, this industry promotes insider trading. It’s the only one that does. you can literally, you can get paid to do.

Rhett Barnes (10:11)

Yeah.

Yeah.

Micah Johnson (10:33)

to do it while also learning about all the best deals and really getting first crack at them for a lot of times, depending on if that’s what you wanna do in your career. Again, it’s big. Some folks don’t wanna be realtor, that’s fine. It’s a big umbrella, find your place in it. But then you’ll find that spot and then over time goes, okay, what’s that next thing that lines up with it? You’re already owning rentals, you’re running a real estate brokerage, property management, you’re already doing it.

Rhett Barnes (10:40)

Yeah.

Micah Johnson (11:02)

You’re already doing it for yourself. And that lines up with two working with someone who’s done it and understands and even manages their own inside that same company. It’s very beneficial because you’re dealing with someone who’s seen it, who knows versus someone who doesn’t understand. And one thing I know about property management, you got to like people. You got to,

Rhett Barnes (11:23)

Yes you do.

Micah Johnson (11:59)

you, you, there’s a personality that does really well at it. And there are some that don’t do well at it. And the ones that do.

Man, y’all can kill it.

Rhett Barnes (12:09)

You definitely have to like people no matter which part of real estate that you’re in. I think having a passion for watching what can happen for other people, whether it’s buying their first house, helping them buy their second and make their first rental, you’re developing the same thing for them. You’re helping them do what you’re doing for yourself. Very much enjoy that part of what we do.

Micah Johnson (12:34)

I

love that man, I love that. There’s an analogy I use for that about a door. You found a door that was closed, even in your life, actually your story set this up. You found a door, you opened it and then left it open and then have built ways for other people to follow you through the door. I think it’s the best thing that we could ever do for each other is when if you solved a hard problem and learned it.

Leave it open behind you so folks can follow through. Hey, this is how you do it. This is how you keep giving back and showing up for folks in a way where, like you said, man, your dream, you knew you wanted this one thing because based on your experience and now that simple desire has led to the fact that other people get to enjoy it. That’s something I just love about real estate.

Rhett Barnes (13:21)

same.

same.

It’s truly you have to have a servant’s heart and if you have a servant’s heart this is a good business for you. If you do not have a servant’s heart you should find another business because you have to be able to come with that love. The license plate on my truck is verb love. Love is an action. It’s something you do. It’s not the feelings you get or the warm and fuzzies with your girl. When you’re loving somebody it can be a perfect stranger, can be the homeless guy that you got a sandwich,

Micah Johnson (13:32)

Right?

Right.

Rhett Barnes (13:52)

It could be volunteering at the warming shelter at night when it’s really cold, which I don’t have that down in Florida, but we do here. But ⁓ that’s loving people.

And you can love somebody you don’t even know. When we have clients come in, you know, working with a young couple now, and they’re just wonderful. And, you know, she was very hesitant in beginning. She’s like, you know, my last experience up in Illinois, was just a terrible experience. And she explained all of her experiences. And

So I made a point with her through this process. We found the house, we’re under contract now, the negotiations with the counteroffers, all through the process I keep checking her and I say, how am I doing? Am I doing okay? And she’s like, you know, and so then I get, you those random text messages, I appreciate you so much. This has been such a good experience. And that matters, that matters to me in big way.

Micah Johnson (14:45)

Well, and it shows something we were talking about pre-recording of what it, when you do that and the secret sauce is actually caring from something Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. says that about three quarters of the way through the secret sauce to all this is when you actually care, it unlocks all that for people where you can show up for them in a way that actually serves them, right? And by doing that, you always get served.

You don’t have to trade one for the other when you do it that way. And your business now, you were saying this pre-recording, you’ve gone 21 years and your referral game is strong. And that is the actions that create it, is when you treat people right and take care of them, they don’t just come back, they send everybody back. They send all their people to you because this is a performance business. If you don’t realize that it’s…

It is it’s very much a performance based business you have to show up for them and they don’t understand the experience Especially when you’re working in the retail world, they don’t people don’t buy houses that often in that space They don’t have no idea what’s going on More than they could have imagined has changed between the time they first bought it and they second bought it and this is a Perf or the next thing they’re buying and it it is you got to show up for them and be there and if you will

You get blessed in some big ways and it doesn’t stop.

Rhett Barnes (16:59)

True story.

And we show up for them in so many different ways in our industry. We were joking about it yesterday about how, although we’re not a lawyer, there’s my disclaimer notice, we’re not a lawyer. But we’re the lawyer and we’re the counselor and we’re the marriage counselor and all of these different roles because so much is going on during real estate transactions, whether it be emotions and life changes and moves and getting ready for all of that stuff. we get called for pretty much

all the questions. I don’t mind that one bit, but it’s just a fact of what we do. We wear a lot of hats, so you gotta be able to connect with people and have a heart for serving people. ⁓

Micah Johnson (17:41)

Here’s an interesting thing I noticed about real estate. And this is probably beyond that, but I’ve noticed it in real estate. Cause one thing that’s very interesting about this industry is all your prior experience plays into it. Cause you’re relating to people and the folks that do really well in this industry seem to have gone through some pretty hard stuff and their ability, those things they went through give you a tremendous ability to relate to people.

and have patience with people. I was like, wow, that’s very interesting. The fact that, you know, we all don’t ask for the way that we grow up. However, when you go through hard things, if you deal with it well and you live through it well, it pays back later in some ways that you couldn’t even imagine. And I noticed it over and over again in real estate where I was like, my whole past life. And I’ve done a ton of different things and been through some stuff, but I was thinking about, weirdly enough,

Rhett Barnes (18:19)

You’re right.

Micah Johnson (18:39)

it all relates into this and how you relate to other people and fascinating. So it was like, that hard lesson then has paid me a lot of money now by just understanding if you, everybody’s human, everybody’s complex. We all have far more in common than we do different. And when you start there, yeah. And then everybody needs a place to live. And so it’s like this.

Rhett Barnes (18:48)

Yeah.

Everybody needs grace.

Micah Johnson (19:03)

ground level connection where if you show up at that foundational level for them, which is what you’re talking about, yep, marriage counselor, all the counseling, everybody, you end up being a lot of people.

Rhett Barnes (19:13)

I’ll do both.

Micah Johnson (19:18)

But when you do it well, I don’t know, I lost my train of thought there at the end, but it was just the fact that when you can relate well and do that, this business very much thrives on that. You can use hard things and turn them into a really great living and a really good life by interacting with the industry that rewards you for dealing well with people.

Rhett Barnes (19:29)

Absolutely.

100%.

when they come to you and that’s probably why the referral source is so strong when they come to you they are wanting a connection they’re truly buying you because there’s a fee associated with what I do and so they’re truly buying me and they don’t want to just buy anybody they want to buy the person that relates to them they want to buy the person that has the knowledge base to protect them you know I’ve got sometimes I’m an expert witness in court cases where there’s

Micah Johnson (19:54)

Mm-hmm.

Rhett Barnes (20:12)

a drawer situation, real estate’s involved, different things, valuations and all that stuff. And their attorneys in town will send me folks that, hey, call this guy. He’s going be able to handle you. You really don’t need to hire necessarily an attorney. He’s going be able to handle what you’re looking at, what you’re doing. He’s going to know how to be in front of the judge if you need to be in front of judge and all those things. that’s even a referral source here in my town that, you know, those folks in the legal community when it’s associated with real estate.

Micah Johnson (20:34)

Right?

Rhett Barnes (20:41)

can send folks our direction. ⁓ And so those people truly are buying you and your expertise just like if they were picking an attorney. Do you want the most experience? Do you want the brand new guy that’s cheaper? You probably want the most that you can afford in that arena because they’re truly buying here and here when they choose you. So I want to be that for our folks for sure 100%.

Micah Johnson (20:50)

Right?

Yeah, people wanna work with someone they like, know and trust. And the third one is really important. It’s really important because it has everything to do with your expertise, right? I would tell people you find a good realtor, someone that’s really good at it, and you found someone who’s worth their weight in gold because it’s an interesting industry that can get a bad rap sometimes, but the ones that are good, the folks doing all the business, there’s a reason, like what was it, 70 % of…

Rhett Barnes (21:17)

Yeah, absolutely right.

Micah Johnson (21:38)

License agents last year across America didn’t even do one deal. And if, I mean, it’s just staggering when you look at it and that lines up with how Florida was when I was getting, when I was an active agent here, most folks, it’s the guy that taught me real estate. said, Micah, there is no competition in real estate. He said, if you will get good at this, if you will dedicate yourself to it, do your job. Well, it’s you’re unstoppable, man. Like nobody just.

Rhett Barnes (21:43)

I saw that statistic.

Micah Johnson (22:07)

You won’t have any issues. Never worry about customers coming to you because that’s what they’re, that is what this business thrives on. Man, deal brother. If that’s the way, let me study and learn this game. And he was 100 % true. Most folks don’t call you back. I like to use realtors working with investment stuff. I I did the, try to teach people what I used to do when I was the realtor. Investors and realtors can get along really well because if a good,

Good realtors know how to find that deal. They got their ear to the ground. Brokers just get calls from people naturally that we spend a lot of money direct marketing to, to ask about their house. If you can build those relationships, it’s a whole other very stable pipeline for deals because you’re working with a professional in the business.

Rhett Barnes (22:54)

Absolutely.

Agree wholeheartedly.

Micah Johnson (22:59)

I was talking

to somebody yesterday about that same thing. He’s actually, that’s the technique he’s using right now is he’s building relationships with realtors. But one of the things he’s making sure he trains his people on is you are dealing with professionals. The ones that we want to work with, they are professionals. They’ve paid money to get their education. They pay to be recognized by the state for their license. Like these are the ones that are good at it, who are after.

They’re professionals. I was like, dude, you nailed it. You nailed it. You do right by them and they’ll do right by you. And you’ll break through the noise because a bunch of investors call realtors, but they don’t, they call it a take. They don’t call to help. It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s all about what can they get and how can they be a part of that person’s career? Cause that’s where coming from. I remember my first real estate investor I met. Holy cow, man. I was driving down the road out here in St. Augustine, a back road.

And I saw this red Miata just off the side of the road. And it was an older man looking into the woods and we’re realtors, man. Don’t stop at a, don’t just be stopped at a property looking around with a for sale sign. And I’m going to stop. Nobody’s there. So I pulled over and talked to him. He just wanted to find a survey stake. And he’s like, man, nobody’s ever just stopped like that for me before. I was like, well, you look like you needed help, man. I just want to stop by. He goes, I’m introducing you to my son. He’s a builder. He’s got about.

36 houses he needs to sell. I was just like, whoa, whoa, hold on. And I got baptized into the investment world and was just like, what is this? This is incredible. This is an incredible part of the industry I didn’t know existed and how to help people see it. If you can find the right folks to work with, can add, you can sell one guy a hundred houses if you want to. there’s, there’s.

Rhett Barnes (24:28)

That’s a good stop.

True story.

Micah Johnson (24:53)

The relationship is there. So I get bugged when I see them button heads a lot. And it’s like, you just gotta find the ones that wanna work with you. There’s because retail real estate’s not investment real estate. It’s completely different thing. And not every personality does both, but you find the ones that do both a man, gold mine.

Rhett Barnes (25:05)

Right.

Micah Johnson (25:15)

Well, Rhett, I appreciate your time, man, your story, your perspective today. Thanks for hopping on here with us. For those that are listening in that would like to learn more about you, possibly hear about what your property management company has going on. What’s the best way for them to reach out to you?

Rhett Barnes (25:29)

you know we talked about personal connections i am perfectly fine with anybody reached directly to my personal number (931)278-0202 week work all over middle tennessee we get east tennessee sometimes to get some contracts out there in chattanooga and and Knoxville over the years and so if we could help you in your in in our state

We’d love to participate in that and if there’s something that we end up partnering with another brokerage across the way, can do that too. ⁓ Just reach out and let’s talk about how we can serve you honorably and we’ll do all we can for you.

Micah Johnson (26:11)

Awesome,

man. Those listening and watching, check the show notes. We’ll make sure that we have Rhett’s phone number right there for you. Reach out to him if you’re in that area. Like I always say here, when you meet true professionals, use them, work with them. They don’t know what they know by accident. It’s a dedication to the industry. There’s a passion there. So make sure you take advantage. Rhett, again, man, thanks for being here. Appreciate your time today. For all those listening in.

If you got value out of this episode, please like this episode, share it with someone else you think you get value out of it. As always, please don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast. We appreciate every single one of you that follows along with us out there. We have more conversations coming up with operators just like Rhett out there building a real business in the industry. Thanks again for joining us. We’ll see you on the next episode.

Rhett Barnes (26:57)

Thanks.