2 min read October 2022 — RiverWild is a real estate company, but it is not just about selling or building properties. “Real estate is what we do but it’s not why we do it. The most important part is to provide a great place to work and develop future generations of leaders,” Founder and CEO Reid Smith told Invest:.
What is the impact of your company on the real estate market?
Our vision statement is to impact and develop people and that’s really what we’re focused on. Real estate is what we do, but it’s not why we do it. The most important impact RiverWild has had in our industry and what we’ve been able to do is to provide a great place for people to work that is faith-based and culture-driven, that provides employment and allows for our subcontractors, vendors and people in the business community to be locally focused and working together to achieve something bigger from a cultural standpoint. Our proudest moments and achievements revolve around building a strong local focus here in our market.
What is keeping you busy and what is at the top of your to-do list?
We spend a lot of time developing our leaders in our company. We have a lot of younger leaders, although not necessarily in age. We’ve been spending a lot of time training and teaching to build our foundation and our leadership and management team.
We’re committed to a monthly manager meeting each month, which we’ve done each month. We get together for about two to three hours to go over the metrics for our company as well as to provide leadership training. We try to find out where we are in the journey regarding our goals and what we’re trying to accomplish and how it relates to them and their growth as managers and leaders.
How has the real estate market changed recently?
From a broader market standpoint, I think the market has changed fairly rapidly. The global economy is bigger than we are. We’re just a boat in a big ocean and clearly, the waves are starting to pick up. We just need to row our boat. The environment has driven things, especially with interest rates going up. That has definitely impacted and slowed down the market in general, particularly the residential market because you have a supply side issue that is driving prices up now paired with higher interest rates.
We have to confront the brutal facts, but we are focused on doing our part to move through it. I think what’s important is just to pay attention to what the market is saying, talking to our consumers, talking to the buyer and our agents, understanding what they’re seeking, what is important right now and making sure that it makes sense for us to adjust our business model to fit that need. We’re in the shelter business and our focus is to serve our community and whatever is needed from a shelter standpoint.
How are you managing the increasing demand in your regional market?
I was born and raised in Johnston County, and what’s been interesting to see is the number of outside people who have come into the county to take advantage of a good market. I think Johnston County, due to its proximity to Raleigh, is a finite resource and there’s a lot of outside attention that is coming here to mine that resource while it’s available. It has been interesting to see the ups and downs over the last 20 years.
For us, there’s not a number or a growth goal in mind. We’re here to serve the community. We’ve got plenty of projects in the pipeline. We’re not here to shove them through or to build at a certain pace. The projects we have are just a means to an end to forward our mission to impact and develop people.
What is your take on the issue of land availability?
I think it’s well known that Johnston County has challenges with infrastructure in terms of sewer water capacity as well as with schools and the overall capacity for growth. Our elected officials have a lot of heavy lifting to do for that infrastructure. But from a land standpoint, I think that’s why so many people are attracted to this area. Johnston County is a pretty big county. There’s a lot of opportunity from that standpoint.
However, there has to be some balance between growth and the infrastructure being able to handle that growth. I think there has to be some responsibility for the amount of growth and development in a community.
What do you see in your area in the next five years?
The surrounding area is a hot market. It has been since we’ve been in real estate and I don’t think that’s going to change. I think we’re still between a Top 5 and a Top 10 market in the nation. So, I think we’re still expecting to see continual growth. I hope that the infrastructure comes into place so that it can handle the growth.
I think we’re still going to be a hot market five years from now, even 10 years from now. It’s not going to change. It’s just going to have to expand a little bit outside of Raleigh further and further to withstand the growth that’s coming.
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