During the early years of his marriage, Robert Scott served as an enlisted man in the U.S. Navy and he and his wife had to live paycheck to paycheck. With two children to support, no matter how hard they tried, it was difficult to make ends meet. While serving, Scott earned his bachelor’s degree and became an officer. Although the boost in pay was helpful, the challenge of living on the edge was all too real.
When Scott was 28 years old, he and his wife decided that real estate investing was their way to improve their lives, so they launched RAC Properties of Athens, Inc. Two years later, they managed to buy their first home and began flipping houses. By the time Scott retired from the Navy in 2011, the two had grown their rental inventory to over 100 units.
RAC Properties of Athens, Inc. buys, renovates and secures rental property or residential properties to sell. Across several privately held companies, RAC Properties acts as the general partner and residential contractor and has built 25 homes, renovated over 100 homes and sold over 250 units in 2020 alone.
According to Scott, it’s common to learn more from your failures than your successes. “Early in my career, I had become a bit over confident and rushed into a large investment and trusted the seller to be honest, but failed to properly complete my due diligence,” he said. “I learned a lot from this poor investment and started conducting better due diligence while still making quick decisions.”
Scott said what he is most proud of is starting a business with nothing, growing it to be a force for good and being able to give back to the community.
According to his colleagues, Scott is a modest person who seeks to make a strong contribution to the quality of life of working families in Athens and the greater Atlanta area. “He has managed to build one small business into four mid-sized businesses and has been a highly effective leader,” they said. “Rob has the unique ability to select the right employees for their positions and then allow those employees to grow within the business.”
As a result, many of the employees that he has trained over the years have stayed with the company and taken on more responsibilities. “This training and hiring within has built loyalty from employees and has greatly assisted in business growth,” said his staff.
