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In this episode of Between Two Doors, we sit down with rising real estate entrepreneur Haynes Waldo, founder of WalHen Properties Group. Starting his career during college at University of Alabama, Haynes shares how he quickly scaled to over $60M in closed deals by age 25. We explore his approach to combining technology, negotiation, and personal client experience to stand out in today’s competitive housing market. This conversation is packed with insights for anyone looking to build a high-performance sales career or modern service-based business.
Creators and Guests
Guest
Haynes Waldo
Haynes Waldo is the founder of WalHen Properties Group and a high-performing real estate professional who has closed over $60 million in transactions by the age of 25. A graduate of the University of Alabama, he began his career early and quickly rose through the ranks of a top-performing team before launching his own brokerage focused on client experience and results. Known for his energy, attention to detail, and strategic approach, Haynes specializes in helping buyers and sellers navigate the market with confidence and precision.
Producer
Stan Carver II
Stan Carver II is the producer behind his brother Nate Carver’s Between Two Doors podcast, bringing a blend of marketing savvy, technical craftsmanship, and video-editing polish to help each episode shine. As third-generation real estate investors, Stan and Nate share more than a family bond—they’ve rolled up their sleeves together renovating dilapidated properties, learning firsthand what it takes to turn potential into value. That shared experience fuels their on-air chemistry and off-air collaboration, with a brotherly camaraderie that’s equal parts hard work and genuine fun. For Stan, it’s a joy to support his Favorite Mortgage Guy's vision—translating great conversations into professional, compelling content that helps their audience make smarter moves in real estate and homeownership.
What is Between Two Doors?
Between Two Doors is a unique exploration of the real estate world through the eyes of its most fascinating professionals. Hosted by Nate Carver, a seasoned mortgage expert, and proud veteran, this podcast dives deep into the personal journeys of realtors, offering listeners insider perspectives on the challenges, successes, and the little-known stories behind the sale signs.
From first-time buyers to seasoned investors, Between Two Doors provides valuable insights, tips, and tales that illuminate the real estate industry in a whole new light. Sponsored by Success Mortgage Partners, we're here to inspire, educate, and empower our listeners with stories of perseverance, innovation, and success.
Join Nate as he bridges the gap between real estate professionals and enthusiasts, exploring what it takes to thrive in this dynamic industry. Whether you're seeking advice, inspiration, or just a good story, "Between Two Doors" has a place for you.
If you're moving or looking to home
or sell a home
in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama roll tide.
Have I got a great guest for y'all
Hey, I'm Nate Carver and welcome
to Between Two Doors.
Everybody
I'd like to introduce you to Hanes Waldo.
Nate. Thanks so much for having me.
How are you, sir?
I'm great.
Welcome to the Between Two Doors podcast.
And, we're gonna feel
the need to introduce you to the world.
So, And not that you really need that,
but you're doing some great stuff there
in your area. The markets that you serve.
So let's jump right into it.
Tell me where you grew up in.
You know, I guess, how
you came into the real estate space.
Yeah.
So, kind of funny
that I'm in Tuscaloosa now.
Grew up right outside of Athens, Georgia.
Monroe, where we also are licensed.
And my team does sell some real estate,
but home now is Tuscaloosa.
And, funny enough, kind of grew up
around the mortgage industry,
but realized I like working with people,
and really investors.
So, you know, I kind of come
from that numbers background and,
my brain is number driven.
And I invest in real estate personally.
So kind of a niche market
working with
people, but, investors
specifically here in the area.
So that's kind of how I made
the conversion of, hey, what I want to do.
I think maybe real estate more than,
more than the mortgage side just because,
you know, people
focused and spending time walking,
people through homes
and welcoming them to Tuscaloosa.
I said, how long ago was that?
When did you get started
in the real estate
on the real estate agency side?
So I got started in 2020.
I got my license, when Covid hit.
So I was a sophomore at the University of
Alabama at the time and, yeah, needed to
get going in some kind of job
and know where was hiring.
I said, well, I got to do this myself.
And, that's happened to be
when the real estate market exploded.
So it was a blessing in disguise.
Nice.
The University of Alabama is
what brought you to Tuscaloosa.
Now, where were you, Crimson
fan, prior to that?
Or if you can't do it,
did you get baptized into it?
Yeah, I've probably baptized.
I, I'm definitely a Crimson Tide fan now.
I grew up, you know,
just 15 minutes down the road from Athens.
And, my best friend
growing up was a huge Bama fan.
And I said, man, I just
I really want a change of scenery.
I want to go to Alabama.
Luckily, it worked out.
And, you know, once you get here
and I think, you know,
two weeks on campus before the first home
football game, it creeps up on you quick.
And between spending four years at school,
graduating,
living and owning a business here,
it was not as hard of a switch
as somewhat might imagine.
So I, I bleed crimson red now.
Wow. You know, looking
back early on in your
you've got some mentorship going.
Right.
When you get started in real estate,
like the number one
real estate team in Alabama.
So what would you accredit that to?
Man, it was, you know,
it kind of all goes back into Covid.
I got my first job here in Tuscaloosa
working in a men's, clothing
kind of retail store, helping them
transition to online business, and met,
the owner of the number one
real estate team in Alabama.
And sometimes excluding Florida,
they won number one in the southeast.
So very, very high powered team here.
And he said,
you know, hey, do you would
you ever get in the real estate business?
I said, funny enough, you know,
I need some a little more fast paced.
I'd love an opportunity.
And a 15 hour internship turned into a,
60 hour week, full time job, and I was.
It got to the point
where I had my, girlfriend at UGA.
I was trying to be active
in my fraternity,
keep my grades up, and so houses.
And I said, if I'm working 60 hours
a week, it's going to be for Hanes Waldo.
So that's where I left the team, but have
so I have an incredible relationship
with those guys will be forever
indebted to what they taught me.
The high level systems, that they use
to implement to serve their clients.
And that's what really is kind of
boosted me from the
start to get my business going.
What's one thing that, either
an investor or someone looking to sell
or buy a home that you would attribute
or want them to know
that you've learned from
that mentorship?
Yeah.
So, I mean, one is just the insane level
of communication,
and high level, negotiation
skills that, that we learn
everything is extremely systematic, where,
you know, we're going to see a problem
or issue come up well before you do.
And we're going to mitigate any risk.
But also, I'm a real estate investor
myself.
So, you know, I understand the numbers.
It's not anyone in
sales wants to sell you something.
My investor clients would speak on this,
like I'll be the first person to tell you
no, because I'm not here to sell you
one house.
Like I want to be your real estate guy
for the long term
and help you build a huge portfolio.
One, because that builds a lot of wealth
for you through real estate,
but two ends up being more than one
transaction that I work with you on.
So I would rather shoot you
straight from the start
and build a long lasting relationship.
Five to what?
What would you what is your,
your vision behind creating your brand?
So the brand or itself?
When I was getting to 60 hours a week
and my, you know, my last name is Waldo,
my business partner was.
It comes from property management,
huge operation in Tuscaloosa.
And his last name was Hendrix.
We both got home after a long workday
when all of our friends are on spring
break in college, and we were just
the only two students left
in all of Tuscaloosa after working.
And we said the more
we're quitting our jobs
and we're going to do this on our own.
So, his last name was Hendrix.
Mine's Waldo.
That's
how Wall Hand Properties came about.
And we,
essentially started a one stop shop
overnight where we could do full service
property management, sales, leasing
all through one through one company.
Wow. Did you
did you close your first transaction
while you were still interning
or still in school,
or did you already finish your
your formal education?
So close?
My first one my sophomore year of college.
And was still still an intern.
At the time.
But they also would let me,
you know, out of the
think at that point, it was kind of right.
When I first started,
I was just doing about 20 hours for them
a week after work on weekends.
I could go sell just because, you know,
I was a licensed assistant.
So, had a few clients who were, you know,
nice enough to give me a shot
as a young, 19 year old.
And luckily, it panned out,
and I still work with those folks today.
Amazing.
I can think of several real estate agents
that have
started early in life.
And,
you know, it's payoff form.
Well, good for you.
Good for you.
Let's see.
So personal experiences and stuff.
So you you said that you've wanted
to bring back that personal experience
to buyers and sellers.
Are there anything that you do that
you find meaningful that helps with them?
Yes. One thing, especially with the way
technology is going,
we do not automate anything we do.
And yes, this creates more work
and more time for us.
But like we don't have
a, you know, a template, an email
that's triggered
to go out at certain times,
like when you work with us.
It is a very personal experience.
You know, kind of we're using all the top
end technologies to assist you with your
search and pull data and sign paperwork,
anything like that we're implementing.
But it is manually triggered.
So it's a very hands on
when you call or phone number,
you get me on the phone
like you're not going to go
get an assistant, you're not going to get,
another team member automated service.
So that side of things for sure
is we definitely pride
ourselves on communication
and that that personal experience
throughout the transaction.
Great.
Right. So let's, shift
gears a little bit.
Let's talk about the communities
that you serve.
Tuscaloosa, west Alabama.
If someone's
they've never been Tuscaloosa,
what are you going to tell them?
You know,
why do you need a move to Tuscaloosa?
Or maybe you know, why
people are already moving to Tuscaloosa.
So, I mean, the obvious reason is
when you move to Tuscaloosa,
you become a champion overnight, you know?
So this is Titletown, after all.
That's right.
And so every aspect of your life
will be better.
But now really,
just not being from here and have spent,
you know, seven years here now, and love
this town is
I want to change the stereotype and stigma
that that Alabama has normally
Mississippi gets roped into that is,
you know, it's just the old school south
bunch of dumb rednecks
and people come here and are shocked
with what Tuscaloosa has to offer.
Mercedes Benz is just,
you know, in the last decade,
relocated their United States headquarters
here, Nucor steel, headquartered here.
There we have a lot of big industry.
Obviously the university, you know, we're
50 minutes down I-20 from Birmingham.
So we have a lot of folks
who like the small town feel commute
into Birmingham, which is a great city
that's changed a ton in the last
two decades, by the way, like awesome
food town, awesome entertainment.
Like, really? Yeah. Any place.
And you know, we've got one of the most
beautiful lakes
I've been to in the southeast.
We've got the black River that you can
take a boat down to the mobile Bay from.
If you really wanted to get adventurous.
You know,
we're 2.5 hours from the mountains,
from the start of the Appalachian Trail.
We're 3.5 hours from Gulf Shores.
So it's a perfectly located, city
that you can either be
all in on the college town
itself and play off of that,
or have a nice kind of
slow, relaxed life in the outskirts
and feel like it's country living.
But, you know, be just minutes away
from a, from a good sized town.
Yeah, yeah, it's not far you've got.
Yeah,
you've got a lot of options for events.
Got an extended weekend or three
a week and you've got,
you can go mountains,
you can go football in the beach.
Oh you can, you can do it all.
One other one other neat little weekend
trip that I've been doing personally here
that no one thinks about, is going on
the, Blues Trail and the Mississippi
Delta, like, kind of start in Memphis
and work your way down.
Tons of history, good music,
good food, just small little quaint towns.
Really neat.
And it's also most of the ends on
that rail are dog friendly.
And so like when my fiance and I travel,
we like to travel with our dogs.
And, that's a neat, little weekend trip
to now.
You've done the Blues Trail.
Not all, but yeah, quite a bit.
You know, through Memphis, down
into the Delta.
Greenville. Cleveland.
That area.
You have a current favorite,
your favorite blues spot so far?
The one spot I would say that is like a
can't miss is called its funny name.
So bear with me here.
It's called the shacking Up in,
and they have taken,
a ton of old historic homes
from all over,
either come from plantations or just,
you know, homes throughout the South.
And they've place them around the property
and the, the main property,
which would essentially be
your thing of is your lobby,
your meeting place for a hotel is,
a little blues club and bar,
so you can stay on site,
have your own cabin, but
also walk in
and hear loud, incredible loud music.
And, and grab a good drink.
After a day of exploring the Mississippi.
Well, wow.
So current market trends.
Are you seeing,
you're seeing a pretty decent influx
in investment
in into the area, specifically Tuscaloosa.
I have a know some few things right
around right around town, so to speak.
I won't divulge where
there's, some pretty neat things
happening in, in in your a part of that.
That is. That's fantastic.
Believe me.
And that's,
do you have a favorite blues band
or. Or. May I.
Love music?
I wouldn't say this blues directly,
but some of the,
some of the spin off, especially
when they were just getting started,
like some of the Rolling Stones
back in the day when they kind of went
through Mississippi and even,
Muscle Shoals, Alabama and recorded it.
I'm drawing a blank
on the name of the studio, but
some of the inspiration they got, Percy
Sledge, Mister Muddy Waters, I mean,
some of the greats, but, you know,
anybody that's got some, some soul
and rhythm to them, I'ma listen to.
I like it, all right. Yeah.
And out there, the influence.
You can't. You can't ignore it.
So that's wonderful.
Talk a little bit about your success.
You're young and you're, you're doing
in your real estate business.
What the vast majority of realtors
or aspiring realtors dream of doing,
but they don't have action.
And I just want to celebrate
that the past,
I mean, over 60 million.
In closing, before age 25
and, you know, so you've been
you've been doing you've been doing
some really incredible,
things, anything that you could point
that to as, being
the singular piece to your success.
Well, one,
I look forward to getting started
with working with you, here, you know,
in the upcoming months, on a few things.
But, you know, really,
singular thing.
They I don't know.
I mean, I was raised,
my father taught me a ton about,
you know, hard work doing the right thing.
You know, don't,
kind of one thing that I've always,
kept in mind is when it becomes, more
about the commission than the client,
then you've lost the deal. And.
And that is always resonated with me,
because I'm not from here, you know,
I started from scratch.
I didn't
I wasn't in the good old boy network.
Nobody knew what it was.
There's 43,000 students
at that university.
I was just another one.
Another number.
And so, you know, pounding the pavement.
I've probably worked crazy hours
or I know it didn't.
Probably I did.
But again,
it kind of goes back to just
treating people well and fostering these
long lasting relationships.
I can't say that I have
a, massive number of clients,
but I can say that we over
half of our clients are repeat
customers, one, because they're
investors, but two, because
we try to frame ourself as a real estate
advisor versus
just sticking a sign in your yard.
And again, the people I learn from,
I mean, the guy I learned from,
he closes 150 to 180 homes a year.
And when you when you are in that room,
you know, essentially closing one home
per work day out of the year
if I was you up and like,
it teaches you the systems and ways
to build a clientele, service
the clientele, and close deals.
So a mix of mom and dad,
shout out John Rando, you know,
great, great guy I got to learn from.
And then I have been blessed
with just some awesome clients who,
you know, continue
to invest in real estate, continue
to see wins and the value
of investing in our Tuscaloosa market.
All right.
Tell us a little bit about well,
we talk about football a little bit.
So there is a team there.
So so when you're going to kind of
you're going to come
tell someone is you're going to campaign
a football for sure.
They're think, well,
let's see what I'm curious
if you know something,
maybe that's public knowledge
that someone outside of Tuscaloosa
might not know of.
That might be that's coming in,
that's going to have a positive influence.
To, I guess, in, in, in the community.
I know we talked a little bit
about the plant manufacturing jobs
that are there now, but,
I don't know, something maybe
on the economic scale or side of things or
just on the recreational side, locally.
Yeah.
We have, few new, exciting,
you know, big projects, slash attractions.
Coming to the Tuscaloosa Northport area.
One is the Saban Center.
Again, it all goes back to football.
But, Nick Saban has a, huge
it's essentially a
conference center, but it has,
the children's Hands-On Museum.
And it is where Alabama teachers
are going to meet to improve
our public school systems,
tons of aspects with local artists and,
you know, nonprofits
or they have places to go in and work.
So that's going to be
a really neat kind of hub for growth.
That's not, you know, football related
other than the name, here.
And then we have another incredible
project that,
people from all over that really all over
the country will be experiencing.
And that's going to be Riverfront
Park and downtown Northport.
Yeah, probably the premier
youth sports complex
in the southeast.
I mean, I know there's some incredible
ones, but, I've played baseball
at some of the big name ones,
and I've never seen anything like this.
That's right here in downtown Northport,
just about three miles from campus.
And it's going to be a huge economic boom
week in and week out,
for the city of Northport,
which will spill over into Tuscaloosa.
So those are kind of the two things
at the moment.
We've got a couple new few
exciting restaurants coming.
I'm just thinking big scale that you may
hear of as a, you know, somebody else.
Not from Alabama.
Right.
Tell me, outside of outside
of real estate,
what's the what's what do you love doing?
What's your.
Well,
when you unplug, if you do unplug, it's,
the same way in lending.
And I'm like,
it's always with me everywhere, but
I do have a few things that I like to do.
What about yourself?
Yeah.
I mean, I love anything outside, so,
I love to fly fish.
There's not a whole lot of that
in Alabama,
but try to sneak up
to the mountains again,
because I can make a short weekend
trip up there.
Playing golf.
And I'm a foodie, man, so any anything
I do is going to revolve around
a, good meal in a in a cold beer stop.
And and, you
know, a lot of that is all weekend
trips with my fiance and our two pups.
So that is
that is how we spend our free time.
Of course, if my phone's in my pocket,
then I'm somewhat on, but, and then,
you know, week in and week out
when I'm not doing real estate,
I mean, I'm involved in
and really enjoyed this as I'm
fairly new, with this group, but I've
learned a lot quick catching on quick,
and it's just incredible
what this group does
for our local citizens of West Alabama.
But it's called Caring Days.
So it's the only adult daycare center
in the state of Alabama,
and specializes in working with adults,
specifically elderly ones with memory
disorders, in May.
And what a unless you've been there,
even if you've had a relative,
whether it's really hard
to put yourself in the shoes of what
somebody with that is going through.
And I've been
fortunate enough to do some training
that's, you know, as much as they can
try to put you in someone's shoes
that may be suffering from an Alzheimer's,
or something of that nature,
but it's it's hard to comprehend what
that looks like and to be able to provide
for our local families in West Alabama,
an affordable space
where their family member enjoys coming,
being around other folks of their age,
and just keeping them entertained.
It's been huge.
And I've seen the burden lifted off
families in our area through that.
So just to play a little part
in that service here in our community
means the world to me.
It's an honor to do it.
And so that's kind of been something
that I've been filling
some of my nonworking time with,
and I've really thoroughly enjoyed that.
Wow, I didn't it never crossed my mind.
I had I thought about it.
That's that's wonderful.
And so there's one organization
that helping
care for, the elderly with Alzheimer's.
That's amazing.
It's something
you don't really think about it.
It kind of slips through the cracks.
But it's.
You know, when I heard, my kind
of training day that we were the only one
in the state of Alabama, I'm like,
holy smokes.
Like, this is a huge, huge issue.
And so in many states,
there aren't many states
that have so we're fortunate
to have that right here in Tuscaloosa.
We have clients all over the state
coming,
and currently getting ready for our,
for our spring and summer fundraiser.
Got a big motorcycle ride
and pickleball tournament
and walk to remember it's a caring days
or a United Way organization.
Some people are more familiar with that.
With that group, with them.
Is there is that on the calendar?
When that's going to happen, the.
Ride is May.
30th and the
pickleball tournament
is going to be in October.
We haven't nailed down a date on that
just yet.
But that's kind of the committee
I'm on is the
the fundraising
and the, I'm a social guy, so they know
I can go get some teams together
and hopefully put on a big event.
Where are you
this also sharing your fraternity.
Was I was
I think they may have they found that out
before I even showed up because they
they threw the,
the outreach into my lab, which is great.
Because that's what I enjoy.
But yeah, that was,
that was a lot of fun.
I will say that you're never going to
make 200, 18 to 22 year old males happy.
You can never do it. Right.
Let's do that at the Greek.
You know, at the scale
of the Greek system, that was has, yeah.
When you give a 20 year old a
couple hundreds of thousands of dollars
to go book parties with,
it was a pretty good position to be in.
Yeah. Good for you.
Well, I'll put links wherever people
are watching or listening to this.
I'm going to put links to,
the fundraising events and.
Yeah, we would appreciate that.
I'll get that over to you.
Nice. Oh.
About out of time.
It's been about 30 minutes.
And when we got there, tell me
if someone's looking to do investments
or buy a home for themselves.
How can they best get a hold of you, man?
Phone number (205) 657-3336.
I will, share my card with you.
I'll pick up.
You pick.
You call me, I pick up, and if I don't,
it's because I'm on the other line.
I'll call you back within five minutes.
But our social media wall, hidden
properties, real estate group,
Facebook, TikTok, Instagram,
all the things.
We're on it. In my name.
You know,
you can call me anything you want, but
Hanes like the underwear or Where's Waldo?
Pretty easy to remember.
So, you know, punch it in Google.
We should we should pop up
and would love to take care of anybody
moving to, the great state of Alabama.
Awesome.
Well, thank you, hangout,
for meeting with me today
and, for this conversation.
Folks, if you're looking in the Tuscaloosa
area, reach out to Hanes.
Good guy.
I'm the guy you tell just listening to,
the needs of his community
doing really great things
in a, in an awesome area
that's got some really great football
and some really cool
other things in the works.
So, till next time on between two doors.
We'll see you then.
Thank you.
Nate.