Upstate Carolina Real Estate Investors Association

Karla Kuhn
Association Director

Karla has been a member since 2002, serving as volunteer Education Director and general “Go-To” person for all things UCREIA, now known as Association Director. A full-time investor, Karla and her husband have enjoyed a variety of RE niches for over 20 years, including rehabbing, land lording, growing their rental property portfolio, owner financing and creating notes. As the longest serving Board member, Karla has been a vital part of UCREIA since its humble beginnings and has seen it grow to become the largest real estate investors association in SC. She continues to provide the best local and national speakers for meetings and seminars and the best networking opportunities for members and guests. Prior to RE, Karla was an Occupational Therapist for 20 years, with a BS degree from the Medical University of SC in Charleston. She is a native South Carolinian, enjoys traveling with Lloyd, gardening and playing with their dogs.

Gregg Branham
President

Gregg has been a member since 2002, serving in numerous volunteer roles. Gregg is an active real estate investor and licensed broker with nearly 20 years of experience buying, selling, renting, rehabbing and financing residential real estate. Gregg is the founding principal of Red Canoe Properties, LLC which he started in 2003. He was CEO/Team Leader of Keller Williams Realty, Greenville Central Partners, where he was responsible for office management, recruiting, interviewing, hiring and training of staff and agents from 2014 to 2017. He doubled the size of the office to become the largest real estate office in upstate South Carolina at the time, supporting nearly 250 agents in their real estate business. Prior to going into real estate full-time, he was a professional environmental & civil consulting engineer for over 20 years. He obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Clemson University and the University of South Carolina, respectively. Gregg lives in Easley with his wife and their son and daughter, and enjoys music, traveling and his wife’s cooking when not investing.

Bill Clark
Vice President

Bill Clark has been a real estate investor for almost 30 years. He has personally bought over 300 properties and currently owns close to 100. His favorite investment is still a mobile home because it is easy to get $5,000 down and cash flow a couple of hundred dollars per month. Bill has added commercial properties to his portfolio and is actively seeking deals in that area. He is a supporter of multiple income streams and has them from his rent-to-owns, residential, retail, and lot rentals. His favorite real estate activity is helping fellow investors get $5,000 down on their rental properties.

Brandon Smith
Treasurer

Brandon is a certified public accountant focusing on real estate and business tax transactions at Smith & Shin, CPAs, LLC, where he oversees over 400 real estate clients, including the nation’s largest investor in apartments. Brandon is certified in North and South Carolina and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the South Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants. He earned a B.S. degree in financial accounting, cum laude and with distinction in accounting, from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and an M.B.A. from Appalachian State University.

Norm Reid
Member-at-Large

A past President of UCREIA, Norm has been involved in real estate and construction in various capacities for over 25 years. By age 19, he was a licensed contractor in Florida and South Carolina. Since selling his roofing company in 1992, Norm has been a writer, marketer and speaker for the construction industry on many fronts. As a real estate investor, Norm invests in single family properties in the Easley/Clemson area and commercial properties around the Upstate. Norm has been a marketer and writer for a number of national real estate investing trainers.

He also hosted one of the largest and longest running Teleseminar/Webinar Interview Series where he interviewed the most successful real estate investors around the country. Norm lives in Powdersville with his wife and two sons.

Samuel Bouter
Media Coordinator

Sam is a software architect who enjoys all things tech, travel, and real estate investment. His involvement with UCREIA began in the early 2000s, and he returned in 2017 to begin managing A/V needs for UCREIA meetings and events. In early 2020, Sam stepped up to become a board member with UCREIA. As the founder and chief architect of Minatek Solutions, Sam usually has one or more tech ventures spinning up at any given time, but he always has an eye out for real estate investment deals. He and his wife own and operate Elmbank Properties, a property management company for a select portfolio of commercial and residential properties, including their own. When they can, Sam and his family love to travel—and when they can't, they help others travel through their travel agency Away on Voyage! Sam also volunteers as the A/V coordinator for his church, Overbrook Gospel Chapel. This variety of experiences and endeavors lends him a unique perspective on the nuances of investing in the Upstate!

Toyya Funchess
Rental Focus Group Leader

Toyya has been a member since 2007 and Rental Focus Group Leader since December 2013. Her portfolio consists of student rental housing and is actively building additional revenue streams using real estate. Toyya earned a bachelor’s degree in business from South Carolina State University and an M.B.A. from Webster University. Toyya enjoys traveling and meeting new people. She strongly believes in increasing her knowledge base and regularly attends real estate educational seminars.

Heather Harley
Volunteer Coordinator

Heather has been a member since 2017. She is both an active real estate investor and a stay-at-home mom. Heather was a legal specialist in the US Army and has over 20 years of experience in non-profit organizations, specializing in the administration and management of those non-profits. She continues to work in the community in DAR and the Junior League of Greenville to help improve our community, and sees this as a mission which ties directly to her role as a real estate investor by helping make it possible for people to achieve home ownership and thereby economic mobility in our community. A native of Dothan, Alabama, Heather is a graduate of Troy University, but she will always be an Alabama football fan which makes living so close to Clemson a little stressful at times. She lives in the Five Forks area with her husband, daughter, mother-in-law and sweet mini-schnauzer. When she isn’t volunteering in the community or helping a real estate deal come together, Heather enjoys writing fiction and poetry, gardening, and watching movies with her family.