Paper returns lie. Operations tell the truth. Derek bought the stuff nobody wanted. Vacant houses. Inherited houses. Borderline houses. The spreadsheet worked. Real life didn’t.
Maintenance blew up. Vacancies stacked. Management became the job. So Derek exited the hard way first. Packaged 80 properties. Sold them as portfolios. Then flipped the model entirely.
Seller financing changed everything. No vacancies. No maintenance calls. No property managers.
Taxes and insurance passed through. Buyers became owners.
That’s the shift most people never make. Same assets. Different structure. Completely different business.