Is Residential the scummiest side of real estate?

Swedish_1's picture
Rank: Senior Baboon | 223

Real Estate in general has a reputation for having slimy people in it, but anecdotally the only scumbags I've met or heard of have been in residential. Most people in multifamily are good people obviously but it's the only property type that gets under my skin for seemingly cutting the corners.

There isn't a single apartment complex out there that doesn't market itself as "Luxury", house flippers put lipstick on pigs, and I feel nothing but disgust for developers of "Zero Lot Homes" who think 2 feet of distance between units qualifies it as a house and not a townhome.

Is my view skewed, or is multifamily the property type where scumbags gravitate towards?

Comments (12)

Sep 11, 2019

Isn't WeWork in the office space?

"The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary." - Nassim Taleb

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Most Helpful
Sep 11, 2019

Lots to unpack here.

  1. Residential =/= Multifamily. House flippers have nothing in common with apartment developers.
  2. There are scumbags in all areas of real estate. Look at World Class Capital. If I had to personally pick one as the scummiest, I'd probably point a finger to retail, but that's not fair either. Product type has nothing to do with being a shit person or a shit developer.
  3. Zero lot line homes are an efficient use of urban land. Large, sprawling yards are not. There is zero problem with zero lot line homes. If you don't personally like them, don't buy one.

Things like this are nonsensical to make an entire thread about.

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Sep 11, 2019

Part of my company's business line is buying SFR properties and we have to deal with a fair amount of realtors. I would say a few of them are scummy, but the vast majority are just legitimately stupid and uneducated. Previously working in retail brokerage, I would say that is the scummiest group generally speaking.

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Sep 12, 2019

FUCK retail brokers.

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Sep 13, 2019

I have nothing to do with retail, so I'm curious as to what retail brokers do that's so scummy?

Sep 15, 2019

Why is that? What's your complaint or view?

Sep 11, 2019

I'm starting a zero lot line development company called Stratton Soakmont and you are invited to apply so we can throw your resume in our gold-plated trash cans.

I hope you are trolling

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Sep 14, 2019

I think residential and multifamily just attract more mom & pop investors, and since there are a bunch of them doing a project here or there you are more likely to have a handful of "scummy" ones.

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Sep 16, 2019

I've seen a ridiculous assortment of characters in real estate across all asset classes. However, generally my experience has led me to believe that there is a higher percentage of "scum" in the Class C multifamily space because profit creation generally comes from cutting corners across repairs/maintenance, operations management, etc... and there is a serious amount of money laundering that runs through many of these assets.

Sep 17, 2019