Most Real Estate Investors Are LOSING Money Because of This One Mistake
Ken McElroy Show
Ken McElroy
4.7 • 712 Ratings
🗓️ 28 March 2026
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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Most real estate investors know how to BUY a deal, but almost nobody knows how to actually MANAGE one — and right now, that gap is costing landlords everything. In this episode, Ken McElroy breaks down the hidden property management mistakes destroying cash flow in 2026, from deferred maintenance and bad vendors to tenant retention and the due diligence errors that come back to haunt you.
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If you're an accredited investor and are interested in learning about opportunities to invest with Ken follow this link: https://mccompaniesinvest.com/knowmore
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Checkout KenPro - Ken's Education Platform: https://ken-mcelroy.learnworlds.com
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ABOUT KEN: Ken is the author of the bestselling books The ABC’s of Real Estate Investing, The Advanced Guide to Real Estate Investing, and The ABC’s of Property Management. With over two decades of experience in real estate investing, Ken McElroy is passionate about sharing the good life by helping real estate investors grow and prosper. This podcast is a place for Ken to discuss numerous topics connected to real estate investing, including finance, budgeting, the entrepreneur mindset, and creating passive income. Ken offers a wealth of personal experiences, practical advice, success stories, and even some informative setbacks, all presented here to educate and inspire. Whether you’re a new or seasoned investor, the information and resources on this channel will set you on a path where you and your investments can thrive.
Ken's company: https://mccompanies.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | For the last 10 years, everyone is focused on how to buy the right deal. |
| 0:05.2 | But now the tides have turned and it's about managing the deal, not just buying it correctly. |
| 0:11.6 | Yeah, like how do you hold on to something that's actually deteriorating between your, before your eyes? |
| 0:17.3 | So seriously, like that's what's happening. |
| 0:19.0 | Like every single year, the roof, |
| 0:22.6 | the paint, the parking lot, the carpet, the appliances, everything gets a little bit older, |
| 0:27.6 | just like a home that you would own, right? So all of that stuff is, you know, now showing up, right? |
| 0:35.3 | Like, especially if you, if you don't have the cash, hopefully, |
| 0:39.0 | if you have the cash, you can put that back into. But capax and deferred maintenance is a big, |
| 0:43.5 | big, hot topic right now. Yeah, and I think what we really have to break down is in the last 10, 14 years, |
| 0:50.3 | everyone would just buy something and then it would just go up. So, you know, say they were having issues. |
| 0:55.8 | Like, say they bought something and issues start to stack up and they needed a new roof and they needed a parking lot and they just sell it for more than they bought it for and it would just solve the problem. |
| 1:05.4 | Right? |
| 1:05.6 | They didn't really have to manage their way out of anything. |
| 1:08.1 | They just had to hold it for a little bit, and then the prices would save them. |
| 1:12.6 | That makes real estate investors dumb. |
| 1:14.6 | Well, it just made them think that they were, it was easy. |
| 1:17.6 | This is my point. |
| 1:18.6 | Like, like, that, you know, it just made everyone soft, right? |
| 1:22.6 | Like, there's just, that's not normal. |
| 1:25.6 | What's normal is fighting to get a tenant and making the math work. |
| 1:30.9 | That's normal. |
... |
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