BEWARE : Social Media Fakes Make Poor Tenants
By Tim Houghten
Are unprecedented legal changes and scam tenants making it time to rethink rentals as investments ?
Even for longtime real estate investors with decades of experience , things have changed .
Social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram seem to be spawning an increasing number of phonies and scams from cryptocurrencies to NFTs , tech startups and real estate gurus .
For the average investor , becoming entangled with just one of these scammers can bankrupt them and rob them of their life ’ s work .
So , how are they operating ? Who do investors and property owners , in general , need to watch out for ? How have recent policy changes negatively impacted things ?
NOT “ As Seen On TikTok ”: Scam Tenants Will Cost You Huge
One of the new catchy fads has been things being advertised “ As Seen On TikTok .” It has replaced the old “ As Seen On TV ” infomercial controversies . For better or worse , the highly controversial TikTok platform surpassed Google as
the most popular website in 2021 .
One retired doctor and longtime investor recently found out just how dangerous it can be .
This is a medical professional who has been investing in real estate for decades . It enabled him to retire at just 51 years old after running a successful dental practice .
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
He bucked common advice and the tradition of investing in public stocks with stockbrokers that don ' t have their customers ’ best interests in mind .
During a recent interview he shared some of his early lessons in real estate . He did well , and it enabled him to take control of his own future , along with gaining many tax breaks . Yet , he ran into early issues when actively investing in rentals . He discovered the headaches of vetting deals , the costs of management , and both cash and Section 8 tenants that didn ’ t perform .
Eventually , he graduated to the point where he had built up enough capital that he wanted to spend more time actually relaxing and enjoying life , and began investing through private funds , private money lending , and other passive real estate strategies .
Still , when it recently came time to move from the Northeast to Florida , he ran into a combination of new and old problems .
Like many others he decided to put his home in the Northeast up for sale right during COVID .
It was a great home in Colts Neck , NJ . Boasting 7,000 square feet , and which this doctor had enjoyed living in for many years himself . However , it was September 2020 . Lockdowns meant that real estate agents were hardly working , and most buyers couldn ’ t get to viewings or were too scared .
An agent representing the tenants brought them a prospective renter as an alternative . The agent sold their clients hard . They included a ‘ wealthy DJ ’. An online ‘ influencer ’ and entertainer , who supposedly has 3M followers on TikTok , where he recently bragged about being put in jail by his exgirlfriend , and 275k on Instagram where he likes to show off fake money , and even promote NFTs .
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