The First Multi-Family Property I (Almost) Purchased

Remember I told you about my mentor, Ron Gray?

Well, Ron and I spent hours online until we found a 65-unit multifamily property in a town called Amelia, Ohio.

I flew out there.

The property looked great — freshly paved roads, clean and tidy.

Nine buildings spread across three acres. I was genuinely impressed — especially by the numbers.

Everything looked so good, I honestly didn’t feel like spending thousands on an inspection.

I hesitated. Then I hesitated some more.

I asked Ron again, and he replied — somewhat casually:

“I wouldn’t buy any property without an inspection.”

So, after some internal debate, I hired an inspector.

It cost thousands of dollars, but the results were crystal clear:

This property is a no-go.

Two of the nine buildings were sinking.

Turns out the freshly paved asphalt wasn’t a coincidence…

The sellers were hoping I’d skip the inspection.

There’s no way I would’ve known the buildings were sinking without crawling underneath them.

The sellers knew about the issue — that’s exactly why they were selling and made everything look so pretty.

What did I learn?

Never buy a property without an inspection. Period.

No matter the cost.

Since then, I’ve spent thousands on inspections for properties I never ended up buying — and I’ve never once regretted it.

Later, I looked at another property in a town called Maryville, Tennessee.

This one looked… okay. Not as exciting as the one in Amelia.

But the seller was super friendly, answering all my questions with patience.

Since I live in Maryland, getting there wasn’t easy — I had to fly in.

I visited twice, and even put the property under contract.

Still, something felt off, though I couldn’t quite explain it.

On my third visit, my GPS took me on a different route to the property.

This time, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before — the other side of the neighborhood.

While one side of the street looked decent, the other side was right next to an area I didn’t like at all.

That’s when I realized — that was the gut feeling I couldn’t quite identify before.

I canceled the contract and walked away from the deal.

Key Takeaways:

Trust your gut.

Visit the property more than once.

Explore the entire neighborhood, from all directions.

And the most important lesson:

Make sure your contract includes contingencies that let you walk away without losing your deposit.

In the photo:

Me and Ron Gray, just a month ago.

I visit him every time I’m near Orlando.

I still consult with him before every deal.

If he says “Don’t move forward,” I don’t.