My Morris Invest Nightmare is Now Finished

[James Gordon]

I suspect that someday there will be a very compelling Dateline, 20/20 or CNBC expose on Morris Invest. The title will be something along the lines “America’s Second Oldest Profession – Real Estate Schemes: How the perfect frontman coupled with the perfect system combined to remove countless millions of dollars from the pockets of hundreds of investors.” I think this would be an extremely well received story because of who this now infamous frontman is: Clayton Morris, former “Fox & Friends” co-host.

I myself have been waiting to write this review – a review I will post as many places as I can find – until I sold the one property I purchased through Morris Invest. That way I could describe the complete story, from beginning to end, so I could not be accused of “not waiting long enough”. Thankfully I only purchased one property to test their promises.

OK, before I provide an extremely brief summary of my experiences, I want to give two important qualifiers. FIRST, I am a conservative independent – closest to a Republican but I am weary to associate with any singular party. I say this because I don’t want to be accused of attacking the guy due to his Fox background – I’m a fan of Fox and it’s that fanboy trait of mine that inclined me to investing with Morris. Let’s put it this way – if this company were called Rachel Maddow Invest I would have NEVER even watched a single video from them. SECOND, I am careful not to accuse Morris Invest of anything illegal. I just don’t want to go there and get into any prolonged spat. Also, that would require proof, courts, attorneys, etc…all of which I would prefer to steer clear of. I have a suspicion that someday, someone (or a group / class) WILL make those sorts of allegations, pursuing relief. If that happens, count me in. I’m not accusing them of any legal wrongdoing. Rather, I’m just exercising my right to express my extreme dissatisfaction with my personal investing experience.

I found out about Morris Invest by listening to a podcast, and later watching YouTube videos, by Clayton and his wife. They are an extremely charismatic, smart, articulate couple – and by all accounts successful in most things they do. They are the perfect pitch persons.

Their pitch is also extremely compelling. They (1) identify rundown but high potential properties in (2) many markets across the country (offering geographic diversification for investors), (3) do the renovation on your behalf so you take over a rehabbed and “turnkey rental property”. There are other elements to their pitch, but those are the prime alleged benefits. They also state how this whole business motion serves the greater good by improving the communities they operate in – so you are making money AND doing a good deed. Right.

Well, I fell for it. Thankfully though I started small, something I encourage everyone to do with every type of investment. I live in California but invested in a single family home in Indiana as I am a big believer in that market – and I wanted to select one market to diversify away from California.

I purchased the home for $60k in late 2018. It was a dump but that’s what I expected. I sold it for $68k the same month in 2021. Here are my concerns:

1. The pitch was a hard sell, coupled with what I can only describe as a “we are busy and have a lot of people knocking down our doors to invest so don’t ask questions, don’t miss out and just move fast” attitude. Again, another huge red flag, one that is one of the oldest tricks in the book. They made it sound like they were doing you a favor in taking your money.
2. Paperwork was vague and unprofessional, leaving them all the necessary wiggle room to get out of anything they do wrong or underperform. That should have been enough of a red flag to have me back out. It did not specify the exact condition AFTER rehabilitation, the timeframe for the work, any penalties for underperformance, any official inspections before or after.
3. The rehab took way longer than they indicated and fell short of expectations in execution. I won’t bore you with details but can produce them if required.
4. Once they were done, they were gone. No follow-up. No satisfaction inquiries. No responsiveness. They were “outta here”.
5. The property was hard to get rented, very hard. It was probably due to factors that can only be ascertained in person, not by a remote investor. As a result, rents were below expectations.
6. Repairs were constant and well above expectations for a rehabbed property. It was to the point where I suspect there may have been things known but not disclosed – impossible at this point to prove but I just don’t understand how they could not have been known.
7. Appreciation was below expectations, certainly below the market. Cash flow too.
8. Finally, upon sale, there were elements of the Title that remained polluted that I had to work to clear up.

I literally did not experience even a single positive of this whole experience. Not one. Not one promise upheld. My money was essentially in stasis for 3 years and I had to expend effort and stress to escape this thing without major losses. Thankfully it’s now behind me.

That’s it. That’s all I want to say. If anyone wants to engage further on the subject of Morris Invest I would be happy to (except with Morris – not going to speak to them again, nor respond to anything they may post in response to my review). I would be happy to speak with the BBB, with authorities, with an interested attorney, with an inquiring investor – or of course with a news agency. If none of that happens, that’s fine. I’m out, and relieved. If this review helps one investor avoid this business I would find my time writing this worthwhile.

I haven’t followed Clayton or his wife since I realized what I had purchased early on. What’s the point? The property was low value and I knew engaging them would be fruitless. Writing this has been on my “to do” list for quite some time and when I finally sat down to do so today I looked old Clayton up. It appears his company has “joined forces” with an entity called “SDIRA Wealth”. I don’t know anything about them except this: if they are associated with Morris then I am going to stay far away from anything they do, anything they sell.

I will leave you with one idiom, the ultimate and timeless warning in literally all aspects of every business – yet something we all forget from time to time. That is: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

Thanks for nothing, Clayton.