What happened to Elite Invest?

Question

Hi everyone!

I'v been lurking on here for a while and decided it's time to start trying to contribute. I'm a software engineer in the Bay Area and am considering turnkey investing since I don't have the time or expertise (or even confidence tbh) to do it on my own. To that end I've been talking with some of the main TK providers out there, reading some really helpful reviews on here as well as turnkey-reviews.com, etc.

I'm curious to hear if anyone has had recent experience with Elite Invest in Chicago. They have stacks and stacks of 5 star reviews on turnkey-reviews.com that are more than two years old and then most of the recent ones are really bad. Granted we're talking about a small sample size here but the tone between older versus recent reviews makes it seem like their whole situation has gone downhill dramatically. Seeing a lot of vacancy, shoddy repairs, etc. Has anyone dealt with them recently and could weigh in?

I'm generally open to hearing from people on more than just this one company, different opportunities, etc, Though I have browsed the posts on turnkey and other topics a decent bit so I'm not asking anyone to rehash stuff that's been said a lot already. Thanks!

Ivan Lai · Answer

I liked Alex's (founder/owner of Elite Invest) drive and vision for his company, so I invested with him...  biggest investment mistake I've ever made.  They've got so many lawsuits they got to deal with, it's no wonder he doesn't have time to run his company anymore.  He took a large sum of my money to invest in buying and rehabbing the money.  Turned out he couldn't get the permit to rehab, so instead, he lied to me about getting the permit, then squandered my money on things unrelated to the property it was meant for.  Blatant fraud.  I also got sued by the city of Chicago for Elite's code violations, was listed as co-defendant just because I invested with Elite.  Me, being sued by the City of Chicago, for giving money to Elite!!!  I had to hire my own lawyer and pay them out of pocket o defend myself against the city of Chicago.  No joke, I have the paperwork to prove it.  I sued Elite for stealing my money and lying about the investment and am still in a lawsuit with them for almost a year now.  It appears they're under so many lawsuits and can't get permits to rehab any properties, I wouldn't be surprised if they file for bankruptcy soon.  Don't be fooled by his charm and eloquent sales pitch.  Think twice before you go in business with them.

Jeff Schechter · Answer

I don't know much about those guys  and I'm usually pretty aware  of who are competitors are .  But Ali is right ... There are many that come and go. There are a lot of moving parts to do this successfully, and each piece must be executed perfectly.

John Smith · Answer

I’ve had a nightmare of a time dealing with Alex al-Sabah and his company Elite Invest. The most unprofessional and incompetent team I’ve ever dealt with.

I'm a California resident, I bought a 2-flat property in Chicago from him and held it for more than 4 years; more than half of that time one of the units was not leased. There was also no transparency and accountability. As an owner you are basically at the mercy of these incompetent property managers, who will bill you anything (claiming maintenance, repairs etc.) without authorization and you have no way to hold them accountable or to check.

After haggling for more than a year Alex finally sold my property in June 2018, after I had already incurred heavy losses, and I thought I was done with dealing with these guys. To my surprise in May 2019, I receive a default judgement from the City of Chicago for uncut weeds and a fine of $1240; I was shocked - why was I getting this now when I sold the property more than a year ago and more so when I paid $80 a month in landscaping fees to Elite Invest. The City even shared pictures with me and they were right, it looks like no one’s been doing any landscaping for months. Alex informed me that they cut the weeds every 2 weeks and even has pictures to prove it, but then goes silent when I showed him the City’s pictures. Now I have to deal with the City of Chicago myself, with a judgement against my name.

Dealing with these guys has be an excruciating experience; their tenant sourcing and property marketing efforts are atrocious; they don’t respond on time, I had to hound them repeatedly over the 4+ years, checking in on the status of my property and why it was not being leased or sold. I once called Alex from a different number and he promptly answered, so shady!

Stay away from Alex and Elite Invest, they are incompetent and frauds and need to be held accountable.

Ali Boone · Answer

I won't necessarily say specifics on details of the situation, but I'll just say... go with your gut feeling on your thought about them...{cough}

All companies, and even markets, ebb and flow. A company can start out great, stay great for a while, then things change. I've seen only a few companies stay great over the long-haul. It's not necessarily poor intentions that cause it, but it can be anything from too quick of growth (i.e. too much success that isn't managed well), change in ownership, life events, etc.

Larry Fried · Answer

Daniel, here is a BP thread where one investor has been documenting his experience for 3 years plus.  There are numerous posts by other investors with them.  It should tell you all you need to know https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/223/topics/16...

Mark Takemoto · Answer

I had a similar experience.  In 2017, Elite Invest offered to provide turn-key income properties. I purchased one of those properties in July 2017, which included a guarantee that it would be fully occupied (leased) within 60 days. If not, the seller would be responsible providing the Buyer monthly mortgage payment (PITI, principle, interest,taxes and insurance) of the vacant portion only, until the building is fully occupied. The 3 unit property was not fully occupied until March of 2020. When I inquired with the owner of Elite Invest, Alex Al-Sabah, he said that the seller was not an employee of Elite Invest and therefore Elite was not responsible for providing the reimbursement. I was misled by Elite Invest. At no time did Alex mention or disclose that the seller was not an employee or officer of Elite Invest and that it was in fact some other 3rd party. There were many other issues with the property, rents were not what Elite had indicated, sewer backups (which first occurred during a 12-month property warranty - no reimbursement was provided), poorly sourced tenants, long delays in finding new tenants, and multiple citations from the City of Chicago for trash on the property. All of this occured while the property was managed by Elite. I was finally able to sell the property for a loss in October 2021. In January 2023, I received a collection letter from a Chicago law office that indicated there was an outstanding fine for a trash nuisance from May 2018, which Alex said he had taken care of. I reached out to Alex in January 2023 and he said he would pay the fine, but he was "short of money" and that he would reimburse me. I set a deadline of 2/28/23. He has not reimbursed me for the $600 fine and has not returned my text asking about the status.

I hope this helps someone else avoid a lot of stress and anxiety.

What happened to Elite Invest?

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