Criminals, transients, convicts, burglary, fraud, deception, manipulation, squatting

[Jake Thorpe]

In this industry, there is a lot of incentive to bend the truth, some say dont say x to the lender.. and if something happens dont say y to the insurer.  When it comes to raising capital, appear this way, speak that way. There are many people on instagram and other platforms selling courses appearing in a certain image, selling a lifestyle that is not 100% congruent with reality and sometimes reality can strike hard and shatter perceived illusions.  This is where I am at now.

I have been writing this post for a few hours now.  I deleted it, and restarted it twice feeling ashamed that I had failed in my endeavors.  Especially when there was far wealthier people than me spectating my journey, and probably highly successful and well to do  people here reading this.  I dont like to be the one who fails, especially when I had given it my all.  I want nothing from you, I am not asking for help or money, I do not need sympathy.  I only ask to be heard, and to hear my story and perhaps for the newer investors who are just starting out it can shed light on how hard this path can be.  So I will speak to you know, mask off in a raw and unfiltered way and tell you what has happened to me in the last few months, this I believe is one for the books on real estate horror stories as I have lost all of my money and nearly lost my life. 

This is my pup, his name is Rommel. Yes, he is named after the nazi war general.
You will notice on Rommels snout, he has taken a blow. He was bashed in the face with a big Dewalt drill.
I had bought him from one of my subs. The story behind Rommel here is that he was in a very abusive household with some bad guys. They were mean to him, training him to fight and be aggressive.  I had adopted him not only because of my love for dogs, but to save him from an abusive place where he was being neglected.  They had named him Rommel on purpose, as they were involved with prison gang life and some people.. well I guess they simply choose to not reform or adjust. I suppose in the end, it paid off in saving my life.



Allow me to backtrack, back to the beginning, two years ago.

I had just began my journey as an investor, I was flipping a house in Killeen tx. (a great place to flip rn btw). I had met an interesting fellow, who at the time, I did not regard as being a deviant. They were a bit older than me and a smooth talker, and he knew everything about contracting... allegedly. . They always seemed to have the answer for all of my problems in both the flipping world and over time, in my personal life. I had grown very close to him and had developed a great deal of trust for this person. I began inviting them to online zoom meetings I would hold with brokers, agents and investors... friends I had made along the way, where we would just talk strategy, loan types, current market trends etc. Eventually I would bring them out to meet ups with me as well. I am a very communal, tribe before self type of person even when I have such little to give I offer what I have for the good of the team. Can you already see where this is going? I have learned many hard lessons this year that has hurt my heart, and my pocket book.

Eventually I would finish the killeen flip. It under performed, but it was my first flip. I had taken the entire profits from this flip and I reinvested it 30m away from where this contractor lived (DFW) where I myself, live in Wisconsin. This made sense to me at the time as I wanted to not only invest in myself, but also him and his team. A rising tide lifts all boats. I had a vision that myself, my friends, and this contractor would from a team and we would have our parts to play. It was vital that the house be in close proximity to the one who knew how to do the repairs, because of the technology of our current time theoretically Id be able to monitor and track progress with a trust worthy foreman whos on the job, performing repairs, managing subs, and moving the needle. This metric does not work, if trust falls out of place, and faith falls from the team and rests then on individual greed. I had spent, I believe in total around $60,000.00 putting this flip in this guys backyard. I wanted to build up his team, I wanted to help bring him work, I wanted to help in sales and lead generating and buy into his companies LLC.. but even that was fraudulently represented as In the beginning he had represented himself as someone who had a team in house around 60 people, with vehicles, trailers, tools, lawnmowers, weed wackers, nail guns.. the works. It was all lies.



I had driven down to Texas from Wisconsin. It was a very long drive. 18 hours in total on the open road, I would sleep in my car along the way and live off of gas station food. Just me and my dog, and the open road. I cant describe how hard these drives were, yet also they were very liberating and refreshing. I had felt like I was chasing after my destiny.  I do, however, recommend getting a hotel. 

 When I had arrived I found out that this guy had one truck, his own personal vehicle that doubled as his work vehicle.. and some personal tools. His 'crew' was this guy who was unfortunately addicted to methamphetamine. I felt bad for him, kinda like Jesse from breaking bad tbh. He was a really cool person. I did not learn the truth of the matter until the house was purchased and we were underway. By then it was too late, and he had excuses for everything. So many excuses I cannot even begin to remember them. He himself was a felon on parole, and his friend who was an addict, he was his cell mate. Oddly, they both really didnt like eachother, but this contracter brought in money and the addict was, well, an addict. The nature of the relationship to me seemed exploitative and it bothered me a great deal.  In my mind I tabled the manner as we had more pressing things to tend do and I needed everyone to be in work mode.


To make the matter worse upon my arrival he had done no work, just small demolition he charged me over 1000 to do, and it wasnt even 100% complete by the time I got there. He brought the crew inside and started yelling at them infront of me, like a little show, his crew was very confused. I began to see through everything, but because of my kind nature (that has since been changed) I felt obligated to continue trusting him, that it was a mistake.. that it would get better. It didnt.
This demolition work was not worth 1k when I had gotten there to see it first hand, as he refused and 'forgot' to send me pictures.  When ever I had gotten too persistent about sending photos, he would change the subject or find a reason why he couldnt document the progress.  

Throughout the course of the flip I began to realize how much of a mistake it was trusting this person. They really had no idea what they were doing. The house was in a terrible location, at night there was gun shots. Transients would wander the streets and take tools from the yard when no one was looking. Some would wander and attempt to sell us stolen goods theyd poached. Others would come and attempt to 'hustle' me. . I unfortunately, being too kind, allowed one of these people to work for me. They came in the middle of the night and robbed the place. That happened twice.



I had gone to Texas on three different occasions to put out his fires. He had given me a 32 working day quote. He had gone over that by about 60 days. In total it took 8 months to complete... a simple cosmetic flip on a 1200sqr ft house in a neighborhood that wasnt asking for much. Before we started the flip he had filled me with so much confidence in his ability, then once work was underway it was one excuse after the other. Suddenly everything bad that could happen to him began to happen, he was sick, the weather was bad, he had car trouble - any reason he could think of to not go into work. I had later found out, he had done ZERO work at all himself except for the times I was there and literally called him in and I had asked him to help his friend who was clearly struggling. He had his 'friend', his old cell mate, this downtrodden gentleman sadly suffering from addiction.. he stuffed him in that house with some tools. I understand that a GC is suppose to have subs, but this was work I had contracted with HIM, it was not electrical or foundation work that needed to be subbed it was to him and I was under the impression he was the one working. He would send me pictures after I had to beg and pester, he would take close up zoomed pictures of one section of work. When I arrived for the final time I had found out no work outside the frame of that picture was completed. What small work was completed, was done by other people. Moreover what I did not pay him for was to have his old cellmate, high on meth, attempting to flip this house while he was at home literally playing on his ipad. I cant make this up.



When I had finally arrived for the last time, I had come to find out two days prior to my arrival he went to shut off the water to the house. He had done this to force out his old cell mate who was staying there 'working', I guess the dynamic between them had begun to break down. When I arrived he was there and had taken me out to dinner. He was playing nice, but then started to really press me about the final payment which was a large sum of money. I had told him that, like with all other payments, the work would have to first be inspected by myself and then the lenders agent who inspects. This was the standard procedure we had been following, and after the inspection there is a net14 payment that is, the payment will drop within two weeks if it passed inspection. For months, this was what we were following but of course when dealing with me I never make people wait so long and I pay as soon as I am able, as soon as the line item funds drop I usually send a wire or zell payment.

He started them to talk about liens, but in a third party sort of way. I had been starting to catch onto the way he was manipulating me at this point and I do think he noticed me noticing which was scary in of itself to be examined in such a way, like sitting across the table from a predator whos meal he had paid for with my money I was forking over to him for all these months. It really began to hit me then and I did feel intimidated.

We had went out separate ways that night, and I went back to the house which was being flipped. Inside, it did not take me long to notice that the work was not completed. Whats more, there was damaged equipment that costs about 3k. I had taken the night to further inspect the place. I had slept on the ground that night, me and my dog... over 1000 miles away from home pursuing the American dream.
This was my second flip, I was out of my comfort zone. In my heart I had felt a strength because I truly believe in pursuing the American dream and in the pursuit of happiness. Personally speaking, economy and transacting has a patriotic and spiritual component. I do believe we have the greatest, fairest, and most equitable system when everyone is being honest and playing by the rules, and acting in an ethical manner. There is so much that can be talked about on that spoke, but that is for a different time. But it did begin to hit me, this realization, that I had been made a fool and have been taken advantage of. Now it had been almost 7 months over schedule. My savings was completely drained from interest payments and surprise costs I had to manage, and lots of little costs that at the outset I believed this guy would cover (100 to mow grass, every two weeks). Things like that began to add up. In the very beginning of the flip I would buy everyone food at lunch, I would cook on the grill for the crew and buy beers. I could not myself perform the technical labor as I lack the know how, but what I could do was help boost moral. These costs begin to add up over time.

I know for some seasoned investors, and for the sharks out there this probably sounds ridiculous. But these guys were not any random guys, they were my crew. My motley crew of salty dogs, I wanted to take care of them.  I had grown to connect with them especially.. "jesse" who I will call him, The cell mate friend of that rotten GC I mentioned earlier. I connected well with him. He was in the marine corps, he was one of the first people to invade Afghanistan during operation enduring freedom.  At one point he was flying on helicopters doing GI joe stuff, I found that fascinating and I developed a great amount of respect for him through this time while we were working together. 

I wanted to not just invest and enrich myself but build something with people who I had thought were all on the same page. I wanted to bring in more houses, I wanted to take pictures with the guys and our remodeled houses like trophies and make media to bring in more sales, perhaps joint venture with other investors and grow a really strong powerhouse of a team and take on tough, challenging places and really beautify an old neighborhood. The historic southside in fort worth is such a beautiful neighborhood, it truly has some real value if the city could solve some of the social issues, it has a lot of potential for both residential and commercial investments.



The next day after we had dinner, I had a surprise knock at the door early in the morning. The GC was there with someone new he brought with. He began taking the tools out of the house and demanding he receive money. I had discovered then the broken equipment that he claimed was damaged by a thief, yet not stolen and still the lender had not came to conduct his inspection. I cannot sell a house with broken equipment, and I cannot pay someone for breaking what they were suppose to install.  Not to mention that night I slept on the floor of that flip house, I could see all the work that wasnt done, wasnt done to code, and was done poorly.  I believe he knew then the jig was up. It was like I was looking at a different person and the 'friend' I had known for so long was a gone and this  person here I could not recognize. For anyone who has not dealt with an abusive or manipulative person before I do not expect you to understand this feeling but it was alarming, intimidating and really was like this  person was done pretending and had now revealed their true character. 



They had gotten their tools and began storming around the house. They were not content with just taking the tools. Like when he had shut the water off on his old cell mate a few days prior, to force him to leave, he intended for his departure to hurt in some way. The threats of leins were not working, as truthfully I had no idea how mechanical liens worked at the time and would just contact a lawyer who did understand them. ( I since have, a lien was placed and it was fraudulent) He began to dismantle the electric after breaking into the breaker box. He pulled out a bunch of breakers, disabling the electricity. I was now without power, or water. Also, "jesse" had vanished, no where to be found. Later I had found out, he did shut the water off on purpose so jesse would not rat on him, that he had done no work.  I had tried to establish direct communication with jesse, but the GC did not want me talking to him. This control over contact, is apart of manipulation and abuse.

I may be a kind person, I do consider myself to be somewhat of an empath as when I am dealing with confrontation or a disagreement I always try to put myself in the other persons shoes.  That being said, I know my rights and I am not a pushover. At this point I was fearing for my property as it was actively being damaged. Inside was Rommel, who was barking wildly at this commotion I had went to fetch him. The GC and his crony were over by the truck, taking out more tools. They said if I was not going to pay them, they would take compensation by stealing my equipment I had paid for. They were down by the truck when I had fetched my dog. I was standing on my lawn. I had declared them trespassed verbally on the spot, loudly, proclaiming they were no longer allowed on the property, that I was the owner and this property was mine and I would not be pushed around or intimidated.  If he truly felt like I had wronged him, he must follow the proper channels.  This wouldn't work though because he knew he was in the wrong, the work cannot magically get done, one must WORK to complete it! There is no fooling the eye when the work is simply not done.

Rommel had began to bark at them and was getting territorial, although I should mention that Romy is only about six months old at this point, literally he is a puppy. He is a smart dog and I think he could read the situation well. Dogs have a way of knowing when someone is a threat.  They did not like me standing up to them, not at all.  His crony had walked up to rommel and started hitting him in the face with a drill. They were encroaching onto the property, and beginning to surround me. Then the GC, this person who I had trusted for all this time pulled out a knife on me. They said they were going to kill my dog, and take what they wanted. Then, I had drew my pistol.

I had never been one for weapons, never have gotten into guns as a hobby or really enjoyed shooting. Although, with all of the trips going down to Texas, having been burglarized, and in an area next to an active trap house that was selling drugs on the corner... occasional gunshots in the distance.. I had felt the need to arm myself for the safety of my person.  

We had stood there for a moment.  I felt he was still calculating, examining me in this strange way that sends shivers down my spine when I think about it. After a few brief moments that had felt like an eternity, the police were called, thankfully.  They had arrived, and diffused the situation.  I do believe that if I had not been armed, if I had not had my dog, that if I had tried to stop them from damaging and stealing my property they would have stabbed me, or beat me with tools.

I never imagined this pursuit would bring me down such a path, and I do not know how well I would function if I had to actually use my pistol. That is not something I think is funny or boastful, really it is shamful that these events have taken place. I take full responsibility for ever having trusted a person so blindly. Truly I was a fool then. The police had diffused the situation, had reminded them that damaging property is illegal and they were on their way. While this was one of the most frightening moments of my life, I declined to press charges at the time. I knew that this person was a convict and on parole, and for some reason in the moment I had felt pity for them despite everything they had done to me and to this project, and to "jesse".

The next morning, this person was on my door step again banging on the door. They were demanding money again and threatening me. I had asked them to leave and called the police again, saying I had trespassed him. Although, for it to be a criminal trespass.. something that will actually hold up, he would have to be present with the police there. It is not really a good system for getting a CT.

I had called in a few buddies from around the area. They drove up and helped me finish out the flip.  The next night though, after the police incident 'jesse' had arrived.  He parked his car, and ran up on us with his arms in the air yelling "dont shoot me".  That is his sense of humor.  It was there that jesse had revealed to us everything that was taken place.  He revealed how he had damaged the equipment, and lied about it being vandalized.  How he was barely hanging on and wasnt getting paid any of the money I was sending the GC. How it was him that was doing all the work, and not the GC.  Jesse, myself and my friend we stayed at that house for about a week and we finished the entire flip.  

I had found out then that I was being scammed. For years this person had pretended to be my friend knowing I was involved with investing. From the zoom calls, to property scouting, to getting the property, this was years time. All the time I was under the impression I was building something, in actuality I was being scammed or mislead, or whatever you want to call it. This has affected me on an emotional level far deeper than it has economically.  I may have lost about 60k, and this GC had stolen around 15k in total, but money can be made again and that really isnt a whole lot of money in the first place.  It was the damage done to my spirit that has affected me the most. I feel shattered. Embarrassed. 

I try to relay my story and talk about my experience to other seasoned investors. Some wealthier types out of Austin who run these real estate investment groups. Theyve turned their nose at me, said to stop whining. I suppose they have a point. I dont mean to whine, or *****, or complain, but this experience has been so devastating to my heart and to my money I am just not sure how to function. It has brought me into a great depression mentally as I have to start all over... but its hard talking and trusting people now. I feel embarrassed that this has happened and that I was one of the ones who was taken advantage of, one of the ones who couldnt make the cut. 

I am a person who comes from nothing, a divorced household with little money and once I turned 18 I was on my own. Everything I have I had to figure out myself. I had mentors from time to time, but I have had to figure a lot of this out myself and thats okay. It means more to me than just making money in my pursuit. It has alot to do with how I feel about myself and my identity. I do not want to repeat the mistakes of my fathers and fall into mediocrity and despair. It is important that I not only pursue the American dream, but do so with an upbeat attitude and stay positively motivated. That I can make something of myself in this world, and give a better life to my children and If I am lucky to find great fortune, invest for the betterment of my local home town.

What I can say to new investors who are looking to get started, be carful who you trust, and if you come from nothing like me understand nobody cares - and this lofty idea of chasing the American dream is an internalized emotion not many can relate to, especially in this field where some people some from old money, and have multi million dollars... they simply cannot relate to you. There are people out there who will take everything you got and demand more. Nobody will come to your aid, and it truly isnt even worth complaining because honestly this is a game where all that counts is the money. I should have known that from the start, but when you grow up poor, you dont understand this really.  People have a greater focus when you grow up less fortunate, because nobody really has much money or material things. I guess, I just wasnt prepared so if you want to avoid my mistakes you must prepare yourself mentally and be fortified because devious personality types will at some point come for your money and they will come as a friend. Beware of anyone who comes too friendly, people only want something, this is an "I want" type of business. The rich guys selling you dreams like Grant Cardone? Sellling you courses or charging money to join their members only group with their tried and true secret method.. the lenders, the insurers, be carful. Friendly is good, polite is good, making money is good, being nice is good but you need an eye to spot a persons ethics and dont be taken as a fool like I had been.

I wish that this is how the story could end, unfortunately I had to go back to wisconsin. I had to keep working, I have a cat, I could not stay at the property. Its against my loan terms, and you cant stay at a prperty that is being shown it has to be clean. I could not stay in the area either.  I had asked jesse to keep an eye on the place, but shortly after I left he went on a bender and I havent heard from him since.  I do hope he is doing alright.  

We held the property for about two months, and found a seller.  That week, I had been alerted there was a person squatting on the property.  Somehow this squatter found out that the place was being sold, maybe saw the agent, I really dont know but they robbed the place. There was another break in, massive water damage, they stole all the copper wires, appliances, hot water heater. Water poured everywhere and really damaged the house, destroying all of the work we had done that week when we had tried to save the place.

The insurance doesnt look like its going to cover the damage. I am in talks with an insurance lawyer now. While that goes on, I still have to fix the damage and get it back on market but sadly now that its 9 months into the project I have spent all of my money and am in default.  I will forclose by christmas unless I can figure out a solution with a refinance, which I am looking into but being in default really doesnt look good. 

Well, that has been my real estate horror story.  I hope you enjoyed reading it and for those who are looking to invest take my tale as a lesson of caution, because who you trust and who you do business with can make or break you. Funny how things seem like common sense, only after they happened, isnt it?