They Faked 90% Occupancy on This $6M Apartment Deal

Multifamily Property Management: Lessons From Candice Crawford

Successful multifamily real estate investing requires more than acquiring an apartment complex at the right price. Effective multifamily property management, accurate financial reporting, and strong operational leadership are essential for protecting cash flow and maximizing property performance. In this episode of Multifamily Rockstars, Candice Crawford shares her experience investing in a 101-unit apartment community in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the unexpected challenges her team encountered after acquisition. Her story provides valuable lessons about economic occupancy, property management, lender requirements, and the importance of having adequate financial reserves.

Acquiring a 101-Unit Multifamily Property in Texas

Candice Crawford partnered with fellow real estate investors to acquire a 101-unit Class C apartment complex in Corpus Christi, Texas. The property was purchased for approximately $6 million at an 8.7% capitalization rate, with the investment team raising $3.6 million in capital. The acquisition involved Fannie Mae financing and a significant capital improvement strategy designed to reposition the property and improve its performance.

Crawford became involved in the transaction through networking with the property’s key principal and sponsor. She and other investors also contributed at-risk capital, which helps cover acquisition expenses before a transaction closes. These expenses can include earnest money deposits, inspections, legal fees, appraisals, and other due diligence costs. Her experience demonstrates how building relationships with experienced multifamily operators can create opportunities to participate in larger real estate investments.

Physical Occupancy vs. Economic Occupancy in Multifamily Investing

One of the most important lessons from Crawford’s investment involves understanding the difference between physical occupancy and economic occupancy. When her team acquired the Corpus Christi property, the reported physical occupancy was approximately 90%. However, after transitioning property management and examining the property’s financial performance, the investors discovered that many residents were occupying apartments without making rental payments.

This discrepancy created significant financial and operational challenges. Although the property appeared nearly full, its actual rental income did not reflect the reported occupancy. The team had to address nonpaying residents, improve collections, and absorb additional expenses associated with preparing apartments for paying tenants. The situation highlights why multifamily investors must evaluate actual rental collections rather than relying solely on occupancy percentages.

For investors evaluating apartment acquisitions, several financial and operational metrics deserve careful attention:

• Physical occupancy: The percentage of apartment units currently occupied by residents.

• Economic occupancy: The percentage of potential rental revenue actually being collected.

• Rent roll accuracy: Verification that reported residents, lease agreements, and rental payments match actual property records.

• Operating reserves: Available funds to cover unexpected expenses, income disruptions, and property improvements.

• Property management performance: The effectiveness of leasing, rent collection, resident management, and day-to-day operations.

Why Multifamily Property Management Can Make or Break an Investment

Crawford’s experience demonstrates how critical effective multifamily property management becomes when an apartment community faces operational difficulties. Following the acquisition, the investment team discovered serious problems involving unpaid rent, inaccurate financial reporting, and criminal activity affecting the property’s reputation. These issues required substantial operational changes, including rebranding the apartment community and improving its management structure.

One of the most significant improvements came from having a capable on-site property manager who understood the community and could build relationships with residents. Crawford explained that the manager’s ability to communicate effectively and improve rent collections became an important part of the property’s turnaround. Strong on-site leadership helped the team address problems that could not be solved through financial analysis alone.

The discussion emphasizes that selecting a property management company is only part of the equation. Investors must also evaluate the individuals responsible for daily operations, resident relationships, and collections. Even a well-established management company can struggle when the on-site team lacks the experience, accountability, or leadership necessary to operate the property effectively.

Understanding Lender Requirements and Capital Reserves

Another major challenge Crawford encountered involved navigating the requirements imposed by multifamily lenders. Although financing provides the capital necessary to acquire larger apartment communities, lenders can maintain considerable influence over property operations. Their requirements may include inspections, mandatory repairs, reserve accounts, and specific conditions for releasing funds designated for capital improvements.

Crawford explained that accessing money held in lender-controlled reserve accounts became an unexpected obstacle. Even when funds were available, the process of obtaining reimbursement for completed improvements could be slow and complicated. These delays created additional pressure on the investment team’s ability to manage expenses and execute its renovation strategy.

The conversation reinforces the importance of reviewing financing agreements carefully before closing an acquisition. Investors should understand which improvements qualify for reimbursement, what documentation is required, and how reserve funds can be accessed. Working with an experienced real estate attorney and maintaining sufficient operating capital can help investors prepare for these challenges.

The Importance of Networking and Partnerships in Multifamily Investing

Crawford’s transition into multifamily real estate demonstrates the value of education, networking, and strategic partnerships. Before entering the apartment investing space, she spent decades operating her own business and gaining experience in construction and single-family real estate. Through the Warrior Group community, she developed relationships with other investors and gained the knowledge needed to participate in larger multifamily acquisitions.

Her experience also revealed the importance of assembling a team capable of making timely decisions. Unlike smaller real estate investments, multifamily properties require coordination between sponsors, lenders, property managers, contractors, and other professionals. When unexpected challenges arise, investors must be prepared to evaluate information quickly and implement solutions.

For aspiring multifamily investors, Crawford’s story illustrates that participating in larger transactions does not always require sourcing and managing an entire acquisition independently. Building relationships with experienced operators can provide opportunities to contribute capital, expertise, and resources while learning how complex apartment investments operate.

From Private Lending to Multifamily Real Estate Investing

In addition to her multifamily investments, Crawford has developed a real estate strategy focused on providing alternative home financing. Through Dream Home Bridge, she purchases smaller single-family properties with cash and resells them using contract-for-deed arrangements. This approach allows qualified buyers who may struggle to obtain traditional mortgage financing to pursue homeownership while making payments directly to her.

Her interest in alternative financing developed from personal experiences navigating the lending process as a self-employed entrepreneur. She also explored the concept of infinite banking using the cash value of whole life insurance policies, which expanded her understanding of financing and capital management. These experiences influenced her approach to real estate investing and her desire to create opportunities for people who face barriers within traditional lending systems.

Crawford views multifamily investing and private lending as complementary strategies for generating cash flow and expanding her real estate activities. Her broader approach demonstrates how investors can combine different real estate asset classes and financing structures to pursue long-term financial goals.

About Candice Crawford

Candice Crawford is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, and founder of Dream Home Bridge, a company focused on alternative homeownership opportunities through private financing. With more than 34 years of business experience, she has a background in landscaping, construction, and property development, including holding a contractor’s license in Massachusetts. She is also involved in multifamily real estate through WE Equity Partners and the Warrior Group community. As the creator of The Money Flow Genie podcast, Crawford shares financial education and conversations with experienced professionals in real estate investing, commercial lending, and business ownership.

Learn More About Multifamily Property Management and Real Estate Investing

Candice Crawford’s experience with a 101-unit apartment acquisition reveals the operational realities that investors must understand before entering multifamily real estate. From verifying economic occupancy and managing lender-controlled reserves to selecting effective on-site property managers, her journey highlights the importance of financial preparation, strong partnerships, and proactive asset management. These lessons are especially valuable for investors looking to acquire underperforming apartment communities and improve their long-term cash flow.

If you want to hear the full conversation with Candice Crawford and learn more about the challenges and opportunities involved in multifamily property management, watch the podcast video or read the complete transcript below.

Multifamily Property Management FAQ

What Is Multifamily Property Management?

Multifamily property management involves overseeing the daily operations, maintenance, leasing, and financial performance of residential properties with multiple rental units. Effective multifamily property management focuses on maintaining occupancy, collecting rent, managing expenses, and protecting property value. Candice Crawford highlights the importance of strong property management through her experience investing in a 101-unit apartment community in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Why Is Multifamily Property Management Important for Real Estate Investors?

Multifamily property management directly impacts rental income, operating expenses, tenant satisfaction, and long-term investment performance. Poor management can lead to unpaid rent, inaccurate financial reporting, high vacancy rates, and unexpected maintenance costs. Candice Crawford experienced these challenges when her investment team discovered significant collection problems after acquiring an apartment complex that initially appeared to have approximately 90% occupancy.

What Is the Difference Between Physical Occupancy and Economic Occupancy in Multifamily Properties?

Physical occupancy measures the percentage of apartment units occupied by residents, while economic occupancy measures how much potential rental revenue a property actually collects. A multifamily property can report high physical occupancy while generating significantly less income because residents are not paying rent. Candice Crawford encountered this situation when her team discovered that many residents in their 101-unit property were occupying apartments without making payments. Understanding both metrics is essential when evaluating multifamily investments.

How Does Property Management Affect Multifamily Cash Flow?

Property management affects multifamily cash flow by influencing rental collections, vacancy rates, maintenance expenses, and operational efficiency. Effective managers help ensure residents pay rent, vacant apartments are leased, and property expenses remain controlled. Crawford’s experience demonstrates how inaccurate occupancy reporting and poor rent collections can create financial challenges even when an apartment community appears nearly fully occupied.

What Should Investors Look for in a Multifamily Property Management Company?

Investors should evaluate a multifamily property management company’s experience, financial reporting practices, rent collection procedures, maintenance coordination, and ability to manage challenging properties. Strong on-site leadership is especially important because property managers interact directly with residents and oversee daily operations. Candice Crawford emphasizes the value of having an effective on-site manager who can build relationships with residents, improve collections, and support the property’s overall performance.

How Can Investors Improve an Underperforming Multifamily Property?

Improving an underperforming multifamily property often requires addressing operational problems, strengthening management, increasing rent collections, and completing necessary capital improvements. Investors may also need to reposition or rebrand a property when its reputation negatively affects leasing and resident relationships. Crawford’s investment team implemented management changes and rebranding efforts after discovering financial irregularities and other operational challenges at their Corpus Christi apartment community.

What Are the Biggest Challenges in Multifamily Property Management?

Common multifamily property management challenges include unpaid rent, inaccurate financial records, unexpected maintenance expenses, poor on-site leadership, and difficulties maintaining consistent occupancy. Investors may also face lender requirements that complicate property improvements and access to reserve funds. Candice Crawford explains how these challenges affected her team’s ability to stabilize a 101-unit apartment investment and why proactive management is essential.

Why Are Operating Reserves Important in Multifamily Property Management?

Operating reserves provide financial protection when multifamily properties experience unexpected expenses, reduced rental income, or operational disruptions. These funds can help cover maintenance costs, property improvements, and other financial obligations while management addresses underlying problems. Crawford’s experience demonstrates why maintaining adequate reserves is particularly important when acquiring properties that may require significant operational improvements.

How Do Lender Requirements Impact Multifamily Property Management?

Lenders can influence multifamily property management through property inspections, repair requirements, reserve accounts, and restrictions on capital improvement reimbursements. Some financing agreements require investors to complete specific improvements before accessing funds held in reserve. Candice Crawford discusses the challenges of obtaining reimbursement from lender-controlled accounts and emphasizes the importance of understanding financing requirements before acquiring an apartment property.

What Is the Role of an On-Site Property Manager in Multifamily Investing?

An on-site property manager oversees daily apartment operations, communicates with residents, coordinates maintenance, supports leasing activities, and helps collect rental payments. Their performance can significantly influence a property’s financial stability and resident satisfaction. Crawford credits an effective on-site manager with helping improve collections and operational performance at her team’s multifamily investment.

How Can Investors Evaluate Multifamily Property Management Before Buying an Apartment Complex?

Investors should carefully review rent rolls, lease agreements, rental payment histories, occupancy reports, operating expenses, and existing management practices before purchasing a multifamily property. Comparing physical occupancy with actual rental collections can help identify potential financial discrepancies. Crawford’s experience shows why investors should verify reported property performance rather than relying exclusively on occupancy figures provided during an acquisition.

How Can Networking Help Investors Succeed in Multifamily Property Management?

Networking allows multifamily investors to connect with experienced operators, property managers, lenders, contractors, and potential investment partners. These relationships can provide valuable operational knowledge and help investors address challenges that arise during acquisitions and property ownership. Candice Crawford explains how participating in the Warrior Group community helped her develop partnerships, expand her multifamily investing knowledge, and become involved in larger apartment transactions.

00:00:32:04 – 00:00:52:18
Rod Khleif
Welcome back to multifamily rock stars. So as you know, this is where we dive deep into our guest deals and really give you actionable and practical advice to to go out and do your first deal. Weather, even if you have never done that before. And today I’ve got a wonderful human being on the show. Candace Crawford, one of my warriors, absolutely ass kicker, extraordinaire.

00:00:52:18 – 00:01:13:10
Rod Khleif
And she’s got her own wonderful podcast called The Money Flow Genie. Which sounds which sounds amazing based on what I just heard. And, she founded a company called Dream Home Bridge. In the single family space. And she’s also in multifamily with some warriors in we equity partners. Welcome to the show, Candace.

00:01:13:15 – 00:01:17:01
Candice Crawford
Thank you so much for having me on. This is an honor. Thank you so much.

00:01:17:04 – 00:01:36:21
Rod Khleif
Oh, that’s kind of you to say that. Well, listen, you know, we already had some fun conversation, but why don’t you just take a minute and kind of give us a little bit of your background? You know, and and how you ended up where you are right now. And then we’ll drill down on on that 101 unit you took down in Corpus Christi, right?

00:01:36:23 – 00:01:37:20
Rod Khleif
Yeah.

00:01:37:22 – 00:02:02:06
Candice Crawford
Well, I just to give you I like to give people like, a quick overview of where you can be, where you can go and based upon your, your, your focus. And, you know, I was the thought of multifamily. I didn’t even know, like, when I heard your podcast, that that first intro, thinking about who owns those. And as I got, you know, I’ve been in business for 34 years.

00:02:02:07 – 00:02:26:18
Candice Crawford
The landscaper and doing that. You don’t think you think single family units. I might work for condos, those kinds of things. But fast forward, the education that you can get on a podcast is phenomenal to open your eyes and then deep dive into getting education to really understand what is really peaking your interest about something. And that’s how I ended up in the warrior program.

00:02:26:18 – 00:02:45:20
Candice Crawford
I heard you speak. I heard you talk about the education that you were going to be giving. And when I joined, I mean, it was like a massive amount of education for me to make an effective decision on. Is this something that I really want to get into? And it totally was. And I don’t regret it one bit.

00:02:45:20 – 00:03:16:21
Candice Crawford
So ever. So fast forward, I go into multifamily. I realized that my true passion is really being the bank. For those that people said no. And because that happened to me when I first built my my own, my own personal residence, my my business was not seasoned enough. And so I went into multifamily with the with the understanding that I could create a cash flow to continue and expand into.

00:03:16:23 – 00:03:19:10
Rod Khleif
The private lending, the private lending business, the.

00:03:19:10 – 00:03:20:04
Candice Crawford
Private lending.

00:03:20:04 – 00:03:24:19
Rod Khleif
Yeah. How do you do that? Do you do that in a specific geographic area, or what do you do.

00:03:24:21 – 00:03:45:06
Candice Crawford
Predominantly in the Midwest because they’re, you know, they’re lower. Carson’s although I did start here on Cape Cod, where I am now and I want and that did very well. And then the market boomed. It helped it even better because it was the least own. And, I had some, you know, a little change out in the owner in the,

00:03:45:08 – 00:03:51:04
Rod Khleif
Could you describe the program? Because I, I think I might even be confused. So what is it exactly that you’re doing?

00:03:51:09 – 00:04:08:14
Candice Crawford
What I’m doing is actually, I purchased, cash straight out, small, single family homes. And then I will hold title, but resell them, contract for deed. So basically, I am the bank providing the financing and the house comes with it. So.

00:04:08:14 – 00:04:32:21
Rod Khleif
Gotcha. Gotcha. They’re basically paying you instead of a mortgage company. So you’re providing you’re providing an opportunity for them to own a home. So you do it in a contract for deed. There’s some technical hurdles that you can encounter and have to overcome with that business, because I did a ton of that myself, you know, and I used to do things like, like 30 year lease options where basically you’re paying the payment.

00:04:32:23 – 00:04:42:05
Rod Khleif
But it was but you don’t actually have title, but you do it where when they satisfy the debt, then they get the deed, the deeds held in escrow or something. Is that how you do it?

00:04:42:07 – 00:04:52:23
Candice Crawford
It’s they I hold title and then at the at the they know prepayment penalty and the whole 30 year term. So it is very similar to exactly what you just did.

00:04:53:00 – 00:05:13:19
Rod Khleif
Gotcha gotcha gotcha. Yeah. That’s that’s a, that’s a that’s a great business model for a lot of reasons. When you’re giving opportunities to people that wouldn’t have it too. They have pride of ownership as well. You know, and, and in and in your favor, you know, if they do default, you’re, you’re usually not having to foreclose. You can you can evict.

00:05:13:20 – 00:05:25:17
Rod Khleif
Now some, some states will consider it that they’ve created some equity. And you have to actually do a foreclosure action, which is a pain. But but no, it’s a great business model. How much of this have you done?

00:05:25:19 – 00:05:56:11
Candice Crawford
Currently I well, I’ve been doing this for six years. Wow. And currently I’m. I’m closing, actually, to while I’ve closed, but we’re still at the. You know, it has to be recorded on my sixth house. Okay. This week and that I, that I personally owned outright. And so I’ll touch on you know, one of the things that I like to do with money is and most people as well, but it really impact is really important for me when I’m investing.

00:05:56:13 – 00:06:15:04
Candice Crawford
I’ll tell you, I have an adorable young couple that have three children, and when I’m able to sign, you know, you just see these young people and you know that they’re not being given a chance. And then you see them and they make their payments ahead of time. I had another.

00:06:15:06 – 00:06:16:08
Rod Khleif
Beautiful, beautiful.

00:06:16:09 – 00:06:24:15
Candice Crawford
An older couple on Social Security. And the husband said to me, oh my gosh, for the first time, my wife gets to have a vegetable garden.

00:06:24:17 – 00:06:25:06
Rod Khleif
Oh.

00:06:25:08 – 00:06:27:04
Candice Crawford
Those things are priceless, rod.

00:06:27:06 – 00:06:27:18
Rod Khleif
Yeah.

00:06:27:19 – 00:06:28:21
Candice Crawford
That’s what.

00:06:28:23 – 00:06:53:13
Rod Khleif
I know. You have a huge heart. And that’s just such a beautiful thing. You know, it’s it’s it’d be wonderful to have that, you know, really have that at scale where you could do it because so many people are struggling, you know, trying to buy houses right now. And of course, the interest rates not helping things any you know, that that mortgage originations I’m sorry, mortgage applications are at the lowest place they’ve been in 30 years, even lower than 2008 and nine.

00:06:53:15 – 00:07:16:21
Rod Khleif
Yeah, I saw that headline a week or so ago. And and so yeah, it’s tough. It’s tough out there. So you join the warrior program. You, you doing you’ve done some multifamily. You know, but you have a background in banking, don’t you? Some you’re kind of an unusual background. Or isn’t there a banking connection there somewhere?

00:07:16:23 – 00:07:27:09
Candice Crawford
There’s no there’s no background in banking other than the fact that I learned about the infinite, infinite banking process using whole life cash value life insurance.

00:07:27:10 – 00:07:28:04
Rod Khleif
Oh, yeah.

00:07:28:06 – 00:07:45:09
Candice Crawford
That that opened my eyes to thinking more like a banker, because being self-employed for so long, it’s very difficult to get a line of credit. You really go through quite the the hoops.

00:07:45:15 – 00:07:47:23
Rod Khleif
It’s a pain to qualify for a house to. It’s almost.

00:07:47:23 – 00:07:48:09
Candice Crawford
Anything.

00:07:48:15 – 00:07:49:19
Rod Khleif
For anything.

00:07:49:21 – 00:08:11:00
Candice Crawford
It’s just brutal. And I remember when I got excited because I had an 8% interest rate, I was offered 8% and I thought I was really like doing great. And and then I talked to someone that had a W-2 and they were like, oh yeah, we had a 4%. And I’m like, what? And that’s that was like the the awareness.

00:08:11:00 – 00:08:44:21
Candice Crawford
And so through the course of being in business, you it’s always nice to have a line of credit and even it didn’t matter. They just like, no, we’re not going to do that. We’re not going to do that. And I was like, I’m so sick of this. And then I heard about the whole life policies. And there was this gentleman who, was being interviewed on a podcast who had, he used to buy the assemblies to make the partitions for office buildings so that people have the little cubicles.

00:08:44:21 – 00:09:13:11
Candice Crawford
And that was his business, you know, multi-million dollar business selling these little petitions. And he used a line of credit from a bank in order to fund his business, purchase the product, get reimbursed, pay the the line down. Well, the bank called the loan and, he nearly went under because he had to pay back that line of credit and that’s he started implementing the whole life cash value in his business as his own personal life credit.

00:09:13:12 – 00:09:42:05
Candice Crawford
And that clicked for me. And from that point on, I became more and more, interested in learning about finance because, you know, farm as a kid in the farming families, we don’t talk about money. Money is what you buy to feed the animals and feed ourselves. And that was basically it. So yeah, it’s been a journey and I am amazed at the knowledge that is not out there from what I’ve learned, just from my own personal interest.

00:09:42:05 – 00:10:12:15
Candice Crawford
And that’s where the Money Flow Genie podcast came around, as well as introducing interviewing people that have been in the, this commercial lending space, the commercial, general partner space, because I had another podcast that I was on with a couple of other warriors, and that really the richness of the conversations about people’s histories and what they’ve learned over time, I felt like it needed to be out there in the world.

00:10:12:15 – 00:10:14:24
Candice Crawford
So that’s how I love Jeannie came around.

00:10:15:05 – 00:10:32:11
Rod Khleif
No, I love it, I love it. Money flow Genie, I love it. So let’s talk about a deal, okay? Because that’s one of the big things we do here. 100 and 101 doors, Corpus Christi. C class asset. You talk about the deal, what you pay for, and how much did you raise? How did you find it?

00:10:32:13 – 00:10:57:02
Candice Crawford
That deal. I was invited to be a part. I networked and, And met up with the, the key principal and the sponsor, and they invited to be a part of that team. I teamed up with a couple of the Warriors on that one. We decided that, not only a part of the syndication, but we were going to be doing putting some of the, at risk capital down.

00:10:57:04 – 00:11:17:17
Rod Khleif
Let me talk about what that is. So, guys at risk capital, when you obviously when you put one of these deals under contract, you’ve got earnest money, which is not insignificant. You’ve got finance charges to get the financing started for legal, for appraisals, for surveys. You’ve got syndication charges if you’re going to syndicate to hire the SEC attorney to, to do some of the work.

00:11:17:17 – 00:11:35:14
Rod Khleif
And so all these are called at risk capital. And also includes cost for due diligence if you’re going to, you know, bring vendors out there to, to do inspections to scope the sewer lines, things like that. Like, I remember I put up over 600,000 on a 200 unit in San Antonio that we bought is at risk capital.

00:11:35:16 – 00:11:51:00
Rod Khleif
And when you do that, you get a slice of the deal. I don’t know what you got, but in our deals it’s about 10% of the general partnership. So it’s not insignificant. But of course your money is at risk and you better, you know, make sure you’re doing it with somebody knows what they’re doing. But anyway, so just wanted to describe it.

00:11:51:00 – 00:11:51:21
Rod Khleif
Please continue.

00:11:52:02 – 00:12:14:17
Candice Crawford
Yeah. And and you do I mean even when you see this a solid deal and you get close to that, that, that that moment where you’re supposed to close because that’s when you know your money is secured in the deal. Right. And then after that it’s the performance. But, there are a couple of times we’re like, oh, we not closing what is going on?

00:12:14:17 – 00:12:19:04
Candice Crawford
And just little simple things that could just really flip it around.

00:12:19:06 – 00:12:34:09
Rod Khleif
Purchase deals where they couldn’t come up with the money. I remember a deal in Texas we bought, and the guy was about to lose all his earnest money. We were able to come in and get an extension, put in some more earnest money and save him, but it’s very common. So, you know. Yeah. Okay.

00:12:34:10 – 00:12:52:01
Candice Crawford
I think for this deal and, you know, it’s this is where you just get into once you start, once you get the property now you dive into the numbers of keeping it running. And so the, the numbers of the actual costs off the top of my head, I can give you estimates.

00:12:52:05 – 00:13:11:11
Rod Khleif
I’ve got I’ve got it here. It looks like you paid 6 million. And I just wanted you to say it, but I’ll say it for you. And you had three. You raised 3.6 million. Does that sound right? Yeah. That’s right. On the sheet you sent over. Okay. You bought it in 8.7 cap, which is fantastic. And, and so what sort of did you, did you have to do some CapEx?

00:13:11:14 – 00:13:14:18
Rod Khleif
What sort of debt did you get? Number one, do you recall that by any chance?

00:13:14:24 – 00:13:18:05
Candice Crawford
Well, we we got the was it the Fannie.

00:13:18:07 – 00:13:21:19
Rod Khleif
May Fannie Mae debt? Okay. And then three, did you raise.

00:13:21:19 – 00:13:22:24
Candice Crawford
Money I think was the.

00:13:22:24 – 00:13:30:10
Rod Khleif
Interesting point. Seven five boom baby. Love it. Yeah. So did you, raise money for CapEx? Did you some CapEx work there as well?

00:13:30:11 – 00:13:34:03
Candice Crawford
Yeah. The the the capital raise was actually it was all for CapEx.

00:13:34:03 – 00:13:50:02
Rod Khleif
It was all for CapEx. So you put some serious money into this thing. Yeah. Yeah. And then I’m sure you raised some operating reserves as well because I teach you guys to raise operating reserves. You know, shit hit the fan money. You know, you want to have that. So so I know you’re working through that deal now.

00:13:50:02 – 00:13:55:11
Rod Khleif
You said you were really low occupancy originally. I think you said, like in the 40s or something. 41%.

00:13:55:12 – 00:14:17:11
Candice Crawford
Well, here’s the here’s the kicker, rod. When we purchased it, we were at like 90% occupancy. And during the course we were like, what is going on? Why? Why the management company that was there was still, you know, we were able to have them on and help us, you know, navigate to the new management company, which was really great.

00:14:17:11 – 00:14:38:07
Candice Crawford
And so and then all of a sudden it was like, whoa, there’s so much fudging of the books had happened. It was unbelievable that these people were just we found out later that these people were actually just told to move in and they didn’t have to pay anything, so showed physical occupancy.

00:14:38:10 – 00:15:00:06
Rod Khleif
Wow. So let me, let me, let me explain what they did. So there’s a difference between physical occupancy and economic occupancy. Physical is who’s living. Their economic is who’s paying. And here’s the problem. And this is a big it’s surprising that it’s still the case with Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae won’t loan on a deal unless it’s been 90% physically occupied for 90 days, 90 for 90.

00:15:00:07 – 00:15:18:07
Rod Khleif
It’s called sometimes a little less, but not much. And so what they did was get themselves past the Fannie Mae hurdle. But as soon as you stepped in there, nobody’s fricking paying. And so it’s a double whammy because not only are you not making any money, but you got to get their butts out and then you then you’re going to have make ready costs.

00:15:18:09 – 00:15:20:06
Rod Khleif
So it probably really hurt,

00:15:20:08 – 00:15:44:11
Candice Crawford
Oh it hurt. It really hurt. And but just like you said, you know, you have to have reserves, right? You know, boy, it was a work. And then the other concept and this was something I really want to touch on because, you know, both deals that I’ve been in, it is really important to understand that the bank is your biggest partner, and they have a lot of say you think that they just like, hand you the money and walk away.

00:15:44:12 – 00:15:53:03
Candice Crawford
Oh no. They come in, they demand, you know, certain types of things to be done. You know, different repairs that you.

00:15:53:05 – 00:16:05:24
Rod Khleif
It’s ridiculous. They’ll send an inspector that’s freaking clueless. I just had that happen on one of my Nashville assets where they’re having us redo some paving, which doesn’t need it. It’s ridiculous. And, Yeah, it’s so true.

00:16:06:00 – 00:16:08:03
Candice Crawford
I have a contractors license, rod.

00:16:08:08 – 00:16:08:16
Rod Khleif
Wow.

00:16:08:19 – 00:16:11:20
Candice Crawford
When I was like, they’re asking us to do what?

00:16:11:22 – 00:16:33:19
Rod Khleif
Right, right, right. And the other problem is, you know, they’ll they’ll they’ll collect a reserve account. Okay. They do what’s called a property condition report, but right before you close, and then they will assess a certain amount per year, per unit that they hold. That’s your money, but they’re holding it now. It can sometimes be a massive pain in the butt to get them to release that money.

00:16:33:20 – 00:16:34:13
Rod Khleif
Okay.

00:16:34:15 – 00:17:03:02
Candice Crawford
And that was the second thing. Absolutely. And, you know, they are starting to trickle to trickle the money. And the one thing that I learned about the banking industry, for every dollar that they have in the bank, they can actually lend, I think, $10,000. So that, yeah, there is a percentage that as long as they have something in reserves, they can there’s a percentage that they can then have a loan have legally be.

00:17:03:02 – 00:17:07:01
Rod Khleif
Able to. I hadn’t heard that it was that high. But that’s I know it’s.

00:17:07:04 – 00:17:08:06
Candice Crawford
Really high.

00:17:08:08 – 00:17:09:00
Rod Khleif
Wow.

00:17:09:02 – 00:17:29:24
Candice Crawford
It’s really hard. It’s very high. So it’s like I’m like wow I wonder I mean, it’s just a theory. I have no evidence of this. But I wonder, is this because the interest rates think about it. The interest rates dropped really, really low. Everybody loved it. But how do banks make money? Well, yes, they make money on fees, but they make money on spread.

00:17:30:00 – 00:17:47:20
Candice Crawford
So if you’re giving out 2.75% loans look at this 13.75 on multi million dollars. Where’s the spread for the bank. They’re going to be hurting. So where are they going to push fees. And anything in that contract that you can’t. Yeah they normally don’t.

00:17:47:20 – 00:18:13:17
Rod Khleif
Do it. This is why it’s so important to have an attorney review your finance documents. Because what they will do is they’ll designate what you’re allowed to submit to be released on. And sometimes, you know, it’s kind of ridiculous. Like we had this happen in one of my San Antonio assets where, you know, we did exterior repairs, which is definitely CapEx, you know, on our chimneys and things like that, because it wasn’t listed in the loan documents, we couldn’t get repaid for those.

00:18:13:18 – 00:18:34:06
Rod Khleif
We had to give them other things to get repaid for. It was ridiculous. But but that’s the thing, you know, you, I don’t, you know, on this show, I don’t always want to talk about the, the, the, the everything happening beautifully because that’s not reality. In fact, my boot camps, I always talk about. Tell me about a seminar that you had because, you know, we all have them.

00:18:34:06 – 00:18:50:16
Rod Khleif
And I think you learn more from them than you do from success. Everyone else, all my competitors, all they do is talk about the great stuff. But I want I want you to hear about reality as well. And and like, releasing funds can be a real pain in the butt with them and having them do things. And you had to actually rebrand this asset as well, right?

00:18:50:18 – 00:19:02:21
Rod Khleif
Yes he did. So what that means is they had to change the name because the reputation was so bad on the original name. You got to change the name. I’ve had to do that several times too. So yeah. And this was because of some issues. What sort of issues did you have there?

00:19:03:00 – 00:19:04:14
Candice Crawford
Did the typical drug issues.

00:19:04:15 – 00:19:05:04
Rod Khleif
Drug issues.

00:19:05:08 – 00:19:15:05
Candice Crawford
During issues going on in the property? You know, when you people are allowed to live there for free, you know, you can imagine the people that will be joining in on that as quick as possible.

00:19:15:05 – 00:19:16:12
Rod Khleif
So yeah.

00:19:16:17 – 00:19:35:10
Candice Crawford
That that definitely did it. But you know, we’ve we’ve really turned you know the, the, the team that, that we have now we’ve got a local woman who really as the that works in the office and she can people just really relate to her. She’s able to get collections. It’s phenomenal.

00:19:35:10 – 00:19:37:19
Rod Khleif
What is she, the property manager then? They’re on site.

00:19:37:20 – 00:19:40:20
Candice Crawford
Well, yeah. On site property manager? Yeah, something.

00:19:40:21 – 00:20:02:03
Rod Khleif
Let me tell you something. You know, you can have a fantastic property management company managing your asset, but the on site manager, if they’re terrible, you’re in big trouble. Same flip side. You can have a terrible property management company. If you’ve got a good on site manager, you’re going to be okay. You live or die by that on site manager.

00:20:02:03 – 00:20:29:19
Rod Khleif
And I learned that the hard way. And, you know, I’m actually having to sue a property management company right now, which is really bad. They messed up so bad, but, you know, that’s great, because then you’re okay. If you’ve got that, take good care of them, okay? You know, I’ll. I’ll show up at a property with, you know, envelopes with 500 to $1000 cash and and a thank you card where I, you know, I tell people, you know, I tell somebody, and we’re just so blessed to have you on the team.

00:20:29:19 – 00:20:50:10
Rod Khleif
Small token of my appreciation. Do you know those little things make a big difference. And and the cards even more important than the money, candidly. But, yeah, you take care of the people that take care of you for sure. Love it. And so. So, have you you you did that one with Warriors. Have you gotten value from the warrior program?

00:20:50:12 – 00:21:16:16
Candice Crawford
Oh, tremendous value. First of all, education of just knowing what I’m walking into, how to get into, to develop partnerships. You know, as a, as an entrepreneur, I’ve always been solo, and I learned a lot about myself by entering into this, the, the working with others on a team that you have to have in order to, to manage these types.

00:21:16:16 – 00:21:17:11
Rod Khleif
Of problems.

00:21:17:13 – 00:21:35:03
Candice Crawford
Yeah, it is a team sport and I learned about myself from that. I need to have people that are at that. If they’re if they are working in the W-2, they have to be high management because they’re willing to. We got to make a decision. We’re going to make a decision now. We’re going to collect the evidence we need.

00:21:35:04 – 00:21:48:01
Candice Crawford
Get on it. Let’s do it. Let’s move. But if you have someone that just sits back at a W2, no offense to anyone like that, but if you have everything handed to you. You’re not able to make those kind of decisions. It’s intimidating.

00:21:48:03 – 00:22:11:06
Rod Khleif
Or take or take proactive action, which is what you need as well. Okay. And yeah, no, I agree completely. By the way, if you’re listening and you’re interested in applying to my warrior program on a brag for a minute, my students now own 305,000 units that we know of at last count, probably closer to 350 or more. Which is one zero units, which is more than everyone else that does this combined by a lot.

00:22:11:08 – 00:22:32:03
Rod Khleif
And if you’re interested, text the word crush to 723, four five to apply. That’s how you apply text crush to 72345. And I’m not just teaching multifamily anymore. We’re doing a lot in senior housing as well. You know, my students now 1000 of senior housing units, there’s 10,000 people a day turning 80 in this country every single day for the next two decades.

00:22:32:03 – 00:22:49:21
Rod Khleif
And there’s a huge shortage of housing. So if you’re interested in that, if you want to learn about that, I’ve got a boot camp coming up. Go to by senior.com. Go to by senior.com. That’s my boot camps one day boot camp at 17 bucks I don’t sell anything there so there’s no excuses if you want to learn that business.

00:22:49:21 – 00:23:09:13
Rod Khleif
But text crush about the warrior program. Yeah. So so you’ve learned a lot. You’ve done a lot. You’ve bought already several assets. And and you’ve got such an interesting background with the landscaping as well. I didn’t know you were a GC also. Where is that in New York or where is that?

00:23:09:13 – 00:23:38:14
Candice Crawford
That Massachusetts. In Massachusetts. You got New York because I originally, believe it or not, I got my, my my journeyman, so to speak, because you have to have two, at least two years of experience, hands on experience. When I was in graduate school for, my for the art, my master’s in art, I actually, was one of 17 artists that carved the Central Park Zoo and worked at the Bronx Zoo.

00:23:38:16 – 00:23:44:13
Candice Crawford
And so building animal exhibits is where I got my.

00:23:44:15 – 00:23:45:00
Rod Khleif
Wow.

00:23:45:02 – 00:23:45:24
Candice Crawford
A journeyman.

00:23:45:24 – 00:23:50:19
Rod Khleif
But oh, that’s how the landscaping thing came about. That’s not a landscaping thing came about. Wow.

00:23:50:21 – 00:24:15:23
Candice Crawford
Yeah, yeah. And then when I came to Cape Cod, there was a housing crisis here because vacation rentals were becoming the up and coming thing. Now it’s completely flooded. But all of the, the, rentals, year round rentals were just disappearing. And I at the time was kicking and screaming, and I didn’t want to. I wasn’t even thinking about homeownership.

00:24:15:23 – 00:24:39:07
Candice Crawford
And then all of a sudden it was like, I have to do this or I will have no place to live. And in the process of doing that, I fell into default that that what I could afford was build brand new. And I had my contractor’s license because I had been doing little decks and kind of repairs and condos with my landscaping business, and I built my own house.

00:24:39:11 – 00:24:40:16
Rod Khleif
What did you really.

00:24:40:18 – 00:24:54:09
Candice Crawford
You physically build my own house. And it has been that is what planted the seed of real estate of like, wow, I’m really passionate about this. I love it as well as the fact that just led to everything that we talked about in the beginning. To building up to Dream Home Bridge.

00:24:54:12 – 00:25:14:23
Rod Khleif
Sure, sure, sure. Well, Allison, when you love what you do, work is play, right? And I love what I do. I’m blessed not. There are days that I’m maybe not love it as much, but, But. Yeah, and it’s just it’s just. I mean, what else can you buy that someone else pays for? There’s a reason 90% of the world’s millionaires either made it in real estate or invest it in real estate.

00:25:14:24 – 00:25:34:04
Rod Khleif
Well, it has been a real treat having you on the show. It’s great to see you. It’s been way too long. We’re about. I’m about to schedule our next warrior event, actually. And and, it’ll be in the next 2 or 3 months. Probably next 3 or 4 months. You know, we get our warriors together because we discovered our most successful warriors by far, were the ones that were the most connected in the community.

00:25:34:04 – 00:25:48:16
Rod Khleif
So we do all sorts of things to facilitate those connections. And so we’ll be having that. I’m sure I’ll see you there. But it’s great to have you on, Candace. And, and, and you said you might even have me on your show, The Money Flow genie. So will. That’ll be a lot of fun.

00:25:48:17 – 00:25:58:07
Candice Crawford
Oh, I’d love to have you on. And, you know, if anyone wants to reach out, they can reach out on the money for a Genie podcast. Some on YouTube. We can also reach out to Candace Crawford on LinkedIn and.

00:25:58:11 – 00:25:59:24
Rod Khleif
Also on LinkedIn. Okay.

00:26:00:01 – 00:26:01:19
Candice Crawford
And we equity partners.

00:26:01:21 – 00:26:13:09
Rod Khleif
That partners.com okay. That’s right. I forgot to ask you that. Thank you for bringing that up okay. All right. It was great to see you. And and and then I guess we’ll probably be talking again soon.

00:26:13:14 – 00:26:15:01
Candice Crawford
All right. Thank you so much, rod.

00:26:15:02 – 00:26:15:15
Rod Khleif
Thanks.