The (Not) "Real Ones" In Real Estate Investing

Some investors quietly stack wins. Others stack posts, billboards, and buzz. This episode of Selling Greenville zeroes in on the gap between image and substance in the investing world—and how newcomers can tell who’s real, who’s “not,” and who’s simply small-scale and honest about it. The takeaway isn’t to shame anyone; it’s to protect people from misrepresentation and from paying for “expertise” that’s really just marketing.

Not Real Ones in Real Estate Investing

In this conversation, “real ones” are defined simply: people who do what they say they do—without pretending to be bigger in order to get something from someone else. The “not real ones” are the posers: folks who posture as high-volume operators to sell coaching, pitch wholesale they can’t close themselves, or otherwise leverage a brand to extract value from rookies. There are countless legitimate ways to invest—flips, rentals, wholesales, creative deals—and plenty of small investors doing good work. The distinction here is about honesty, not headcount.

A quick framing before the red flags

• Being small doesn’t make someone a fraud. The host openly identifies as a small-time investor whose primary job is brokerage—by design.

• Volume investors usually have marketing budgets and teams for off-market lead generation. That’s different from personal self-promotion.

• There’s nothing inherently wrong with creative financing, education, or networking. The issue is when these become fronts for a lack of real activity—or when they’re used to mislead.

With that frame set, here are the specific signals he calls out.

Red flags that someone is…not a real one

1) A personal brand takes center stage

If an “investor’s” face is the product, that’s a tell. The high-volume operators he encounters rarely center themselves; at most, their company has a marketing presence to reach sellers. When an individual turns themself into the brand, the goal often shifts from doing deals to selling an image—usually to rookies.

The logic is straightforward: motivated sellers don’t need a celebrity; they need certainty. A billboard beard doesn’t move a contract forward. When the spotlight is bigger than the deal pipeline, be cautious.

2) 100% dependence on creative financing

“Subject-to,” seller financing, and other creative tools have a place. The host has used them, and he’s worked with clients who have, too. But when someone only does creatively financed deals, it often signals one of three things:

• no banking relationships,

• no private or hard-money access, or

• no liquidity.

None of that is immoral—but it typically indicates rookie status or thin resources. Real ones use creative structures when they’re the best fit; they don’t need them to make every deal happen.

3) Posting before-and-after photos from flips

It’s tempting to showcase transformations. But repeatedly blasting “before” pics that reveal termite damage, moisture issues, or behind-the-wall conditions can backfire. Buyers (or their agents) can find those posts, raise flags, or even start peeling back drywall—literally and figuratively.

The calculus is simple: huge risk, minimal reward. If the motivation is social validation rather than deal execution, that’s a sign. Routine, public before-and-afters from major rehabs are a hallmark of not real ones in real estate investing.

4) “Educator” as the main business

There’s respect here: it’s hard to make a living teaching. But in practice, those who become full-time educators stop operating at high volume. Education takes time—constant content, courses, and community management. If someone is primarily selling how-to, they’re usually not simultaneously cranking out deals. That doesn’t make them bad actors; it just means the activity they monetize isn’t the activity they market.

5) Organizing (not just attending) constant networking events

Busy investors might drop into a meetup. They don’t have time to run them monthly. When someone’s calendar revolves around hosting events, that can signal a pipeline problem—and a pivot toward visibility instead of velocity.

6) Hyperactive on beginner platforms

Posting occasionally is normal. Living on forums frequented by rookies signals a target audience: rookies. Again, that’s not inherently wrong—but it can indicate the real product is followers, not properties.

7) The wholesaler who “will just buy it himself”

A real-world pattern the host sees: a wholesaler circulates the same deal for months, claims he’ll close it personally if buyers won’t, and…keeps circulating the same deal. If someone could close, they would. When words and actions diverge, trust the actions.

A few clarifications that matter

• Small ≠ fake. Owning a handful of rentals or doing occasional flips can be excellent—and honest. You don’t need 200 doors to be legit.

• Team deals aren’t lies—unless they’re presented as solo feats. A portfolio split among 10–30 partners isn’t the same thing as personal ownership of every unit. Transparency is the key.

• Broker first, investor second is a valid choice. In this case, brokerage is the primary job by intention. Investing happens on the side—without a separate marketing budget, cannibalizing that focus.

Why this distinction protects new investors

The people most at risk are those just getting started—exactly the crowd attracted to big personalities, glossy “transformations,” and the promise of easy financing. The host’s advice, woven through the episode, is to interrogate the why behind the feed:

• Why the personal brand?

• Why only creative deals?

• Why the constant meetups?

• Who is the content aimed at?

• What actually closes, and how often?

If the answers orbit attention, not execution, you’re likely dealing with not real ones in real estate investing.

What real ones tend to do instead

From years around both camps, the pattern is consistent:

• Keep marketing budgets focused on finding motivated sellers—not on building celebrity.

• Use a mix of financing (bank, private, hard money), with creative tools as options—not crutches.

• Avoid posting “evidence” that can undermine finished work.

• Spend time on deals, not on constant panels, photo ops, and meet-and-greets.

• Talk straight about scale, partners, and focus.

There’s nothing glamorous about this list. That’s the point.

Watch Or Listen To The Selling Greenville Podcast

Subscribe to the Selling Greenville podcast for real-time insights, bold perspectives, and unfiltered takes on the Upstate housing scene. Whether you’re buying, selling, or simply watching the market unfold—this is where Greenville goes to stay informed.

Bottom Line

The investing universe is big enough for wholesalers, buy-and-holders, flippers, creative-finance tacticians, and one-house-a-year owner-occupants. The line that matters isn’t strategy; it’s sincerity. Real ones do the work and describe it plainly. Not real ones in real estate investing make themselves the story, rely on showy signals, and court beginners for income.

If you’re new, you don’t need cynicism—you need filters. Watch how often someone closes, how they finance, how they communicate, and who they’re talking to. Then decide who earns your attention (and your dollars).

Ien Araneta

Journal & Podcast Editor | Selling Greenville