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Wall Street Fumbles. You Flip.

Last time I checked, the pros in any sport are the ones doing it for money.

The amateurs? They're in it for fun, for the exercise, for the hobby.

So why is it that when a former plumber with no college degree builds a successful real estate portfolio, the media still calls him an “amateur”…

But when an iBuyer burns hundreds of millions of dollars not making a profit, we call them the “pros”?

Something doesn’t add up.

Let’s talk about it.

They ran a story in Arizona a while back — CNBC picked it up. It was about a blue-collar guy who started flipping houses and buying rentals. No formal finance training. No fancy capital stack. Just common sense, hard work, and a commitment to learning.

He was thriving.

Meanwhile, OpenDoor — the supposed “professional” — was losing money hand over fist in the exact same market. And hedge funds were busy flooding in with their spreadsheets, chasing yield with bulk buys… only to get outmaneuvered by someone who actually knew the neighborhood.

And this wasn’t a fluke. It was a pattern.

So I said what everyone else was thinking:

The Myth of the Professional Investor

What exactly makes someone a “professional investor”?

Is it the size of the fund?

The depth of the Excel model?

The fact that their logo was on a Super Bowl ad?

Because when you look at results, the “pros” aren’t doing all that hot.

Let’s look at Opendoor, one of the biggest names in iBuying.

• They’ve been at this for years.

• They’ve raised billions in capital.

• They have Ivy League MBAs, data scientists, machine learning models, and a footprint in dozens of U.S. markets.

And yet… they’ve barely broken even.

In Q2 of 2025, Opendoor reported its first quarter of adjusted EBITDA profitability — a whopping $23 million on $1.6 billion in revenue.

But even then, they posted a net loss of $29 million.

Let that sink in:

$1.6 billion in top-line revenue… and they still lost money.

They also reported a shrinking contribution margin and a slowdown in acquisitions.

The Big Guys Have a Big Problem

It’s not just Opendoor.

Hedge funds and institutional buyers flooded into residential real estate during the pandemic years. They bought in bulk, overpaid in bulk, and rehabbed in bulk — thinking they could industrialize the process.

But here’s what they ran into:

• Local construction costs they didn’t understand

• Tenants they couldn’t screen well from 2,000 miles away

• Markets that shifted before their models could react

• City inspectors who didn’t care about hedge fund timelines

They’re great at raising money.

They’re great at running spreadsheets.

But when it comes to executing at the street level?

They’re lost.

Meanwhile, the “Amateurs” Are Out Here Printing Profits

Now contrast that with the so-called amateurs:

• A woman in Atlanta flips three houses a quarter with 25% ROI.

• A guy in Ohio buys BRRRRs off probate lists and cash flows $400/unit.

• A family in Texas runs co-rooming strategies on small properties and earns 2–3x the market rent.

These investors:

• Know their neighborhoods

• Work their networks

• Screen their tenants personally

• Price their rehab materials to the screw

• Negotiate their deals without needing a legal team

They don’t have data scientists.

They don’t have 9 layers of approval.

They don’t need to hit scale to be profitable — they just need to be smart.

The Dirty Secret of iBuying

Here’s what really gets me:

The iBuyer model is fundamentally dishonest.

It pitches sellers on “convenience” while lowballing them on price.

It automates repair pricing and flips houses with thin margins, acting like a tech company… while hiding that they’re just wholesalers in Silicon Valley clothing.

They mask operational failure with capital infusions and marketing blitzes.

They act like they're reinventing real estate when they’ve barely mastered contractor management.

It’s all smoke, mirrors, and VC money.

Meanwhile, small investors are:

• Actually solving problems for distressed sellers

• Actually improving neighborhoods

• Actually turning a profit

• And actually building wealth for themselves and their families

That’s not amateur hour.

That’s how the business is supposed to work.

So Who’s Really the Pro?

Let me be clear:

• If you’re studying your market...

• If you’re underwriting your deals with discipline…

• If you’re solving real problems and making smart investments…

• If you’re turning a profit in a market the “pros” are losing money in…

You’re not the amateur.

You’re the pro.

And just because you don’t run a fund or work out of a Manhattan office doesn’t mean you don’t belong in the conversation.

Final Word

Let the media call you what they want.

But in this business, profit is the scoreboard.

And the so-called “amateurs” are winning the game.

So keep your head down.

Work your market.

Know your numbers.

And remember:

You don’t need billions in venture capital to flip a house.

You just need a good deal, a solid team, and the guts to pull the trigger.

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