90% or real estate investors report losing money on a property

According to new research from Clever Real Estate, a real estate firm based in St. Louis, nearly all residential real estate investors (90%) have experienced financial losses on their investments. Nearly half (42%) report losing more money than they have gained from real estate investing.

Furthermore, almost half of the investors (42%) have lost $200,000 or more on a single investment. Alarmingly, 45% admit that a poor investment has nearly ruined them financially, and 40% regret starting to invest in residential real estate altogether.

Among residential rental investors, a staggering 87% express regrets about their investments. Common problems include dealing with problematic tenants (51%) and significant property damage caused by tenants (52%).

Approximately 40% of rental owners handle maintenance issues (41%) or repairs (40%) at least weekly, and nearly two-thirds (63%) receive complaints from neighbors about tenants at least once a month.

Additionally, 56% of respondents have had to evict a tenant at some point, and about 61% regularly need to follow up on missed rent payments.

Despite these challenges, three-quarters (75%) of investors are earning at least as much as they did in 2023, with 41% seeing increased earnings and only 14% earning less. Moreover, 44% of investors rely on their real estate income to live comfortably.