He Got His Money Back and Kept 680 Apartments | Ken McElroy

Ken McElroy got the invested capital back and still retained ownership of a 680-unit apartment property. Grant Cardone breaks down how the deal worked.

Ken recounts buying the distressed San Antonio property from a bank for about $21 million, improving operations, and refinancing after roughly two years to repay investors. He estimates the property's value at $70-$80 million at the time of this conversation.

Grant and Ken also discuss recapitalizing older properties, moving capital into newer Class A apartments, buying below replacement cost, and finding opportunity in the rent roll.

In this conversation:
• How a half-empty property became a long-term hold
• Why location mattered more than the property's condition
• How refinancing returned invested capital
• Why older buildings can demand more capital repairs
• What Ken looks for in newer apartment acquisitions

CHAPTERS
00:00 Money back, 680 apartments retained
00:18 Buying the distressed bank-owned deal
01:44 The roughly $21 million purchase
02:14 A bad asset in a good location
02:30 Stabilize, refinance and repay investors
03:06 What is the property worth?
03:26 Grant explains the “infinite return”
04:31 Recapitalizing existing properties
05:04 Why older buildings get expensive
05:44 Pulling capital out while staying invested
06:31 Moving into newer Class A apartments
07:24 Why accept a lower cap rate?
07:47 Replacement cost, cash flow and rent upside

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Figures are the speakers' recollections and estimates at the time of recording. Capital returned through refinancing does not mean a property is debt-free. This discussion is educational; investment results vary.

#GrantCardone #KenMcElroy #RealEstateInvesting

Cameron Long

Cameron Long

Cameron is a seasoned CFO and CPA with 31 years in finance. He created the AI Trader's Playbook to help everyday investors use AI to find high-confidence trades — in minutes, not hours.

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20 Comments

  1. anyone can buy an apartment cheap and when interest rates are low and then make money on it. Why don’t we see an episode about how Ken has cost investors tens of millions of dollars? He’s had some complexes go completely under, but you won’t hear a word about that, imo

  2. Comparing Sairium to other recent launches is like comparing Bitcoin to a meme coin. Sairium is in a completely different league.

  3. “infinite return” is not possible in reality. The cash flow obviously cannot be infinite and the initial invested capital does not go away in terms of the calculation of return.
    Also, infinite return implies infinite risk, which means instant default or instant negative cash flow. So even if infinite return was possible, you don’t want it.

  4. The way this presale is moving, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone like Elon drops a cryptic “SAI” tweet next month. I’m not banking on it — but I’m stacking Sairium SAI token just in case.

  5. “I could care less if I make money, I want my investors covered first” is a leadership mindset dressed up as a real estate strategy.

  6. I keep coming back to the idea that freedom and money aren’t exactly the same thing. Money obviously helps, nobody serious is pretending otherwise, but if every extra dollar requires another piece of your time then there’s eventually a ceiling to what that money can actually do for you. Behind the Dark Side of Power by Elliot Westmore explores that tension quite a bit. This video put it into much simpler words though.

  7. What’s funny is people hear “system” and immediately assume someone is talking about some giant conspiracy 😂. Most systems aren’t hidden at all. Taxes aren’t hidden. Corporate structures aren’t hidden. Incentives aren’t hidden. Ownership isn’t hidden. They’re just boring enough that most people never bother learning about them. That’s actually one of the more interesting ideas around Behind the Dark Side of Power by Elliot Westmore.

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