"Don't Buy A Home!" Ben Mallah's Final Warning For The 2026 Real Estate Market

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**Ben Mallah** (0:52)
Not everybody's cut out to be rich. That's a fact.
You got to have that burning desire inside of you. We pay $43 million for this place. I'm not just talking out of my a**, like a lot of people. I'm out there doing it. Class is back in session. If you're in real estate, the most important person in your life is your banker.

**Graham Stephan** (1:13)
Why is banking the most important thing if you're trying to build wealth then?

**Ben Mallah** (1:15)
You got enough money to buy a piece of real estate? No, average person don't. Your bank comes before your wife. The more I f***ing gave, the more they want. Don't ever buy a house for cash flow. It's stupid. We've identified this property. We're thinking about buying it.

**Jack Selby** (1:30)
Why did you buy a Tesla dealership?

**Ben Mallah** (1:32)
Would you trust Elon Musk to pay your rent? But you know what a hundred grand a month to him is? It's like you go in the store and buy a soda.

**Graham Stephan** (1:39)
Do you think it's easier than ever right now to get rich?

**Ben Mallah** (1:41)
Well, don't worry. The world needs dishwashers.

**Graham Stephan** (1:49)
Ben Mallah, you have to spend $70 million in the next few months. How difficult is it to spend $70 million?

**Ben Mallah** (1:57)
It depends whether you want to buy smart or you want to buy...
I mean, it depends. I'm out looking for deals every day. We just closed on a Tesla dealership. We just closed on a private university. We're going to contract on a brand new gym.
My son's working on an apartment building that's a major rehab. My other son's working on another rehab. I mean, you got to look, you got to find deals that make sense.

**Graham Stephan** (2:27)
So explain why you're in this position. What did you sell to have the $70 million you now need to spend?

**Ben Mallah** (2:33)
I mean, yeah, we sold quite a bit of real estate. Maybe I shouldn't have. Maybe I shouldn't have sold.

**Graham Stephan** (2:40)
What makes you say that?

**Ben Mallah** (2:40)
I thought that the market was going to turn and the banks are keeping it from turning. That's what's going on.

**Jack Selby** (2:52)
What are they doing?

**Ben Mallah** (2:54)
I mean, listen, I'm out there on the street. I'm dealing with brokers. I'm at properties. I know. I really know. I'm not just talking out of my head like a lot of people. I'm out there doing it.
And all the big shots and all the people that thought they were so brilliant that overpaid during COVID in 2021, 2022, 2023, they're getting screwed out because they didn't know what they were doing. Okay. Typically, these types of properties don't have long-term financing on them. So they all locked in at their little 3% rate. They locked it in for five years.
And now the rates doubled. They got to refinance. They got to pay the bank back. They got to cash flow. What does that mean? That means that the loans that the bank made are no longer at the same value they were when they made a loan. Why? Because the property can't cash flow a double interest rate. It's simple.
And listen, I deal with sellers every day that are just ready to throw the keys and walk away from millions of dollars in equity investment that they had. And a lot of them pool people together.
Okay, with your syndicates and raising money and all that. So, you know, a lot of people are going to lose their shirt. But the banks loan too much money. Not only the buyer, the people that bought property are going to lose. The banks have to lose. Why? Because the property ain't worth it. And a lot of these places, these people shouldn't have bought real estate to begin with. Because when I go out there, because they were bleeding, they're not operating properly. So therefore, the property deteriorates. It's not being managed properly because they don't have the experience, so they hired a management company. And the management company don't care. They have no skin in the game. So there's a lot of distress out there right now. I've looked at thousands of apartments and multifamily, and there's a ton of distress out there.