In Episode 10 of The Fitze Is Right, Maryland realtor Jen Fitze tells a story she's never shared on the podcast — her own. Not a client's deal. Not a horror story from a transaction. This is Jen and her husband's personal journey buying, renting, and selling four beach condos in Ocean City, Maryland.

It started with a dream. Growing up, Jen and Chris each had one week at the beach per year. That was all their families could afford. When they got married, they started renting the same condo in Ocean City for two weeks every summer — spending over $3,000 a year on someone else's property. After four or five years of this, Jen asked the question that changed everything: what if we just bought one?

They got approved — she still doesn't know how — and found their dream unit at the Capri. Right on the beach. Beautiful view. $10,000 over budget, because of course it was. They hired a property manager, rented it out when they weren't there, and the first year the numbers came in: $30,000 in rental income against $27,000-$28,000 in expenses. Barely breaking even — but they had a beach house.

The plan was simple: buy a new condo every two years, using the rental history to qualify for the next mortgage. By the end, they owned four units. One bedroom on the ocean. Two-bedroom oceanfronts. A bayside unit where they could watch fireworks from the balcony — Jen's absolute favorite.

Then COVID hit. No rentals allowed. Four mortgages plus their primary home. No income. "We went broke a little."

Jen pulls back the curtain on the tenant nightmares — renters who opened the sliders and ran the AC at 58 degrees all weekend, destroying the entire unit. Curling iron burns on white dressers. Bottle caps down the garbage disposal. Margarita stains on white pillows, flipped over like Jen wouldn't notice.

Eventually, they made the decision to sell. The first condo — purchased for $270,000 — sold for $475,000. Six years of equity growth. They used a 1031 exchange to defer taxes, rolled everything into a new home, and now have a tiny mortgage.

Jen's verdict on being a landlord? Social media glamorizes it. The internet makes you think it's passive income. It's not. It's a second job with no days off. It's a financial gamble. And a pandemic can wipe you out overnight. If you're going to do it, have your strategy, your team, and your expectations in order — or you're going to fail.

In this episode you'll learn:
→ How Jen and her husband went from renting to owning 4 beach condos
→ The real math of vacation rental income vs. expenses
→ What COVID did to landlords who depended on seasonal rentals
→ The worst thing tenants ever did to one of their condos
→ What a 1031 exchange is and how it defers your taxes
→ Why "passive income" from rentals is mostly a myth
→ The one lease rule every landlord should have

New episodes weekly. Follow Jen Fitze on social media for daily real estate tips.

Thanks for listening to The Fitze Is Right with Jen Fitze... the real estate podcast that tells you what your agent won't.

New episodes drop every other week. If this episode helped you or made your jaw drop, leave a 5-star review; it's the single best way to help new listeners find the show.

Got a real estate horror story of your own? We want to hear it. Send your story to @jenniferfitzecompassrealestate and Jen might read and react to it live on a future episode.

CONNECT WITH JEN: All socials @jenniferfitzecompassrealestate

WORK WITH JEN: Buying or selling a home in Maryland? Jen has over 20 years of experience helping families in Harford County, Baltimore County, and beyond. Reach out at jensellsmd@gmail.com

In Episode 9 of The Fitze Is Right, Maryland realtor Jen Fitze tells the story of the most chaotic listing of her career — one that ended with an arrest, a restraining order, and a seller she's still tagged as "incarcerated" in her CRM.

It started as a simple referral. A realtor friend at a 55-and-older new construction community in Perry Hall called Jen to list a woman's house. The seller needed to sell in order to qualify to buy in the new community. Simple enough. Jen drove down, met the woman — super sweet, 90 pounds, not even five feet tall — toured the house, which was clean and beautifully decorated. Everything seemed perfect.

Then Jen heard yelling from the basement. On the tour, one daughter's bedroom was locked with a note that said she could never show it. The stairwell to the basement had no trespassing signs posted in the seller's own home. The basement was completely off limits.

What Jen discovered: one daughter upstairs had mental health issues. Another daughter and her wife were living in the basement rent-free, screaming obscenities at their mother. The husband, sitting on the couch ignoring everything, apparently doesn't live there — and now Jen knew why.

It got worse. During listing photos, the upstairs daughter's bedroom door had warnings written on it: "Keep out. No trespassing. You'll go to jail." When the daughter was finally gone, Jen was able to see the room — the walls were covered in drawings and nasty messages to the mother. In Sharpie.

Then came the phone call no agent ever expects. The builder's agent called: "We have a problem." The 90-pound seller had been arrested for assault on her basement daughter. A restraining order was filed — against the mother. She couldn't return to her own house. The daughters threw her clothes on the front lawn.

A few days later? Arrested again. Same charge. Jen had to withdraw the listing and put in the notes: "Seller is incarcerated." The seller lost $10,000 in good faith deposit on the new construction because she couldn't sell her house. The daughters won — they were living there for free and sabotaged the entire sale.

Jen also breaks down the financial reality of being a realtor that most people don't understand: agents front all costs out of pocket, don't get paid until settlement, and if the deal falls through, they eat every dollar they invested. Plus four scenarios that can kill a deal — from financing falling through to title search surprises.

In this episode you'll learn: → What happens when a seller's family sabotages a home sale → Why the basement is where all the problems hide → What realtors actually pay out of pocket before getting paid → Why realtors only earn about $40/hour when you break it down → Four things that can kill a deal between contract and closing → Why you should never buy anything during escrow — not even gum

New episodes weekly. Follow Jen Fitze on social media for daily real estate tips.

Thanks for listening to The Fitze Is Right with Jen Fitze... the real estate podcast that tells you what your agent won't.

New episodes drop every other week. If this episode helped you or made your jaw drop, leave a 5-star review; it's the single best way to help new listeners find the show.

Got a real estate horror story of your own? We want to hear it. Send your story to @jenniferfitzecompassrealestate and Jen might read and react to it live on a future episode.

CONNECT WITH JEN: All socials @jenniferfitzecompassrealestate

WORK WITH JEN: Buying or selling a home in Maryland? Jen has over 20 years of experience helping families in Harford County, Baltimore County, and beyond. Reach out at jensellsmd@gmail.com