{"id":226031,"date":"2026-03-29T17:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T17:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/226031\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T17:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T17:49:12","slug":"ssundee-built-a-gaming-youtube-empire-hes-investing-the-spoils-in-houston-multifamily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/226031\/","title":{"rendered":"SSundee Built A Gaming YouTube Empire. He’s Investing The Spoils In Houston Multifamily"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ian Stapleton\u00a0hit it big on\u00a0YouTube, gaining 25 million subscribers who watch him play Minecraft and Roblox and\u00a0turning it into his career, something that\u00a0nearly one-third of today’s children<\/a> say they aspire to.<\/p>\n

But\u00a0Hurricane Helene forced him to think\u00a0about how quickly his audience and his income could disappear. He dove headfirst into real estate investing.\u00a0Last year, he struck a deal with Trey Stone, a seasoned Houston multifamily investor, and the two established\u00a0Track Record Assets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Placeholder\"\/<\/p>\n

\n Bisnow\/Maddy McCarty\n <\/p>\n

\n Ian Stapleton in the Track Record Assets office in Houston on March 10\n <\/p>\n

Stapleton and Stone have a goal of building up Track Record’s portfolio to 10,000 Class-B and C apartment units in Houston, taking advantage of discounts created by financial distress and improving living conditions for residents.<\/p>\n

Stapleton, also known by his screen name SSundee, lived with his wife and kids, including a 1-year-old son, in a doublewide trailer on their land in Cottageville, South Carolina. The town, an hour away from Charleston, has a population of barely 1,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a great place for Stapleton to avoid getting recognized in public, though he said he rarely left home anyway. But hurricanes seemed to blow through all the time, and Helene was the second Category 4 storm to\u00a0hit their town in as many years.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were going to build a house on this plot of land, which kind of sparked something,\u201d Stapleton said in an interview with Bisnow. \u201c\u2018If we’re going to build this nice house and all this, what happens if my YouTube career just falls off?\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

If YouTube changed its algorithm, or kids lost interest in watching his content as he aged, his income stream could disappear. He decided it was time for a second career, and\u00a0by June 2025,\u00a0he left his home base in South Carolina to go all in on\u00a0being a Houston apartment landlord.<\/p>\n

The Career Switch<\/p>\n

Stapleton, 38, began making gameplay videos on YouTube as a hobby in 2009 while serving in the U.S. Air Force, which is when SSundee was born.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He quickly found a niche playing games like Minecraft and gained\u00a0a solid following.\u00a0Shortly after he started, companies like Machinima\u00a0began approaching\u00a0creators to partner and drive revenue. Being in his early 20s, older than the other popular gaming YouTubers at the time,\u00a0Stapleton took the initiative to talk to the companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to figure out ways that we could mutually benefit each other,\u201d\u00a0he said. \u201cAnd then I was able to start making money off of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Placeholder\"\/<\/p>\n

\n Ian Stapleton, aka SSundee, during one of his YouTube episodes\n <\/p>\n

His following grew exponentially with games like Among Us, which was released in 2018 but \u201ctook the world by storm\u201d shortly after the start of the pandemic. He hired 75 employees and contractors to help him create\u00a0Among Us content for\u00a0the SSundee channel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were the only content creator on the platform creating the content that we were creating,\u201d he said. \u201cWe went from 100 million views a month to our peak, which was 370 million views a month … We exploded in growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides serving for six years of active duty and two years in the reserves, YouTube has been his only full-time job, and it\u2019s been a lucrative one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stapleton has never had a dream career, so he hadn\u2019t given a post-SSundee career much thought until the hurricane and the reality of aging hit him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said he and his family have always lived frugally and below their means, so he never blew through the significant money he earned from his YouTube career. Passively investing and living comfortably for the rest of his life was an option.<\/p>\n

But Stapleton wanted to set an example for his three sons by finding a low-risk and fulfilling way to invest his nest egg.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t new to investments in general. He looked into options, including\u00a0cryptocurrency<\/a> and the stock market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can be a [venture capitalist], invest into different companies, startups,\u201d Stapleton said. \u201cThat has a very low success rate. I’ve done that countless times over my career. Most of them fail.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The tangible nature of real estate appealed to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only do I own the asset, I can drive to the asset,\u201d he said. \u201cAs you’re paying down your note, the value goes up. That increases your equity just over time because of those two factors. For me, it was a no-brainer, buying real estate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After\u00a0escaping the\u00a0hurricane without much damage, Stapleton\u00a0quickly started two real estate investment companies. With his mother-in-law, he bought a couple of duplexes in South Carolina and became a limited partner on a few other properties. With another business partner, he invested in mobile home parks.<\/p>\n

But Stapleton wanted to go bigger, aiming to eventually own hundreds of single-family rental<\/a> properties. He pursued online real estate investment classes and mentorship programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m kind of an internet nerd, so I do a bunch of research on people,\u201d Stapleton said. \u201cI’m looking around, trying to figure out, \u2018How do I do real estate correctly?\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Placeholder\"\/<\/p>\n

\n Bisnow\/Maddy McCarty\n <\/p>\n

\n Ian Stapleton edits a video at Track Records.\n <\/p>\n

Those mentorship programs led him to connect with Trey Stone, who built up a portfolio of 6,000 units and had 21 successful exits before semi-retiring about 10 years ago. Stone had stepped away from multifamily investment to focus on fatherhood, he\u00a0told real estate\u00a0podcaster Brandon Turner<\/a>, and was \u201csummoned back\u201d by the fundamentals of today\u2019s market, reemerging around the same time he connected with Stapleton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

During their first conversation, Stone told Stapleton his goal of growing a single-family rental home portfolio would come with the workload of four full-time jobs. Multifamily properties put 200 to 300 doors in one location, simplifying operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can go there multiple times a month and check on all your doors,\u201d Stapleton said. \u201cThat was my light-bulb moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He and his family packed their bags and moved to Houston\u00a0to go all in on Track Record Assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Overcoming Distress<\/p>\n

The partners established the company last spring with plans to recruit investors to capitalize on the prolific distress in Houston\u2019s Class-B and Class-C market, where a surge of inexperienced syndicators rushed in<\/a> to buy overvalued properties using almost-free financing from 2021 to 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When interest rates<\/a> surged, so did payments on floating-rate loans, leading to a significant number of delinquent loans<\/a> and foreclosures<\/a>, as operating revenues no longer covered payments.<\/p>\n

Track Record plans to buy properties at a discount then upgrade\u00a0them to add value and improve residents\u2019 living conditions. Stapleton is now creating new-to-him content for social media to explain to potential investors that multifamily isn\u2019t dead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the past four to five years of multifamily going up in flames and a lot of people losing a lot of money, if we\u2019re going to be doing a similar thing \u2026 the only way we\u2019re going to be able to break through that is through transparency,\u201d Stapleton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He can be confident in his message because of Stone\u2019s 27 years of experience, Stapleton said. Stone, a former Houston Apartment Association<\/a> president, is a frequent guest on multifamily syndication podcasts and has spoken at events such as the Limitless Expo and the REI Summit by Brandon Turner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s the operator’s operator,\u201d Stapleton said. \u201cIf it wasn’t for him and the things that I learned from him, I would say, \u2018Yes, 100% I don’t want to touch this.”<\/p>\n

But Stone believes in being a contrarian to the system, which is why he held back during the multifamily investment heyday and is buying now that values have fallen significantly. It\u2019s important to lean on experience and mentors as a multifamily syndicator, even if your mentor might tell you something you don\u2019t want to hear, Stone said in his recent YouTube video.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He told the story of an investor who admitted not listening to him when advised against investing in two deals, saying, \u201cNope, you\u2019re chasing and buying into an up market. You\u2019re overpaying. I don\u2019t agree with the way that\u2019s being financed. Don\u2019t do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both of those deals are now upside down, Stone said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t say this to say I\u2019m some sort of genius, I\u2019ve just been around for a long time,\u201d Stone said in the video. \u201cThe longer that you\u2019re around, the more you see those market cycles. You can anticipate that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Placeholder\"\/<\/p>\n

\n Bisnow\/Maddy McCarty\n <\/p>\n

Track Record Assets is working to close its third acquisition. Stapleton said he funded the firm\u2019s first two acquisitions, rather than investors, including a 123-unit complex in East Houston. The firm is not doing any syndication fundraising for that complex, which\u00a0it\u00a0bought for about $6M, or $47K per unit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m actually putting my money where my mouth is,\u201d Stapleton said.<\/p>\n

Track Record is renovating the properties and holding them for now, while also raising money for the second property it acquired, a\u00a0268-unit complex in North Houston, for $17.8M.<\/p>\n

It’s also looking to raise money for its next property targeted for acquisition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stapleton, the firm\u2019s chief marketing officer, sees social media as a tool to potentially attract investors. But the market may have become weary of social media influencer syndicators<\/a>. In September, TikToker Teddy Miller, \u201cthe Wolf of West Virginia<\/a>,\u201d was sentenced to seven years in federal prison<\/a> for real estate scams.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WindMass Capital, whose founder said on a 2019 podcast he \u201cshouldn\u2019t really be able to do what I\u2019m doing with the limited track record that I have,\u201d is facing potential foreclosure<\/a> on a 1,400-unit multifamily portfolio in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Stapleton has a different approach, he said. He\u2019s using social media to promote transparency, showing potential and active investors exactly how their money will be used to upgrade and maintain properties, he said.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI understand how to talk to a camera. I understand what to show,\u201d Stapleton said. \u201cAnd I just want to be transparent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just about money for the\u00a0business partners. Stone grew up in a self-described \u201crough neighborhood\u201d of Pasadena, a Houston suburb, which inspired him to improve apartment complexes for the families living there in a way that also adds value, Stapleton said.<\/p>\n

Most people told him that was a pipe dream, but then he met Stone, and that\u2019s exactly what the two are doing together. Anyone could do the renovations that Stone does to his properties, but in the workforce housing<\/a> space, most people choose not to, Stapleton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTrey’s been dumbfounded for the longest time as to why people don’t do it, because doing the right thing is also the most profitable in the long term,\u201d he said. \u201cIt baffles us as to why it’s not done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stapleton hasn\u2019t abandoned SSundee. He still records on Wednesdays and releases six new videos a week. But he is rapidly learning about the world of workforce multifamily investment<\/a> while using his content production skills to inform and attract investors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to do real estate differently,\u201d he said. \u201cI don’t just want to do real estate to make money. I want to make an impact and make a change. I don’t just want to scalp people and take as much rent as possible while not really doing much for the asset.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ian Stapleton\u00a0hit it big on\u00a0YouTube, gaining 25 million subscribers who watch him play Minecraft and Roblox and\u00a0turning it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[36930,56,58,57,87599,24736,71339,87598,87597,87600,87601,3035,8802],"class_list":{"0":"post-226031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-class-b","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-headlines","11":"tag-houston-news","12":"tag-ian-stapleton","13":"tag-multifamily","14":"tag-multifamily-distress","15":"tag-multifamily-investment","16":"tag-multifamily-investments","17":"tag-track-record-assets","18":"tag-trey-stone","19":"tag-workforce-housing","20":"tag-youtube"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}