Newbie trying TurnKey Investment

[Nancy E.]

Good Morning Fellow Investors,

I am writing this post in hopes of getting some advice, recommendations, or prudent remarks from investors who have a lot more experience with real estate than I do. Since my time is limited (working FT as a finance analyst and PT as an adjunct), I decided my first real estate venture would be through a turnkey investment property company.

Therefore, I researched several companies and narrowed my selection to the following: JWB Real Estate Capital (Jacksonville, Fla), Norada Real Estate Investment Co. (Laguna Niguel, Ca). and HomeUnion Investment Services (Irvine, Ca).

There are many other turnkey investment companies depending on location and services to be provided, but these three to date, have answered all of my questions.Each company offers different services with different cost, which I am prepared to fund, if necessary.

However, before signing a contract, I was hoping my fellow Bigger Pockets investors would reply to this post. Please interject, if anyone has recommendations or cautious words that I should be aware of? Your feedback is appreciated and I thank you in advance for reading my post.

Nancy E.

[Alex Craig]

Here is the advice that I would give you. 

• Go to the market that you want to invest in and meet the team. This is a minimal cost to make sure you're spending your money wisely. See the thread on the Birmingham turnkey provider ripping a BP investor off
• Be comfortable I am impressed with the property manager. To be impressed though, would mean talking to a few property managers within the market. That being said, I do advise sticking with the turnkey provider for management on the back end to create accountability
• Leave the properties with abnormally high ROI with rents under $850 (maybe $795 depending on the market) to the local investors. These are very high maintenance, intense hands on management, that really should be done by the person that owns the property. These are commonly referred to as C class
• Order a third-party property inspection
• Make sure the property has been rehabbed to turnkey quality that will maximize your cash flow (roof and HVAC updated, ceramic tile it kitchen and bath, vinyl plank hardwood in high traffics areas, durable carpet installed in bedrooms, external fences and buildings addressed during the rehab, supply hoses replaced under the sinks, etc) otherwise your cash flow will go to maintenance
• Be skeptical of the one-year tenant warranty, that just means the turnkey provider is making a abnormally large profit who uses gimmick marketing to secure investors
• Verify rent range through other property managers, Craig's list and Zillow
• Ask if permits were pulled during the rehab
• If a tenant is in place, ask to see the tenant file
• Remember, you can fix the house, you can fix the tenant, you can fix the property manager, but you can't fix the area.  The very conscientious to the area that you invest. If it is a area in decline now imagine what it will be in 10 years

I could probably think of some more, but that is what I could come up with off the top of my head.  Do research, take into consideration what I said and then take action! Don't let other BP members talk you out of turnkey because there are a lot of turnkey haters, just because it is not right for them, does not mean that is not right for you.  There are plenty of success stories within my company and my competitors companies that disprove the turnkey haters.