Indianapolis vs Kansas City - Turnkey Investment

[James You]

Hey everyone,

First time investor here.  I've narrowed down the cities I'm looking to invest into two areas.  As title states, Indianapolis and Kansas City.  I did a thorough research with the statstics on both regions, and it appears that both have its pros and cons.  I'm hoping to gain insights and opinions from out of state investors who have experience with both regions.  There could be many factors that can be brought up like taxes, insurance, cash flow, Cash on Cash, vacancy rate, etc, but what's most important to me is working with a PM that is responsible, savvy, and communicative.  Nothing against KC, but I did hear that Indy TKP are more responsive and act quicker.  I consider communication as one of the important aspect in moving forward.  

I plan on working with a turnkey provider and have been in contact with few so far.  Also I just booked my flight to Indy for March and would love to connect with people from the region as well.  Hope it warms up by the time I get there :)   Thank you BP community!

James (Kee June) You

[Ali Boone]

Well, a word of caution, turnkey PMs are not known for being stellar at communication. Of the whole turnkey business model, turnkey providers are typically the worst with the PM side of things. Because honestly, PM stuff is very people and communication-oriented and that's just not what makes a good turnkey company good. Finding killer deals, rehabbing....those are what make turnkeys good. 

With that said, a couple things-

- of all the turnkeys I work with, and I work both in Indy and KC, the Indy turnkey folks I know are by far the best of all the companies for communication. Doesn't mean they will be flawless, but they are significantly better than other companies I work with.

- you absolutely in no way have to use the PM that comes with a turnkey property. Once you buy the property, you can use whoever you want. So I recommend interviewing a couple-few PM companies, in addition to the one that comes with the property. Go with who you like best. In a lot of cases, turnkeys come with some guarantees (rent or scope of work) that are only good if you are using their PM. In those cases, use their PM for the length of time that the guarantee is good for and then peace out if you don't like them. To cover yourself further during that time, you can get eviction insurance so any defaults or evictions or whatever are covered. If steady income is coming in, it takes the immediate pressure of an annoying PM off your hands.

- I actually like KC better over Indy, but KC is a lot lower on inventory right now and Indy has been extremely consistent for quality.

I wrote an article on here about PM communication things, but can't think of which one it is to put the link on here. Helpful, I know :)