I'm trying to get started and would love to tap this community's wealth of information on potential best strategies for getting the first deal and thoughts on where I'm leaning so far.

Little background on where I'm at: I currently live in San Francisco working a well paying but stressful W-2. This has left me with some capital to deploy but a very difficult market to work with (difficult state really). Also limited time to explore other potential markets.

So I'm leaning towards out of state and looking at Turnkey at the moment. I'm particularly interest in the new construction build to rent (currently looking at Rent to Retirement and their offering in Cape Coral) as it seems like good potential in equity growth and low maintenance costs.

A few questions I would like to hear some thoughts on:

General advise for getting started - particularly looking out of state for cash flowing opportunities
If you where just getting started, what market would you choose? Why?
Thoughts on going with Turnkey to begin with? I realize that I will lose out on a lot of potential gains that the turnkey company capitalizes on, but weighing that against the time factor which I don't have a ton of.
Thoughts on going with new construction?

Really appreciate any and all thoughts on the questions above.

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Zach Lemaster

#2 Ask About A Real Estate Company Contributor

Rental Property Investor
Denver, CO

Zach Lemaster

#2 Ask About A Real Estate Company Contributor

Rental Property Investor
Denver, CO

Replied October 25, 2021 06:33

@Logan Murdock

Thanks for the mention. As you know we work across multiple different states, and have a variety of different investment opportunities available. I absolutely think that the Cape Coral new construction is one of the best opportunities we've seen in our investing career! It is important to know that we are all professional investors ourselves actually investing right along side our investors. This would 100% be accurate for SWFL. We have millions invested in builds in Cape Coral. It is an outstanding opportunity with exceptional growth potential. To be very specific, most of these homes have a significant amount of immediate equity that is a huge value for the investor. They can sell the property for a gain, do a cash out refi (BRRR) to reinvest the equity into other investments or keep the property cash flowing exceptionally well! The 4/2 model we are selling for $275k usually appraises in the $330k to $340k range on pre-construction. Just last week we had some of the highest appraisals come back at $375k & two at $400k which is mind blowing! Because we are doing volume we are able to sell significantly below what someone would normally be able to achieve on their own. Not to mention we initially projected rent at $1,850, and now seeing rents at $2,200 yo $2,300 now that these are being completed.

@Trevor Fleck would be a good person to connect with to discuss his experience working with us. He is in the process of doing 5 builds with us.

@Stetson Miller I would have to completely disagree about your statement "You hit the nail on the head with your third bullet point of the turnkey company capitalizing on your shortcomings." While there are many TK companies out there that may behave in this way, we are not one of them. Clearly seen by the example I've just outlined we allow for a significant amount of upside/equity for our clients. I would have to say this is too general of a statement that overall brings TK companies with a good reputation into the category of those that do not have a good reputation. There are many terrible RE agents out there. Same thing with contractors, builders, property managers, etc. It takes a good amount of networking to find the people that are the right fit for one's goals. I can say we have one of the best reputations you will find on this site with hundreds of very successful & happy investors. To verify this statement up I've posted some links that someone can read through to see what investors experiences have been with us. At least we can agree that SWFL is one of the best places to invest in the country right now!

Here are some forums that reference investors experience with RTR:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/ZacharyCole/references

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/518583-feedback-on-renttoretirement-and-zach-lemaster

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/765347-rent-to-retirement-review

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/850/topics/895660-my-first-investment-property-an-out-of-state-deal

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/983659-first-investment-property-with-rent-to-retirement?highlight_post=5677176&page=1#p5677176

https://www.biggerpockets.com/co/RentToRetirement

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/929410-rent-to-retirement-updates?highlight_post=5508807&page=1#p5508807

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/893621-rent-to-retirement-review?highlight_post=5222888&page=1#p5222888

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/915728-experience-with-rent-to-retirement-turnkey?page=1#p5345200

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/808479-rent-to-retirement-experiences

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/67/topics/952977-turnkey-in-indianapolis-through-rtr-case-study