What are good questions to ask when looking for a good turnkey real estate investment service company?

[BJ Min]

Hi,

I'm very new to real estate investing and very busy with my own business.

So I think it'd be better suited for me to invest through turnkey real estate investment companies that do the work for you.

Any good questions to ask them to find out what is good or bad?

And any well known or popular ones out there?

Thank you
BJ

[Rob Cee]

1. It's not just the turn key company you want to research, do a lot of due diligence on the city you are investing in and the neighborhood.  The neighborhood is key (Is it getting better?  What is the demographic make up?  How are the schools?  What is going to attract strong tenants who stay a long time?)

2. Try to get some non biased opinions on if what you are buying is a good deal from other local landlords that are NOT AFFILIATED with the turn key sales company (maybe you can find some local investors on BP that you could run the property you are looking at by that have no connections with the turn key company).  

3. Try to find an out of state investor who has owner similar properties in the area you are looking at over the LONG TERM.  The key word here is LONG TERM.  You will find a lot of people who post on BP that just started buying out of state properties 1-3 or so years ago.  You want to find someone that has owned say for at least 8 years.  Then you will get the full unvarnished truth of what it is like to own a similar property to what you are contemplating over a long period of time.  People who are just getting started are often in the "honeymoon phase" and you won't get the true story. 

4. Try to look closely at the comparable sales in the appraisal, make sure all the comps aren't just other "turn key" properties sold to out of state investors.  

5. Make sure you get a really good home inspector that has no affiliations with the turn key sales company.