Turn Key options for first-timer?

[Stephen Tyler Adams]

Hello! I'm as green as it gets in terms of investing in real estate, I am still in my "education and saving" stage, but I wanted to hear some of your thoughts on using turn key investment companies as a way to get my foot in the world of investing as my first investment! 

Also, what are some good resources for finding rental properties for sale? Awhile back I found one, not Zillow or Rent.com,  that listed all sorts of data about the properties, such as what it currently rents for, the monthly mortgage payment, management fees and so on. It was extremely helpful and I can't remember the name! I had a bookmark saved on my old computer and it crashed haha. HELP! 

[Ali Boone]

Hey Stephen! I'll jump in before the extended debate ensues...

Most will fight me on this, but I think buying turnkey is great for first investments. Reason being--it frees you up from having to do super-advanced stuff (rehabbing, finding viable properties, finding tenants, landlording, etc.) and lets you focus on learning the fundamentals. Buying turnkey isn't brainless...you have to have some smarts getting into it or you could really miss the mark. But the things you have to learn in order to succeed with turnkeys are the exact fundamentals every investor should have no matter what kind of investing they are doing-- running numbers, market analysis, learning what makes a property a good investment, and most importantly due diligence. All of those things are going to keep you busy enough trying to learn them, so if the turnkey folks do the rest of the hard stuff for you instead of you having to add all that advanced curriculum (if you will) on, you have plenty of time to learn the fundamentals. 

Then once you learn the fundamentals, go do flipping or rehabbing or landlording or whatever you want to do if you want to do it. But at least you'll already have those fundamentals under your belt. 

People will try to tell you you'll get scammed by the turnkeys and such. Well, that's where learning due diligence comes in. It's all part of the game. I started buying turnkeys when I was a total newb having no idea what I was doing, and I wouldn't go back and change it at all.

[Dustin Cook]

Hi Stephen,
Welcome to the forums. If you do decide to buy from a turnkey provider, you absolutely must go out and visit their operation and see the rehabs and the neighborhoods they are selling in. Also check sales and rent comps. A lot of the turnkeys that hang around the forum have a very good reputation. In my experience though, with one company I visited, the rehabs were terrible, the sales prices were way higher than anything else in the neighborhood and the rents they were saying they can get were totally unjustified by the comps. There is a conflict of interest when you are buying directly from the seller and don't have a buyers agent on your side looking out for you. This is especially true when you are a new investor.

I decided to ultimately buy off the MLS using a buyers agent and have a deal under contract. It wasn't very difficult to do, it only took one day and I am confident that it is a solid deal. If I had bought with this turnkey site unseen I would have been underwater with a bad investment. Many will come and respond that turnkeys are great. I just wanted to share with you my experience and offer some words of caution one new investor to another.

[Lane Kawaoka]

Stephen Tyler Adams reach out to Joey Noel