Are turnkey investors losing their minds?

[Jesse S.]

I own two out of state SFRs in Memphis that I purchased from a turnkey provider about a year ago. I’m looking to add a few more to my portfolio but I’ve had a hard time finding properties that fit my investment criteria (i.e. price point, target rent, neighborhood, etc). I’m on the distribution list for a couple different turnkey providers in Memphis for investors that are ready to purchase. Recently there were three properties that looked promising that I wanted to investigate further.   Property #1- All that was listed for this property was an address, price, and projected rent. They deal packet wasn’t ready yet so I couldn’t see the scope of work, so I requested it and they promised to send it to me by the end of the day. About 4 hours later, they responded again and said that somebody else already reserved the property (without seeing the SOW).   Property #2- Full deal packet was available, I took a few hours to run my own financial projections, look at comparables, look at the neighborhood, and ultimately decided that I wanted to buy it. I emailed the office to reserve it, and they responded in 30 mins that the property was already taken.   Property #3- I opened the email immediately when I received it in a cab and the full deal packet was available. I did some light touch due dilligence while in the cab, and then 40 mins later I reopened the deal packet and saw that it was already taken.   In all three instances, properties were released and then reserved within a matter of hours (if not minutes!). How can anyone do due diligence to know what they are buying in that time? Have investors become so savvy that they know what 2-3 metrics matter and only focus on them? Or have investors lost their mind because they are so desperate for yield that they buy anything called “turnkey” and assume it’s a good deal?   I take this as a massively worrying sign and I’m tempted to stay on the sidelines until things cool down. Once we get a dip, then I’d be ready to pick up a bunch of places once the demand slows. Is anyone else noticing the same thing?

[Frank S.]

@jesse s.  You are not alone. In my experience “locking up the contract” with certain phrases does not work well. In fact, it hurts. Sellers, agents, wholesalers and investors are well aware of this tactic and will simply not reply or reply back with an “as is” offer especially if the property is getting a lot of interest.

Buying is the easy part. You can buy anything. Selling for profit and/or returns and creating a smart exit strategy is the hard part.

Your analysis is a rational decision process. What I am beginning to see in the market is irrational.

That tells me something about this market…