Super newbie, looking to start with a Turnkey provider

[Lara Chinarro]

Hi everyone!

After listening to a lot of podcasts and reading lots of threads, I am very excited to be writing here!

I am starting my research for a good turnkey provider. I am in the DC area, so investing locally is out of the question, but would like to start investing in real state.

We have some money for either a couple/three of down payments or a cash purchase. I know many turnkey providers work only with cash buyers. Should we go for those or try to find the ones who would let us use some leverage?

Nice to meet everyone!

[James Wise]

Originally posted by @Lara Chinarro:

Hi everyone!

After listening to a lot of podcasts and reading lots of threads, I am very excited to be writing here!

I am starting my research for a good turnkey provider. I am in the DC area, so investing locally is out of the question, but would like to start investing in real state.

We have some money for either a couple/three of down payments or a cash purchase. I know many turnkey providers work only with cash buyers. Should we go for those or try to find the ones who would let us use some leverage?

Nice to meet everyone!

 Welcome to the site Lara. You should definitely use leverage. The ability to use financing is one of the things that makes real estate investing so unique. You can't walk into your bank and ask for a loan to buy bitcoin or invest in the stock market. However you can absolutely and should absolutely walk into your bank and ask for a loan to buy real estate. The loans you can get on real estate investments also happen to be the best loans there are. They are 30 year terms and come with low tax deductible interest rates. Literally the best money you can borrow.

As for working with a turnkey provider investing out of state specifically it's not really that complicated to buy out of state. It only becomes complicated when investors try to over complicate or over think everything. Whenever you are buying a property out of state you should do a few things to ensure it's as smooth as possible.

• Don't buy in the roughest neighborhood in the urban core. Pick a solid B-Class suburban area. Perhaps a nice 1950's built bungalow.
• Always hire a 3rd party property inspector to give you an unbiased feel for the home. The reports are 40-90 pages long and go through the entire house in great detail.
• Get an appraisal. If your using financing the bank requires this. This is good. The bank isn't going to let you blow their money. They have more skin in the game then you do.
• Make sure you get clear title. If using a lender this is a non issue. They will make you do this. It's those maniacs that buy homes cash via quit claim deed off of craigslist that really get screwed.
• Make sure your property manager is a licensed real estate brokerage.
• Understand you can not eliminate all risk, only mitigate it. If you are risk adverse real estate, (especially out of state) is not for you.