HomeUnion vs RoofStock vs DoorVest

[Shweta Bharti]

Hi Folks

I am a newbie in real estate area and looking for passive income sources from Rental Properties. I currently live in NY so would look for out of state option only. Being a Software Developer by profession, I would definitely need a property manager to take care of the tenants, necessary repairs and the property. While doing my own research on the internet, I came across HomeUnion and RoofStock as well known companies providing help to the rental property investors. From a Facebook ad, I also came across DoorVest but this is pretty new in the market (only 1+ year) so not sure if people on BiggerPockets would have any feedback for DoorVest.  

1. RoofStock: They are charging 0.5% on buying cost of the house.  And then they will connect me to few Property Mgrs and then it would be between me and the property mgr to deal with his/her service fee. 

2. HomeUnion: I liked talking to them. They are charging 3.5% on buying cost of the house, and then fixed fee plans for Property Mgmt, i.e. even if the property is vacant and property manager is still searching for tenant, I would still need to pay the same fee to the Property Mgr.

3. DoorVest: Charging 8% fee on the buuying cost of the house, and then they have their own property managers who would nit charge me if the house is vacant, and will charge 15% a month for each month tenant is staying in the house.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback about any of these companies if anyone here have bought any property from them or have dealt with them in any way? Also, their service fee varies a lot and that confuses me more.   

[Taylor L.]

There have been a few folks posting about Roofstock experiences on BP, which you can find via the search function. I haven't seen the others discussed but you may find otherwise. There are other turnkey companies to consider as well, including Norada (@Marco Santarelli) and Mid South Homebuyers. 

Definitely 110% recommend you go to @James Wise's YouTube channel and watch his videos on turnkey investing gone wrong. He has a great guide to evaluating turnkey properties, accompanied with many case studies of people who did not follow those steps and lost big money because of it. A couple hours of watching YouTube could save you tens of thousands (or hundreds of thousands, based on some of the case studies)!

Also be aware that turnkey isn't your only option for investing from a distance without managing tenants for yourself. Go the turnkey route if you like it though! Nothing wrong with that at all.