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TURNKEY V Do It Yourself Nightmares
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People, especially New Zealanders where I come from, hate paying fees.
We are well known as a DIY (Do It Yourself) culture makes us all about saving a buck where we can and going around systems to get a better deal.
I learned many years ago that this was often false economy. Not dotting "I"s and crossing "T"'s and not paying for expertise where it was needed often cost me a lot. And by a lot I mean so much I am afraid to work out how big the number is but it has at least 7 digits in it.
I was thinking about this topic this week because of an experience of an acquaintance of mine
in Memphis. Now I am not saying this person was trying to cut corners, I don't know their
rationale actually, but the results have ben typical of many people I have tried to help after the
fact.
My friend, let's call him John, was looking at buying in the USA. He contacted me about the
time things were really bad for us in NZ and so my own issues at the time may have concerned
him about using us, which was fair enough.
So he came to the USA and looked at some property and connected with what is generally
known to be one of the bottom feeders in the city. I hadn't heard from him for many moons
when recently I saw a sale to John for a property I had looked at about a year ago. The house
barked like a dog when I looked at it so I wrote to John saying I had seen the sale and
expressing my grave concern about his future with it. He had paid way too much and it had a
significant flooding issue which I knew the bottom feeding wholesaler would not have warned
him of.
He thanked me and as it turned out he was having issues with his wholesaler and was coming
over to change property managers and "sort things out".
So last week he advised me that after shifting the property to proper management they
discovered what I already knew, property was a problem. In fact in addition to the flooding it
had mold issues that the authorities were aware of and was going to cost the thick end of 20K
to put right.
So what started out as a cheap deal by avoiding the usual costs has ended up with around a
70K debt on a 30K house and no sign of a realistic exit or recovery.
Prior to doing our own acquisition we worked with Memphis largest wholesaler and their
expertise kept us safe, although occasionally we had issues with lower end property.
Now we buy our own homes so we know exactly where to buy, how to rehab and how to keep
clients safe. Yes we have to make money but I would rather have someone like me helping
and pay them something for that security than end up like John!
So, moral of the story is if you are going to buy in the USA, let us help. And if you
don't like us then DON'T do it yourself, get someone with feet on the ground and your
interests in their heart or keep your money at home. It is SO EASY to get taken advantage of
here, but get it right and the results are spectacular.
Stay Safe ~ Dean
PS: I know it sounds corny to say that a company should have your "interests in their heart" but I do mean it.
Making money out of Turnkey wholesaling is about repeat clients who keep buying more
and more houses. And the key to that is to LOOK AFTER THEM!
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