All Forum Posts by: Cailyn Aune

Are there ALTERNATIVES to TURNKEY INVESTING? You know... somewhere an out-of-state investor (or local investor) could find a "team" of people already in place to find/buy deals.... and then they have a trusted PM to recommend?? (PLEASE no FOR or AGAINST arguments for turnkey.... I've read thousands of posts on everyone's thoughts... just wondering what OTHER options are out there for investors like myself...)

I've have been crunching numbers like crazy. And I just can't get the turnkey returns that I was hoping for. I haven't ruled it out yet, but I know in the back of my head, if I didn't go through a turnkey company, I'm sure I could improve my numbers. 

Of course the appeal of turnkey... I'm paying someone to spend the TIME getting a house rent ready, I have no history of fixing homes/rehabbing them, I want homes with a trusted PM (not easy to find though), and it opens up markets across the country. 

So my question..... is it a dumb one? Is the alternative to turnkey investing something that even exists?? Or is it non-existent? I guess I don't maybe know the right verbiage to use ...

Randy Steele - hey Randy! I think I missed your post to me! My husband and I were cracking up at your last line... ".. Methanol, you know the usual!" Ha ha... Sounds like you guys are off to a great start..! Good to know others who are as "full" as we are- are making it work. I went to PLU so I know the Parkland area VERY well... I have some questions for you. I will PM in the next few days!

So fun to see all the Puget Sound folks popping up on this thread... nice to meet all of you!

@Kelly Moffat- A shout out to Everett.... I was born and raised there! Loved it! :o) I came down to PLU for school and stayed in the Tacoma area since I was 18. Welcome to BP! It is BY FAR the best education you will ever get in real estate... all in one place, and for free. Insane. You will find a wealth of information in many forms. Keep connecting with others, I have been so amazed and blessed by how much people have been willing to help me. It sounds like you have a good plan in place for how you want to invest, great motivation, and goals... you're off to a better start than most, before you even start. Keep up the good work!

Hey William- Welcome to BP! Enjoy the wealth of knowledge there is to be found here! I'm not a real estate expert, but I have lived in Tacoma for my adult life. If you have any questions about the area at all, either about a location to move personally, or an area to invest- I know just about every area of Tacoma, and a good chunk of the surrounding areas. I'd be happy help in any way I can. Good luck!

@Christopher Griffin- I have been doing analysis of VERY similar stats of cities all across the country... seeing how things compare to one other, and at least trying to see if there are places to weed out, or anything that pops out as being worthy compared to another place. So many places have their pros and cons... it's difficult to see the forest through the trees!

However, with that being said, as a generalization, I would say that the Tacoma market stacks up pretty darn well compared to the rest of the country.

If you do decide you want to look into Tacoma, or have questions about certain areas... drop me a line- I can give you the general feel for any area in Tacoma- I've lived here for 18 years.

@David Thompson- Thanks Dave! I agree.... might as well start with the better information, right? :)

@Mike Makkar- 
That is part of what I'm trying to evaluate. I do want to see how my own "backyard" compares to the rest of the country. I am definitely new to all of this, so I'm not certain I couldn't find great deals close to home. In some respects, I know just as much about Olympia, as I do Cleveland. :o) So unless it is literally, Tacoma.... it all feels very unknown. But I do know that if I do choose to go out of state, I better known darn well why I'm not investing in Tacoma.

Another piece of this... is that all the homes I"m finding locally that fit the numbers to produce cashflow (and there aren't many really, inventory is somewhat low), all need some work, or some substantial work. My husband and I have no experience with this- with already running our own business, would it make more sense to go turnkey and save the TIME of managing contractors and fixing homes that you know nothing about??? Maybe I am just still not sure how to go about this. :o) THAT is very possible, and I'm not afraid to say it out loud. :o)

Thanks for the link to that thread - I'm going to check it out.

@Cj Juan- Thanks for the introduction! I'm looking for two things.... 1. An experienced and capable "handy man" for anything that might come up with a rental that needs addressed, and 2. Trustworthy contactors for a home that needs rehabbing....  Where do you see yourself... more #1, or more #2? Thanks Cj!

@Mike Makkar- That totally makes sense- and I appreciate your perspective! Obviously, this is a lot of general information for sure... even I knew Dallas and Austin were good markets... ha ha. :o) I'm just trying to sort through some big picture pieces... before selecting a few general markets to get specific on. I agree... I know exactly what streets I would and wouldn't buy on in my city, almost completely... so yes- I know what you mean... getting down to the zip codes is a game changer. 

However, if I was to buy out of state... would it make more sense to at least be able to weed out a few markets and go to markets that have in general, better vacancy rates, more demand, appear to have stronger job growth, and potentially more favorable taxes, or even states that are more favorable to landlords....?? Does that make sense?

I know a lot of people say that a good PM in a ok market is a lot better than a poor PM in a good market.... Well, what if you could have both?? I guess that's what I'm trying to figure out.
Is this a helpful tool to at least try to avoid the lesser markets....?

Okay... I would love any and all thoughts!
Thanks!

Any seasoned real estate investors willing to check out this website and tell me if you think this ranking is pretty accurate or not?? Is it a trustworthy source?

I've been putting together this spreadsheet as I'm analyzing rental markets across the country, and seeing how my local market compares.... I've been picking through endless websites, trying to find up-to-date and accurate information regarding all sorts of categories that might affect a rental market. 

I stumbled across this website, and it had a LOT of the information I was trying to find, all in one place. If you read this page you can see the criteria for how they are coming up with these rankings for each city. Then towards the top is the last report they released which was in Q2 2015  (It doesn't take long to review it.)

http://www.allpropertymanagement.com/rental-rankin...

What do you think??

@Eric Fernwood I appreciate all of this so much. I will definitely be checking out your articles on your page... thank you! I'm in a huge learning-intake/feels like I'm drinking from a fire hydrant right now trying to sort through SO much of what there is to know... and trying to deal with it one topic at at time... whew! Thank you! I'm in the process of researching markets, and LV has just been added to my list to see how these handful of cities all stack up against one another. I'm going to take your advice for how to find a market....
Also.. Love what you said about creating PROCESSES.... I agree!