All Forum Posts by: Gabriel Ugarte

@Molly Krief PM me if you would like. I have a great contractor, but it's against the rules for me to post his contact details here. 

@Jeffrey J. PM me and I will give you my cell if you would like to speak. Take care. 

@Josh Nicodemus I try to see the best in people as well; however, the folks at Alive lied to me about both of my properties the second we closed. They refused to take my calls and left my property totally incomplete and I had to get an attorney involved just to get a call back from them. I know of at least a handful of other investors who have experienced the same treatment. They have also refused to pay contractors as well as their salespeople. I personally would not consider this behavior of good hearted people and definitely not attribute it to just being disorganized. 

@Account Closed yes I absolutely agree with your definition of "turn key". However, the method of buying pre rehab is not a rare concept. The idea when buying this way is to buy at a much lower price than I would have if the property was completed and rented. They also offer traditional turnkey but I saved around 10k buying pre rehab. Since I purchased cash this concept made sense. They then would get it rented and manage the property if they were so competent. Unfortunately they were just too dishonest to make it work. 

Also, I visited prior to purchasing and everything appeared to be on the up and up. I even visited properties that appeared to be completed with good work. They obviously intended to take advantage of an out of state client. 

@Jay Hinrichs you are absolutely right. I have done two successful flips out of state in Texas and thought this would be a headache free way to start building a portfolio. Boy was I wrong. 

I would love to start looking closer to home in both the greater Sacramento and Reno, NV markets. The reason I started from a distance is due to my job. The city I work for as a Police Officer doesn't like what they call "part time cops" and frowns upon us having second jobs or businesses. I know it's complete BS but I have to play the game. They consider investing out of state to be more "passive" and there really isn't anything they can do about it. I am going to get my wife involved so we can focus closer to home. 

Any pointers for the Sacramento market? 

@Jay Hinrichs I have not left a review on Turn Key reviews but I absolutely will. Just yesterday I responded to a post that was asking specifically about Alive Investments so I went into more detail but I also did not want this guy to fall victim.

In June I purchased a pre rehabbed property from them. The contract stated that the rehab would be completed in 30-45 days. After having to figure everything out on my own like what certificates, licenses and inspections I needed to operate a rental in Baltimore they failed to complete the property in that time frame. Come to find out they had no intention of getting the proper inspections, etc. and never pulled a permit for this ground up rehab. 4 months later they told me my property was complete and sent me some pictures. The pictures that they took appeared to be of good work. 

Now after being told that the property was complete and being marketed for rent for two months, I decided to contact another PM company. The new PM immediately went by the property and found it incomplete and the work that was complete was very shody. Uneven floors, baseboards that don't match up, different carpets room to room and I could go on and on. So I sent in two contractors who estimated 18-20k to fix some of the major mistakes and finish the property. The contractor found electrical outlets covered by drywall. 

I knew there was something up after only 1 month of working with them when they wouldn't take my call and take at least a week to respond to emails. 

After several threats and a call from my attorney, the owner Sean is going to buy back the property because he refuses to complete and fix the work. The buy back is not final and I have a feeling that this is going to lead to a lawsuit. 

I have since spoken to other investors who are having the same issues. 

Run from Alive Investments!

If it's Alive Investments run for the hills. 

Don't do it. I purchased a property from them in June of this year. It was supposed to be completed in 30-45 days. I was told the property was finally completed in September and they were showing it to potential renters. After 2 months I contacted a different PM to go take a look at the property. What he found was incomplete work and the work that was completed was extremely bad. Luckily after several attorney and lawsuit threats they are buying the property back. I do have another good turn key provider that's finishing up another rental for me. PM me if you are interested or I can answer any more questions about Alive.  What I previously wrote was just scratching the surface.

@Aaron Bry yes you avoid capital gains after two years. 

You haven't owned the property long enough to avoid capital gains tax. That alone would keep me from selling with that little of equity. You also have to subtract out commission on the sale making your gains even smaller.