Update #2
I had a meeting with customer success specialist at Doorvest. It was about ~15minutes going over any questions that I have + going over general future steps. It was carried out through zoom so it was very convenient
- The employee that I had a meeting with was really professional and nice. I had fear + uncertainty going into Doorvest so I asked alot of questions, but she went through all the questions in details and emphasize with my situation.
- The appointment was generally about going over questions, but also another part of figuring out my investment appetite. They divide the investment strategies into three categories: normal, aggressive, passive.
- These categories are based on cash on cash ROI. For instance (numbers are not exact), if I put down 50K for downpayment, aggressive strategy may return $300/month (after mortgage payment, fees, etc.,) and normal strategy may return $200/month, and passive strategy may return $150/month. Again these numbers are just examples to help understand what cash on cash ROI is.
- Aggressive strategy will buy a cheaper house, which is why it results in bigger cash on cash ROI. On the other hand, passive strategy will buy more expensive house at a nicer neighborhood. So obviously, there is less risk if you go for passive strategy, but that results in less cash on cash ROI.
- I said I want to go for normal investment strategy. This usually involves putting down 20% down payment on 150K-170K houses. The exact return is yet to be known since I'm very early in the stage. It seems like it will return ~$200/month pure cash after all mortgage payments, fees to Doorvest, maintenance, vacancy fees, etc., I will update the exact number in this thread in the future.
- Here is how Doorvest works in general: The houses are only located in Houston. Doorvest first buys the house and renovates them. The houses they buy are in non-flood zone. After they renovate, they sell it to Doorvest clients (people like me) for ~150K-170K. Doorvest connects me to their mortgage partners (you don't have to go with them) and we put down the down payment. After that, the house ownership is transferred over to me. From then on, Doorvest will be our property manager. They look for tenants, take care of the house, etc., If there are any issues with tenants or house needs maintenance, Doorvest reaches out to us by email and Doorvest also has online platform where we can keep track of all the statuses + income/expenses. Everything is done online and I don't have to do a single thing.
- Fees are 15% of the rent. It's very expensive compared to other property manager. Doorvest will not take fees if place is vacant, so both parties have the interest to get the tenant fast. First year, rent is guaranteed even if the place is vacant. If door knob break (giving a simple example), Doorvest will charge me the price of door knob + contractor fees (Doorvest will not collect additional fees for themselves). If something like garage door broke (or something very expensive), you have an option to split the payment. No need to pay upfront for everything.
- Doorvest is the property manager. They will not use another third party property manager, which I thought this was good.
- If Doorvest goes bankrupt, all I need to do is find a new property manager. Hopefully, they don't go bankrupt lol
- In order to get started with the process, I have to pay $1000 deposit. Fully refundable at any point.
- You can choose to pay more than 20% down if you wish. Thats totally up to you and lender. Doorvest doesn't care.
After the meeting, I said I will move forward and paid the deposit of $1000. I got an email after saying that I would have to wait about ~4weeks. After 4weeks, they will present me with houses that I can purchase.
In general, my overall feeling was that Doorvest is good if you're super busy and don't have time to really dig into real estate. Doorvest takes care of literally everything from buying house, finding tenants, fixing houses, etc., If you're really good with real estate investment, Doorvest is not worth it. I think for people like myself who is a first timer + i have full time work and family, is a worth it.
I will continue the journey in this thread!
