All Forum Posts by: Ivana Ivanovic

 Vivan, I am aware your name is not Ivana. If you look closer you will see that there is another poster in this thread named Ivana who I was speaking to. Attention to detail is important in this business. Moving forward, I suggest you prioritize attention to detail.

Some people love them, some hate them.  I don't know them from good or bad, but I've never thought turnkey was a good deal for the investors for the most part.  Most of the turnkey companies seem to know exactly what new investors have been told to look for and provide exactly that.  However often the properties are not really in the better parts of town and don't always attract the best tenants.

I've always thought real estate is not as passive as people will make you think and maybe the buyers want.  There is work involved as you have well found out.  It's pretty rare I see any that is super easy and the cash just keeps rolling in.  Add long distance to the equation and it just seems even more risky.  It's just tough to know the area, the type of renters, the type of housing, if the repair were quality or lipstick on a pig.

I'd think there must be a dozen good PM in Akron.  Find a new one and get it rented again.  Hang on to it for 5 years and then sell.  You'll probably do ok in the long run.  Go out there and check on the property.  Interview your shortlist of PMs in person.

My experience working with RTR and their affiliates have been both good and bad. I have had direct conversations here on BP with Zach and he is a pretty humble guy with a wealth of knowledge. It'd be great if he could be the one to work directly with all of his investor clients but I guess that's what his investment strategists are for. I will say that RTR is not a scam, they are legit. Their ads are very appealing to new investors and those interested in turnkey (like myself). However, I do think there is opportunity for improvement on their process and maybe even the communication as well. The process from start to finish is not as smooth as I would like but it's not awful. Then again, I am that rookie investor that has a TON of questions all the time. I would say that my problem or "bad" experience isn't really with RTR directly, its more so with their affiliates like the property provider or lender or property manager, etc. and I don't know how much control RTR has with their affiliates. On a positive note, I guess I could say I do appreciate that RTR exist and because I decided to use them I was able to use their resources/affiliates. But after getting to a certain point in the process (keep in mind I haven't closed yet) I am left feeling extremely nervous with what the future holds on this property as far as some things go. Overall, I would agree with some other reviews that I've seen...you will either hate them or love them. It all really comes down to what your investment goals are. RTR may or may not be for you.

 I would determine what grade of location you're looking for (A,B,C) once you've figured that out. Only do your research in those areas. Look at current and past rental listings, look at days on market, prices, and similarities in condition. This will give you the most realistic idea of what your deal will rent for. 

My first ever Buy&Holds were out of state.. You mentioned that you live in Cali and the house you are looking at has a basement... Midwest perhaps? If so, I did the same thing. I live in WA state and bought my first 4 properties in Ohio.

Word to the wise, it can look good on paper but the old saying "you get what you pay for" holds very true in a lot of those markets. Be careful where spending your money over there. You can strike Gold or be dead in the water. I recommend visiting the area first. A $500 plane ticket could just save your bank account.

You're doing your own due diligence. The entire point of that process is not to listen to this turnkey provider and make sure you are comfortable with what you see.

It sounds like you're not comfortable. You should just tell them: "This deal only makes my numbers work at a price of $X, call me back if you can do that. The projected rent is only going to be $Y based on comps and $Z is the monthly capex burden, setting aside $10k just isn't how this works."

The bad accounting and rosy projections they put up are essentially a honeypot for a lazy buyer who just needs an easy place to put money to work. Best case, they get bailed out by market appreciation before the property bleeds them dry.

 I know what an investor friendly agent is. I'm saying do you believe those exist, yet alone in abundance? Those are unicorns. 

 What's an investor-focused RE agent? 

That's also almost mythical. There's maybe in 1 in every 100,000, that are truly "investor" focused. Most are sales focused, and you're the one they are selling to. Quit reading the nonsense, and judge based on behavior. Don't tell me you're getting a "core 4" next.

 The better question is which turnkey shops do not do this?

They pretty much all do it, some with predatory lending type practices on this board.