All Forum Posts by: Jeff Schechter

Hey @Jahan Zeb - yes there's plenty that's affordable here in Indy.  I'd suggest flying to the markets you want to invest in, meet with WHO you might be doing business with...that's important for long term.  A full service Turnkey company will be able to get you into a property that's already rehabbed, and with in-house management, they'll be responsible for making sure you get good tenants, and protect your cash flow.  

If your end game is a good buy/hold property, you will be well served to use a Turnkey company, and buy one of their FINISHED properties.  That said, you want to find one that does everything...from acquisition to rehab, to tenanting, to management.  That way, you'll reduce the great majority of the risk you'd be taking on trying to renovate a property from a distance.  There are too many landmines and unknowns for someone new to the game.

I agree with @Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil in that it's a good way to go.  I disagree that you're paying "retail."  We are 450 doors deep in Indy, and if we were charging retail, our customers wouldn't cash flow the way they do.  There are some TK providers that need big markups as they don't have good teams in place, or don't do enough business to buy in bulk (properties, materials, and labor).  There are others that do enough volume to create some excellent economies of scale, take smaller markups, and make up for that in volume.

Like the song says, "you better shop around."

Hey @Michael LaRocca - As the CEO of a successful Turnkey operator in Indy, I've seen it all. I can't speak for Milwaukee, but I can tell you that we are moving away from small multi's. Although they always look more attractive on paper, the tenant base is much more difficult to work with. Most people (even low income), would rather not have common walls with their neighbors. Over time, the SFH's will eventually catch up to, and outperform the multi's. PM me if you want more details.

Hey @Amanda Aesho I agree with much that has been said here.  You first have to determine what kind of investor you want to be.  If you're wanting passive income, the having a turnkey company tee that up for you is great way to go, and eliminates a TON of risk.  Being in Chicago, you are VERY close to markets that can cash flow nicely... Indianapolis, Cleveland, Columbus, etc.  

@Kyle Neff Turnkey is a great way to go for your situation. We run a solid TK here in Indy, and have mostly moved away from small multi's as the tenant base is more difficult to manage. There is more vacancy, more payment issues, and less respect for the property. Over time the SFH's will outperform the multi's, even though the multi's always look good on paper.

I'm not saying that the small multi's are bad, just be careful.  Sometimes the difference of $150-200/mo can make all the difference in renters.  Also, when you have less of a certain type of product, it's harder to get a genuine appraisal...there are less comps.  That can hurt you when going to finance.

As a turnkey provider, we have found that the duplexes in that area are usually more trouble than they are worth. We stick to SFH's, and have a lot of success with that. Anyone who can afford $650/mo for half a house, will find a way to pay $695 -725 for a single, and have their privacy...they will also make much better renters. Unless you get lucky, and it's on a very nice street, this is probably not a good buy.

@Kevin Harrison As the CEO of a full-service Turnkey provider, I get calls WEEKLY from other companies that promise to deliver good buyers to us.  They may fall under many names:  promoters, providers, wealth networks, partners, brokers, overseers, lead generators, advisors, educators, etc.  In ALL cases, they are looking for a piece of the pie.  

This is not so say that many of these may provide value.  As an example, I've met Marco Santorelli...he's got a great reputation, and is a very stand up guy.  

Given that I have a marketing background, we have chosen not to participate in any partnerships with these agencies for a couple of reasons...

1.  We don't want to dilute the branding of our own company.  We have a certain look/feel to what we do.  We have our own PodCast.  We have a YouTube channel.  We are not for everyone, but we want the investors who appreciate what we are doing, and that would naturally gravitate to our way of doing things.

2.  We don't want anyone else determining our processes.  Many of these entities have certain "requirements."  These are not necessarily bad for the investor.  In fact, in many cases they are there to "protect" the investor.  However, we are very transparent in the way we do things, and already have that layer of protection built in to our processes.  We have achieved a certain level of success by always doing what's best for the investor.  

3.  We absolutely do not want to raise our prices to our investors - this is something we'd have to do, in order to include a 3rd party in our sales process.  See #2.

It's up to the individual investor to take responsibility for their own due diligence.  It's also up the individual investor to decide if the additional layer of markup provides meaningful value to them.

We operate a very successful TK company here, and have our own in-house PM team. We operate that division solely to help our investors get the most cash flow. DM me if you'd like more information.

As a TK provider, we operate in C class areas in Indy. We've all but gotten away from multi's. The stability and ease of tenants has everything to do with that decision. There's a BIG difference between a family renting a SFH for $750, vs a tenant that "just wants something cheap" in the $500-575 rent range. Nearly all good renters in this price range would rather have their OWN place than shared walls. Unless you move up to bigger multi's, you don't really have any amenities (gym, on site mgmt, etc) to lure better tenants.