All Forum Posts by: Thomas Harari

thank you! Would you be able to DM me?

I'm looking for a very smart realtor in Detroit MI that is very in tune with the city dynamics, investors, Detroit vibe with tenants, etc. This person must be able to work with an out of state investor and have experience both working with investment properties and regular ones where the buyer lives in the property. Looking to sell a well above median property and will need an agent, but am finding that many real estate professionals in the area are not at the level of who I want to work with. Any recommendations? Please share details of your personal experience with them if you can! 

I bought a turnkey rental from Martel Turnkey (same people). Huge mistake - almost everything has gone wrong, the Property Manager they set me up with was unable to manage, had to fire them, find a new PM, and more than a few other problems. In this case Martel's team they connected me with was quite bad. Martel doesn't respond to email. Steer clear

Thanks Joe - would love if you can DM me the HOI contacts

I'm a newer investor in Detroit and am struggling with insurance rates (and previously PMs). Found one that works, but seems the annual rates have gone up a lot in the past year, and some quotes I got while shopping around are over 5x the one I am going with (over $5000 a year for a 140k house). At this point my property is doing fine, but I'm hesitant to do another in Detroit based on insurance and reliable property managers. @Travis Biziorekand and @Joe Hammel do you guys have any contacts that have been key in both of these?

@Adriana Rego I am in a similar situation here. Did you find a PM that is working well for you?

@Drew Sygit this house was professionally inspected upon completion and the inspector found a non-working furnace with the thermostat hanging off the wall. Definitely should have sent him back a second time. I'd like to ask Martel and Zest the same questions, but Martel does not respond and Zest is also hard to get on the phone.

Here's the full report - stay away from these guys! 

Home Inspection - Home inspector found some typical repairs, but the furnace was not working and the thermostat was hanging off the wall. This property was supposed to come with a new furnace as part of rehab. I got them to add the furnace before closing.
Title Company - The title company Martel used in Detroit did not have the capability to change this from my name to my LLC post purchase. You guys know more about how this works than I do, but lots of calling, emailing, my contact at the title company got fired, etc, and someone high up eventually learned about my issue and got this swapped to my LLC.
Accounting Issues - Rent is due on the 1st, my disbursement comes on the 15th. 3 months so far I have had large charges billed to me and no disbursement that were meant for Martel and then had to do my own accounting to tell them what I was owed. Some of these charges are the bills from the rehab itself, $2000+. I also have other charges from beforehand like yard cleanup, lawn mowings, etc that are due to the tenant. Starting 2 months ago, someone from the office and I go line by line before the disbursement. In December I had to start calling and emailing every day or so, and eventually started calling the CEO of Zest (Tim Moore) on his cell to get my disbursement in time to pay my mortgage. I did not get this until the last few days of the month.
Zest is Oblivious - Between Tim Moore (CEO), Susannah Warren (Head of Property Management), and others, they cannot seem to see why I am upset or fix anything with any urgency. I have asked at each meeting what sort of changes will be made to make sure my next disbursement is accurate and cannot get an answer.
Recent Furnace Issue - On Jan 24 I got this email from Susannah:
Hi Thomas,I hope this email finds you well and that you're enjoying the weekend.The resident in 5567 Beaconsfield is experiencing an uncomfortable heating situation. She has reported that it is very cold in the house unless the furnace is running all the time, which in turn is creating a high utility bill.Please review the attached information from the HVAC company we sent in regard to her maintenance request:" Our report,
Tenant does currently have heat but has to run her furnace every minute of the day at 78 degrees just for it to reach 74 on the main floor. The upstairs is probably in the low 60s. Current furnace is wayyyyy under sized for this house. This furnace is only putting out 54,000 btu of heat and that is not even considering the heat loss which is probably around 20 or 30 percent due to windows, over sized ducts and other factors. This house is probably around 1500sqft with full basement and upstairs. There should be a 80,000 btu furnace in there not a 60. Recommend bid to replace furnace with 80%80k furnace. We will need a custom piece of metal made. (14x20-17x20). Let us know how you would like us to proceed here. This furnace was manufactured in 2022."
Keep in mind this is the furnace that was selected, paid for, and installed by Zest/Martel as part of my Turnkey purchase. We have now reverted to the idea that this is their issue, not something where I just pay and upgrade the furnace. The install company was brought back out and determined that things were not setup correctly, adjusted some things and we believe the furnace works now. I have been billed for the furnace service calls (which I am fighting now).
No Rent Paid - at which point these heat issues began, the tenant stopped paying rent. They have not paid on January 1 or February 1.
Current Cashflow - outside of the fact that I have not yet been paid any rent in 2023 yet, I have been averaging about -$300 in cashflow because of continual repairs (prior to rent stoppage). Sewer drain issues, various faucets, recaulking of the bathtub, etc. I wonder that the tenant is just really picky and Zest isn't smart enough to tell them they don't get all of these fixes, just bills me.
Bigger Pockets - I posted in this thread 4 months ago and got a pretty quick response from Antoine Martel saying "I have not been copied on any of these emails". I have since copied him on every email, every issue, and he does not respond except to say "Martel won't be covering this". For some reason he deleted that comment and Tim sent a big post. https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/711899-any-one-used-martel-turnkey-before?page=2

Anyways I am losing money and basically wake up every other day and figure out who I have to call or email to get things resolved. If I could return the house I would. As of a week ago Tim and Antoine and asked for a joint meeting with the 3 of us. Antoine as usual has not responded, Tim said he could make time but a few more emails over the week and there is no meeting. We are 7 days out from when rent is due, and as far as I know it will be month 3 of no rent paid. This morning I tried to get through the phone menu at Zest any way possible - found only voicemails or disconnected numbers with no voicemail (including the emergency repair line). 

I'm sure Martel and Zest will comment here otherwise - DM me and I'm more than happy to provide email screenshots

@Lynn Milos I made a purchase from Martel Turnkey recently and have had quite a bad experience. Antoine will not respond to my emails. Your response above for Imran looks great, but I am very much not seeing that Martel cares about buyers, working to improve, etc. My current outlook is that Martel does a shotty job on the rehab, does not vet the PM well, and the buyer gets what they get - deal done. My property is on its 7th month and does not cashflow, and that was before the tenant stopped paying rent because of the furnace that was part of the rehab. Are you willing to have a conversation about this? 

Thomas Harari

cc @Timothy Moore