BiggerPockets

If you have something typed up already I would LOVE to find out what your experience was like.

I've only heard of bad experiences when it comes to HomeVesters.

From what I can see, they used to buy, fix-up, & sell properties in the Phoenix area. However, their business model seems to have changed as they now send out emails listing homes they have under contract in attempt to assign them to other investors. (I receive some from a couple different franchisees) They carve out a small assignment fee of a few grand. I doubt that it works that well, but maybe I am wrong. I bet they are getting a barrage of leads right now with many motivated sellers looking to sell their homes to anyone.

A while back, I was set to purchase 6632 Slatewood in Charlotte NC. I'd post the link, but the site won't allow it, I see they've raised the price almost $10k. The LLC under the HomeVestors franchise the whole time were up front telling me that they never inspected or lived in the home. I signed the contract and got an inspector in the next day. The repair work was estimated at over $10k, including foundation work, so I used the escape clause that their contract had in it.
The LLC tried to persuade me to keep in the deal, as it was still a good deal, and it was already setup with a lease purchase tenant in place. The LLC also guaranteed a number of months rents and was going to hand me the substaintial non-refundable deposits from the tenant.
Ultimately I decided not to pursue the property. Feeling that there were just too many things I didn't quite understand and that unexpected $10k repair bill.

Someone should contact them and casually see if they mention the foundation repair estimates. Just you keep my name out this okay? Thanks Post the response here, no need to get ugly. Personally I'll bet they don't disclose, but I hope I'm wrong.

Currently I am persuing another HomeVestors deal in Atlanta, GA. I just closed this week, $13k worth of repair work I'm told has already been started and should take 3 weeks to finish (a list of necessary repairs was provided). I'm also told there are already a few buyers interested. For $500 out of pocket, I have purchased the property for $99k, there were $3k worth of fees on the hud 1, and a repair escrow of $13k was setup. All was included into a wrap around mortgage with a baloon due in 3 months. It should retail for $140k. But for a limited time, because I'm so nice, I'll give one Bigger Pockets member the opportunity to buy it now for just $139,900. Act quick supplies are limited. :)

My take on HV is that they are people. Some people have more strict ethics than others. As with any deal trust, but verify.

I don't usually check here, but I will try post updates for those interested.
4/5/08

Also let me know if you've worked with other operations or wholesalers.

The two guys that own Homevestors in El Paso are very honest and ethical guys. They assign properties to investors when they get too many deals to rehab. I'm sure they cherry pick the best for themselves, but who wouldn't. From having looked at a few of their deals, they wholesale deals at 60-80% ARV. They even started El Paso's only REI club because there wasn't one existing. If there are other clubs in EP, they keep it on the down low because I've looked a lot.

Homevestors is a franchise, and one franchisee may operate very differently than another. Just like you'll have spit in your burger from one McDonald's, but not another.

It's impossible to make a general statement about Homevestors because each franchise is independently owned and operated. Each franchisee is unique and has a different way of doing business. Some franchisees like to fix and flip but in today's market most of them are wholesalers.

You need to understand clearly that whenever you do a deal with a Homevestors franchisee your working with someone who's trying to sell you something. Always do your own due diligence, comps and repair estimates. All Homevestor franchisees are good at generating leads (they have an excellent marketing template) but like most wholesalers they generally stink at any " after sale" service like helping with tenants, repairs etc. Once you buy a lead / deal from a Homevestor franchisee you're generally on your own.

My experience with Homevestors is that they're savvy, creative investors who prefer to work with new investors because they can dump deals on unsuspecting newbies.

how did this deal ever work out for you? inquiring minds want to know.

Is this an internet version of a tag team?

This thread is one ofthe best orhestrated attempts I have seen here on BP, less than 24 collective posts between 8, count them 8 contributors. Two with less than 20.

I'm very familiar with Homevestors and have done business with some of them. As someone mentioned each one of their offices are independently owned and operated. Per the owners there are pros and cons just like anything. Each franchise operates differently and has a different business model. The biggest reason for them buying in is the branding they get with the lead generation in particular.

I don't have anything bad to say about them -- just like anything or anyone just make sure you deal with someone that does good honest business, but each one will be different.

Katie -- I have never heard of a "mentorship" program. Perhaps it's something specific to that particular branch.