Lender · Seattle, WA · Member since 2017 · 62 posts · 7 votes
I'm from the Seattle area and interested in purchasing properties for passive income, lately been looking at different turn key properties and been reading BP forums for certain companies. I've been seeing different opinions about the good, the bad and the ugly which makes me nervous but something tells me to just jump in take a risk but limit them so it won't bankrupt me :)
Now I want to ask anyone from the community on your experiences on certain TK company and who to definitely avoid? Thanks in advance and happy investing!!
Real Estate Coach · Venice Beach, CA · Member since 2012 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
8y
If I can offer a suggestion... I would encourage you to re-frame your question and maybe ask people which turnkey companies they've had good luck with and start there. The only reason I say that is- I think asking about the "bad" companies is going to give you more answers that involve drama, possibly inaccurate assessments, etc. Now, if someone can respond about a company and offer a very objective reasoning as to why they suggest not working with them- void the emotions and the drama about it- then that is super helpful and valid. Unfortunately I don't think that will be the bulk of the responses, just based on the years of turnkey forums on here and watching how people respond in them.
Plus, even if you get a list of "bad" companies, then you still aren't much further along other than knowing who to avoid, but that doesn't help with who to possibly buy from. So, asking about companies people do recommend gets you more efficiently to where you're trying to go. Of course if you find a company along the way, you could ask if anyone has any warnings to offer about them, so it's not about not hearing bad reviews, but being a little more strategic in how you get the information you're looking for.
One more caution, and I say this from being a turnkey buyer myself and working with turnkeys ever since and with a lot of people on BP who have bought them- I can think of very few people who have ended up buying turnkeys successfully who still participate in these forums. Mostly because, they don't need them anymore if turnkeys are all they wanted or needed. So there is an extremely large population of turnkey buyers who have had great experiences who won't be on here to respond about those experiences. All the more reason to support the warning about asking about the bad experiences.
I hope that wasn't too philosophical of a [long] response, but just since I've seen how the turnkey responses can go, and how many of them I've seen that I know for a fact are inaccurate, I just want to throw out that caution. By no means does it mean there aren't any bad companies out there, there absolutely are, but there are also a lot of unfounded opinions that tend to creep up.
Reach out anytime if I can be of any help. Sorry again for a slightly long, not-answering-your-question, response.
Many people buy out of state rental property. Many of those people are here on BP.
Some important things to do when you are buying out of state
Hire a 3rd party home inspector.
Use a bank loan. OPM is the best part of the biz. On top of stretching your cash the bank will perform an appraisal. Bank isn't going to let you loose their money.
Buy the nicest property in the nicest area you can afford.
Hire a Realtor to represent you in the sale.
Make sure your Property Manager is a state licensed Brokerage.
Accept that you can not eliminate all risk. You can only limit it by doing things like the above tips.
Good luck & happy investing.
Im looking for a TK company for my 1st property, and will definitely remember your tips. Thanks!