My Turnkey Experience with Real Wealth Network (RWN)
I've been getting a lot of inquiries about my experience with Real Wealth Network, so I figured I would post some more details on this new thread to try to answer some of your questions.
In early 2017 I went to visit the Alabama markets of Montgomery and Huntsville with a RWN tour. The first day we toured Huntsville, walked quite a few properties in various stages of rehab, and had a good tour of the city and different neighborhoods. On the second day, we did the same in Montgomery. I live in IL and it's no secret my home state has some issues, along with one of the highest property tax rates in the country. I have a good number of local doors, but was looking to diversify a little. The AL markets showed strong cash flows, which is what I'm looking for!
In March 2017 I pulled the trigger and bought a house in Huntsville, and one in Montgomery through RWN's local turnkey provider, ROI Turnkey Properties. I paid mid $80k for each house and got conventional 30yr fixed loans. The rents were $850 in Montgomery, which was already rented at time of purchase, and a projected $925 rent on the Huntsville property that was vacant upon closing.
Montgomery: Shortly after I closed on the Montgomery property, I got a call from my property manager letting me know that the drain was slow to drain. After some exploration, it was determined that the sewer line from the house to the street had roots growing through it and that their estimate was $2,500-$3,000 to fix it. (not a good way to start off a turnkey experience - Right?) Well I sent an email to both RWN and ROI, explaining that this issue was probably known before I closed on the property because there were already tenants in place. Ben, my RWN adviser instructed me not to pay for the repairs, and that ROI would be on the hook for them. They did make the necessary repairs and it didn't cost me a dime!
Later in the year, I learned that the tub was cracked. The tub had a fiberglass liner over the old tub and the new one had cracked. Since ROI gives a 1 year warranty on all their rehab items, they went in and repaired that for me as well.
Huntsville: I closed on this property without a tenant, but was confident that it would be filled quickly because it was March, and we were just coming into the good lease up months. The original property management company was ok with correspondence, but as a month went by, I started to "bug" them a little more, asking how the lease up was coming. Shortly after, I got a call from ROI that they were not happy with the property management company and that they were going to switch to another company that we'll call "X" and the new company was averaging placements within 72 Hours! I was excited about that, but it took awhile for the new company to take over, and I'm left with a vacant property in the meantime. So X takes over and I'm needing to get a tenant placed soon, so I waited a week to get some details, and I called and left a message. Over the course of probably 6 weeks, I would leave voicemails, emails, texts to just about every contact I had, and I would say I got a response about 5% of the time. Finally, the 4 month mark from when I closed on the property was coming up and still nothing. So I got on Zillow to check the rental listing out and I was going to call to see what kind of service I got as a potential renter. The number listed was one of the numbers that I already had, that never called me back. So I borrowed a friends' phone with a different area code (in case they were screening my calls) and when I called the listed number, it went straight to a recording that the number was no longer listed! I was beyond pissed! I immediately called every contact I had with X and ROI, and nobody answered the phone. So I emailed everyone within the 2 companies and said that if I don't hear from anyone within 24 hours, I'm going to start screaming from the rooftops! Well, after closer to 30 hours, I still hadn't heard anything, so I sent one more email, which bluntly displayed my displeasure, demanding someone pay me at least 2 months lost rent, and firing X at the same time. I sent the email to all my contacts within X, ROI, and RWN (including Kathy Fettke). My phone started ringing within minutes this time! First it was X wondering what they needed to do to make things right. I said that I just need you to give up the keys and walk away. Jared with ROI called me shortly after, and we had a long conversation, where he was deeply apologetic, and was going through a lot of the same issues with X on his end. He instantly agreed to send me 2 months rent, and I had the check in hand a few days later. I had found a smaller, local company to take over the duties of property management, and they returned all of my correspondence very quickly, usually within minutes. I found them on BiggerPockets, and thanks @Zachary C., you and your wife were (and still are) lifesavers for me! After switching over to the new company, it was rented out within a week or two, and rent has been deposited in my account monthly.
I have had some correspondence with ROI since then, and I know that they too have fired X for the same reasons as I did, and they are now using AHI Properties to manage their turnkeys. I did honor my contract with X for the entire one year, but as of yesterday, my Montgomery property is now managed by AHI as well. Still too early to tell how they are doing, but I know they were/are having difficulties getting any records from the old company. However, David with AHI has been very good with all correspondence so far, and at this point, I know they will be a lot better than the old company.
I highly recommend RWN , as they are a large community of investors, and they definitely had my back! Had I gone alone on the deals, I would have likely been replacing the sewer line and fixing the tub in Montgomery and wouldn't have gotten reimbursed rent from Huntsville. To clarify, I think ROI would have taken care of me, but I never would have found out who they were, had it not been for RWN. So I probably would have just bought off of the MLS from a random seller.
So where do I go from here? I actually just bought a duplex in Huntsville on 2/15/18 with my new friends from Huntsville and I'm trying this more direct method of acquisition instead of the turnkey model. I couldn't do it without the Cole's! They have been through a few properties, and taken video with commentary while they walk the property and sent that to me. I also just picked up another local (IL)deal mid February, so now I'm taking a small break to get everything running on all cylinders and build up some more cash for my next deal!
Sorry for the novel, but I wish I had something like this before I used a turnkey company, so I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions, I'm happy to share!