Normal for a turnkey provider to limit discussion to 15 min?

General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Normal for a turnkey provider to limit discussion to 15 min?

Nicole Cotrino
Toms River, NJ 路 Member since 2016 路 21 posts 路 11 votes

I am looking to get into the turnkey market, and after spending a lot of time looking at different turnkey providers, I decided to call Memphis Invest with a list of questions. I read a lot of good things about the company on Bigger Pockets. 

I looked around online and created a list of questions that I would like to ask - this is a big investment for me, and I want to make sure I do my due diligence and really understand how they operate. When I called, though, the person who contacted me (via email) said that they could set up a 15-30 minute call, and that if I needed to talk more, we would need to schedule another conversation.  It seems like they can only spend 15 minutes at a time on the phone with potential investors? And, they wouldn't be able to set up that first 15 minute phone call for another week and a half. I was extremely surprised by this, as I have read so many good things about Memphis Invest and have even seen at least one of their people encouraging lots of in-depth due diligence before choosing a turnkey company. 

I'm just wondering whether I set my expectations unrealistically, or if people have found other companies to be more inclined to talk, in depth, to potential investors? Also, for people who have interacted with Memphis Invest, did communication become easier over time?

Thanks.

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Chris ClothierBusiness Member
Rental Property Investor 路 memphis, TN 路 Member since 2009 路 2k+ posts 路 3k+ votes
10y

Hi @Nicole Cotrino ,

Thank you for reaching out to our company.  It sounds like our team needs to revisit that initial email response to assist inquirers with making their first appointment.  We have a process that we follow to help onboard new investors and be as responsive as possible to every investor who has questions for our company.  We will be happy to spend absolutely as much time as you need and will never rush nor push you to make a decision to do business with us. We are purposely slow with our process.

That process includes a portfolio team member whose job is to gauge your interest, answer your initial questions and make sure we fully explain our team and process so you are sure you want to move forward to a second call.  It also allows us to make sure that as an investor we are a good fit.

That second call would then be made with one of our licensed and more experienced portfolio advisers who is able to get more in-depth and spend as much time as needed for an interested investor to get the answers they need to make an informed decision.

The reason for the 15-30 minute limit on that first phone call is that we are making so many connections each day.  We have three full-time team members who vet those initial calls and they make themselves available at whatever hour is needed for the investor.  

To be clear, we have had 864 inquiries in the month of June and that team of three works tirelessly to respond and connect with every one of them.  They then work to match that investor with a portfolio adviser who can further assist them in our process.

Hopefully, that helps and I am quite sure our team will spend as much time as you need to answer all of your questions.

@Michaela G. I appreciate your comments and that you would see this as a red flag.  Your opinion ~ like all on here ~ is important.  However, a key difference with us as a company is that we are not trying to sell anything.  We have completed 306 transactions the first six months of this year and have yet to sell a single property.  Each property is slowly matched with an investor whose interest and needs are matched by that property and IF they would like to add it to their portfolio, they have that opportunity.  Luckily, we have incredible demand for our service and properties are rarely available 72 hours after we complete the rehab process and make them available.  

@David Hutson, thanks for the shout out to David Meeks on here.  I also appreciate you mentioning my name so I would see this thread and respond.

Best - 

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  • Donovan Castaneda
    Kansas City, MO 路 Member since 2015 路 66 posts 路 9 votes
    10y

    imagine power in the hands of people of self importance that are not willing to try to understand the other side of things base on there own way of how things should be !馃馃馃

    0Reply
  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant 路 Summerlin, NV 路 Member since 2014 路 45k+ posts 路 66k+ votes
    10y

    @Account Closed the real reason you like brookings and buying gas for 60 cents a gallon cheaper than CA Is that its illegal to pump your own gas. you get OLD time full service for self serve prices.

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  • Henry J.
    Monterey Park, CA 路 Member since 2014 路 157 posts 路 80 votes
    10y

    @Nicole Cotrino

    wow. exciting posts with lots of opinions. i will throw in my newbie-the-world-is-a-flawed-one as well - with enough money, one can buy all the houses (SFR) in a neighborhood and sell them at whatever prices he/she wants. you can't do the same with stock, at least legally, or lotto tickets to change the odds, but you can certainly do that with SFR's... large corporations have kickbacks, grocery chains have slotting fees, government officials are corrupted, creative accounting, area 51, the list goes on and on. oh wait, did i offend everyone yet? :)

    back to topic - i think if you are new to turnkey investing, and you need to vet the vendor, there is plenty of homework you can do before the 1st call.  a lot of information can be found online or sent via email.  most people are probably not ready to buy a rental house after the 1st call so it would make sense for them to set up 1st call to be 15-30 min.  there are plenty of tire kickers and i am one of them when i started.  we all need to respect other people's time (and time = $).  besides, what do you expect to get from the 1st call anyway?

    from reading all the posts on BP related to Memphis Invest, it shouldn't be a surprise that the company is known for their customer service.  as you already experienced, they will give you all the time you need, and walk you through their investment proforma.  after you've done all your due diligence, it's up to you to figure out if the locations, prices and returns suit your needs (and expectation) before you buy. 

    note - i'm not a memphis invest investor and i'm not a turnkey provider.  i'm just a turnkey buyer.

    good luck on your search.

    henry

    2Reply
  • James Wise
    Real Estate Broker 路 Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH 路 Member since 2013 路 31k+ posts 路 20k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

    @Tom Ott @Chris Clothier   Tom... I don't subscribe to the there is SO MUCH to know about turn key properties..  I think 15 minute call is ample to get your message across.

    there is nothing more SIMPLE in real estate investing than turn key.. its all done for you. 

    A professional salesmen who knows what they are doing should easily be able to convey the company message in a 15 minute call.. that would include a little BIO  Why the markets and then references to links to check on inventory that they have..

    As Chris has mentioned many times this is not sophisticated investing.. this is simply buying a SFR and renting it out... Nothing is as un complex as this.

    The key is market, rehab and tenant base... and that most folks do independent analysis regardless of the TK company as well they should... I know many investors and re sellers that never met a house they did not like :)... So of course your going to get their version or slant.. Just like we get all the time when someone queries' what is the best market for turn key.  All the usual suspects show up.

    Indy, Memphis, Texas, Birmingham, Cleveland, Chicago, Kansas City  etc etc.. then you have the resellers who state they are market agnostic.

    there is so much information about these companies the product etx.. that one simply does not need hours on the phone explaining it..

     While I agree with Jay that investing in these types of properties really is the simplest thing one can do, a large number of the people buying these properties are generally newer investors so they will require a certain amount of education on general real estate investment strategy and concepts. This is going to take some time to go over. Yes as a provider it is easy to spit out what you do, your pitch, the benefits of working with you and even a couple properties that would work for the investor in under 15 minutes but many times the investor wants to talk longer. They want to get to know the person selling them something and feel comfortable with the idea of investing, especially investing out of state.

     On the flip side of this as a provider you can always tell when you have a seasoned investor come through. Almost zero talking, some of my biggest clients never call/ed us...ever. Just quick email exchanges that lead to a yes or a no then they buy or move on to something else to buy.

    2Reply
  • Marco Santarelli
    Specialist 路 Orange County, CA 路 Member since 2008 路 2k+ posts 路 623 votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Nicole Cotrino:
     
    I'm just wondering whether I set my expectations unrealistically, or if people have found other companies to be more inclined to talk, in depth, to potential investors? Also, for people who have interacted with Memphis Invest, did communication become easier over time?

    Hi Nicole -- there is no fixed amount of time that would be considered "normal", as every investor's need are different.  It's somewhat typical for salespeople to schedule 15 minutes with you to give you an introduction and Qualify you as a potential investor.  As @Jay Hinrichs said above, that can be done in about 15 minutes.

    However, we have found that many/most investors have a lot of questions, and some require more education and "hand-holding".  Especially in the beginning.

    Because of that we always block out an hour for every call with an investor, even though we sometimes call it a "15 minute Strategy Session".

    Continued success!

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    San Jose, CA 路 Member since 2015 路 4k+ posts 路 3k+ votes
    10y
    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    San Jose, CA 路 Member since 2015 路 4k+ posts 路 3k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

    @Account Closed the real reason you like brookings and buying gas for 60 cents a gallon cheaper than CA Is that its illegal to pump your own gas. you get OLD time full service for self serve prices.

     LOL Busted!  And they're cute young guys, too :-)

    Oh, and then there's the shopping at Fred Meyer with no sales tax.... wahoo!

    0Reply
  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant 路 Summerlin, NV 路 Member since 2014 路 45k+ posts 路 66k+ votes
    10y

    YUP  CA  shopping in OR.. and WA shopping in OR>.

    but guess who sells the most liquor in CA.. its the Redding Costco... Oregionians stocking up for half price..

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