6.5 years later - how has my "turnkey" rental turned out?

6.5 years later - how has my "turnkey" rental turned out?

Michael K GallagherBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Columbus OH · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

Many here know my wife and I purchased our house hack, and first investment property in 2018.  I still manage that property today.

We bought the duplex completely flipped, and everything brand new...So I should have had no issues to this point right?

That's sometimes the expectation, and it could not be further from the truth, so here's an idea of some things that went wrong or needed fixed on a "turnkey" fully flipped property.

- Right after moving in couldn't get the furnace to kick on, turns out the dropped a thread protector from the gas piping in the top and it was lodged in the fan and it couldn't pull a vaccum - $65 issue.  Have had two instances of the furnace in that same unit going out, both times cause a bird flew into the exhaust and lodged its head into the fan.

- AC in my unit that we lived in went out twice while there in year 1, maybe year 2, spent about $800 to have it pressure tested (lesson learned here most home warranty companies are garbage and do not cover testing your HVAC so idk how you trouble shoot it without testing it, but the testing and refrigerant are not generally included) chased a leak for a month and ended up having them replace the line-set to the system for $1400.

- AC in the other unit went out a year or two after that, was not a big issue, just needed one of those jump starter things, and some refrigerant, but was about a $800 fix to get it done on a weekend.

- Roof vents were not secured correctly, so that lead to a leak into one unit when it shifted, was about $750 to get the vents secured and have additional ones added to bring it up to proper number.

- Still need to get the gutters done, they need cleaned and one of them doesn't drain as it should.

- Main water line and entire meter popped off the main supply line and had an unimpeded 1" water line dumping into the basement on mother's day, was about $1400 to fix, and basically an afternoon of waiting around for city and fire dept to turn on/off water at curb.  Also, know where that turn off is at the curb and have it accessable, mine had been buried at some point probably years ago and it took longer to find then actually fix the issue.

- have had 7 different sets of tenants between the two sides of the duplex, all except 1 has been amazing.  That tenant was habitually late of rent, pretty sure her BF was selling weight out the unit because they got targeted by a shooting, how one side of a duplex "randomly" gets hit with bullets, and another doesn't...yea not random.  But honestly I only ended up out about $800 in lost rent by the time she paid her last month late and left a **** ton of belongings in the unit.  But even her wasn't all that big a deal.

SO why the hell am I telling you all this.....There's alot of hype on here and in real estate in general, and that's great hype is what gets us to pull the trigger and try something uncomfortable, but its important to understand that even "turnkey" properties are going to have issues, and that while they may be annoying in the moment to deal with over the long term the really mean nothing.  

almost 7 years and I've spent roughly $6K on repairs, lost rents maybe a bit more if you throw the 60 days of vacancy in there that I got from trying to work with cmha but thats a whole other podcast as they say.

Point is, I'd do it again all day every day, $6K is less than 3 months or rent for that building, and I'm sure its appreciated multiples of that number by now as well.  

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Brian TeeterBusiness Member
Little Rock, AR · Member since 2021 · 75 posts · 64 votes
1y

Thats an amazing run: Seven years and only $6K! Ive been operating as a Turnkey / BRRR provider in Little Rock, Arkansas for ten years. Not sure about other markets, but here, we offer a warranty on all repairs within our SOW, post sale. We also strongly advise all buyers to get an independent inspection pre-close. Further, we typically continue on with the buyer as their property manager. All of these efforts (warranty, inspection and ongoing PM relationship) help build trust, confidence, accountability and connectivity post sale). I strongly advise buyers to look some of these things in a provider, whatever market they invest. BUT, you are right, its inevitable, no matter the product: "properties are going to have issues, and that while they may be annoying in the moment to deal with over the long term the really mean nothing."

I would like to add in the asset appreciation aspect.  I think a lot of investors lose sight of appreciation and instead focus on cash flow. But thats a huge part of the equation.  So if you're going 7 years, steady occupancy, below average repairs PLUS appreciation = WINNING!

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  • Brian TeeterBusiness Member
    Little Rock, AR · Member since 2021 · 75 posts · 64 votes
    1y

    Thats an amazing run: Seven years and only $6K! Ive been operating as a Turnkey / BRRR provider in Little Rock, Arkansas for ten years. Not sure about other markets, but here, we offer a warranty on all repairs within our SOW, post sale. We also strongly advise all buyers to get an independent inspection pre-close. Further, we typically continue on with the buyer as their property manager. All of these efforts (warranty, inspection and ongoing PM relationship) help build trust, confidence, accountability and connectivity post sale). I strongly advise buyers to look some of these things in a provider, whatever market they invest. BUT, you are right, its inevitable, no matter the product: "properties are going to have issues, and that while they may be annoying in the moment to deal with over the long term the really mean nothing."

    I would like to add in the asset appreciation aspect.  I think a lot of investors lose sight of appreciation and instead focus on cash flow. But thats a huge part of the equation.  So if you're going 7 years, steady occupancy, below average repairs PLUS appreciation = WINNING!

    Turnkey Property Management4.8170 Reviews
    View Page
  • Michael SmytheBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Metro Detroit · Member since 2023 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    1y

    @Michael K Gallagher how many more have you bought?

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  • Aaron ZimmermanBusiness Member
    Accountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    1y

    Thank you for the synopsis on this. As investors, it's important to choose the right areas to buy in and tenant selection is of the utmost importance. The amount of repairs is not unheard of for sure. Issues happen all the time with real estate and its Just part of the game 

  • Member since 2025 · 19 posts · 15 votes
    1y

    @Michael K Gallagher you are spot on! There are a bunch of unknowns when traveling down the road of real estate ownership/investing. I remember after we started years ago with the home we lived in becoming our first rental. We had to put a new hvac unit in the month we moved out because it was over due after years of patch work and having your first tenant renting a property in the middle of July with our air is an unforgivable experience so we want to ensure we invested in the living experience that we wanted our tenants to have and we also had reserves for maintenance and repairs. Since then we have put in another unit for downstairs so the property has 2 units that are pretty much new which I see the expense as a short term loss in comparison to the bigger picture long term. Thanks for sharing your story very encouraging!

  • Ned CareyPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    1y

    @Michael K Gallagher great post. You bring a dose of reality to overhyped positivity of the gurus and marketers. 

  • Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2017 · 107 posts · 89 votes
    1y


    That’s still an easy run. Wait until an HVAC or roof fully goes, usually looking at $5k single item repair cost. Congrats on your success!


  • Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    1y

    There are people with new builds and warranties that get 6k in that timeframe. Over all i say congratulations. I don't have much experience with turnkey. The one I had I pretty much knew what I was getting. I guess they are pitched as worry free and I can see how that can go sideways. I have been flipping for a while, and no matter how good you are, when you rip everything out of an old house and put it back in, something will go wrong somewhere. Just have to be on it. Your other issues is the screening. If they were in place when you got it, that is how it goes. Many people who place tenants, there really is no major motivation to get you the right tenant. It just benefits them to get you whatever. Depending on the neighborhood it could take months to find one. Sounds like you are on top of it and I congratulate you. You are working this and got some lessons learned in the process. Good job. I knew what I was getting in general with mine, but my first tenants didnt lasted more than 1 month of paying rent. One took a dump on my kitchen floor. It may be a Maryland thing because i have had more who had some ideology based on leaving sht in the toilet or somewhere else. 

  • John MorganPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Grand Prairie, TX · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    1y

    This sounds like a home run compared to what I’ve been going through. Congrats on a good investment with very little in expenses over this time frame.

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