Morris Invest & Oceanpointe management company

Morris Invest & Oceanpointe management company

Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes

Inspired by @Tyler Jahnke and others on BP I've decided to chronicle my experience regarding the property i've purchased with MI & OP management company from now for as long as i own it. The purpose is to hold these companies publicly responsible and allow future investors to be aware of what they are getting into. If you want to know the complete frustrating experience i suggest you read Morris Invest Case Study 2.0 or 3.0 as i had very similar experience therefore see no need to repeat it here. I will only summarize what happened thus far.

10/26/2017: I told Larry, a contact representative from Morris Invest, that i've decided to purchase a property. (Please note that this is where Morris Invest stop, but i didn't know it at the time.)

11/8/ 2017: i received paperwork to close on the property with Oceanpointe Holding LLC. I immediately went through all the documents and sent it back the same day, along with same day ACH payment. I called them, every single business day, to make sure they've received paperwork and payment.

11/14/2017: Finally got someone on the phone who told me that they did receive payment. However, the person i replied email to could not receive email. (I still don't understand this part.) So i immediately resent the paperwork to him as requested. He emailed me within the hour that he received it and everything was all set. So i guess this is officially my closing date now, even though all documents were dated Nov 8.

11/16/2017: I received welcome package. I called them repeatedly to talk about their management, each time leaving my number for a call back. (Please note that up to date i have never received a call back from anyone at Oceanpointe ever)

12/8/2017: I got to talk to someone regarding management. She answered my questions well enough. i sent the management documents.

12/20/2017: My direct deposit info changed so i sent them the updated info and called to see if they received it. Plus they never sent me things i asked for such as sample lease form. Up to date i've never gotten anyone.

1/2/2018: I received update on my rehab saying the important things have been done and ready for drywall & paint. I called today to ask them to hold off on that until I have a third party inspect the plumbing & electrical. No call back. I'm afraid next time someone contact me the drywall will already be up and I will not be able to inspect it.

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Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2013 · 549 posts · 310 votes
8y

Hey @Son D....happy to drive by your place and take photos, or whatever is needed to get you closer to the finish line with Morris. Hell, chances are that my company sold Morris your house. I can provide "before rehab" pictures if that is the case. Just let me know where I can help.

Same goes with ANY Morris client looking for quick answers!

See this reply in the discussion

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  • Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes
    8y

    I've never been contacted daily for their inventory listing. I did get an email a couple of times from morris invest asking if I'm ready for another property.

  • Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes
    8y

    A little update

    1. After about a month of constant contacting them I've finally received a dozen pictures inside the house which seem to confirm a family living there.

    2. I received an online notice of the first rent payment coming my way earlier this week but still have not received it yet. They've always said it may be delayed 3-5 days after the notification so I'll give it till Monday before I start contacting them.

    3. Ever since they told me the rehab finished I've been trying to get an inspection. I've got an inspector lined up waiting to go in. After numerous emails an OP liason gave me a phone number of someone to contact to schedule this. The inspector and I tried calling numerous times. It's a NONWORKING number!!! More time and emails passed. The OP manager said she will make sure to reach out to my inspector to schedule. That was 3 days ago. Still nothing  yet.

    Nowadays every time I email to ask for something I need to include 3 people from OP and 3 people from MI (including Clayton Morris) to get a response. Even then it takes some time before i get them to respond.

  • Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    8y
    Son D. If they can’t respond consistently that’s a bad sign
  • Alex CraigBusiness Member
    Real Estate Professional · Memphis, TN · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    Lots of bad stuff on BP on these guys.

  • Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes
    8y

    So after more than a month of requesting i finally managed to get an inspector in and all the fears and speculations were true. Here is a link to the pictures.   https://youtu.be/_jn6G6cZsdE              

    I sent them an email the next morning and Clayton himself told his team to work with me to fix this. It's been a week and still nothing. I still haven't received a copy of the lease yet.

  • Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes
    8y

    As promised here is the video on the inspection report

  • Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes
    8y

    I just had an interesting conversation with Clayton Morris this morning. He first apologized for my current experience. He said that he started a PM company and asked me to switch over with them. He promised that after done switching over his team will go in and do everything that should have been done in the first place. Again this is HIS PM company not another partner he had on the ground with a new group of people. I'm curious on BP community's input on this one.

  • San Francisco, CA · Member since 2017 · 51 posts · 48 votes
    8y

    That seems to be the case from my digging as well. Blue Sky is actually owned by him and Natali. I am getting an average email response time of about a week and I can always speak with someone on the phone if I do need to call in. While it's still too early to tell how things will turn out, I will have to say that it is at least trending in the right direction.

    -Colin

  • Managing Broker / Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2015 · 350 posts · 362 votes
    8y

    HEADS UP! Just heard yesterday that Oceanpointe is either changing names or adding an alternate management company: URBAN CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT, INC.

    Morris is also promoting his new management company: BLUE SKY PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC

    Same people, different names.

  • Whitestone, NY · Member since 2017 · 22 posts · 18 votes
    8y

    It sounds like you all seem happy to get a response.  I own rental properties in West Palm Beach and my property management company always responded to me within hours (even during Hurricane Irma).  

    I had 2 appraisals and two inspections coordinated by my property management company without issue.  I gave the contact info to the inspector and appraiser and the next thing I heard was that it was done.

    In today's world of technology and email, responses should occur within the day.  There should be a live voice picking up the phone.  There should be photo documentation of everything.  It is too easy not to.  Everyone gets email alerts directly to their phone (and if they're not they are behind the eight ball).

    I would be furious waiting a week for an email response.

  • Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes
    8y

    @Todd Burton so it sounds like MI and OP are going their separate ways?

    @Fahim Ahmad that's exactly right. It is infuriating. Waiting a week? It's been almost 3 weeks since the inspection and Oceanpointe hasn't replied at all!!!

  • Managing Broker / Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2015 · 350 posts · 362 votes
    8y

    They are making it appear as though they are going separate ways for the management but I do not know for sure. I do know that the properties Morris is selling are still Oceanpointe properties (and vacant Oceanpointe owned parcels for almost $70k with nothing more than a promise to build a house).

    What I do know for sure is that even if a rat moves its nest, it's still a rat!

  • Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes
    8y

    Does anyone have reference for a local registered agent i can use for my LLC in Indiana?

  • Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 16 posts · 12 votes
    8y

    @Son D. I had to find a new property management company to actually see what was happening at my property and within a few days of signing with Kline Properties they send me updates of the property and I found out it was never completed.  Kline got back to me within 24hrs or a live person who is working on the properties (and knows what is happening) would answer the phone.  Morris Invests is completing the property since Clayton assigned his team instead of OceanPoint.  When asking for completion dates I'm not getting solid answers as it's back to the answering service (point person) relaying messages by email that it's almost done.  Very vague and I hope this does not sink back into their blackhole, otherwise we'll have to take different action.

    Blue Sky was similar slow responses as OceanPoint taking several days to get back to you or missing on accountability when they were supposed to call us back.

  • Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes
    8y

    @Anthony Khan just to clarify did you purchase from Blue Sky or from Oceanpointe then switch to Blue Sky?

  • Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 16 posts · 12 votes
    8y

    @Son D. - Purchase from Morris Invest and placed with Oceanpoint for property management.  When inquiring about rehab that didn't happen then I found out it was Oceanpoint rehabbing also.  Morris company now rehabbing, but they haven't been able to give us a timeline for completion with vague answers which makes me wonder if same delays are happening again.  If you have done 100s of house rehabs you can be very precise with your costs and timelines.

  • Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    8y
    Son D. Your video links don’t work. Can you put those back up?
  • Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes
    8y
  • Member since 2018 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    8y

    Ive got a call into Mr Morris.  This thread is very discouraging. Can you go over some numbers.  Im interested in the all-in final price to get it rent ready.

  • Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes
    8y

    @Sarah Cuccinelli The way they do it is usually 30k+ for the house and more or less around 10k for rehab so 40k+ for the property. There's about $500 in closing cost + insurance + property tax whenever due so somewhere under 50k. They claim this will get you $700-$750 in rent per month. However, these numbers are not realistic. They make tens of thousands of dollars on each deal, do little to no rehab, then pretend it is rented at quoted price for months. The property is either rented for much lesser value or vacant. Some time later they will claim that tenants just up and left or something. They may ask you to pay them more money so they can get the property ready for the "next" tenant. It's a pyramid scam.

  • Real Estate Consultant · Whitestown, IN · Member since 2014 · 549 posts · 933 votes
    8y

    We have taken on a bit of the MI/OP fallout as well. We are seeing homes in pretty poor shape that we are having to put a few thousand dollars in to ensure that the homes are safe and decent for the current residents. We've seem people living with live sewage back ups, failed furnaces in the winter (one tenant had to get through the winter using here oven/stove for heat,) roof leaks and chimney problems, basements that flood, etc. These are not small items and things that should most always be attended to during a "rehab"... not just paint and carpet.

    The one that kills me is these cute new builds. Putting a 900 sq ft / 3 bd / 2 ba in the hood and claiming that it will rent for $900/mo is ridiculous. Any tenant that they can place at the rate will likely be evicted quickly or have their doors kicked in by the police to serve a warrant. The homes look decent, but there can't be much space to fit a 3 bd/ 2 ba in 900 sq ft. We have had an opportunity to take any of these under management yet, so I don't have any experience to pass along.

    One tenant told me that she met the leasing agent (Joshua who I don't believe is there any longer) at a drugstore to sign the lease and give him a money order. He gave her the lock box code and told her that she could move in whenever. They never ran an application. WOW!!!

    The people who answer the phones (probably the same with Morris' new company) are actually a 3rd party call center. They can't do much for you other than to pass messages along. It feels nice, but it's still the same black hole for communications.

    I've been to both of their offices and most of their employees are rather rude.

  • Rental Property Investor · boston, MA · Member since 2017 · 202 posts · 222 votes
    8y

    After a month of being ignored by OP I sent them an angry email telling them I have started to get legal counsel. This wasn't a bluff as I have talked to 3 different lawyers regarding their services. I received a response from someone new whose title at the bottom of email says the president of urban construction mgt. NOW he's going to start comparing the inspection report to the scope of work to see what need to be fixed. One question that everyone seem to dance around is what about the items that are not on the original scope of work but clearly need to be addressed? 

    Finally got them to send me the lease on March 24th after more than a month of requesting. Several things to note. Date of the lease signed on 3/6/18 and good through 3/1/19. They told me the home has been rented since 2/10/18. Base rent is $625 and total monthly rent is $635. I'm not sure where $10 comes from, it be may lawn care from what I could tell. They paid me $700 last month. I have not received rent for this month yet.

  • Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    8y
    Son D. From those photos it doesn’t look like any rehab at all has been done. Yeah I’m not sure what you paid these guys but I’m guessing you over paid. From those photos I’d guess the House is worth about 30k if that. Your rehab money is likely just all profit. They probably make 10-15k on the purchase price and then all profit whatever the rehab is. You can’t do a rehab for 10k. 25-30 minimum. A new furnace alone is probably 2500-3000, water heater 1000, new roof is probably 3-5k. Then paint and new flooring usually. Which will be another couple grand.
  • Sherman Oaks, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    8y

    Since most of these Morris Invest homes seem like they are located in the generally most challenging rental areas, it may be a situation where as the management/performance is as only as good as the renter base.  In some cases management will do little to improve the inherited challenges in this rental class and location type. Some PMs will not even attempt to manage these knowing this beforehand. The fact that Morris Invest in taking on the management , my guess is they actually have no management experience and or would have never sold anyone these in the first place as they will likely bury themselves/investors trying to manage these now.  Hopefully, I am 100% wrong and everything gets turned around fast. Good luck! 

  • Managing Broker / Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2015 · 350 posts · 362 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Son D.:

    I received a response from someone new whose title at the bottom of email says the president of urban construction mgt.

    Urban Construction Mgt is just Oceanpointe renamed and a different straw registered agent. They have the exact same office address.

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