Be very careful of turnkey providers!

[Johnathan Trimble]

I now am dealing with my third listing in very rough zip codes in Kansas City that were purchased by beginner out of state investors. All three were purchased from rent to retirement. These properties were marketed to them as "B-" class areas. In reality these are D class areas. They are forced to used that companies lender (all three sold significantly above value and of course appraised where the company needed it to). All three investors dealt with subpar at best property management (referred by that company) that placed tenants that destroyed their properties not once, but two or three times in some cases. Now they are trying to sell these properties, and at a loss.

For instance my listing at 2922 Bales Ave was sold almost 3 full years ago at $175k. Today I cannot move the listing (after full make ready) for $140k after over 6 months. Prices have continued to increase here in Kansas City. Meaning if that property was truly worth $175k, then it should be selling above $190k with how our market has appreciated. Now I am not saying all these turnkey providers are bad, but PLEASE do your homework when dealing with companies like this, on the company, AND the area. You are better off working with an experienced agent in the target market you are looking at that isn't also trying to make a quick sale (plenty of bad agents out there too).

Figured I should make a PSA on this because I hate seeing people jump in Real Estate, get taken advantage of, lose money, and then get out of it entirely. It is not a get rich quick scheme. I see a lot of investors lose, but the ones that do proper diligence can really set their families up for success. Rant over

[Johnathan Trimble]

I have reviewed what is sent to clients on behalf of your company in all three scenarios, they are inflated and exaggerated, mainly the area classifications, all three were in the very worst zip codes in my city, all of them stating B- or better areas, they were D class areas. Expenses that were definitely not factored in or accounted for when it comes to the "suggested return" that the property pricing is based on when it comes to running a property.

I would be lying if I said knew exactly how your company worked start to finish, and am relying on what is being told to me by my clients and the information I have reviewed that was originally sent to them. I have heard of other turnkey providers with similar practices. This post is purely not to bash on "rent to retirement". it is a post for investors bringing awareness to do as much market research as possible and not rely on what is being given to them by a company trying to sell them something. Those investors themselves admitted to not doing their due diligence and trusting all information that was provided to them. I am an investor myself, even owning property in these zip codes. I see the prices that these houses were sold and it is frankly shocking. I hate seeing people lose and even most agents are quick to sell a property and not paint the full picture for a quick commission. I would hope somebody would do their research into me before using me as their agent. How you came to the conclusion that I am making a sales pitch is wild, not once do I mention myself or my services

One of the properties that I actually sold with the property in disrepair specifically told me they wanted to use their own lender but was told they have to choose from your recommended lenders. Perhaps this is something that has changed as the property was purchased years ago. I would also like to add that I have handled 3 of these sales, but came across multiple others in similar situations that quite frankly could not afford to take the loss they were going to by selling at what the property would fetch on market.

To even suggest a $35k loss (20% drop in price) in an appreciating market has anything to do to with listing strategy, is wild, regardless of any factor, and there is not justification behind it other than it being sold above market value originally. How the appraiser signed off on any of these that I have come across is beyond me. I am purely stating what I have seen multiple times, so that people do their homework. I am sure you have plenty of evidence of people that have had great success with your company, if not there is no way it would still be in business. I market to distressed off market sellers, so yes I come across the negative examples, not the positive ones. Again, no ill intent here, I am stating what I have seen. Also, those clients of mine understand that they should have educated themselves more as well.

I would be happy to pull the market reports to show that prices have sustained in that area specifically, and have another property that I am selling after the make ready where I am not sure he will be able to get $200k or not when the property was purchased for $210k a few years ago, and would be happy to update how that sale goes. This is not some "anonymous rant" and am happy to back up my claims and even post the original forms from when these properties were sold if I can find them in my email. I debated even mentioning the name of your company, but figured I would as I had been sold a bag of good by a mastermind I joined back in the day, and wish more people had been posting on forums to show the negative experiences as well, and not only the positives when I was doing my research on them.