All Forum Posts by: Antoine Martel

Hi Joshua,

I purchased two properties from Martel Turnkey via Antoine Martel and it has been an absolute nightmare of an investment. Antoine lied about the condition of the properties and rehab work, and set me up with what has got to be one of the worst property management companies out there, despite his reassurance that they were a great company to work with. 

Regarding the condition of the properties, I had to shell out an extra $8k in repairs shortly after acquiring. On one of the houses, Antoine told me the roof was in good condition and had been patched to prevent any leaks, despite my concerns from a home inspection. I went along with it, which was a mistake. Shortly after, my home insurance company dropped coverage due to the condition of the roof and then leaks starting happening when rain came. 

The worst part of all of this has been the property management company he set me up with - Trek Property Management. They have ONE employee managing over 300 properties. Average response time was 8-10 days for any issue. I tried getting in contact with the owner of the prop co, Jeffrey Smith, for over a year to express my concerns. I still have yet to receive a call back. One of my tenants had to be evicted for not paying rent and it took them 8 months to finally remove them. These were tenants that were put in place by Antoine and the property management co had never had a credit or background check done. Another shady detail Antoine forgot to mention. As you can see, an absolutely shambolic prop co. Antoine did not disclose any of this to me when we were setting up the contract. 

I have another friend who bought a property from Antoine and has had a similar nightmare experience. A lot of this is my fault for blindly trusting Martel and not doing my own research into good property management companies. I was a new investor into out of state rentals and did not know what I was doing. I've learned a lot from the experience, and one lesson is to stay far away from Martel Turnkey. 

Hey Nick, A little info on that part of town. That is deep into south Memphis just north of McLemore and Jesse Turner Park. I am a Memphis fire fighter and I have worked this neighborhood for more then 5 years It is not an area i would buy a property. This is one of the toughest hoods in the country and I imagine that It will bring you repair after repair and ALOT of turnover. It is near Stax museum but other then that not many outsiders travelling to this part of town. This is my opinion as a rental property investor and someone who spends plenty of time in the area. msg me if there is anything else i can help with 

I am an investor from the Los Angeles area that is interested in purchasing investment properties in the Memphis, TN area. Does any one have any preferred lenders that they work with that offer ideal rates for out of town investors? Do you find it best to go with local banks or national banks?

I also may be in the market for good local property managers depending on how the deal shakes out so if anyone knows of any please let me know.

Thank you

@Jimmy Yoon

Depending on how much money you have, investing out of state can be a much better option. I’ve spoken with a California investors that invest in my market (Memphis) all the time.

As far as education BP has a book on long distance investing that’s phenomenal. Also l can’t stress enough podcasts podcasts podcasts! In the car, in the gym, even at home. You’ll learn so much so fast just by soaking in podcasts throughout your day. BP podcasts and others too, @Antoine Martel for example has a really good podcast and he’s a California investor that buys out of state.

Hope this helps!

Hi all,

I recently purchased a property from @Antoine Martel (MartelTurnkey) so thought I'd leave a review on what my experience was like: 

Prior to my purchase, I was waiting to buy real estate through a turnkey provider for quite some time but never felt fully confident with how various providers were operating or with their inventory for me to make the jump.

For instance, I thought some of the purchase price for the properties were way too high above retail, or the rehabs weren’t very nice and didn’t looked rehab at all, or they were renting at well below the 1% rule etc.

I took a look through Antoine's inventory and found the purchase price of their homes were in my sweet spot: $60-100k in markets like Cleveland, Memphis, and Birmingham. That was enough to get me through the door but his company offered a few other things I didn't expect such as an intro to the lender, title company, insurance agent, and property management team. Typically, other turnkey providers have their list of preferred companies but Martel turnkey sends out the email intro for you - which was one less thing off my plate as an investor.

Before I got in contact with Antoine there was a property I wanted to buy on his website but it had been listed as “sold” on the day I was scheduled to speak with him. He told me the contract wasn’t signed and that it was first come first serve essentially. So I was happy he provided me with an opportunity to buy the property without him going to a list of an internal list of preferred buyers which would have counted against me as a first time investor.
I signed the purchase agreement then ordered an inspection report so I could perform extra due diligence as an investor. After forwarding MartelTurnkey the report, they addressed the issues right away within a ~2 week period. The issues on the inspection report were few and mainly related to safety which speaks to the quality of the rehab that was done (e.g. no expensive CapEx items).

From there it was fairly smooth sailing. Closing had to be pushed out a month later since the initial appraised value for the home came out to be lower than the agreed purchase price and MartelTurnkey proceeded to dispute that. Afterwards the bank updated me and stated the appraised value was changed back to the original purchase price. It would have been nice to pay lower for the property but from what I can see from the appraisal, the appraiser took into account properties with similar rent values which brought the appraised value back up the second time around. 

In closing, I had a positive experience working with MartelTurnkey. I thought Antoine and Angelica from his team were helpful and I loved how the property already came with a tenant so I didn't have to pay the prop. manager one month's rent fee! I am considering buying my second turnkey from them when I'm ready to do this again early Spring 2020.

I've documented the rest of my experience on my blog: https://krissiainrealestate.wordpress.com/blog/ and will write a more thorough review of the company when I can.

Feel free to reach out to me with any questions!

@Johnson Joseph if you haven't connected with @Antoine Martel you should, owns in the area, but from LA and one of the good guys.