All Forum Posts by: Kenneth Dai

Quick follow up note: I did end up hearing back from the property management (Letts PM), and they do seem to be undergoing some transition right now. Still, they seem to be on top of keeping the actual property maintained, so we shall see how this all turns out. Side note: property is not currently cash flowing due to issue with one of the tenants' CHA voucher.

@TJ P.  I used the BiggerPockets rental calculator and figured in some maintenance and other costs.  It worked out to be $250/month cashflow on a $98000 home with a 20% down mortgage.  Since there have been no maintenance or other costs, beyond property management, current cashflow is $350/month.  Hope that helps.

Adding a note for folks who scour the BP forums for information on Memphis Invest.  I did end up purchasing two properties from them in November and December of 2016.  Properties have been performing, as expected, for the past few months, but I'll probably keep a running journal on BP somewhere about my overall experience.

In terms of customer service, though, it has been excellent.  I received regular updates on the property rehab progress, as well as someone checking in on the various tasks that occur in the purchasing/financing process (I didn't realize how nice I had it until I tried purchasing another property through a different turnkey provider).  After closing, I received regular updates and contact from the owner-facing staff.  And, I like how the property management software they use sends me a notification whenever rent is paid or a distribution is occurring.

I purchased a duplex from PFR, closing mid-December of 2016.  I'll probably start a running commentary on how my experience goes, but just to answer Patrick Shawn Faherty:

The property was already re-habbed and rented out when I closed on it.  It was actually a property purchased by another investor last year, who is currently on BP working on selling the other properties he has.

Working with Justin and his team was good.  Justin helped a lot with getting the closing negotiated for me after the property inspection, and extended the usual PFR 6 month warranty on all re-habbed aspected of the home, even though it was already rented for almost a year.  I did visit Chicago to check out his operations, and the homes really are nicely remodeled.  The neighborhoods within the city weren't particularly scary to my wife and I, though admittedly, they tended to have a least one boarded up home.  We didn't visit any of the single family residences offered by PFR.

So far, I have been underwhelmed by the property management (Letts Property Management).  I get a lot of help and can easily contact the director of sales and leasing, but haven't gotten a response to a question I sent to the operations director over a week ago.  The actual property manager organization structure appears to be undergoing some changes, and hopefully all will be well once the dust settles.  Like I said, though, I'll keep a running commentary on my experience, either in a blog or in the discussion forum.

Brandon Griffin there should always be an option to select whomever you choose to PM a property you own, whether it is purchased via a turnkey provider or not. For the turnkey properties I have purchased, I chose to go with the recommended PM. My hope (will see how the results pan out over the years) is that an integrated provider (that has both rehab and PM arms) is vested in taking good care of the property.

Michael L. Thank you for keeping up on such an informative post. It is both interesting from an investment perspective, as well as a bit of a 'reality TV' on owning out of state rental property in Chicago. Also, glad to see the positive feedback on Rick Sabatino as property inspector. I, too, am unsure if posting a particular company or resource we have used goes against BiggerPockets posting guidelines, but it sure helps when in doing a search for information!

Another nice bit of economic news about New Bedford and Fall River are the plans to restore rail lines to Boston. There is some information here: http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/southcoastrail/Home.aspx Regarding the absorption rate, this seems like it is similar to a measure of month of inventory on hand? For my own learning, is this more useful to know then another measure like average time on market for homes sold?

Hi Nick, if you PM me, I have a name of a general contractor I used for my primary residence. He tends to underestimate the cost of electrical work, but otherwise is on time and ensures a quality job.

Congratulations, Chicago!

Chris Anderson check out the meetings section of the BP website. There is definitely an REIA near you. Good luck, and welcome to the forums.