All Forum Posts by: Maxwell Lee

@Chingju Hu Not crazy at all. It's pretty common to be a landlord but a renter yourself if you live in a nice place or an expensive market, just as you do. 

Now that said, you've got your work cut out for you cause long distance investing is hard. Some people might even call you crazy for that instead lol. But imo it's certainly doable so good luck to you and keep thinking critically. If you do, I believe you will be successful and prove your sister wrong. 

Gotcha @Joseph Hennis As long as you know I am not confident in my answer, I put forth those cities in my reply. I wouldnt give any of them greater than 10% chance of being the "next it city" but there is a chance. 

Where have you been buying, @Joseph Hennis? Denver? 

I honestly dont know how anyone can answer you confidently. It's really a guessing game...I'd say even an educated guess would still need a lot of luck to turn out correct in this case. 

Maybe Indy? Maybe KC? Maybe Jax? Maybe Louisville? Maybe Chattanooga/Richmond/Birmingham/Detroit/NWA/OKC? There's a reason why all the above have potential and some others as well. But for legit, Denver/Austin/Nashville explosion it's hard, or impossible, to anticipate. 

Lol thanks for your confidence @James You

I dont study the turnkeys in Jax so I really dont have great insight. JWB has been around a long time (as in a close to a decade lol) and they have always appeared to be a very well-run company with good people at the helm. They are a large outfit with lots of resources and with that comes good and bad. They can operate very efficiently and utilize economies of scale, but they also have plenty of capacity to keep whatever inventory they feel is the best value. I've heard of several other providers but have zero knowledge of their business. 

Good question and I too want to see what people think. 

Fwiw, I was considering all of the above cities as well and likewise narrowed down to those three. However I do look for appreciation potential and in all asset classes. 

Anyway, Indy ended up winning out because it is a little easier/cheaper for me to get to and it exhibited signs that were very similar to what I am used to in Jax. Not necessarily good or bad things, but just types of properties and neighborhoods that I felt were my comfort zone. 

@Brandon Turner, creator of this site, recently started a thread that his go-to handyman was moving to Indy. Of course dozens of people responded enthusiastically so he may be quite busy. 

Hi Rene, 

We may be able to help you depending on what numbers you seek. The Jax market does not offer as great yields as it did just a few years ago, so it really depends on your expectations. 

I think you had a typo in your zip codes, they should begin with 32-

Anyway, I would really advise against 32209. 32208 could be ok but really depends on the exact location. 32210 is a popular area to invest and while it also varies widely I'd say it is mostly good. For that zip, close to the river is one of my favorite neighborhoods but likely would be out of your price range/returns. Moving out farther west, prices will drop significantly and you can find cash flow there. Lakeshore, Cedar Hills, Hyde Park get tossed around a lot and are mostly blue collar, working class renters...what you would hope for in a B-/C+ area. But you are also in close proximity to some rougher blocks. 

My wife is a realtor with CIPS designation and has worked with investors in Canada, China and Korea. Let us know if you'd like to chat. 

Good luck!!

You can find plenty of info about turnkeys, pros and cons, questions to ask, etc on this site. But to give you a broad overview:

First, the definition. Turnkey in its true form should mean fully-rehabbed. Usually with tenant in place and PM company in-house. So with that established

Pros - 

1) Your work is minimal. You only need to thoroughly vet one provider, who would "replace"the realtor, GC, and PM in your team. You would also only need to manage one ongoing relationship. REI isn't 100% passive as you do always need to manage your vendors/workers to some degree.

2) You should have a stable asset. Capex should not come into play for awhile as all major systems are brand new, and since the turnkey company did the work they should be the ideal candidate to manage the property. If they stand by their product, and if they believe they can get you a good tenant, they should also be able to handle the PM responsibilities with little no problem...in theory.

3) Cash flow from day 1. Some turnkeys will allow you to close after tenants are placed. Which means you get rent checks as soon as you purchase the home. And you can definitely buy with a loan. If you went at it yourself, for a similar fixer upper you'd probably have to buy with cash and you wouldnt get a rent check during the rehab phase or while the property is listed for rent. Could be many months...

Cons - 

1) You pay a premium for the convenience of a finished product. Rarely will you be buying at a discount and some turnkeys argue that you must pay over market as your product is of better quality than what's available on the market. 

2) If you picked a poor turnkey then they can really screw you. Definitely find a way to get a third party opinion...from a realtor, an inspector, or even other investors. 

Good luck!!

FL, TX and TN all have no income tax. With TN I feel like Nashville has gone bananas and would be akin to Miami or Austin. Certainly you can be successful investing there but you've missed the boat on the massive appreciation. Memphis is pretty tricky too and has high property taxes, so I'd probably turn to smaller areas like Knoxville and Chattanooga. 

Dallas, Houston and San Antonio are all looking great on a macro level. Again, those markets are red hot but the growth is so strong that it's still very appealing. I feel the same way about Atlanta. Even though many people feel like the big pay day has long passed, the job and pop growth for Atlanta and constant flow of new business suggests that it is still a stable growth market. 

In FL, Tampa, Orlando and Jax all have strong positive signs while still offering good cash-flow. 

In the end I'd put more weight on the type of city I want to live in. Good luck!

Of the major metros (4 largest in each state) I would consider Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando. I think you can be relatively confident about finding good investments in those markets. As an outsider however, I do believe Dallas and Houston have heated up so much that I'd be a little bit wary. All-in-all I would focus on what you want in a city (similarities/differences to NYC) and also COL. Jacksonville would win the latter category, while Houston and Dallas would offer the most big city amenities, imo. Good luck!