All Forum Posts by: Chris Clothier

@Account Closed - 

I apologize for the confusion about those calls.  I have posted about this on here before.  Unfortunately, the customer service end of our company is all provided by Memphis Invest.  The monthly calls are initiated by Memphis Invest as are the updates on properties.  Our CS team is in our twice weekly management meetings and update our clients from there.  As an investor who asked us to manage your property, you are not a Memphis Invest client which is certainly where that confusion comes from.  We do manage property for a very few outside investors and mostly on the basis that they plan to continue to build their portfolio and become a client.  We also provide management services for one other company in Memphis, but do not provide the monthly customer service call to their clients either as they are not a client of our company.  Since 95% of the properties we manage are for our clients where we did the purchase and renovation, those are the properties receiving the monthly calls mentioned above.

To be clear, that call is not provided by Premier Property Management.  In review of your particular property, that you brought to us for management after purchasing from another company, we do have the notes in our system showing all of the correspondence back and forth and it looks as though they have kept you informed, but the resident has certainly not lived up to their end of the rental agreement.  However, you are not satisfied and that is not good enough for us.  I can have Taylor Streitmatter who runs Premier give you a call this afternoon and see if we can meet your needs.  At the same time, I would be happy to speak with you and see if I can help as well.  Feel free to reach out to me.

Friday October 7th 6:00PM to 7:30PM ~ Memphis Invest offices, Grapevine, TX.
Saturday October 8th 8:30AM to 12:30PM ~ The Palace Theatre, Grapevine, TX.
Saturday October 8th 12:30PM to 2:30 PM ~ Lunch at Memphis Invest offices, Grapevine, TX.

Several times a year, Memphis Invest hosts investor meet-ups giving investors an opportunity to learn more about Turnkey real estate investing and a chance to talk to real investors who are sharing their real experiences with our company.

We host these events at our offices so investors can get a feel for our company and meet our team in person.  October 7th & 8th we are inviting investors to meet us at our Dallas, TX. headquarters!

We are expecting over 60 of our current clients in attendance as they come to meet with our team again and enjoy a social setting while learning a little more about what makes our company so successful for our clients and our future plans.

*** Plus we have a new format and 3 awesome Q&A panels for investors to ask their specific questions.

If you are interested in learning more about passive investments in the Dallas, Houston or Memphis areas, this is fantastic opportunity to meet with our team and speak with our clients directly.

The event begins on Friday night October 7th, with a casual meet n greet with hors d'oeuvres, beer, wine and a relaxed atmosphere hosted at our renovated historic offices in downtown Grapevine.  Investors are invited to join our team and clients from 6:00 to 7:30.

Saturday morning we move to The Palace Theatre in downtown Grapevine, TX.  There we will discuss the details of our company, Memphis Invest, along with updating everyone in attendance on our plans for new construction homes in all markets, additional hires to our company to ensure continued best in class customer service and new housing markets that our team is exploring for future growth.  

Our property management companies, Premier Property Management and PPMG of Texas are currently managing over 3,850 properties for 1,400 investors in Memphis, Dallas and Houston.  Just under 1,000 of those properties are located in the Dallas and Houston and we are expecting continued growth in the Texas markets.  This is your chance to hear directly from our team on our future plans and from actual clients on how their portfolios have performed!

Saturday morning October 8th begins at 8:30 AM at the Palace Theatre.

A highlight for Saturday and a new feature for this event will be three panels that morning for investors to ask specific questions so come prepared!

Panel 1 - Current investors with properties at Memphis Invest.  Several investors have owned properties for over eight years and will share their experiences and returns.  One investor has over 17 properties, several investors have 5+ properties and two investors are much newer and will discuss their process for deciding to purchase with Memphis Invest.  

Panel 2 - Team members from Memphis Invest who have been with our company for 7+ years will discuss our processes, our growth, our mission and core values.  It is their leadership and commitment that has helped our company develop into one of the top turnkey companies in the country with unmatched customer service.

Panel 3 - The Clothier family.  We love taking the opportunity to meet with our clients and giving our time to meet with new and interested investors.  This is an opportunity for those in attendance to ask questions directly to the owners and get a feel for themselves on the direction of the company and if these services are the right fit for their portfolios.

We finish Saturday with a Texas style BBQ lunch back at our offices just down the street from The Palace Theatre.  Take the time to learn about our company and hear REAL stories from REAL investors about how to be successful if you want to invest passively in real estate!

Friday October 7th 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM ~ The Palace Theatre, Grapevine, TX.
Saturday October 8th 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM ~ Memphis Invest offices, Grapevine, TX.

Space will be limited as we can only fit 150 investors comfortably at The Palace Theatre.  If you have ever wanted to learn more about passive investing with a Turnkey company, this is a great opportunity to learn in a low-key, non-sales environment.

We Do Not Host These Events To Sell Houses!  We love meeting our clients as well as new investors and realize that hearing from true real estate investors is the best way to get to know the details of a company.  Current clients and even interested investors already speaking with our company may meet in a one-on-one setting with our team to discuss available properties, but there WILL NOT BE pressure nor a push for investors to look at properties.

If you'd like to learn more, register for your seat today and join 150 other smart real estate investors on October 7th and 8th!  We would love to see you there...

Hey Alex,

I know it is tongue-in-cheek but the reality is, you should not take my word for it.  You should never just trust a company based on hearing what you need to hear or even knowing that they have a good reputation.  Investors cannot afford to take things on faith - they have to be diligent and set a standard for themselves.  

The good thing about having a short list as well is that you get a good opportunity to really get a feel for what level of service and investment property you want as an investor.  I applaud you for taking your time and not just jumping in with both feet...yes, even with our company!  Best to you - 

 It just keeps getting worse.  It seems like every single red flag that many of us in the industry talk about comes up with this company.

It could be that the signs are posted because they are not selling their properties.  They may not own what they are selling.

It could be that the properties are actually owned by the renovation company.  In that case, this would be a really bad case of partnering for profit.  One person can find all the cheap, crap properties that the other can sell and do little to no renovation on them to save money.  The other person uses their reach and often notariety to bring in the investors and sell the properties.  The two partners split the profit on each deal and move on to the next investor.

That could be the case here based on what you saw.

@Merritt Whitman @Dolores Waldron @Shane M.

It is unfortunate, but nothing you have posted about your visit is new or shocking.  I know it is shocking for new investors and it is such a good thing to be posting these experiences.  It only reinforces that investors MUST do their due diligence.  No one is looking out for your money like you.  I have said dozens of times that you can take nothing on faith.  Not even what I say!  Seriously, you must make anyone you do business with, especially in the turnkey world, EARN the right to be believed!  

I have seen dozens of companies and many more than this one exist today, where the marketing has nothing to do with the reality.  It is all about making money.  It has nothing to do with the success of the investor.  It has nothing to do with the integrity of the offer nor the company.  It is all about making money.  The entire success of the operation is based on selling properties to investors who will not take the time to get on a plane and look for themselves until after the transaction is completed.  At that point, the money is transferred and the damage is done!

At one point I would have said this was simply a stay small keep it all type of operation and you always want to give the benefit of the doubt.  You want to believe that they are just simply naive.  

Lastly, to the quote about "we don't want to spend an investors money".  This goes straight to the heart of why investors stay away from "cheap".  

AN INVESTOR WILL SPEND A MINIMUM OF $2 -$4 OVER THE FIRST FEW YEARS OF OWNERSHIP FOR EVERY $1 THAT IS SKIPPED ON THE FRONT END RENOVATION!!!!

Write that down and remember it.  Whether you are renovating yourself, hiring a contractor, buying Turnkey...it does not matter.  If and when maintenance is deferred, it will cost an investor $2 minimum for every $1 they "save" on the front end.  It is a disastrous policy and is used to "sell" investors and make the b.s. numbers on paper look better. 

@Jonathan Watson - You asked a great question for this thread and have some great responses already from the likes of @Jay Hinrichs, @James Wise, @Clayton Mobley and @Merritt Whitman along with so many other great responders leaving really good input.

I wanted to point out something from a strictly business point of view.  When we first started our business, bringing the renovations in-house, starting our own property management company and even starting up a customer service department to call clients every month just to check in - these were all simply business decisions based on building a sustainable business.  We knew the only way to be sustainable was to bring all of the ancillary services that we wanted ourselves as passive investors under one roof and owning those processes.  

We realized that offering these services meant adding team members, technology and overhead.  All of those things cost money.  If you have to spend money, as an entrepreneur, you build a company that puts your resources - time and money - to the best use possible.

That means you migrate to buying in smaller areas, trying to buy better homes, renovating homes to a much higher standard and pulling the essential services in-house.  Otherwise, a company finds itself having to make a choice.  Be good or be profitable.  It is difficult to do both and almost impossible if you are not truly a turnkey company.

When you buy homes in challenged areas those homes are more difficult in every aspect of real estate investing (I hate the class a,b,c,d BS classifications because people use those as a way to oversimplify and essentially to lie to unsuspecting clients).  Challenged areas and properties are more difficult to renovate properly on the front end.  They are more difficult to keep occupied.  They are more difficult to turn around for the next tenant.  The tenants are absolutely more challenging to manage.

Everything I listed above requires more people and more time to manage effectively.  That is the #1 reason why we as a company choose to stay out of those areas.  As entrepreneurs, we determined that the best course for us to grow a company and successfully build long-term relationships with clients was to avoid those areas and start upping our game.  We chose to be better and knew the only way to do it was not to waste anything - especially not time, people or money!

The true up-side of all of this is decisions we made strictly from a business standpoint end up providing a huge benefit to our clients.  They get a better run company providing a higher quality product and service.  Just wanted to provide a viewpoint from a strictly business owner perspective.

 There are several companies in Memphis with very similar names.  Memphis Turnkey, headed by @Alex Craig and his wife Benolyn Craig (hopefully I got that right!) are located in Memphis but also operate in Little Rock, AR.  Alex is a very good guy and runs a solid company.

Memphis Invest is operated by the Clothier family and is also headquartered in Memphis, but has offices and operates in both Dallas, TX. and Houston, TX.  Dallas is becoming our largest market but we will remain Memphis Invest as that is now a well-established brand name.

 Sounds like a trip that was well worth it for you.   Wishyou the best of luck if you decide to move forward.

Chris

@Jay Bhatt - from your details, they sound like a quality operation.  How long have they been in business?  How many units do they manage?  What are the other fees?  Lease-up fee, maintenance mark-up, etc...?  Do they have a threshold for maintenance that they will call you as a client before performing the work?  Do they answer residents' phone calls for maintenance or have it go to voicemail?  How long does it take to answer/return/repair maintenance calls?   I would ask if they have a customer service department to call you as a client monthly for a check-in and update on your portfolio?  If not monthly, perhaps quarterly?  Either way, make sure they make residents and owners both a priority and have the team set up for communication.

Those are questions I would be asking and continue to ask.  Make sure you ask questions from two angles, such as - what is your average vacancy?  Then later in the conversation and hour or so later ask what is the average occupancy.  The two numbers should correlate.  If they do not, then take pause and determine are they just telling you want you want to hear.

Best of luck to you ~ enjoy your time in Chicago.  Hopefully you like what you see!~

Justin,

Great question and one that you want to answer on the front end and will have as much to do with the "who" you are working with as where you are investing.

An established company with longevity should be the type of company that is going to have demand for their service and product into the future.  Whether you buy the property with equity or no equity is not an indication of your ability to sell it at cost, below cost or even above cost in the future if the markets moves down or if the market moves up.  

If the property is performing, producing the return you expected, and you want to sell it at some point in the future, then with the right company there will be demand for their services and for a property that is performing.  In that case, your buyer will look very similar to you.  They will be a passive investor, buying for a steady and consistent return.

Specifically, as you asked about market dips, ideally you wouldn't sell it if it is still performing from a rent and return standpoint.  However, if you did need to sell, your front-end decision on who to work with and the demand for their product/service will play a huge role in your ability to sell for the best price possible.