All Forum Posts by: Zach Lemaster

@Ann Mclean

Welcome to BP!  All questions welcome!

We are active in the Houston market.  Feel free to reach out at any time.

@Alicia Marks

Love this! I will be submitting some value add STR deals that will be very interesting!

@Monte Riding

I think your question is really centered around evaluating properties and due diligence in general.  Personally, I would remove TK out of the equation to simply ask, how do you confidently verify information presented about any investment, local, or at a distance.  There seems to be this focus around some bad actors in the TK space that may misrepresent information, but this ignores the hundreds of thousands of general sellers out there that give inaccurate information.  Regardless of who you are buying from, it is important to always follow strict due diligence practices to ensure information is accurate.  Have appraisals, home inspections, speak to mngt, ask for references, get copies of leases, check county taxes, obtain multiple lender quotes, get your own insurance quotes (as you will be required to anyways), if possible visit the home/local team, understand the market & neighborhood & ultimately have a clear idea of what your goals are to ensure you are considering investments that will move you closer to accomplishing your goals.  I personally purchase a significant amount of investments out of state in the residential, commercial MF, retail & industrial space.  I can say that there are always variances to some degree in one form or another.  That is what the due diligence process is for is to thoroughly evaluate all information about the property, and then decide if it still meets your criteria to proceed.  @Chris Clothier has a great reputation in the TK space & has been a leader in the industry for quite some time.  The TK companies that have been around for years & have a strong reputation on this site should give you some confidence they are doing right by their investors.  Best of luck in your endeavors! Feel free to reach out at any point in time with any questions.

@Sarah Lev Thank you for the interest! 

As @Taylor L. mentioned, it's important to always do your due diligence to research any team you are considering working with along with the markets & investment opportunities to ensure they fit your goals/criteria. While TK can be a great way to invest OOS, scale or diversify, it's important to know that REI in general still comes with inherent risk that needs to be managed appropriately. This is true of all investments. Below are some threads with discussions on this topic that may help in your research. Feel free to reach out at any point in time with any questions.

To your success!

Zach

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https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/518583-feedback-on-renttoretirement-and-zach-lemaster

https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/ZacharyCole/references

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/765347-rent-to-retirement-review

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/44/topics/1058814-first-time-with-new-construction-cape-coral-fl?highlight_post=6055029&page=1

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/850/topics/895660-my-first-investment-property-an-out-of-state-deal

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/983659-first-investment-property-with-rent-to-retirement?highlight_post=5677176&page=1#p5677176

https://www.biggerpockets.com/co/RentToRetirement

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/929410-rent-to-retirement-updates?highlight_post=5508807&page=1#p5508807

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/893621-rent-to-retirement-review?highlight_post=5222888&page=1#p5222888

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/915728-experience-with-rent-to-retirement-turnkey?page=1#p5345200

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/808479-rent-to-retirement-experiences

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/67/topics/952977-turnkey-in-indianapolis-through-rtr-case-study

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/997350-lessons-learned-from-buying-my-first-rental-property?highlight_post=5748036&page=1#p5748036

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/533693-anyone-worked-with-renttoretirement-turnkey

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/581730-rent-to-retirement-zach

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/874096-reviews-on-r2r-and-nch?page=1&utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Transactional:%20topic_notification&utm_content=Transactional#p5123754

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/883772-turnkey-investing-renttoretirement-feedback-reviews?highlight_post=5171720&page=1#p5171720

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/950188-rent-to-retirement?page=1&utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Transactional:%20topic_notification&utm_content=Transactional#p5535505

https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/ZacharyCole/references

@Sarah Lev

@Michael Ullman just shared a recent experience where things didn't go exactly according to plan, but also gave good feedback on how RTR stayed involved to resolve the issue when it occurred. If you look through many of the threads on this site you will see a great deal reviews showing full experiences that encountered obstacles, but more importantly, how we stayed involved to resolve the issue when those issues came up. REI will always have obstacles in one fashion or another. The true test of a company is how they interact & stay engaged to resolve those issues, which we always try to do to the best of our ability! Feel free to reach out if you would like more specific examples or references. Here is a link to Michael's recent review: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

@Ryan Deasy

Great to point out.  We use bridge loans and private lenders for gap funding as needed, but I'm not sure I would recommend that to a brand new investor like Lindsey doing this for the first time to be so leveraged.  A little bit of delays (which happens often) could really turn a deal upside down rather quickly with multiple lenders in place on a flip.  I would recommend this for more experienced investors who have their systems dialed in for deal eval, rehab & exit.

@David Sandvig

Thanks for clarifying.  Definitely using creative financing strategies like seller finance, subto, lease option, novation, etc. might be good options to bring less money to the table to close.  A strategy that may not be the best for a brand new investor however.

@David Sandvig

Very good explanation.  Thanks for sharing.

Do you mind expanding on how a flip would be the lowest barrier to entry financially? We flip professionally across the country and often find that fix and flips that are distressed need to be purchased with all cash upfront, or using hard money which is extremely expensive & still requires money down. A LTR or even STR could be purchased with 20% down using a conventional loan requiring very little out of pocket. A STR that is also used as a 2nd home could be purchased with as little at 10% down via conventional loan. I just want to get more insight in your thought process here.

happy to help, reach out any time!

@Lindsey Johnson

N Michigan is a great area for cash flow. I'm sure you could be successful with a STR in the right spot, but that is more of a unique niche. I think a LTR that has potential for STR use is a really well versed investment. Maybe start looking in the area you know right around the college? Fix & Flip is a full time job, with high risk. Not to discourage you from that, but I would say get an easy win in with a rental to become comfortable with the area, and then maybe take that leap when you are ready. This would be my advice.