All Forum Posts by: Zach Lemaster

@Thomas P.

Personally I think using a more specific application that includes location information and regulations is a better use, but this may be a good starting point.

@Brandon Turner

Thank you for the many years of education, insight & banter!  You will be missed!  Congratulations on all the success!

@Gokulraj Mohanasundaram

Thanks for the interest in RTR!  I've posted a few links below from other investors that have worked with us that might be helpful for you to review in answering your question.

As James mentioned Morris Invest is involved in quite a bit of legal issues right now with investors that did not have a turnkey experience.  You can find this with just a little research on google or BP.  Roofstock is more of a general marketplace for properties vs working with one solidified team throughout the whole process.  Just depends what you are looking for.  @Chris Clothier is the owner of REI has an excellent reputation. They have been in business for many years so I would recommend exploring them as well. I hope this was helpful, and we look forward to connecting with you.

Here are a few links to people who have worked with Rent To Retirement:

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

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

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

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

@Cj Powderhorn

Thank you for the kind words. I've always enjoyed our lively conversations about REI, tax strategies, financial planning, the military, skiing, or whatever fun topics we share in common! No doubt we understand that some of our new construction projects are not the correct fit for everyone. Naturally when you say you decide to cancel everyone immediately wants to know what happened assuming something went wrong, or there was big issue that changed your mind. Reality is this just wasn't the right fit for you at the this point in time. Thank you for clarifying this.

A couple points to expand on for the general community, we are mainly focusing on building in Lee County in SWFL.  We focus on specific metrics and data points there that are important to follow from an investment standpoint.  What we do know, and can measure right now, is an increasing demand for housing that is not able to keep up with the population trends.  I've included some graphs below.  This causes the rents and market value to increase dramatically.  To use an example, we initially projected the 4/2 model a year ago to rent for ~$1,800 to $1,850 with about $20k of immediate equity.  Now that these homes are completing we are seeing rents in the $2,200 to $2,300 range & investors having ~$50k+ in immediate equity.  Even now with the prices in the high $200k range most all appraisals are coming in the $350k to $400k range.  If anyone would like to see copies of these appraisals, just reach out.  We have many to share with you.  This is all due to the nature of the housing market in SWFL.  While we all know this will not last forever, now is an exceptional time to capitalize on the market trends to invest in a brand new build that has excellent cash flow & immediate equity which is extremely rare to come by.  You will need to be patient however as it will likely take a year or longer to build these with permitting delays, etc.  So you need to be prepared for that, but the wait is worth the benefit.  If this is not a location that seems like an area you want to own in long term, that is completely fine.  I recommend selling the home to cash in on the immediate equity.  You could also be creative to do a cash out refinance to pull the majority of your equity back out to reinvest elsewhere.  I've been a professional RE investor for many years now investing across the country.  I can't say I've seen many opportunities quite like what is available in SWFL right now.  This is where I'm personally allocating most of my own capital currently for new construction investments!

Florida does consistently rank as one of the top markets people are moving to often 2nd right behind TX (FL has significantly lower taxes than TX).  We do see the population increasing year after year.  Especially when you look at specific areas of the state where we are focusing on you will see these trends dramatically increasing over the past few years.  No doubt this is an exceptional time to invest in the right locations in FL, especially with new construction that has immediate equity & attractive cash flow.

@Patrick Bavaro 

Thanks Patrick!  We appreciate you!

We look forward to progressing with this build & assisting you in scaling your portfolio over time!

@Patrick Bavaro

Thank you for the clarification to your post about timeline.  I can assure you that all surveys, permits, etc. have been scheduled with a timely manner & are in progress.  It just takes some time unfortunately.  Every builder is experiencing this, especially in areas where there is a lot of building happening due to housing demands.  Unfortunately we are at the mercy of the government to issue permits.  Thank you for your patience as this progresses through the normal steps of construction, and we will continue to keep you updated.

Here are a few clarification points to clarify based on our post to ensure anyone reading this fully understands expectations.

-Yes, the build likely will take a year.  Permitting being the big variable, which is outside of everyone's control.  We've seen this take up to 4 months.  Surveys and permits are ordered immediately upfront before your loan even closes to expedite this process as much as possible.  I know Brad clarified this with you today.

-We are partnered with the builder. I have a large LOC out with Lima One as we are actively involved on the build side ourselves. The model you are building is exclusive to our clients, and we have committed to a certain number with the builder allowing you to achieve the below market pricing that you did. That would not be possible otherwise.

-Brad is a land broker that assists with acquiring lots.  That is his role.  He can also assist with the retail sale of the home if you decide to sell the home upon completion.  He is part of one specific building team we work with.

This is most definitely a waiting game as with most new construction.  Yes, it takes some time, but we all know that going into it.  I think it would make more sense to see evaluate if you would do it again once the build is actually completed, the home is rented out & you are able to see what kind of immediate equity you have available.  That will allow you to see the process start to finish.  Someone that is doing multiple builds with us & is further along in the process to speak with would be @Trevor Fleck.

Please just understand building takes time, and there are many steps involved.  I think you will be very successful in your build & be very happy you decided to participate in new construction in this area.  Just to give you more insight, this same 4/2 model we were advertising a year ago we anticipated rent to be $1,850 along with about $20k of immediate equity.  Now that these are actually getting completed we are seeing them actually rent out for $2,200 to $2,300, and have roughly $50k+ of immediate equity due to the housing demand/market conditions.  We way over delivered on those properties from what was initially projected & those investors are in a very solid position!  Yes, there will be small issues with builder delays, communication, etc.  I think when it's all said and done when you evaluate the performance of the investment it will be hard to argue it wasn't worth it.  I have been investing across the country professionally for over 10 years now.  I have not come across a new construction scenario that compares to what we are seeing currently in SWFL.  I am most definitely not aware of any new construction under $300k that has this type of opportunity right now.

@Don M. Feel free to reach out directly with any specific questions you have, and we are happy to walk you through the process whenever you are ready to take the next steps on new construction.

@Jin Park

Congratulations on the new property acquisition! This is great insight and feedback. Thank you for the kind words. We are still a small company that tries our best to give each investor personal attention on how to build a successful REI portfolio. We look forward to assisting you on the next transaction to scale your portfolio over time. Please don't hesitate to reach out at any point in time with questions, or to talk strategy.

To your success!

@Michelle Moe

Welcome to the community Michelle! I see this same question asked every so often, and there are already quite a bit of discussion on this topic. Here are a few threads that might be useful to read on the subject. I'm happy to answer any specific questions you have about investing in SWFL. I've been in the building space for many years across the country, and I have never seen a scenario where you can get into a brand new build for $275k that immediately appraises for ~$330k to $360k, has double digit ROI on cash flow alone & is in an A class area with water access. Kind of the best of all worlds! Not to mention there is an extreme housing shortage causing a waitlist for tenants. This also drives increases in rents & home appreciation.

Here are the links I mentioned might be useful:

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

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

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

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/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

@Jesse Villaneda

Welcome to BP!  That is great to hear you are setting a concrete goal with a timeline associated to accomplish your goal!

Getting that first property under your belt is sometimes the hardest step to take, but also the most crucial to put you in the mindset to scale over time.  I'm glad you enjoyed the call with our team.  Hopefully you were able to have all your questions answered & learned some things along the way.  This is only the beginning.  

In effort to connect you with other investors that have worked with us I posted some links below of previous threads for you to read about others experiences.  I hope you find this useful.  We look forward to hopefully working with you in the near future to assist you in accomplishing your goals!

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

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

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

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/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

@Logan Murdock

Thanks for the mention. As you know we work across multiple different states, and have a variety of different investment opportunities available. I absolutely think that the Cape Coral new construction is one of the best opportunities we've seen in our investing career! It is important to know that we are all professional investors ourselves actually investing right along side our investors. This would 100% be accurate for SWFL. We have millions invested in builds in Cape Coral. It is an outstanding opportunity with exceptional growth potential. To be very specific, most of these homes have a significant amount of immediate equity that is a huge value for the investor. They can sell the property for a gain, do a cash out refi (BRRR) to reinvest the equity into other investments or keep the property cash flowing exceptionally well! The 4/2 model we are selling for $275k usually appraises in the $330k to $340k range on pre-construction. Just last week we had some of the highest appraisals come back at $375k & two at $400k which is mind blowing! Because we are doing volume we are able to sell significantly below what someone would normally be able to achieve on their own. Not to mention we initially projected rent at $1,850, and now seeing rents at $2,200 yo $2,300 now that these are being completed.

@Trevor Fleck would be a good person to connect with to discuss his experience working with us.  He is in the process of doing 5 builds with us.

@Stetson Miller I would have to completely disagree about your statement "You hit the nail on the head with your third bullet point of the turnkey company capitalizing on your shortcomings."  While there are many TK companies out there that may behave in this way, we are not one of them.  Clearly seen by the example I've just outlined we allow for a significant amount of upside/equity for our clients.  I would have to say this is too general of a statement that overall brings TK companies with a good reputation into the category of those that do not have a good reputation.  There are many terrible RE agents out there.  Same thing with contractors, builders, property managers, etc.  It takes a good amount of networking to find the people that are the right fit for one's goals.  I can say we have one of the best reputations you will find on this site with hundreds of very successful & happy investors.  To verify this statement up I've posted some links that someone can read through to see what investors experiences have been with us.  At least we can agree that SWFL is one of the best places to invest in the country right now!

Here are some forums that reference investors experience with RTR:

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

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

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

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/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