Question

Anyone purchase property through Roofstock in states and areas you have never been to or know little about? Any regrets or points worth mentioning?  

Answer 1

I purchased a rental in the Atlanta area in December of 2016 through Roofstock. I live in Wisconsin and I’ve never been to Georgia. Without counting appreciation (Zillow has my current zestimate 50% higher than my purchase price), and including all fees, taxes, improvements, etc. my cash on cash return is 48%. I have no regrets. I don’t really have any pointers other than to say that everyone involved in the transaction, insurance broker, management company, roofstock, all of them took my calls and were helpful in the process. I bought a cheap house under 100k and put down 25%. It was close to the minimum I could have invested in out of state real estate in order to limit my downside should things have gone bad. So my risk was tolerable and it was almost a proof of concept transaction that has gone just about as well as I could have expected.  

Comments

Thank you very much for your reply, @clad370. I’m in San Francisco and was feeling apprehensive about buying out of state but Roofstock seems to really try to make the process easy and attractive.  

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Good luck! The only advice I can offer is to make a list of requirements and be strict about it. A lot of properties come onto the site. Wait for your pitch.  

Answer 2

My first out of state rental was through Roofstock in 2017. It’s different now. I’ve spoken to a turnkey provider (shall remain nameless) that puts his/her “dogs” on Roofstock and keeps the good inventory for clients. My current issue is with my PM team; now that I have a modest portfolio, I KNOW what good PMs are and the RS recommended teams is just not up to standard. I plan on purchasing portfolios now (I’ve hit my 10 limit with loans) and decided that if I’m going commercial, I’ll do it with SFH portfolios.  

Comments

I appreciate you sharing your perspective, @medicinal10.  

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Is there something that stands out the most that makes their PMs not up to standard?  

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@walther there isn’t “one” that I would use to gauge a PM, there are a combination of services I would monitor to see if the relationship is worth keeping. A great PM company may not be right for your specific temperament. It also depends on the market wherein the property sits. Example: you wouldn’t want a PM that is experienced with A-class properties managing a C-class; they might do “okay” but you don’t want okay.  

Answer 3

I went through roofstock. overall a good experience but there were some issues with logistics and the property management company. The PM they set me up with said they don't actually service that area once I closed on the property. so somewhere they had the wrong information and I ended up having to find a different PM by myself and get everything transferred over. there were some difficulties communicating and getting everything shifted over on my own during that initial transition period but it eventually stabilized and has been doing fine since then. I should have run my numbers better though, my analysis was a little off. Still profitable but the returns aren't anything special. Just do your homework, but overall I do trust going through them rather than doing everything myself, at least you have someone to help you along!