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I too invested in the North Dakota project having first successfully bought a couple of CF Gold residential properties which had gone well at that point (and continue to go well). Hopefully, the relevant posters on this forum have also joined the current US legal action that is happening in an attempt to retrieve the initial investment + damages from the players in the Baken saga. On the strength of how the legal action is playing out, I am cautiously optimistic of a good outcome BUT I wouldn’t wish the stress of the past 2 years on anybody. Am just very glad that I didn’t invest money in the project that I couldn’t afford to lose and mentally, I said goodbye to my initial investment monies about a year ago. It has been a good but painful investment lesson, namely, that I shouldn’t have assumed that a successful investment in residential US properties automatically meant that Jason Simpson knew what he was talking about in Dakota, and that promises of high return does indeed mean high risk. Turns out the high risk has morphed into no return to date. However, am still holding out reasoned hope for a satisfactory conclusion owing to the legal action currently playing out well (at this stage anyway).
So back to the OP's query. I have two properties, one in Eastpointe, one in Grand Rapids. I purchased through Cashflow Gold. I honestly dont know how anyone would do it on their own unless they went over to the US for some months to not only find properties, but to find reliable and honest people to do business with. Part of CF Gold is that you are buying the contacts (accountant, property management etc). The contacts have been awesome to deal with; prompt replies, helpful and onto things. One property is returning 16.9% net after all expenses and the other 19%. These returns are a bit lower than initially predicted owing to increased renovation costs (initial costing was only an estimate) and slightly lower monthly rental (by $25 – $50 per month). The whole process took a lot longer than I thought it would (from Aug when I started looking, until settlement in Dec/Jan and tenants in place by Feb).
Dont forget to allow for Accountant, LLC setup, insurance, initial property management fee for finding tenant – 1 mths rent etc and also for the property manager to hold funds in their account for mainentance eg $1000 – that kind of thing.
Thanks for the replies guys. It would seem that at best, the service of Top Rental Returns could be a bit hit and miss. I too have been advised to contact them on Skype. The only times I have seen them online has been in my work time. I have no desire to be having a Skype conversation at work about my personal financial business! In addition, when someone is reluctant to put things in writing eg via email, I start to get pretty nervous. I dont care if it is "easier" for them to just talk – I like having important points and facts recorded in writing. The time for "chats" is after some basic facts are established eg the original poster's request for statistics on rental success.
If there is one thing you need as a long distance investor, it is the reassurance of top notch communication.
All in all, there seems to be a lack of professionalism which is concerning. Am going to look elsewhere and give TRR a miss.
They seem exceptionally slow in answering emails, if you get an answer at all. I like prompt responses; anything else makes me wonder if they are "onto it"…. just an observation.
i would also be interested in an answer ot the original poster's question.. anybody at all got tenancy vacancy rates success info when using Top Rental Returns?
