Trusted Agents - USA

Due to Family and work contraints, i find that if i were to follow the golden rule and invest my time in traveling to the USA and getting a hands on look at properties, that i would have a very unhappy wife and would be down a few thousand in addition to the trip as contractors dont get any paid leave

So while i know it is a risk (that i plan to mitigate through due dilligence) i need to be able to find an agent who knows what they are doing who can inspect  / evaluate a property on my behalf, needless to say they need to have a proven track record and be trustworthy.

Also in this digital age i can ask that they video the property in detail so i can also have a good look and review the footage a few times.

I figure what i spend on their services could only work out to be equivalent to the travel expenses i would incur from Oz to USA and back again.

Can anyone reccomend any companies or individuals who would be suitable ?
* i will do my research on each agent / company very thoroughly (working in IT has advantages)

What I would do is figure out what city you want to focus on then,

I would engage a Licensed Real Estate apprasier... Just give them your criteria they will narrow down your focus 
 I think an apprasier could give you an over view of their market for 500 bucks or less. we pay 175 for drive by apprasials and 350 for full apprasials.

I have been toying with this idea since I first started on this site a year ago.

maybe take the 10 most popular markets and give a general run down based on zip code. maybe like a Red light , yellow light green light approach.

Like Red light would be war zones of any given city, In most of the mid west markets I know those areas just off the top of my head based on my thousands of hard money loans I have made over the years.

I wonder what this type of report would be worth... Real time data and opinions on vairous markets with No product to sell.

My other thought was grading US turn Key operators. Lord Knows I had to wade through them in my lending days. There are good ones then their are ones you want to run from, I suppose thats the same with the Aussie buying services.

It is important to deal with people who are investors not agents. Agents to a large degree see Australians as a soft target. I deal in Texas with a full time partner on the ground. Unless you are dealing with someone on the ground then do not invest there. Having the full service on the ground is essential for you success. Do your own research before buying into a given market.
I have been involved in Texas since 2005

Nigel Kibel
Australian and New Zealand The United States Property Researcher and education
www.propertyknowhow.com.au

Nigel

Unless a re agent is only promoting their personal listings then the agent is just showing inventory that is available to all.

Therenis value to a fully managed product like mine of course and the good turn key operators

It's the bad turn key companies and aussie marketers that can really take advantage of an OZ investor not RE agents

Thats not what I am saying my partner is fully licensed in the United States and provides a full turn key service however he things like an investor and is creative in how he gets properties. The average agent sells properties. Most of the marketing companies sell through a few so called wholesalers. However I would not go to an agent in Australia and ask for investment advise either.

Nigel Kibel
Australian and New Zealand The United States Property Researcher and education
www.propertyknowhow.com.au

Nigel

I have been licensed since 1977 and am a re broker in 3 states.....

There are far more credible re agents that are qualified to give advice buying these in expensive homes not rocket science...

Certainly more than the Johnny come lately OZ marketing companies that out themselves as experts and have never even seen the properties they promote

There are only amfew ways to source these properties no super secret there....one just needs to buy one of the guru books and most strategies are talked about there.....

I personally have probably sourced properties over years in every conceivable way. For instance

1. Court house steps. IE foreclosure auctions have bought 100's this way in many states

2. Bought bad mortgage debt and did the foreclosure myself

3. Bought a few out of probate as well as through banruptcy court

4. Tax sales and tax deeds

5. Fisbo and pre foreclosures

6. Reo brokers that give you first look I would imagine your Texas partner has this connection

The reo brokers have always been great source although now a daysnbanks and fed want yo see properties listed for a few weeks before they entertain non owner occ buyers.

Now the fed is going to start to package up properties only for investors and sell in 5 mil blocks or bigger

Another subject whats going on with economist saying OZ real estate is over valued and could crash?

With OZ folks taking on debt from their homes to buy us properties this could ,
Lead to same storm we went through

Hey guys,,

Man 35 years of doing this and you do gain some real time knowledge.. I loved selling big ranch's when I was a newly minted RE broker... in those days you took listing for 2 and 3 year contracts because thats how long it takes to sell them, and I would routinely broker these for 10 to 20% commissions so when one popped off I had a very nice pay day. Of course rare was bare land to sell for cash.. So I would share the monthly payments until my commish was paid off, I sold far more properties than agents that just could not wrap there mind around not getting all their commish up front.

So with the above mentality thats how I created my investment model everyone is along for the ride and we stay connected to the investor and protect them till the end.

Some of my dearest friends are folks I sold their ranch land for.... they would list it with a city slicker C 21 agent who really did not know land sales.. but had great marketing ya know a big billboard or something.

But I got out there I could run the corners use a compass  ( pre GPS days) new what timber had value and what was scrub...

I still own one tree farm here in Oregon... In fact Tree farms in the right growing zones will give you Net yeilds that surpass many other cash flow investments, Like I was mentioning John Hancock figures there tree farms return them 10 to 14% net yearly. But of course you may go 10 or 20 years between harvests. So you need a lot of timber ground to be harvesting every year.

Timber Barrons  Railroad Barrons  Steel Barrons   then it was Oil  and now its that new fangled Social media Barron :)

I do not back away from what I said. I am not saying all agents are bad. It just most agents as in Australia deal in residential sales and do not understand investments. Investment is a specialized area not all agents understand this

Nigel Kibel
Australian and New Zealand The United States Property Researcher and education
www.propertyknowhow.com.au

Real estate agents are a dime a dozen.  good ones are hard to find

Nigel that is a really good point. For me to use an agent the first thing I do is ask the question do you own any rental properties. There is a huge separation between investor and realtor.

But a valid and good point you made

Alex

Alex

I haven't bought any property yet and still doing research, but looks like you only had feedback from people selling, not investors like you.
There are a lot of posts about companies and different people's experiences if you search the forum. You have to narrow the area you want to invest and then the companies working on that area, but I think you should make a trip to see it by yourself at least once, I know you work as a contractor, but I'm sure your rate allows for some time off as well. At the end of the day you should not trust anyone with your money, but it's all about risk, like any investment.

Hope this helps

Mosqui

Wow .. when i started this thread it was to get an idea of who deals in what area's of the property market in the US and who has some people who would stand up and say they are a decent sort.

I underestimated the competitiveness and professional pride prevalent in the industry.

Is there any way to salvage this, there has been some interesting and informative legal discussion and i understand that those who focus in certain markets preffer them. However all markets exist because there are those who can and do make them work.

so without spruiking, are there any sites or people i would be highly reccomended to speak with about either mid range capital gains, trashflow or mid - range cashflow. just to get a feel for who works in what area.

I do all the types you mentioned in Kansas city.  If u wanna talk to an agent, i use Dan Solenberger with Remax.  I'm not trying to spruiking so if you want his info u can find it doing a search :)  He also does mid range capital gains, trashflow or mid-range cashflow. He is also a CPA and owns a construction company.  Learned a lot from this man and couldnt ask for a more genuine or real person.  I focus more on Florida for my long term but can give you my agent there also.  Lol, hopefully u get get more direct answers this time before the forum goes crazy agian.

Great stuff Kyler, in the hunt for information, this kinda stuff is hard to find / verify and i appreciate your help 
please PM me any details you feel you cant post openly.