Engelo,

wishful thinking on changing our banking system…. Those that have good credit by and large do their business like you folks  with auto pays and ach etc.. I know all of my loans are electronic and I have been doing this or 20 years.

Its the huge swath of the population that has crummy credit, and they cannot get bank accounts PERIOD end of discussion.  This is why you have check cashing stores ( cash their pay checks)  Grocery stores sell Money Orders ( pay your rent and other bills) 

And these credit challenged folks tend to be the majority of our renters  Nationwide  at least any rental under 1k… above 1K per month you do move into a different class of renter.

But heck this week I had one of my 1575.00 renters living in one of my new homes in the south that is valued at 200k  bounce her rent check  yet again!! no more checks from her she will have to pay with bill pay or cashiers checks

JLH

I Beleive TRR (top rental returns)  had the same model as Reids new company.. Or they claimed they did… And they procured some nice product from what their videos showed.  Have not heard from them in a while not sure if they are still working Atlanta.. From my standpoint when they started they were clearly acting as real estate agents with no license.  But hey an AU investor really did not care… When I looked at their proforma's  rehab looked to be puffed  IE they probably had an additional fee added or were not very good negotiators vis a vi getting contracts from the contractors.. And the only other things I heard about them negatively is their rehabs took far too long.. Many posted that rehabs were taking 3 to 6 months. When any competant rehabber should have those type of projects done in 30 to 45 days max  2 weeks for the lip stick jobs .. I am sure those that Try Rieds new company in Atlanta will experince this quick turn around.  As well as I read post from people on this site that said by the time TRR rehabbed and finally tenanted a house it took 6 months to a year.. I would very often point out that most likely they were NOT Insured why the house sat vacant that long and were really at risk in case of a fire or wind or storm damage.. In addiiton by the time they spent the money to come to Atlanta and pick there house they were starting their investment hugely in the hole.. Compared to buying a home that was already rehabbed and tenanted.

From what I see from Reid They are Licensed and Licensed agents regardless of Nigel's thoughts or opinions about using a RE agent ( he might of had a bad experince) are almost always a benefit to the buyer.. ONe they have a fiduciary and they have Eand O insurance… A Licesnsed realtor lies to you or sells you a home that is far over true value and you have recourse through the courts and the real estate agency failure to disclose materil facts is grounds for suspension or revokation of a REicense. Any quality agent is not going to risk their livelyhood with and flagerant and deliberate misrepresenation or ommision.. So from my point of view   and of course I am biased  I am a REal Estate broker in 3 states and a licensed Mortgage BAnker (federal) I like to see companies follow the laws of the land.. And negotiating the purchase of a property that one does not own is e definition of acting as a RE agent.. I suspect its the same in OZ.

Regardless I do beleive by and large the riff raff has gone the way of the dodo bird and the better players are those that are still in business.

Unlucky

If you want to send me a private e mail on the details I can have my title insurance company pull data on the property and give you an idea of where you stand.. As well as have one of my contacts do a drive by. etc etc

Jay Hinrichs

Mark Brittian 

you can say I reffered you.. His assistant is Ramona

Rosa,

Commutes vary to area of the US.. a 30 minute communte in Las Angeles would be a very small one.. Same with Seattle, Atlanta New York, Chicago, San Francisco Bay Area etc.  smaller cities that could be different but in the major metro areas 30 minute plus is the norm and up to 2 hours one way is not uncommon at all.

Section 8 rent goes to who ever the owner of the property directs it to go to.. So it can go directly into an owners account if so directed or it can go to the PM.. Most PM's want it to go to their account so they can take their management fee out before paying the Investor…  Rosa, if your having an issue all you need to do is contact the HUD department that handles your tenants payments send them a copy of your deed showing you own it.. And then instruct them to Direct deposit into your US bank account..

I always have my sec 8 go direct to my personal account never the PM.. then I pay the PM their fee each month.   Now many PM' will not work this way becasue they are afraid of not getting paid.. But again you can have sec 8 go to you it is your choice..When you set up management you probably signed a document allowing the SEc 8 rent to go to the PM and maybe you did not realize it at the time.

Jayman,

I think the idea of out of area buyers buying sub 30k houses in any large metro market in the US is EXTREMELY risky and fraught with potential disaster… It may work now because your in the honeymoon period  ( fresh rehab fresh tenant)  where it goes wonky is down the track.. those same clients I will be  very dissappointed in the future.. YOu just cannot get quality tenants in the US that will live in areas of major metro cities were properties cost 30k.. And thats with contractors, middlemen like yourself, and others all making a profit out of that 30k house.. that 30k house probably sold wholesale for 5k or less.. And no matter what anyone says here on the forum those are Ghetto slum lord properties that are only appropriate for those that live and work in the area… Like englo said you need to pound on doors to collect rent and no PM is going to do that period.  The PM's are not the issue its the quality of the tenant pool… One can get lucky…

And or if you have the time and engergy you can seek out smaller mid western towns and you can buy these low end rentals. but they will be smaller towns 50k > population. NO major crime no big demograpic population issues.  I invest in a few cities like this in the mid west.. Properties will never go any where but there is no crime and rents are stable but not high..

Engeo needs to add to his salutation  " sweeping floors to owning and POUNDING on doors"    he is doing it right if you want to work the low end.. You either move there and work it as a business or partner with someone who is there everyday working it.. You will not succeed over time buy just buying it turn key and hoping a PM is going to love cherrish and honor your 30k Ghetto house… Make sense????  Even in OZ?

As a Data point I have 20 plus years in this space.. a couple thousand hard money loans under my belt have owned more than 350 rentals at one time from the kind being described here to 300k houses… There is a difference in the US in the renter pool of one living in the lowest priced SFR in America and one living in a  neighborhood that meets the Average sales price for the entire market.. I would venture to guess Average sales price in KC is probably 120 to 140kk with half homes going below half going above.. You want average tenants not sub average and or the worse of the worse other wise you can just take Rosa's story and repeat it thousands of times.

Rosa,,,

what your describing is very typical of low end rentals in the US  has  little to do with PM unfortunatly it has everything to do with the quality of the tenant.. When you buy homes that are 30 to 60k in any market in the US you are getting bottom of the barrel tenants.. good tenants do not want to live in these neighborhoods and they do become Ghettos to some extent.  There is only so much a PM can do.. Although lack of communication is very bad. But the quality PM's do not work in these areas either.. PM's loose their butt dealing with these low end rentals and your experince is not ab normal.. This is why those that work in these types of neighborhoods really need to be local slum lords that can pound on doors and demand rent.. YOu think these tenants are afraid or will react to a legal letter Hell no.. they live there lifes in constant turmoil and threats..They know how to work the system how to live in houses for free then move on to the next one.

There is a reason Englo moved to KC.. He knows he needs to be there boots on the ground to get his portfolio to work… Same with me and my portfolio in certain markets.

TAx certificate sales on their face do not wipe out the existing liens.. The fact is only a small % of tax certificate buyers end up owning the real estate. they either get paid off when tax's are brought current or no one redeems and they loose their money. It is the action of QUIETING title through the court system that does a couple things. It gives the tax cert owner title to the property, and it WIPES out all encumberances other than IRS liens.. All judgements Mortgages and any other creditor lein is extinguished with the recording of a quiet title deed rendered from the courts..     NOw in a tax sale state everything is wiped out at the sale other than IRS and the IRS only has 6 months to redeem and they have to give you your money back plus statutory interest..  I never let IRS leins scare me away I have only had the IRS step in one time and that is because we bought a 300k property for 3ok and the owner owed 60k in tax's we just paid her 60k in tax's and kept the property  still a great deal for us.

Is this like the tulip craze in 1700

Freckle,  whole different kettle of fish the buyer of a 5 mil plus home and the average american homeowner who's total DTI for housing is about 30 to 40%.. Those that own these homes are either the ones that pay cash so they don't get foreclosed.. Or entrapenuers who's busienss's go up and down frequently.  And a lot of Sports stars be it football baseball basketball etc etc. get their huge contract go out and leverage a multi million dollar house only to have their carrier end in 5 years and they do not have the earning power to keep the house up.. I bought a 10k sq ft home from a NBA player here in Oregon 6 or 7 years ago.. He got the house 3/4 done and ran out of money and carreer

JLH