[Pat007Member@pat007Join Date: 2012Post Count: 71]

March 28, 2012 - 3:33 am

indeed, the builders know the value, have many ways to offload the unit within their trade and know how to remove it quickly and with minimal damage to it, also have the tools to do so, knowledge of the new installs and the site itself.

this is why once you find a good builder / installer with a moral compass, keep in touch with them and make them part of your trades people "team"

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March 28, 2012 - 1:36 am

jayhinrichs wrote:

What we try to do if faced with one that has to come down is to get the fire department to burn it down for practice.. thats free. In Detroit the night either before or after Halloween can't remember now what they call it something like devils night. The local Youth will set 300 to 500 vacant homes ablaze that one night alone. JLH

Wow… just wow.. * note to self avoid Detroit or at least have vacant property made to look "lived in"

Awesome tip re-fire department, would never happen in Oz due to our incredibly flamable native species of plants.. bushfire would be a real risk in some areas.

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March 28, 2012 - 12:47 am

jayhinrichs wrote:

Pat, the land under very low priced houses in the US has negative value.. Its worth nothing and you can be charged with demolishing the house and hauling it to the dump. So take that thought right out of your head.

Seriously ? now i realise that laws may differ from state to state. however i'd like to clarify this further for my understanding and education

Do you mean that
1) hauling it to the dump en masse is illegal ? so re-selling useable components to builders / scrap yards is still ok
2) Demolishing a house is illegal  ?
3) leaving the lot vacant is illegal ?

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March 27, 2012 - 10:20 pm

yeah with the Auzzie Market land is way over priced, it is worth more than the house in most cases for and 800sqm lot or smaller
(there is a lot this size going for about $450,000 near my area and another poor 600sqm lot for $270,000) houses in the area are $370 – $400,000  and Adelaide is supposed to be one of the cheaper cities.

if your paying $1000 – $5000 per lot then your getting a better deal that 100% of people over here, for that price you'd be lucky to get land 3 hrs from the city and unlike America due to population there isnt alot out there, at least not in SA.

I have also been considering buying and holding American land as an investment (at least the AC cant be stolen) or alternatively buying low end houses where the land value is almost equivalent.. speculating on the scrap value of the place to offset the purchase and then retain the land as a method of building up some assets over time and getting "skin in the game" .. might later sell some off and then  be able to build on others to get things going.

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March 27, 2012 - 5:30 am

Hi Everyone,
My name is Patrick and i'm from Adelaide in South Australia.

I have been a contractor (via an agency) working in IT for many years and have a wife and 3 kids (youngest is 10 weeks old now)
as any time off is unpaid, mandatory public holidays are unpaid , sole income earner.. it's a struggle.
 
thus my ventures into the world of property investing ! 

for as the saying goes "if you always do what you always did, you'll always get, what you always got"

currently also considering a move to the USA to escape the cost of living squeeze we have here on every essential item (food, electricity, petrol , rent and telecommunications)

[Pat007Member@pat007Join Date: 2012Post Count: 71]

March 27, 2012 - 4:06 am

In regards to HSBC not sure how they perform as a bank, but i have emails from them outright stating that the branches they have in America are actually seperate from the branches here (not one entity).. so i cannot for example:  fill in the paperwork here and have them fax it to their American office for processing.

Essentially you face the same hurdles with international banking despite them being a "global" bank.

As for myself, im looking to invest in the USA, but have issues finding a sufficient deposit given that i cannot really get a loan from here (in Oz) for a property over there and they have a higher requirement in terms of LVR  percentage. so im in the same boat really.. taking the time to read and research while trying to solve that problem.

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March 27, 2012 - 1:00 am

In Australia a bank will lend up to 50% of the value of existing stock (if purchasing a business)

[Pat007Member@pat007Join Date: 2012Post Count: 71]

March 26, 2012 - 10:36 pm

Not sure about the individual banks myself, but there is more you'll need to know about setting up a bank account and LLC if you are not living in America.

http://myusapropertynightmare.wordpress.com/

Covers many of the relevant topics and is worth a read.

[Pat007Member@pat007Join Date: 2012Post Count: 71]

March 22, 2012 - 3:26 am

I agree, for the small scale investor use Excel or similar spread sheet, keep your data for each property in it's own sheet in the workbook.
you can use formulas to link data to your summary page or graphs / projections pages if you want to go that far into data analysis.

just one BIG thing, keep a backup and keep a backup of that backup… keep them all up to date and if possible keep one off site (even if it's a spare you email to your internet based email address, not the most secure but if your house gets robbed you'll recover it instantly)

Working in IT, you soon learn that if it's important and you dont back it up.. that's the day the file decides to corrupt itself or get accidentally deleted.

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March 19, 2012 - 6:22 am

Rockingham when i last lived in Perth was considered by reputation to be an undesireable area to live for crime rate and things like that.
Been a long time though, maybe things have changed.. but if there are better areas as suggested that you could be looking in then why take the risk?

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March 7, 2012 - 6:02 am

I wish it would crash, not being able to afford a place in your own country on a single but good income, is depressing
also due to my living arrangements im in a double bind.. if i own property in my name then i will be required to move out of my place due to the public housing rental stipulations.

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March 6, 2012 - 12:59 am

People like this give us all a bad name in this busines . Please send me a PM I am in the states and Also Jay Hinrichs.I think we can help and know the right people to help you out. This again is a common theme  for people just sending money and not taking into account what is going on. Instead of sitting here telling you what a mistake you made . I say lets get this piece of trash and make sure he is held accountable for every dollar you have lost .
[/quote]
 
Jay as i have seen on the forum – before some of the posts were moderated   – is quite passionate about dealing with those who give his industry a bad name and would seem to have a fair amount of experience and resource as Alex suggests they might be a good starting point.

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March 5, 2012 - 10:52 pm

I think you'll see in hindsight that keeping on paying this guy when he provided no recipts was a mistake, bigger mistake was then assigning him more power over your finances / assetts when he still had not provided anything to prove you could trust him.
heck, he probably owned the foreclosed places that he reccomended you buy after raising the prices a bit.

i'd pay the 8,000 simply to rake him over the coals if for no better reason than i cant punch him from here, but i can sue his backside off, as you say he has assetts so you may get compensation.

Take the holiday but before you do, find out a bit about who's who in the areas you own properties… who has a good reputation and is long established meaning they are far less likely to be a risk and have oppinions you can trust. these forums if you read the archives and look at the long term posters and their associated companies can be a good starting point.

It is not enough to go over and see the damage, it's a case of knowing where you are going to take action when you get there and who with.  If you do go.. keep us posted.

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February 22, 2012 - 1:39 am

some people want a negative yeild as a tax offset.
This may work for you if your looking at reasonable capital gain

[Pat007Member@pat007Join Date: 2012Post Count: 71]

February 14, 2012 - 10:33 am

mcgrandles wrote:

Pat007 wrote:

for something that complicated i'd seek legal advice in your state, aslo check any federal laws that may overlap and superceede them.

many thanks for your help I'm so screwed up don't know what to do just at the end of my rope property in a good growth area priced to sell nothing to do easy to convert to 4 bedder   is it the market ? i even have an agent helping me   and i can not get a 100% sale

Well as your account isn't setup for private messages / email i may as well ask, where is the property situated and what are you trying to get for it ?

[Pat007Member@pat007Join Date: 2012Post Count: 71]

February 13, 2012 - 12:57 am

for something that complicated i'd seek legal advice in your state, aslo check any federal laws that may overlap and superceede them.

[Pat007Member@pat007Join Date: 2012Post Count: 71]

February 12, 2012 - 10:25 pm

v8ghia wrote:

From the 1st talk onw, at the end of each person they said something like ' and the first 300 people here (I think there was only 250!!!) who identify themsleves at the counter in the foyer, can receives my special (insert topic etc blah blah) home study CD program that is worth $15,000, reduced to just $5000, and for today only a red hot $2999. There was positively a stampede on each occasion.

And that right there is where they make their money, the returns on property for the same time and effort / risk are pale in comparison.

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February 9, 2012 - 11:57 pm

These guys often trade off their reputation.
Pick someone your comfortable with who has been established in their area for a long time to avoid any "fly by night" types who are here today and in spain tomorrow.

searches on their ABN should show when their company was first listed.

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February 7, 2012 - 8:25 pm

Terryw wrote:

hi Catalyst

Yes, renovation and selling would be good. But I took the term flipping to mean just buy and sell straight away – possibly without even settling on the property.

I hear that some people arrange an early access clause so they can rennovate and do just this.

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February 6, 2012 - 6:10 am

Absolutely you can (if we are talking about Australia) give your place away as a prize in a lottery, however you need to check the applicable laws in your state in regards to lotteries. 

for my state it is: http://www.olgc.sa.gov.au/default.asp?page=lottery.lottery.htm&menu=lottery

you may want to review the federal site: http://australia.gov.au/topics/culture-history-and-sport/gambling-and-lotteries

Prize pools over a certain $ value ($500 i think)  need to abide by certain laws.