Forum Replies Created
Hi Streamline. Well done. From someone who used to be on this forum a lot…I know this is something you have wanted to achieve for a while so again well done. I am not sure what the laws are like in Florida for executing the documents but in my past experience dealing with Texas banks….the mortgage docs needed to be signed either at the US Embassy by a Notary or I had to get a Notary and an Apostille seal from DFAT….again not sure about Florida.
Scott makes a valid point. I purchased my portfolio a few years back so got in when the AUD was above parity. The drop in the AUD means if I were to sell today I would make a gain based just on the exchange rate alone but I have no intention to sell at this stage. Then as Engelo says……the AUD is likely to go even lower so perhaps get in now ?? Now back to the topic of the thread…….I am pretty sure Reid Stewart was one of the main ones behind USInvest so it looks like he has made a change from the turnkey model over to showing buyers wholesale deals. On the surface there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with the company…you can easily check with the Realtors Assoc in Georgia if they in fact do hold a license but I wouldn't see why they wouldn't be if they were promoting this fact. That's only the very first hurdle however. Next step is actually finding that gem instead of a lemon but if your inspecting on the ground you should be able to weed them out to a point yourself. Let us know how it all goes Jacob. If your keen I am sure readers would enjoy you putting your process for all to read and educate themselves
Cheeves,
Yes some arguments going to and fro and at times can seem a bit childish. What you have to appreciate however is that Freckle is playing the devils advocate. Nigel is presenting an arguement why we should buy in Florida…specifically the product he is trying to sell. Freckle is on the other side and pointing out that no factual evidence has been presented to date to support and backup their claims.
I'm not looking at Florida but from someone outside looking in….Freckle is presenting the more convincing story….be it right or wrong !!
I'd love to participate in this discussion guys but past experience tells me that Ryan from US Invest will jump onto the forum and he & I will get into a heated debate about how they rip off ALL there clients. Then the forum moderators end up deleting the posts which is to the detriment of all those on the forum.
Get it through your heads…..all that US Invest is…is a huge marketing machine. They don't have your interests at heart despite all their marketing materials.
Mark from uspropertyfacilitators……don't 100% agree with your statement to stay away from all turnkey operators. Sure there are some out there that are rip off's but it's a but unfair to paint them all with the same brush…..some honest operators do exist.
Search past forum posts to get some idea of who your asking about. Unfortunately the forum moderators removed some comments….the last one was deleted was from someone who had some very interesting comments about their supposed New Jersey office.
https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/property-investing/overseas-deals/4345304
Yes they certainly do. You can get up to 80% LVR. Pretty well the same process you would go through with Aussie banks. I have a good broker based in Auckland if that helps.
Todd,
It's amazing how many experts have come out of the woodwork….all talk the same talk…must be a school teaching this nowdays.
My first warning sign is that the website doesn't tell you any addresses. The second warning sign is that they charge you for their "services". They make out that it's all difficult to invest in the US and despite all the smokes & mirrors you will make a mistake if you don't employ their services….just to justify the fee payable of $5995. That's a whole lot of money for information that you can obtain yourself free of charge.
Second warning sign is that it seem to be small midwest towns she recommends. We are talking low income area's that have been dying for decades so how do you intend to actually make money…what's the exit strategy ?
This is just another middleman company and all they have to offer is contacts they have. Deal direct with the companies based in the US.
Ryan,
We haven't seen eye to eye recently on some points but with this topic I agree with you 100%. Paying cash with your SMSF is no problem as long as you have the correct structure in place but my Accountant said under NO circumstances should the SMSF leverage to buy US property. He also raised an issue (which I didn't pursue as I lost interest) that I should also not open a US bank account for the SMSF as no banks in the US came under the banking act 1959 or something like that. Have you heard anything along these lines ?
Nigel,
Lets put the numbers out there for all of us to see. I just don't see these sorts of returns as viable or ongoing for commercial deals. I know you worked with individuals in buying SFH in San Antonio so are you now saying to these investors this isn't the way to go ?
I have some business/investment partners in Houston and they are very experienced in commercial deals. I am presently sitting on some vacant land in Houston Ave (about 1 mile from downtown Houston) in a JV where in the years ahead we plan to develop a commercial building. This is in Houston's historic first ward where almost all of the housing has been bulldozed and replaced by shopping centres and office buildings & new townhomes. Running a ruler over the numbers the best we can expect is a cap rate between 6-8%.
Then further out we developed a 2.5 acres lot and have a 2 story medical/office building behind the new Texas Children's Hospital. Same sorts of cap rates around 7%.
Personally I can't see too many Aussie's taking the plunge in US commercial real estate despite the suggested returns. Aussie's are more akin to residential property investment and not many invest in commercial real estate in Australia let alone oversea's.
Explorer74
There is another thread titled "US Invest" on this forum. I questioned them about the Princeton address they also list. I find it extraordinary that they got creative and did some cutting & pasting and showed the office building they supposedly operate out of with US Invest signage. When I questioned this the reply was that "well the signage doesn't actually exist but we are getting one made up" How convenient !!
gazmatazz,
That goes without even saying but at the end of the day not much point concentrating solely on location etc if you end up paying $30,000 more then what similar properties are worth surrounding it. Funny you mention Queensland….the home of two tiered marketeers. Most of them now sell US property !!
Thanks for your feedback & comments Karina, WI & Jay,
I'd be curious…..your suggesting around $30 sq ft would be more on the mark…..lets say a home needed new carpets, paint, HVAC, light fittings….a full makeover. For a home around 2000 sq feet what would you expect to pay in Atlanta ? Appreciate many if's & but's involved but just an idea of the amount would be great for me to refer to.
Wow,
Wouldn't make you happy if you were one of Vince's clients. Kind of sounds like sorry but my previous advice was a bit off mark so trust me and we'll give this a go instead. And to think it only took 450 duped buyers for him to figure things out.
Thanks Ryan,
So what your saying is that the US HQ for US Invest is located at 600 Alexander Road, Princeton NJ ?? I see on your website that's backed up by a picture of a US Invest sign on the building….so you guys have naming rights by the looks of it ?? And the lease must be in the name of US Invest I would imagine for such a large organisation ??
Well I'm curious….what's the telephone number for the business in Princeton and what's the suite number ?
markoshark,
Thanks for your posting. I just wanted to bring some clarity to this topic for the benefit of all readers.
markoshark wrote:US invest:I just joined US invest paying $995 upfront to access to properties that are turn-key style. Basically this is an all inclusive package and with these as always you are paying a significant premium to whats on the market.
When you joined US Invest and handed over your $995 you would have fully appreciated that they offered turn key style properties so what you are saying is that you happily paid $995 expecting to pay a significant premium from the word go ? That doesn't make sense !! I'm sorry but I am so tired of these companies that you have to pay membership fee's too to get information and then added money on top of that if/when you buy. It's obvious that US Invest run off the shirt tales of Texas Cash Cow in Dallas….it just costs you an extra $7000 on top using US Invest.
You say you compared a property from Texas Cash Cow to another one in Fort Worth ? I'll put it on record that I have purchased 3 homes through Texas Cash Cow in Dallas. Every one I did my own due diligence on the ground for 3 months. Part of this involved also seeing a realtor so I could compare apples to apples. What I found and confirmed was that the product they offered was well priced and backed up by comparable sales from the MLS or in Dallas NTREIS. Sitting here in Australia and doing due diligence on the computer in a city or country you have never visited before is NOT a fair way to compare properties. Unlike in Australia….in the US and in a city of over 6.5 million….2 klms away can be a huge difference in prices and area's. Add to this fact that I can get finance from a local Dallas bank for 70% of the purchase price so only 30% of MY money is invested into the home. I get a copy of the banks independent appraisal report which gives me 6 comparable sales within the immediate and local vicinity.
But did Texas Cash Cow make a profit ? Of course they did…I'm not a fool. But if they can offer me a property that is priced at or below a normal market value that is not overpriced, that has been refurbished already and has a tenant in place when I close, that I can get a proper 20 year bank loan on from a local US bank….where is the problem with that ?
Just thought I needed to clarify this
bradking74
Please see the forum post about US Invest…..may give you some insight. I can't comment on HomeBuyersUSA but they all operate by the same mode….charge membership fee's to learn something that you can find out for free.
https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/property-investing/overseas-deals/4345304
What do you find so attractive about these firms ? The fact they do it all for you ? US Invest do seem to embelish the facts somewhat…..they make out they buy the homes, make out they do the refurb, make out they have a special relationship with a bank in Dallas to get you finance etc when the fact is they don't.
Sara 2012,
Just for clarification…..your wanting advice on investing in Australian real estate ??
LilianWA wrote:Are there any sites that list properties in Dallas or Atlanta?What sorts of sites are you referring to ? Realtors ?? You can search Trulia or Zillow but you would need to narrow the search down to a specific area or city to get best results.
Hi Langport16
There have been some posts about this group before on this forums if you search past forum topics. Don’t think it was favourable due to their membership fee’s or something along those lines. How far have you progressed with them ? I have a few homes in Dallas now but didn’t buy through this group. I tried to send you a personal message but it says your not accepting emails.
jayhinrichs wrote:but then you have to live there UGH……No comparison to living in the SF bay area
Of course in Texas you can buy a mansion for 500k… In SF and then penninsula you cant buy a shack for 500k…
Houses are 1 to 50 million.
Reason:
The SF bay area has some of the worlds best climates. No humidity,, no thunderstorms or tornados… ( occasional earthquake) but tornados and lightning kill more americans every year than one earth quake every 20 years.
As well as headquaters for :
Google
facebook
intel
varion
Hewlit and packard
Cybase
Cisco
lockheed martin
Oricle
genentechAnd the list of multi billion dollar high tech companies go on and on.
Texas is Oil and gas which is great and Texas instruments and Dell…
big differnce is In Norcal Bayarea you are land restricted just like OZ
Texas is not the case, therefore prices will never really sky rocket.. they will stay stable but no real huge gain.
JLH
Hi Jay,
Granted there is no comparison to Texas versus San Francisco……if it came to where I would live….SF wins hand down. But we are talking investing…not living there. Just like here in Australia…..I have investment homes in places I would never dream of living but they make me money anyway.
Just not sure about your comment about prices not skyrocketing. I have compared Texas, Arizona, Florida & Georgia using data from the FHFA.
GEORGIA HOME APPRECIATION RATES
Since 1990 +80.77% or an annual rate of +2.89%
Last 10 years +20.81% or an annual rate of +1.91%
Last 5 years -5.96% or an annual rate of -1.22%
Last 2 years -9.35% or an annual rate of -4.79%
FLORIDA HOME APPRECIATION RATES
Since 1990 +97.34% or an annual rate of +3.33%
Last 10 years +41.91% or an annual rate of +3.56%
Last 5 years -31.79% or an annual rate of -7.37%
Last 2 years -15.21% or an annual rate of -7.92%
ARIZONA HOME APPRECIATION RATES
Since 1990 +98.76% or an annual rate of +3.37%
Last 10 years +27.89% or an annual rate of +2.49%
Last 5 years -32.49% or an annual rate of -7.56%
Last 2 years -21.24% or an annual rate of -11.25%
TEXAS HOME APPRECIATION RATES
Since 1990 +95.67% or an annual rate of +3.29%
Last 10 years +37.03 or an annual rate of +3.20%
Last 5 years +12.14% or an annual rate of +2.32%
Last 2 years -0.56% or an annual rate of -0.28%
Looking at the data it seems that Texas can match it with the other states that enjoyed the super growth rates
