All Topics / Overseas Deals / soooo Who here ownes property in USA ?

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  • Profile photo of JaSin66JaSin66
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    Didn't Steve just announce he will take 30 people on tour of the States next year, not real sure but I think he said all expenses paid (flights, accommodation, meals etc) $10,000  … sounds great! Now I just have to sell a kidney.

    Profile photo of Rosa TongRosa Tong
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    if it's all expenses paid why do you have to pay 10 k

    Profile photo of BuyLandOnLineBuyLandOnLine
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    Seems like a cruise ship without the water. Once "on board" you don't pay for anything. Hopefully the Pacific Northwest is in the itinerary. I'm sure we will hear more details as the dates get closer.

    Profile photo of Stacey SurveyingStacey Surveying
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    Hey Everyone,

    My fiance’ and I are looking around for our first IP. Stumbled across this thread today and it does look like a good idea. We’re looking for a positively geared property and you can’t go past some of these places offering ~18-20% ROI.

    I’m looking at places around the 50k mark, looks like most agents want 20% deposit but how did you all go getting the other 80%? Would it be wiser to offer a ~30% deposit?

    Would these huge returns be accurate with the higher vacancy rates?

    Will be thoroughly researching this, and if it turns out to be a wise investment will be looking to buy early next year.

    Cheers,
    Ash Stacey

    Profile photo of Alex SCAlex SC
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    Stacey Surveying wrote:
    Hey Everyone, My fiance' and I are looking around for our first IP. Stumbled across this thread today and it does look like a good idea. We're looking for a positively geared property and you can't go past some of these places offering ~18-20% ROI. I'm looking at places around the 50k mark, looks like most agents want 20% deposit but how did you all go getting the other 80%? Would it be wiser to offer a ~30% deposit? Would these huge returns be accurate with the higher vacancy rates? Will be thoroughly researching this, and if it turns out to be a wise investment will be looking to buy early next year. Cheers, Ash Stacey

    Hello Stacy   be careful in the states when one offers these high returns.I am in the states and some of our deals for local, national, and foreign investors never reach those high returns . Now there are some that do give a high return but one must take into consideration the areas these properties are in . In the USA you will have a different spread of homes and different rates given buy every wholesaler or turn key operator.Hope this helps .

    sincerely
    Alex Franks

    Profile photo of jadjad
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    Hi Guys, Just my 2 cents, much more value to come. I see alot of negativity re the US market. The US market in its most simple form is the same as Aus. Anyone want to buy a house in Ararat? Cheap houses and OK returns on rent, but no job stability as industries close or move…. didn't think so. The US is the same. There are hundreds if micro-economic climates even going down to a county level. Some states are definitely worth avoiding. California Detroit NY state and Florida are all good examples. The places that seem to have avoided the worst of the GFC are nashville TN, Dallas Houston and San Antonio TX, and from hearsay also Kansas City and Pheonix is starting to pick up.<moderator: delete advertising>

    Profile photo of DHCPDHCP
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    We bought 2 properties in the vacinity of Atlanta, Georgia. For me, the most important relationship that you need to built is with your property manager. I have access to my property portforlio through my property management portal. There I can see my statements, rent payment, expense etc. I get informed once the rental income has been deposited into my account. So constantly communication with your property manager is vital. So far the experienced has been great.

     I've just signed up for the 3rd property and looking to buy near Atlanta, Georgia, again.

    Profile photo of DHCPDHCP
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    The problem people these days, they don't know what they want (i.e., they can dishearthen by spruikers who prey on uneducated investors etc). And if you are on the minority, learned from those you've successfully done it (e.g. attend Steve's property update etc)  and ask for their experienced, used their channel of communications (e.g., their agent who helped achieved want they want)…this avoids you from reinventing the wheel, hence make huge mistake then branded investing in the US is silly.

    This forum is like double egde sword, one side is the NEGATIVE minded people, and the other is the POSITIVE minded people. It is like inside your mind, a constant battle raging between, the negative thoughts and positive thoughts. It will be up to you which side you pick, but for those who purchased IP in the US, and doing well, we all know which side they picked.

    Whatever you decided, I hope the best for you.

    Profile photo of RickHRickH
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    at the end of the day, EVERY  investment is a risk whether it is a tenner on the favorite in race 5 or real estate ,shares, art or classic cars.
    It all comes down to your tolerance to risk and the level of exposure you accomodate.
    Do your reseach, dont go in totally blind based on what a sales rep says (after all they make their living by selling).
    But if you dont have a go you cant turn back time and be a "what if".

    Profile photo of jayhinrichsjayhinrichs
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    Risk reward is what it’s all about

    From what I see from OZ investors they have a very high risk tolerance, IE chasing the sky high rental returns that can only happen in a perfect world or in ones dreams

    At the end of the day most investments will be positively geared but no where near quoted rates of return

    Then there will be the unfortunate ones that get duped into really poor choices

    Buy for quality expect lower returns and sleep well

    Profile photo of DHCPDHCP
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    Risk??? What risk?! Ask Steve McNight, he bought 100s of properties  from 10K to 20K in the US Last seminar I"ve attend with him, he showed the property he bought in Florida for 15K and hundreds similar properties like that he purchased some above 20K, others under 30K…so he went for quantity primarily which gives him HIGH yield. I have absolutely no problem emulating his approach.

    Again, every investors are different….different strategic and different goals to achieve. No strategic fit all. I rather put it this way, the investor is the risk, not the investment. Why? If you blend in with the local, knows the market well studied well, attend seminars,  have good contacts on the ground etc., your chances of succeeding in real estate investment is HIGH.

    On the other hand, if you are investor from remote location, have no contacts on the ground, done no market research about the target area, have not read any books about real estate investment, attended no seminars, have no  contacts in the ground, the chances of succeeding in real estate investment is very LOW…hence you are the risk, NOT the investment. BTW, don't quote me on that, I heard that from Robert Kiyosaki, who's worth only billions of dollars.

    Profile photo of DHCPDHCP
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    Rosa Tong wrote:
    if it's all expenses paid why do you have to pay 10 k

    ….hehehe that's hilarious………….

    Profile photo of BuyLandOnLineBuyLandOnLine
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    DHCP wrote:
    Risk??? What risk?! Ask Steve McNight, he bought 100s of properties  from 10K to 20K in the US Last seminar I"ve attend with him, he showed the property he bought in Florida for 15K and hundreds similar properties like that he purchased some above 20K, others under 30K…so he went for quantity primarily which gives him HIGH yield. I have absolutely no problem emulating his approach.

    Again, every investors are different….different strategic and different goals to achieve. No strategic fit all. I rather put it this way, the investor is the risk, not the investment. Why? If you blend in with the local, knows the market well studied well, attend seminars,  have good contacts on the ground etc., your chances of succeeding in real estate investment is HIGH.

    On the other hand, if you are investor from remote location, have no contacts on the ground, done no market research about the target area, have not read any books about real estate investment, attended no seminars, have no  contacts in the ground, the chances of succeeding in real estate investment is very LOW…hence you are the risk, NOT the investment. BTW, don't quote me on that, I heard that from Robert Kiyosaki, who's worth only billions of dollars.

    If I owned hundreds of properties and or had a billion dollars, real estate investment really wouldn't be risky. The occasional stinker would be analogous to having candy pinched at the convenience store – its just a business expense, On the other hand, if your a small investor or just starting out then individual issues with a management company or a particularly vexing set of renters can really impact cash flow and capital.
    I do not totally disagree with your entry. The point I would take is to understand that as stated above  – real estate investment is a risk. It is about numbers first and there is a touch of luck. In the long run luck evens out. An investor needs to have adequate resources to absorb the inevitable "hit". Hope for the best but plan for the worst. Adequate volume and diversity of investment provide a safety net. Sometimes a deal seems like a "slam-dunk" (remember CIA Director George Tenet of George the Lesser's administration) other times the ground is deemed unfit for development (please refer to Disney World). 
    As with most things – if you work hard and have a talent you are likely to succeed. Golf is a game of luck the more you practice the luckier you get.  

    Profile photo of DHCPDHCP
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    BuyLandOnLine wrote:
    The point I would take is to understand that as stated above  – real estate investment is a risk. It is about numbers first and there is a touch of luck. In the long run luck evens out. An investor needs to have adequate resources to absorb the inevitable "hit". Hope for the best but plan for the worst. Adequate volume and diversity of investment provide a safety net. Sometimes a deal seems like a "slam-dunk" (remember CIA Director George Tenet of George the Lesser's administration) other times the ground is deemed unfit for development (please refer to Disney World). 
    As with most things – if you work hard and have a talent you are likely to succeed. Golf is a game of luck the more you practice the luckier you get.  

    LUCK?! I don't believe in Luck. The way I define LUCK is  when PREPARATION meets OPPORTUNITY .

    Is there any business that doesn't involved risk? But, risk can be greatly mitigated through strong support team  (e.g., good lawyers, tax accountant, buyer's agent, property managers etc) by pulling their knowledge of expertise to help you make inform business decision.   Real Estate investment is a team sport! NO MAN IN AN ISLAND

    But, without the strong support of your team,  your success in real estate investment in particular is very slim, hence you becoming risky, hence your risk QUANTIFY.

    Your success defend upon your level of self education in real estate investment, level experienced, and strong support team etc.

    Adequate volume and diversity of investment provide a safety net……..tell this Warren Buffet.

    BUFFET is by far the GREATEST Investor every live,  and guess what?  He NEVER EVER diversify. He simply focus only on stock investment, and because he is HIGHLY specilised, he became so DAMN good, he easily OUTPERFORMED even those billion dollar fund manager firms.

    Profile photo of jayhinrichsjayhinrichs
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    DHCP

    just to make a few observations on your line of thinking,

    Your lawyer and CPA are not going to do anything for you when your house is sitting vacant and has just been trashed and vandalized. Your property manager is going to call you with the bad news and come up with bids to fix it.

    In these single family transactions involving so little money Attorneys and CPA's are just not used here in the states it just drives up your costs and what are they going to do for you anyway.

    Any good Real Estate agent can take care of the purchase and sale agreement. Its not very technical or difficult. And the accounting is the same way, There seems to be an inordinate reliance on those 2 professions from OZ investors. When US investors would rarely if ever use them for these little deals. The CPA you would use for tax returns, and basic run through the numbers but thats it. Lawyer only as a closing attorney in the states that use them. But they do not comment on the deal and again the paper work is dead simple.

    Now Risk ,  your so far off base on your assessment of risk as to be a danger to the public in my opinon. There is HUGE risk owning rentals in the US. And its not from getting sued for a slip fall or some tenant issue, Its monetary, you can mitigate that with the most important member of your team and thats property management, and that is the key as you state. And the trick.
    Any good property manager has to be making money to stay in business and you want them making money, you want the best. To do that they need to charge letting fee their monthly and mark up for maintenance. If they don't they are not really  making much money and its thankless job. Beleive me we have hundreds of houses in our portfolio and tenant issues suck and they can suck the life out of a property manager, dealing with them and then dealing with some out of area owner who expects the impossible as normal… Now if your property manager is also your property provider this can get mitigated because they are making a 5 to 20k profit when they sell you the house. So they can do the management for less money.

    Profile photo of DHCPDHCP
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    jayhinrichs

    That's what the property managers there, for  the stuff that you don't want to do, they do for a fee.

    My advise is you can have all the things you want in the world IF you help others achieve want they want, only  if you decide.

    Profile photo of lawsjslawsjs
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    I have heard Steve has ‘unusual’ ways of dealing with property management. Similar things are done in Australia and although I have personal issues with the hows and whys if you can make it work then great. After all, I suppose that even though it is a bit of a captive market no one is ‘really’ forcing particular tenants to rent from you, so I guess I would wrestle with my conscience and probably convince myself it is OK too! There is no doubt his methods improve an area/property but be very aware that Steve’s approach is probably as far from rocking up to an agent and asking them to manage some property as you could possibly get. Like my (eventual and hard won) approach to US property management it requires very close ties to people who you trust to make anything work.

    I would suggest that unless you are very lucky, buying a property in anything other than a very prime area and ‘hoping’ you have a great managing agent is going to cause a lot of headaches. My guess is a lot of people will simply walk away from the ‘investment’ (as no doubt the previous local purchasers did) and be happy to pay the price to stop the nightmares continuing. Assuming of course, you get to sleep with the phone/emails constantly waking you up:)

    The US guys posting on this site might seem like killjoys, but each of them firstly _really_ understands the culture and secondly has very good reasons for saying what they do. It is extremely generous of them to post answers to newbies over and over again, especially when they are clearly good enough at what they do to make money on their own!!

    Property management is the key – and it is very hard to maintain all the relationships in good shape.

    Profile photo of Alex SCAlex SC
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    lawsjs wrote:
    I have heard Steve has 'unusual' ways of dealing with property management. Similar things are done in Australia and although I have personal issues with the hows and whys if you can make it work then great. After all, I suppose that even though it is a bit of a captive market no one is 'really' forcing particular tenants to rent from you, so I guess I would wrestle with my conscience and probably convince myself it is OK too! There is no doubt his methods improve an area/property but be very aware that Steve's approach is probably as far from rocking up to an agent and asking them to manage some property as you could possibly get. Like my (eventual and hard won) approach to US property management it requires very close ties to people who you trust to make anything work. I would suggest that unless you are very lucky, buying a property in anything other than a very prime area and 'hoping' you have a great managing agent is going to cause a lot of headaches. My guess is a lot of people will simply walk away from the 'investment' (as no doubt the previous local purchasers did) and be happy to pay the price to stop the nightmares continuing. Assuming of course, you get to sleep with the phone/emails constantly waking you up:) The US guys posting on this site might seem like killjoys, but each of them firstly _really_ understands the culture and secondly has very good reasons for saying what they do. It is extremely generous of them to post answers to newbies over and over again, especially when they are clearly good enough at what they do to make money on their own!! Property management is the key – and it is very hard to maintain all the relationships in good shape.

    lawsjs

     You are correct property management is the key. I am actually in Singapore china for a few days meeting some clients who  want to own some US properties. So main thing is meeting them , then secondly taking a tour of the markets and checking out our system. ( management )  in the USA. I think one point that is missing  from previous discussions .You can have the best system in the world but you are still dealing with tenants.  They don't always follow the rules and that is part of the real estate head aches. Minimizing those headaches is the key on our part as a management company..

    Alex

    Ps Lawsjs if I do have some grammar errors bare with me long flight and stopped in japan for a day…

    Profile photo of lawsjslawsjs
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    Alex,
    I got back from long flight yesterday and go to LA in a couple of days.. No need to apologise!

    I was going to add this to the comment above, but you stopped me.

    I read the infomercial on Steve’s last property power pack US thingy (or whatever the name is) and was somewhat surprised to see mobile homes given as examples with 30% returns or something similar. They are hard to spot as anyone selling them is expert in disguising their origins, but mobiles they were. Firstly if you want to delve into the mobile home arena (and amazingly some do) then 30% return is not really all that high, and secondly those returns are very easily dissolved into nothing with the types of tenants you usually get. You will need humvee equipped Delta Force agents to collect the rent in most cases – and even then they must posses VERY good interpersonal skills to get cash from the deadbeats in a meaningful ongoing way. Warning shots to the head will get you out of the place alive, but will not get you paid next month:)

    Profile photo of Alex SCAlex SC
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    Good story about mobile homes..I have a cash lender from Lancaster South Carolina . Client is 81 years old.  He owns a few blocks of land( basically 3 street ) ,with old trailers from early 80S. Most rent to monthly workers the plant flies in. So good deal for him there.  I went with him on a Friday to pick up his rent from weekly renters .Decided to go for the adventure. He sat at a table with loaded gun in lap , his son who stood about 6 ft 4 .I am a big guy but his son made me look small.His son also had a gun,. They laughed with me, as they said this is every Friday how they collect rent on the trailers. Yes good cash but man what a way to live …So need less to say I skip anything with wheels on it that some one can run off with in the night..

    How was your trip to LA, I leave Singapore weds then heading to LA for seminar in Anaheim , and some meeting .

    talk soon

    Alex

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