All Topics / Overseas Deals / USA – Corning NY

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  • Profile photo of mcollinsmcollins
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    @mcollins
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 58
    Profile photo of L.A AussieL.A Aussie
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    @l.a-aussie
    Join Date: 2006
    Post Count: 1,488

    Why would anyone sell a property returning 24%?

    There must be some problems there somewhere.
    It could be like Buffalo – good returns and cheap properties, but the town is dying, the unemployment and crime are on the rise and it is hard to find a tenant and a good tenant at that.

    And finally, there is always property tax here in the U.S. Ring/email the agent and ask what the property tax on the property will be.

    Do some very, very comprehensive research on the area first.

    Cheers,
    Marc.
    [email protected]

    Profile photo of mcollinsmcollins
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    @mcollins
    Join Date: 2003
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    You are living in USA I take it ?
    What are the “better” areas in the USA that are still cashflow positive ? There seem to be a few in New York State. Can you get postive yields say 10%-12% in Texas for example

    Profile photo of L.A AussieL.A Aussie
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    @l.a-aussie
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    Sorry to inform you that while I have been here I haven’t done any active research – just a bit of look now and then on the MSN property site to keep myself occupied. The whole country has been through a boom similar to Aus, and now the ‘crash’ is in full-blown mode in a lot of areas. Of course there are plenty of areas that are still good; I just don’t know where.
    I have a deal going on back in Aus that settles next August that I need to keep some equity for, so I don’t plan to buy anything here and risk a problem with that deal.

    I did do a bit of research on Buffalo and Arizona when I first arrived though as I had heard about them, but I couldn’t do some quiet net surfing without getting hooked into by the realtor’s. The web sites are often geared in such a way here that it is very difficult to bypass the agents when you start looking. sheesh!! [grrr] In order to access a lot of the sites you need to fill in your details. I was inundated with literally 2 dozen attempts to contact me every single day for months.

    I can tell you that some parts of Texas are still going up, but for how long? Arizona has probably levelled off and Buffalo is beyond saving I think.

    A lot of New York State was cfp when I arrived, but I think the Buffalo factor is prevalent in those areas – like Pittsburgh and parts of Pennsylvania. You would be buying cfp but no cg.

    Cheers,
    Marc.
    [email protected]

    Profile photo of csimonscsimons
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    @csimons
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 70

    In my own opinion, yes there is definitely a down turn in the U.S property market at present, however there are still good opportunities, especially down South.
    According to FORTUNE, The housing market looks healthy down South for 2007.

    I have mentioned previously on this forum of the RIO GRANDE VALLEY – South Texas. I purchased 2 properties there already. Anyway on http://www.cnnmoney.com there is a good article on the outlook for 2007/2008 for the U.S Real Estate Market.

    McAllen -Mission Texas is rated number 1: This is part of the Rio Grande Region of South Texas where we are currently investing.
    They are projecting 8.5% growth in this region for 2007 and a 9.8% projected price change by 2008.

    San Antonio is projected to increase by 4.8% in 2007 and 3.5% for 2008.

    Bare in mind these figures are based on median home prices. It doesn’t take into consideration the accelerated growth which can be created by buying low and rehabbing etc.

    As for Buffalo, well as I have said before, WNY has many opportunities to make good money and can generate an excellent ROI. You need to be working with the locals on the ground though to make it work.

    L.A Aussie, Plenty of people would sell you a property showing 20-25% ROI across WNY. Remember over 70% of this market is investor driven and there are plenty of Americans and Foreign Nationals investing in these markets. The locals are selling these properties at retail prices and probably making well over $15k plus profit in selling these houses to you despite the return. There is big money in buying, renovating and selling properties in this region and plenty of demand for them due to the high returns on paper.

    Be aware though that good property management is hard to find and tenants in this environment are very up and down. One minute they are there and the next minute they are gone. As the sain goes, greater risk brings greater rewards. This is certainly the case for WNY and unless you are prepared to be very active with your investments I probably wouldn’t go there.

    I think we would find that any market where there slow capital growth and a slow economy brings + positive real estate. I mean have a look at the Australian businesses offering + cash flow real estate . Have a look at the majority of the locations and the demographics. WNY is no different and will remain a + cash flow haven for a long time.

    Property management and the calibre of tenants is a huge issue in this market, but there are ways around that. In 2007 we will be doing more rehabs in this market and selling them to owner occupiers and investors. Personally speaking, Buffalo is a good market to still make money, however I wouldn’t be paying retail prices to rent them out for long term holds. For anyone wanting to make money in this market there are two strategies that I would recommend looking at. They are:

    1) Buy, Renovate and sell or flip the property: This is what the majority of the locals do. There is still a huge demand for owner occupied homes as well.

    2)OWNER FINANCE: Sell the property under “owner finance” to the buyer. This will work well in this market due to the values of the houses. Obviously seek advice from a qualified Attorney to draw up contracts etc, but this is an excellent way to benefit from the cash flow the region has to offer without the property management hassle and maintenance hassles etc because it becomes the “purchasers responsibility”. We already use this strategy with our mobile homes in Texas and see no reason why it couldn’t work on these cheap properties in Buffalo. We haven’t actually used this strategy as yet but will be doing so in 2007.

    Despite all the negative things said about this region, both myself and my U.S based business partners will make Buffalo work for us and our investors in 2007. At the end of the day its about developing a strategy which meets the demographics and circumstances of the market.

    Happy New Year to you all.

    Chad

    Providing Turnkey Real Estate Investments In The USA.
    We also provide Owner Finance in a new emerging market.

    E-mail:[email protected]
    web: http://www.gr8realestateinvestments.com

    ON SKYPE AT: chaddylansimons

    Profile photo of sexy_shivasexy_shiva
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    @sexy_shiva
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    Re: the Corning issue, that general area (NY State), including Elmira and Hornell, abounds (apparently) with properties returning strong CF+ properties. I was inspired to consider this area after reading an article in this month’s Australian Property Investor, written by a couple that have recently purchased a duplex property in both Elmira and Hornell. Corning looks like a vibrant, touristy town compared to Elmira which is larger and has a more diversified economy. I am in the process of doing market research on this area. I am a little concerned about Elmira. Since the ’90’s, it has experienced a decline in population as much as 9%, although in 2005, this decline was less than 1%. From memory, when I looked at available rentals in Corning, there were plenty advertised – too many for my liking. That was really a cursory look though, so further research is necessary. The following link may be of some use – http://censtats.census.gov/data/NY/1603618256.pdf.

    In the article referred to earlier, the couple mentioned an investment group. They obtained very useful contacts through the investment group including a Buyer’s Agent in Hornell who apparently has helped a number of Australians buy in the area. Unfortunately, no reference details are available in the article [angry2] You can send in questions to the couple, via the mag, that may or may not be featured in the mag, at a later date [thumbsdownanim So my looking continues.

    Hope this has been of some assistance. If anyone has more substantial info on the area, I too am very interested.

    Profile photo of AnneMAnneM
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    @annem
    Join Date: 2005
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    I have been to Elmira and Corning in the last 12 months looking at properties but the thing to consider is what level of properties are you buying. Elmira has the goal and many Aussies are being conned into buying there simply because of the prices, buyer be ware of the areas and the dog boxes being offered to you. Corning is a lovely town but it’s moving off shore to China and the factory workers are going to be out of work therefore the low end of the market is very dangerous at the moment. There are a lot of properties returning up to 40 % but ask yourself the question as I did why are they selling the property if it is so good. Be careful in the areas of Rochester (Kodak) and Corning (Corningware) as the there is a lot of change going on in these companies. I spent 2 weeks there speaking to many different real estate people and soooo many of them are con artists trying to get you to buy something without knowing of the future changes in the area.
    Anne

    Profile photo of L.A AussieL.A Aussie
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    @l.a-aussie
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    Post Count: 1,488

    By the sounds of the posts on this topic, the U.S.A market on the whole is a lot like Aus right now –
    1. Good cap growth areas will have crap rent returns.
    2. High rent return properties will be fraught with tenancy problems (and management) and little cap growth opportunity.
    3. You can make money through reno’s and then on-selling if you can get the property cheap enough (but in the U.S you can’t see the product and control the reno process if you’re based in Aus).

    Sounds a lot more sense to look in your own back yard to me

    Cheers,
    Marc.
    [email protected]

    “we get sent lemons; it’s up to us to make lemonade”

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