All Topics / Overseas Deals / My USA Property

Viewing 20 posts - 41 through 60 (of 168 total)
  • Profile photo of British BuyerBritish Buyer
    Participant
    @british-buyer
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 149
    dreamn wrote:
    Hi Guys,

    New fella here. I found this site after researching MyUSAproperty.

    I've registered with them and just spoke to LoansUSA about the finance side of things. They offered american finance fixed for 30 years at 9.75% which is very high compared to their normal rates. This is apparently because I am not a resident. Did anyone else get a better deal from them with US finance?

    Cheers

    I'm currently in Miami, on a buying trip.  I've been offered financing by at least 4 banks, with the very worst interest rate offered so far being 5.7% for 30-year fixed.

    HSBC is offering it's Premier customers 4.63 for 30-year fixed.  Just go to their US website, find their loans division, then select a state, and randomly pick a loan officer and e-mail him/her.  I have even been offered financing by the New York division for investing in Florida! 

    Profile photo of dreamndreamn
    Member
    @dreamn
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 2

    Hi there British Buyer,

    I've actually been reading all of your posts for a few days actually. Interesting stuff!

    The problem is that I don't have $100k sitting in the bank to have a premier account :)

    I'm going to purchase a property for around 50k-80k and put down a 30% cash deposit as I don't have enough equity in my current property yet (only bought it a couple of months ago)

    I was told the broker that it was high because I was a foreign invester…. I take it this obviously isn't true

    Thanks for your reply

    Profile photo of casanovawacasanovawa
    Participant
    @casanovawa
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 63

    How does this work as far as the currency risk?  Do you borrow in US$ and take the risk that twice in the last several years the A$ has dropped to around US$0.60 and so what you owe could balloon out, although there is talk of the A$ going up to US$1.10-1.20 which could reduce the loan amount accordingly or do you borrow in A$ with the upside that if the A$ drops against the US$ that your investment will appreciate accordingly???

    or am i not understanding this correctly??   It just seems on top of all the usual ups and downs of property investing, plus adding on property management issues from a continent away that there is just another risk factor with the unstable global currency situation?

    apart from that, the sort of numbers being talked about sound a lot easier to get into than properties here in Oz…  I have a sister living in Norfolk, Virginia at the moment and so i might ask her what she is hearing about property and ivnesting in the US at present….

    Mark

    Profile photo of seano4everseano4ever
    Member
    @seano4ever
    Join Date: 2009
    Post Count: 6

    Hi everyone,

    I recently had a meeting with Tony from myUSAproperty at the Brisbane branch.

    I have a couple of questions that I would like to clarify with people who have previously dealt with myUSAproperty.

    1) When they said the property had been recently refurbished, did you had to fork out any additional money to get the property up to scratch?

    2) If the property is tenanted, did they provide details on how long the tenant had been living in the property, a history of the tenant paying rent on time, how much had the property rented in the past when property prices were higher?

    3) I have trouble getting my head around this question – I have been advised that when you put in an offer for a USA property, at that point in time, you do not actually know what the interest rate will be if you are applying for a loan from a US bank. Only once you place an offer on the property, then the bank will advise on your interest rate which will depend on the previous owners level of debt and mortage rate. Once the bank offers you an interest rate, you can decline and retract your offer since the purchase contrat is subject to finance. Is this how the procedure goes?  I have also been advised that on average, interest rates are around 7% which seems awfully high for the USA at this point in time.

    4) With the cheapy properties that myUSAproperty offer (around the 20K mark), I was advised that there is no guarantees whether or not the property has been refurbished. This sounds really odd to me. Do you know if myUSAproperty actually visit the properties individually or do they simply take an agents word for it?

    5) Are you receiving the returns that you were expecting?

    Profile photo of meadymeady
    Member
    @meady
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 1

    Hi all

    I am new to this forum, and soon going to be entering the US property market if all turns out well.

    I would be very interested to know the answers to the above 5 questions and am sure to have some of my own in the near future.

    Thanks.
    Meady

    Profile photo of melbourne girlmelbourne girl
    Member
    @melbourne-girl
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 21

    Hi Everyone.

    I have been reading your comments about My USA Property and Loans USA.  I must disagree with you.  I have purchased two properties in Florida using Loans USA.  My interest rate was 6.75%, fixed for 3 years, they offered me the 9.75 % rate and it was fixed for 15 years.  The lass I dealt with was excellent – he name was Melinda.  Very helpful indeed.  I think you should call back and ask to speak with her – a bit of a charactor to speak to – but very knowlegable.  I unfortunatley had to deal with the last gent in the office Adrian who I have heard has left – he seemed not to know much of what was happening or ever emailed me back.

    The only complaint I had was the fact that they needed more information that originally asked for.  This I have discovered is because they are finding better deals all the time and each bank has different requirements.

    I went the path of contacting the banks directly myself, this was not successful.  They insist that you are in the US to sign documents.  Something I do not have the means to do each time I want to finance a property.

    The service I have recieved at My USA Property is just excellent also. 

    On the finance again.  I think what you have to remeber is that it is difficult even for the Yanks to get a loan atm.  The small amount of finance we are getting is well nothing.  I borrowed 70% LTV of my properties.  that amounted to a whole $80K.
    I really think if you are concerned about the finance side of things that lass Melinda or her boss Steven McClatchy would be a great help. If Melinda doesnt have the answer – she certainly finds out quick smart for you.

    So good luck with your investing.  I have found it really profitable. My properties were leased on a section 8 (Government paid rentals). I was provided with a funding position on each property, Great pictures. Even a copy of the lease agreements!

    Go forth and invest

    Profile photo of RickHRickH
    Member
    @rickh
    Join Date: 2007
    Post Count: 137

    Hi All,

    Must agree with melbourne girl. My finance is being handle by melinda easy to talk to and knows what is going on. Unfortunately I were dealing with adrian initally. So my settlements have been delayed and Melinda is now having to collect the mountains of paperwork required by the us lenders. All will work out and communication from Tony and Melinda has been 1st class

    Profile photo of TuckerOnePropertiesTuckerOneProperties
    Member
    @tuckeroneproperties
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 7

    kurnstur

    I have never heard of My USA properties. But I noted their first property currently listed on their site is from Kansas City Missouri.

    I am a an Investor, Realtor, and manager of the Local Real Estate Investor Association in Kansas City Missouri and I have to ask exactly where they have a house worth $53,000 as theirs is listed.

    If it is in a better area and 100% renovated great. But if it is on one of 1000’s of blocks of our urban core areas where 1 in 20 houses are renovated and maybe occupied and you can buy fairly decent rehabbed properties from $20,000 up, then I have to say that their prices seem very high.

    Before buying any properties in the US from anyone I would recommend several things:

    1) asking questions right here on this site to see if anyone else has good things to say.

    2) contacting a real estate investment group in the city in question and picking one or two contacts there to ask questions. It could be very well worth the $40 to $300 to join the local real estate investment association to save you $1000s in wasted money.

    In my position in Kansas City I receive 2 or 3 calls a month from out of state and out of country investors who want to “wholesale” me a property for $30,000 that they bought for $20,000 and who are very dejected when I tell them that I would not take the property if they gave it to me.

    So do your homework on the city in question before you buy a house!

    Profile photo of TuckerOnePropertiesTuckerOneProperties
    Member
    @tuckeroneproperties
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 7

    I have seen several posts here of people looking at Kansas City as a place to invest. Not sure what area of Kansas City that some of the posters are buying in, but the areas that are getting sold to the out of state and out of country investors are usually in our urban core.

    And the prices and rents being quoted seem high to me, but then I am local.

    If you want to check out local properties from Kansas City area investors you might check out some of the properties listed on http://www.MAREInet.com this is the local real estate investment association and our local members post properties for sale in the tool box.

    And I can’t believe buying sight unseen, I know of many “scammers” who rehab one or two houses to get pics and use those to sell all the other houses. Or worse yet borrow pics from someone elses house.

    There are legit companies selling our Kansas City properties and they do get a premium for the work they are doing, but there are a lot of scammers too who just want to sell you a house.

    http://mareinet.com/marei-tool-box/marei-properties/

    Profile photo of keypointkeypoint
    Member
    @keypoint
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 2

    My first post here as I just learned of Property Investing site yesterday. I live in Grandview, MO, a South Suburb of KC about 15 minutes from downtown. All the above posts about KC being a good RE investment city are right on, and lots of great bargains
    here for investors. A protege of mine says he sees the situation lasting for another year, maybe two.

    <moderator: delete advertising>

    Profile photo of Lplate101Lplate101
    Member
    @lplate101
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 16

    can you really get a property for like $40,000 in america? someone I know said they bought one.. I find it had to believe.

    Profile photo of James2118James2118
    Member
    @james2118
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 27

    Lplate101

    Properties for $40,000 and under are abundant across USA. Just look on http://www.trulia.com or http://www.realtor.com and you will see plenty of properties across USA at very low prices. But remember just because it is low price does not mean it is necessarily even worth that, a vacant property that will not increase in value is worthless to an investor.

    James

    Profile photo of speedy gonzalesspeedy gonzales
    Member
    @speedy-gonzales
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 149

    Hi TuckerOneProperties,

    I have found an address from a current forum about a property located at 5631 Virginia Ave Kansas City. One agent is claiming we Aussies can buy it for around $43,000-00 whilst also pointing out that another agent has it listed for sale at $62,000-00. As a local I'd love to hear your opinion on the area and value. As a local would you buy there ??

    Profile photo of remereme
    Member
    @reme
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 14

    Speedy,
    Be sure to check out zillow thoroughly to see whether you're getting a reasonable deal.  eg.  If you look at that property you'll see that it looks like that it was for sale at $45,000 in Jan this year and by Sept this year it had dropped to $14,990??
    Some people are happy to pay a premium for houses to be renovated and handed to them on a platter, and that's fine, just be sure to do your DD and research the areas/houses well.  The question is, what sort of premium are you prepared to pay, and what are you looking to achieve out of the investment? How much would it cost to employ someone to do the work for you, remembering on a whole, labour/rehab's are much cheaper in the States then what you'd pay here.
    I'd be checking all of this out first and doing all the research you can to check on figures like that…
    My guess would be, this looks like a classic flip deal??
    Cheers
    reme

    Profile photo of MarthamelMarthamel
    Member
    @marthamel
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 49

    Yes, Australians, be very very cautious.

    There are ways of buying without going to the states … ring a property management company and say you are considering purchasing, will need a property management company, and ask them to check out the property, taking photos.

    If you go ahead and sign a contract, make sure it is pending due diligence – then get a building inspector to go through the house, also taking properties.

    Get the pest company to take photos.

    Get everyone to take photos.

    Then you have multiple photos from different people at different times, preferably not people who know each other or are recommended by the sellers. Ken McElroy (Rich Dad Advisor) would tell you, trust … but verify :)

    Profile photo of melbourne girlmelbourne girl
    Member
    @melbourne-girl
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 21

    Interesting that you all mention the word caution so much.  I have come to think that the amount of money I am investing in the US market is similar to the amount I would be putting into a term deposit for my kids education.  I dont size up the bank,. take multiple photos of it or check out what every other web site is saying,  I simply look at the numbers.

    That is why I think we are sucessfully purchasing in the US.  We are keeping emothion out of it and just looking at the numbers.

    I think if you actually speak to My USA Property, then call the people at Loans USA and let them all explain what they are offering you will see that it IS a non emotional choice you are making.  They give you an excell spread sheet that has all the numbers on it.  The guy there Steven is the owner, he seems very experienced at the US market. 

    We are now looking at properties in Memphis.  They are all newly rehabbed and if your super suspect you can even see them on youtube! A full home inspection! Technology is just unreal!   They have let me know that I will OWN the property in 5 years.  The rent pays my mortgage.

    Profile photo of streamlineinvestingstreamlineinvesting
    Participant
    @streamlineinvesting
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 171

    Hi Melbourne Girl,

    I'm looking at purchasing a property in the US next year and was hoping to get some tips / advice.

    I'd be interested to know whether or not you have set up a LLC and a US bank account in order to purchase properties in the US? Or do you simply transfer money to myusaproperty.com and they do all the paperwork?

    Also, have you employed the services of an accountant and a solicitor to help you sort through all the legal / tax jargon? Could you please provide some information regarding how someone living in Australia would get taxed when purchasing a property in the US?

    Your help would be much appreciated.

    Cheers

    Profile photo of jtho5499jtho5499
    Member
    @jtho5499
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 2

    Hi there…

    Has anyone looked into the Dymphna Boholt US Property group?
    It is $5,000 for the course including a 3 day boot camp, reading material and a bus tour in the US.

    Keen to hear anyone's thoughts on this?

    Josh

    Profile photo of melbourne girlmelbourne girl
    Member
    @melbourne-girl
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 21
    streamlineinvesting wrote:
    Hi Melbourne Girl,

    I'm looking at purchasing a property in the US next year and was hoping to get some tips / advice.

    I'd be interested to know whether or not you have set up a LLC and a US bank account in order to purchase properties in the US? Or do you simply transfer money to myusaproperty.com and they do all the paperwork?

    Also, have you employed the services of an accountant and a solicitor to help you sort through all the legal / tax jargon? Could you please provide some information regarding how someone living in Australia would get taxed when purchasing a property in the US?

    Your help would be much appreciated.

    Cheers

    Hi there.

    I set up the accounts that My USA Property suggested.  I am a registered member with them.  They have loads of information too.

    I am buying in my own name, the LLC sounded good but I can transfere the properties at anytime into the LLC name.  The accountants that we are using are just great too.  I am dealing with a guy called Michael, who knows his stuff.

    The paperwork is taken care of by the girl at Loans USA.  She seems pretty on the ball.  If you need more info – call them.  Her name is Melinda and the boss (owner) is Steve.

    Good luck!

    Profile photo of mojorisingmojorising
    Member
    @mojorising
    Join Date: 2010
    Post Count: 28

    >>I can transfere the properties at anytime into the LLC name

    Wouldn't this involve paying stamp duty twice or whatever the US equivalent property ownership transfer tax is called?

Viewing 20 posts - 41 through 60 (of 168 total)

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