US invest

Looking at some first time investment in the us.
I've been looking at a few different companies
and at a superficial level us invest seems pretty good.
They give you access to a bunch of accountants and lawyers,
And set up your accounts and llc. They do charge 4k per property though they come pre tenanted.
They've been hesitant to give me any addresses, which is worrisome.
I'm concerned they're adding a hefty margin to the property price.

Hi Luke

Why does US Invest seem pretty good, what is it that you find attractive????  

Most important item which is missing is the fact that they do not disclose details/addresses on properties they are selling… how the hell could you determine what type of product they are selling and whether you are paying too much for the property?

As Alex stated – simple tools like Zillow, Trulia, Redfin and you should be able to find basic details. 

Wi

It's the package deal that's attractive, set up, accounting and legal services, pre tenanted properties, property management and lending. All that sounds pretty good. I don't have heaps of time and it would be nice for someone else to help sort that out. However, as I suspected and as people seem to confirm, there is a high probability that they're gouging on the house price. After searching via goggles the only reference to people having used their services looked suspiciously like employees.

Hi Luke
I just checked out the site, I do not see fees ie setting up LLCs etc. I also do not see any info on finance, what are they charging, set up fees could kill the deal.

I had a quick look at a property listed in Atlanta, as mentioned no address, no price, I can tell you just by  looking at the photo I would not touch it, too old and too small, selling  price $55,000, bet they got it at $16,000-20,000.
 
Phone them and ask them for the address we can then check it out bet I am right.

WI

Luke B,

Have to repeat what has already been said. Warning bells sound due to.

a) Not game enough to list an actual address ? The obvious is that the wholesaler is making his margin and then US Invest makes a bit more on top of that again…end result you pay way too much for the property

b) Paying a fee upfront to get some information ? Look…it's nothing that mysterious investing in the US. These companies try to cover it all in cloaks and vales and make you believe they have the big secret which they are willing to pass on to you once you pay there fee's. All the information is freely available.

c) Companies based in Australia rely 100% on the wholesalers in the US. They have never seen the property in most cases and have no idea what they are selling

In summary they prey and rely on unsophisticated investors. I understand you can be time poor and the fact you can sit back and just hand over your money sound appealing to some but your going to be taken for a ride.

Send me a PM and I can pass on some details on how you can achieve what your trying to do without having to worry about points a, b & c above

For us in the USA charging a fee to just get information or see the houses is unheard of.  There are people who charge fees to be part of groups( rich dad Poor dad ) for example. Yes lots of my time has been wasted by people just looking or wanting to do a deal but never following through. Still can't see that we would charge a fee. Not saying people are charge or crooks. Just saying for me not understand it because it is not the normal procces for us.

Now on the other hand seeing some of the Australian groups that  charge  upfront fees and wont give information.? Those are the ones I say Hmmmm?

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Thanks

Luke – a bond (deposit, in our case) is indeed a great idea, and we do this once we identify a relevant property – the buyer must transfer the deposit before we will commit on his behalf – but there's no way you can charge anyone this kind of money before you show them the property in its full detail. The advance fee is a much smaller sum, and actually quite reasonable and easy to pay compared to these bonds or deposits – it also comes much earlier in the process, because our fee is based on your purchase budget and does not increase if you say "no" to ten or a hundred properties until you find your one and only (or ten and only). Hence, if we spend a month or three trying to satisfy a very picky client (no problem with those, they're the ones I like pleasing best) – we need to make sure he's indeed a client and not a tire kicker, otherwise we'll be out of business, as simple as that.

Our commitment is to the client, not to a particular property or bunch of properties – therefore, we require the same. Again, I'm guessing this is different if you buy and sell properties yourself, as opposed to representing others. The properties I source for others often disappear in a matter of days or weeks, way before I'll be able to do anything with them for any client, if I don't validate him in advance, so I'm ready to pounce for him when the right property shows up. The best deals are often closed before they reach anyone's website, through private mailing lists and a few telephone calls.

@ Alex – It's also very different in English speaking countries, I would guess. The information you offer is available to anyone who speaks English and wants to do the research and legwork, or can afford and manage his own English speaking team on the ground. The information we offer is only available to local language speakers, and there are far less of those than English speakers – so to have us do these "pretend customers" research for them, based on their requirements, which would cost them a fortune in translator fees and/or hirelings if they were to do it themselves – and then to be thrown out of the cycle – is just not acceptable from our perspective. These are not properties we have any interest vested in, nor is the information about them, advertised and researchable, available as freely.

what happened to the no selling on this site mantra……

At the end of the day  for me personally, other than my group of Aussie doctors that are investing in our Model ( or scheme as you call it) I see our contribution here on the site as value add…

The Aussie marketing company spruikers hopefully have been abated… I have been contacted by many of them.. and of course do no business with any of them…

You are correct about the scammers out there.  I just received a LOI today from some company named ENYP-SENSO located in Austria.   As soon as I requested proof of funds and if they had an agent who actually wanted to see the real estate I received a follow up email stating they were not interested since my seller was rigid….   what a joke…  

Rob Keeler