Should I move to the US?

[grossreal]

hi jebb
did you go
or did you stay
alot of people seem to have alot of opinions about the US market and they see it as a single market well its not
is 50 something markets
the americans see us as one of their states now thats funny
what you need to do is first decide the state
then decide the market within that state
then decide the type of property
then the type of client
and then the type of structure that you will buy in
and then after this decide the people that will assist you in your purchase
now that nothing different to here
its just in a bigger scale
to say all the US property is down to me is a bit of a joke
because it the same as saying all property in the world has dropped and people would just laugh at you its the same with a country like the US
we are not a pimple on their bum when it come to real estate.
what you need to do is the above and use your current system and modify for there market
just a view

 

[Sunfish]

Texas is a solid state which never had a boom and never had a bust, but the rental market would be ok there. Same with Hawaii.

Florida has suffered badly but could you get a reliable tenant? If they can afford rent, they can buy. Besides, is there and industry there? I have discarded any idea of being an absentee landlord there. (Too much currency risk anyway).

 

[Perp]

Yes, if anyone can name some decent US property forums I would be interested in viewing them.

I think Bigger Pockets is one of the better ones.

 

[grossreal]

hi sunfish
every looked at jv with an American and setting up that way to buy into the market and you be the cash funder.
my prefered

 

[Sunfish]

hi sunfish
every looked at jv with an American and setting up that way to buy into the market and you be the cash funder.
my prefered

That would be the way to go. That way you can borrow in US$ countering the exchange risk and take advantage of their low mortgage rates abt 4% for 30 yrs fixed I saw over the weekend.

PM me if you have someone in mind.

This latest mess where foreclosures have been put on hold because of such sloppy paper work that no one knows EXACTLY who owns the mortgages will be a blow to the banks.

 

[reeco]

hi sunfish
every looked at jv with an American and setting up that way to buy into the market and you be the cash funder.
my prefered

This is the path I'll be taking. My best friend changed from being a kiwi to a gun touting republican many moons ago. Should be interesting...

 

[Sunfish]

This is the path I'll be taking. My best friend changed from being a kiwi to a gun touting republican many moons ago. Should be interesting...

Them gun-totin Repups are what worries me. I doubt they have a sense of humour. Even you Aussies often miss-read me but at least you can't actually SHOOT me. LOL

 

[dexx]

I hate the idea of living in a large American city. The bussle and crime are off putting. However there are some beautiful country towns where, i imagine, crime wouldnt be a problem. Are there nice towns where decent houses are selling cheap?

I guess the other issue would be that, for employment in finance/IT you'd have to live in a city.

 

[Graemsay]

In some ways borrowing in Australian dollars makes sense as its current strength means that you'd probably make a profit on the FX side a few years down the line.

Or you could take up Paulson's suggestion.

“If you don’t own a home buy one,” Paulson recommended; ” if you own one home, buy another one, and if you own two homes buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home.”

Buy a house now on a fixed mortgage at the record low interest rates, and wait for double digit inflation to hit.

 

[grossreal]

hi all
Sunfish already got a few that are interested
Graemsay similar but not the exact same
we are looking at smsf these are long term holds so they buy the property out right at a very low purchase price
we then hold and just get the return or flick to the current tennant and as we are their funder hold the line for them
we hold to yes either wait for high interest times and flow those rates thru or
if better funding deals come thru do that as well
we buy in us dollars so no curency problems
and the rents are in us dollars but the rents are used to buy more property so the smsf does not need the funds to come back here as these are investments and long term at that
we ahve smsf being done for under 1 k but depending on the investment of the smsf depends on which group that person goes into.
the max per year is 50k now put 10 smsf together and thats a big buying power even 5k contibution which is the norm that 50k going into the market
you will understand cost averaging for shares well we do the same but cost averaging for property
we are not going in as single direct investing but as groups
we have now got an office in la and taht is run thru one of the group and he is a US citizen
we do not charge to join the group and because its a smsf you run your unit of the trust or in there case llc
there are rules to leave but those are drawn up ith the group
the dollar is important as the smsf's don't have to put out as much
if the dollar drops tahts fine we will sit on the ones we have gained
to give an idea of returns the current deal is 60% return on cash in when all rented/leased and currently 34% which is better then the average smsf
we are not allowing direct investments in these groups they have to be smsf
we are looking at comm in the market that is direct
but thats not for a board.
we are not looking a fx gains thou we think they will be there we are looking at long term holds with very good net income returns
as the properties are paid off from the start we will leverage off these to go into others as they come up.
nice places to live
interesting were we are looking at buying the tennants have been there for 7 years so they must like it
and no one has been shot in the building or outside for that matter
its in the higher end of the city so they seem to like it
but its like saying is there anywhere in australia thats nice
as for cheap well it depends how you do the deal and again not for a board
don't like to give to much away

 

[reeco]

Hi gross real. I'll be in LA for a couple of days. Mind if I drop by the office and chew thae fat with someone in person? Sounds like a good idea in general. A lot of unanswered questions but interesting.

 

[grossreal]

hi reece
I am not there so you won't be chewing fat with me and the la office is just a pick up and drop off station similar to well fargo post station
a place you have to have
but buy all means I will send thru the info so you can have a look the guy there is only looking at la and not our current deal as its not in his state.
oh and where you say you have alot of unanswered question my posts are not on here to answer on these deals as they are not an open group
they are information only and to show what is out there not a please join or do you want to join this
just to make that point very clear
as a few people have in the pastgot the wrong idea and have as they have said paid out money come back wanted to get involved and when told sorry closed thought that the information was a directive that they should travel
this is not will not and should not be seen as anything other then information
just so everyone on an open forum understands

 

[Indifference]

The US property minefield...

Well, after having actually lived in the USA for about 3 months now, I have a completely different view of potentially owning IPs in the US.

Sure, there are plenty of $ to be made here, but OMG, do you need to be careful. Things we take for granted in Australia simply don't exist for many over here and finding a good US based investment support network can be a real challenge.

I'm currently renting, and my lease contract was over 20 pages long and required nearly as much effort as buying the damn house. I even needed personal liability insurance cover over the property (amongst other things) on top of the landlords own liability insurance.... welcome to the land of litigation! I acknowledge that my personal experience is not indicative of 'the market' experience, however, there are some significant differences compared to Australia.

As mentioned many times before on Somersoft, finding a PM is a challenge in itself. Simply trying to pay some companies for services rendered via EFT, is not a trivial task either (cheque or cash is more common) Very big companies are generally fine, but smaller ones (not just little ones) can be a headache.

I also agree 100% with the comment made regarding numerous markets in the US, not just interstate, but also intrastate markets can differ enormously.

Apples aren't apples over here, and although there is a $ to be made over here, for most smaller investors, the complexity and breadth of research required, coupled with the knowledge required of US financial matters, may outweigh the the potential benefits for many Aussie "would be US investors".

DD, DD, DD....If you currently have trouble finding good IPs in Australia, I would suggest that you might be stretching the experience/risk bow a little far by jumping into the US market without knowing completely what you're in for.

BTW, it is not uncommon to be paid $7-9 /hr over here in a non-tipping type of job. Yes $250-350 /week gross! You'd struggle to pay an average Aussie rental on that, let alone feed or cloth yourself. And that is gross.... Some of these people may end up being your tenants....

My 2 cents anyway.

 

[Amadio]

I'm currently renting, and my lease contract was over 20 pages long and required nearly as much effort as buying the damn house.

If you bought the house add a zero to the number of pages.

Good post - I think it will help point out the huge differences in re markets between the countries.

 

[Sunfish]

OK So what about Ireland? I am half Irish and I reckon I would love their sense of humour. (Unlike others who shall remain anonymous )

 

[reeco]

Well, after having actually lived in the USA for about 3 months now, I have a completely different view of potentially owning IPs in the US.

Some of these people may end up being your tenants....

My 2 cents anyway.

Thanks for the heads up. What state or side of the country are you Indiiference? MD? ...Maryland?

 

[Indifference]

Thanks for the heads up. What state or side of the country are you Indiiference? MD? ...Maryland?

Yes, Maryland.

 

[reeco]

Yes, Maryland.

DC would be nice and cold this time of year...Can you comment on NYC? I believe tipping plays a large yet undocumented part of many americanos wage. Especially those in hospitality related industries.

A kiwi friend i know took 60% + more home in tips working as a doorman compared to his base salary. Said tips are a large portion of his daily income which bosses are well aware of. As such it would seem they are paid less when in some cases they could be earning more

 

[Indifference]

DC would be nice and cold this time of year...Can you comment on NYC? I believe tipping plays a large yet undocumented part of many americanos wage. Especially those in hospitality related industries.

A kiwi friend i know took 60% + more home in tips working as a doorman compared to his base salary. Said tips are a large portion of his daily income which bosses are well aware of. As such it would seem they are paid less when in some cases they could be earning more

NYC... big, ahh, big.... It is a whole different beast than what we are familiar with in Oz. I can't comment on property there (at all) but what an exciting place to visit. I couldn't live there personally, but WOW, there is always heaps going on.

Yes, tipping is a social norm. Yes, it is expected in the service industry and extremely rude not to tip. I still find it very difficult adjusting. Non-service related industries rarely get tipped, and these people can be on very menial wages. Unskilled labour employees are not much better off than 'sweat shop' workers. Many just do it for the benefits though, like health care. OMG, what a mess such things are, in the US.

Tipping is generally 10-20%. Less than 10% can attract some awkward attention, and failing to tip may even attract a service manager, front and centre. So at 10-20% of the bill, people like waiters & other high client turn-over staff, can rack up a fair wage.

 

[reeco]

Yes, tipping is a social norm. Yes, it is expected in the service industry and extremely rude not to tip. I still find it very difficult adjusting. just do it for the benefits though, like health care. OMG, what a mess such things are, in the US.

Tipping is generally 10-20%. Less than 10% can attract some awkward attention, and failing to tip may even attract a service manager, front and centre.

I would find it extremely difficult to adjust to tipping also. I mean the real price is the cost and 10%. So why dont they just make life simple and make that the price?? I guess doing so would incur a tax on the tip making it less ideal for the employee.

How do you cope with health care Indifference? Would your average ozzy get a health care plan? Ive read and seen some absolute horrors about here system. So glad australia has a relatively good health care system.

Is there an expats forum for ozzies in the US? Sounds like a great place to visit. Bad place to live