US foreclosures #2 (aka the Emma171 thread)
- Thread starter Sunfish
- Start date
Americans, full deck... ???? They left half the deck in Iraq didn't they... now where is my Queen of Hearts???
The VERY sad part is that this is the NORM...
seriously I just chose one at random because it was on its own versus in a nice list... of course it is worth at least 5k more than these thank heavens - if you thought THAT was bad.. check these horrors out - thank GOD they are at least 5k or so cheaper....
http://las.mlxchange.com/Pub/EmailView.asp?r=1430674735&s=LAS&t=LAS
Random examples...
PHEW - Glad I escaped those 2....
The VERY sad part is that this is the NORM...
seriously I just chose one at random because it was on its own versus in a nice list... of course it is worth at least 5k more than these thank heavens - if you thought THAT was bad.. check these horrors out - thank GOD they are at least 5k or so cheaper....
http://las.mlxchange.com/Pub/EmailView.asp?r=1430674735&s=LAS&t=LAS
Random examples...
PHEW - Glad I escaped those 2....
LLC ownership structure
Can anyone help with this.
I'm in process of setting up LLCs. Using an US accountant who recommend that my Australian Trust should be the owner, or single member.
My problem is this.... an Australian Trust is not a legal entity and can therefore not own anything nor can it transact. A trustee has to do that on its behalf. Property is bought in the name of the Trustee, either as Trustee for etc or just its own name, say ABC Pty Ltd.
So question is how can the Trust be named as the member and legal owner of the LLC, as the US accountant insists. Should it not be in the name of the Trustee?
Someone must have had the same issue. Appreciate any comment.
Can anyone help with this.
I'm in process of setting up LLCs. Using an US accountant who recommend that my Australian Trust should be the owner, or single member.
My problem is this.... an Australian Trust is not a legal entity and can therefore not own anything nor can it transact. A trustee has to do that on its behalf. Property is bought in the name of the Trustee, either as Trustee for etc or just its own name, say ABC Pty Ltd.
So question is how can the Trust be named as the member and legal owner of the LLC, as the US accountant insists. Should it not be in the name of the Trustee?
Someone must have had the same issue. Appreciate any comment.
The Trust can be named as the member of the LLC.
Property is bought in the name of the LLC.
The "manager" of the LLC is the trustee. Effectively in the form of; <name_of_trustee> as trustee for <name_of_trust> and eventually you have to put your name in there too, because they want everything traceable back to a human being.
Property is bought in the name of the LLC.
The "manager" of the LLC is the trustee. Effectively in the form of; <name_of_trustee> as trustee for <name_of_trust> and eventually you have to put your name in there too, because they want everything traceable back to a human being.
Another view from someone who lives in USA who is also a savy investor:
Why I wouldn’t buy this house
1) don’t like Las Vegas-will remain depressed for years+
2) no garage-it was converted to living space
built before 1978—has lead base paint issues-law suit potential
Yes, I know it was a joke, problem is some poor investor will get ripped off.
Cheer, MTR
HI Reeco, Don't get too caught up in it, its an opinion and as you mentioned everyone has one.
Also, I have been researching areas like Atlanta, Arizona and Memphis.
Apparently Canadians are buying up big in Arizona, 400 houses a month.
Cheers, MTR
median income for Vegas zip codes
Hi All
Just came across list of zip's and their median incomes.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/apr/01/average-median-household-income-las-vegas-valley-z/
Hi All
Just came across list of zip's and their median incomes.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/apr/01/average-median-household-income-las-vegas-valley-z/
What are people doing about securing their USA properties against any potential fraudulent sale of those properties?
As we are purchasing these with cash there will be no lien / mortgage raised by a third party against your property to ensure that there is at least a bump in the sales process road.
How do you intend to create a similar impediment to the fraudulent sale of your property?
Cheers
As we are purchasing these with cash there will be no lien / mortgage raised by a third party against your property to ensure that there is at least a bump in the sales process road.
How do you intend to create a similar impediment to the fraudulent sale of your property?
Cheers
Welcome kachidoki.
Bank of Hawaii wouldnt be feasible for Aussies,
Sure hawaii is apart of US(unless your the current president ha!)
But other then that, they offer little else. IMO With regards to banking, back doors arent an option.
Handyandy - you raise a very valid point in your post.
We are moving from Aus to Canada in approx 3 weeks and, whilst we could afford to purchase a home outright, we have been advised to take some kind of mortgage against the house, just so that there is an encumbrance on the home and avoid a possible fraud from under our noses!
As you mentioned, there is no lien for a cash buyer of US property. Perhaps having the title under an LLC would work? As we will also start our purchase of US property in the next few months, it will be interesting to hear from anyone "in the know".
We are moving from Aus to Canada in approx 3 weeks and, whilst we could afford to purchase a home outright, we have been advised to take some kind of mortgage against the house, just so that there is an encumbrance on the home and avoid a possible fraud from under our noses!
As you mentioned, there is no lien for a cash buyer of US property. Perhaps having the title under an LLC would work? As we will also start our purchase of US property in the next few months, it will be interesting to hear from anyone "in the know".
We just rented our first LV house, Heres some resources we used. Pretty basic stuff but hopefully this is useful as a recap for somebody.
Research
www.zillow.com
I would also add redfin.com. Its a zillow clone but sometimes redfin will have more up to date information on a property. For instance when we bought our house the redfin record was updated right away. Took zillow over a month to show up. Use redfin and other sources to confirm what you see on zillow.
Assessor and Recorder office.
Check the owner and title, check the liens. This is not a substitute for title insurance of course
http://www.city-data.com
Reports on every ZIP, detailed demographics although data can be a few years old.
All above combined with good old fashioned ground-truthing which has been well covered in this thread already. And of course the invaluable advice and support of Emma and Yolanda who are both fantastic at what they do.
Renting Resources
gosection8.com
rentometer.com and zillow.com for comps.
Some other practical tips:
Receiving Snail Mail:
We use Virtualpostmail.com Would highly recommend. Simple concept - they store and scan your snail mail for you. They also have a check deposit service and can act as your registered agent for your LLC.
Banking:
I'm a US citizen so have less issues with holding a bank account, if you use a US account I would recommend one that supports online check deposit. You can cash checks with just an image or printout of the check. This ties in well with VirtualPostMail - they scan the check when it comes in and this scan is good enough for the bank.
Research
www.zillow.com
I would also add redfin.com. Its a zillow clone but sometimes redfin will have more up to date information on a property. For instance when we bought our house the redfin record was updated right away. Took zillow over a month to show up. Use redfin and other sources to confirm what you see on zillow.
Assessor and Recorder office.
Check the owner and title, check the liens. This is not a substitute for title insurance of course
http://www.city-data.com
Reports on every ZIP, detailed demographics although data can be a few years old.
All above combined with good old fashioned ground-truthing which has been well covered in this thread already. And of course the invaluable advice and support of Emma and Yolanda who are both fantastic at what they do.
Renting Resources
gosection8.com
rentometer.com and zillow.com for comps.
Some other practical tips:
Receiving Snail Mail:
We use Virtualpostmail.com Would highly recommend. Simple concept - they store and scan your snail mail for you. They also have a check deposit service and can act as your registered agent for your LLC.
Banking:
I'm a US citizen so have less issues with holding a bank account, if you use a US account I would recommend one that supports online check deposit. You can cash checks with just an image or printout of the check. This ties in well with VirtualPostMail - they scan the check when it comes in and this scan is good enough for the bank.
Here are the numbers. Its not one of the more amazing deals to be found in Vegas but we are happy with it as our first purchase and we only had a couple weeks on the ground. Will go back in a few months for another go and try for a better deal.
Its also worth noting it did take us almost 2 months to rent it.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6669-Gazelle-Dr-Las-Vegas-NV-89108/6953400_zpid/
Purchase price: 65475
Closing Costs: 1400
Refurbishment (appliances, garage door opener, minor repairs): 1390.14
Total: 68265.14
Rent: $925
Gross Yield: 16.26%
Annual Expenses:
Insurance: 423
5% vacancy: 555
Repairs: 600
Taxes: 943
Sewer: 300
Total: 2821
Net Yield:
12.13% self managed
11% with manager
Annual net income with self management = $8279.
Worst case net income: (3k repair on a broken A/C and 6 months vacancy) : $884
Although strictly speaking since the cost of flights, expenses and the 2 weeks unpaid leave from work amount to over 10k the purchase has produced a loss for us in the short term. We wont be seeing any profit until over a year from now best case. However we're counting those expenses as the cost of a great Vegas vacation Don't forget to see a couple shows while you're there!
Its also worth noting it did take us almost 2 months to rent it.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6669-Gazelle-Dr-Las-Vegas-NV-89108/6953400_zpid/
Purchase price: 65475
Closing Costs: 1400
Refurbishment (appliances, garage door opener, minor repairs): 1390.14
Total: 68265.14
Rent: $925
Gross Yield: 16.26%
Annual Expenses:
Insurance: 423
5% vacancy: 555
Repairs: 600
Taxes: 943
Sewer: 300
Total: 2821
Net Yield:
12.13% self managed
11% with manager
Annual net income with self management = $8279.
Worst case net income: (3k repair on a broken A/C and 6 months vacancy) : $884
Although strictly speaking since the cost of flights, expenses and the 2 weeks unpaid leave from work amount to over 10k the purchase has produced a loss for us in the short term. We wont be seeing any profit until over a year from now best case. However we're counting those expenses as the cost of a great Vegas vacation
Don't forget to see a couple shows while you're there!
Not sure how this would help, surely as a thief if you stole the identity of the owner and quit claimed the deed away, then sold the house you could still pay the mortgage off and pocket the difference? The stories I have read about house theft have mentioned a mortgage being involved and this not being an issue for the thief.
In any case, I would think best targets for home theft are those undergoing foreclosure (desperate owners) or vacant homes. You could even change the locks and show the property to potential buyers. Harder to do that when there's people living in it.
