US foreclosures - Boholt Seminars - NO
- Thread starter lawsjs
- Start date
Earnest money is a deposit to buy. Think non refundable good faith or security deposit if you back out. This deposit will be put against the purchase price of the property upon closing but will be lost if the buyer pulls out. There aren't solicitors involved in the states so the money is held by the title company working the case until closing occurs. The amount is on your final settlement statement as a credit to you. Normally you submit offers on about 5 - 10 properties and hope to god you get one. Vegas moves fast for good properties and speed is of the essence. A good property can go in hours with multiple offers within the first 24 hours. This is the wild west of buying. I will walk into a property and have my mental calculator running instantly as to exactly how much I would need to spend (new stove: $350, new dishwasher: $219 etc, new faucet or bath taps are $24, new garage remote $34)... Ie that specific, that quickly and then I will spend about an hour doing as much research beyond my initial research as possible and make a call on it. It is that quick and ultimately I go with my gut. I don't look at a property unless it meets minimum criteria anyway and I will always call any for rent signs on the streets around etc o my drive out.
Tradies are dirt cheap in Vegas but I have, for a long time, done my own work.. Keeps me really fit and satisfied.... (my mantra used to be that i have yet to meet the plumber with a higher IQ than me and in Alaska i refused to pay someone $180 an hour to fix a leak). Licensed all round trades though run as little as $15 an hour so if you don't own all the tools...( Ha, my first purchase was a $2300 chevy pick up truck)... This is not a prohibitive market. Thus whatever market you look at, calculate cost of trades in. Of course for full on reins, ceiling gyp rocking (sheet rocking) in the states etc, bring on muscles! As an aside, I am not fluent in Spanish but my real estate agent is... More by quirk of blasted fate ..I went through ten before finding a good agent who moved as fast as I needed in this market... The Spanish bit has been a godsend as I have needed someone I can trust to literally get the message across. In the lower states of the us this is a good tip in hindsight! Talk about above and beyond but there you go!
Tradies are dirt cheap in Vegas but I have, for a long time, done my own work.. Keeps me really fit and satisfied.... (my mantra used to be that i have yet to meet the plumber with a higher IQ than me and in Alaska i refused to pay someone $180 an hour to fix a leak). Licensed all round trades though run as little as $15 an hour so if you don't own all the tools...( Ha, my first purchase was a $2300 chevy pick up truck)... This is not a prohibitive market. Thus whatever market you look at, calculate cost of trades in. Of course for full on reins, ceiling gyp rocking (sheet rocking) in the states etc, bring on muscles! As an aside, I am not fluent in Spanish but my real estate agent is... More by quirk of blasted fate ..I went through ten before finding a good agent who moved as fast as I needed in this market... The Spanish bit has been a godsend as I have needed someone I can trust to literally get the message across. In the lower states of the us this is a good tip in hindsight! Talk about above and beyond but there you go!
LLC's - great unless you are wanting to refinance at any point in the next 3 or so years which I personally predict won't be possible... But haven't you always wanted a holiday home in... ????.... Name that state! Now refinancing is possible....please note, I am not an accountant or solicitor and obviously each to their own. I am a US permanent resident so i have created the gamut in my time... S-corps, c-corps, llc's etc. I am also an Australian citizen with a serious fear of the litigious nature in the US. If you were looking at straight capital gain play with yield for 4 years without refinancing, then LLC is a no brainer and you should do it. I am also a member in 4 LLC's that no bank that I have found will refinance and am kicking myself for it. There are as many structures to protect assets as there are lawyers to pierce the corporate veil but again, unless looking to refinance I am the strongest believer in CYA... "cover your ****" pardon language.
No I am not that wealthy! I am in partnerships on 9 of these, sold some Australian property and put almost every cent I had into this long before most because I didn't want to say "would have, could have, should have but didn't". I wasn't old enough in the 80's to avail of that crash but this was just following my gut and really, really not listening to virtually anyone else. History will decide if I was right or wrong but I view this as a three way hedge....I just am not one to live with regrets.
1) yield... I can't match it anywhere thus far.. NOTE there will be a slump in yield as the glut catches up.... I figured about a 10% drop through 2011.. Possibly More... this is a loss I factored in and still can't beat the returns
2) capital appreciation.... I look at the charts on zillow, knock out the bubble curve.. Look at 2002 prices, project my own trend from 2000 gradient and take it to 2014, throw in inflation for good measure and work on the assumption that I want +/- $100k from each property by then.....
3) currency... I just don't at this point ( well fingers crossed) see another default currency in the next 5 years so I intend to use these funds to pay off my today debt that is in fixed interest with tomorrow's $$ unless the yuan takes over that is!
Oh am from Sydney...Only in Melbourne for spring carnival... Ha from power tools to the Cup, hairdryers and dresses! Seriously though this is why I love what I do...I get to pretty much choose where I want to be. Did I mention that I really do do this to be "off the grid"? Now fingers crossed I can keep it up and am not too far off the mark.
No I am not that wealthy! I am in partnerships on 9 of these, sold some Australian property and put almost every cent I had into this long before most because I didn't want to say "would have, could have, should have but didn't". I wasn't old enough in the 80's to avail of that crash but this was just following my gut and really, really not listening to virtually anyone else. History will decide if I was right or wrong but I view this as a three way hedge....I just am not one to live with regrets.
1) yield... I can't match it anywhere thus far.. NOTE there will be a slump in yield as the glut catches up.... I figured about a 10% drop through 2011.. Possibly More... this is a loss I factored in and still can't beat the returns
2) capital appreciation.... I look at the charts on zillow, knock out the bubble curve.. Look at 2002 prices, project my own trend from 2000 gradient and take it to 2014, throw in inflation for good measure and work on the assumption that I want +/- $100k from each property by then.....
3) currency... I just don't at this point ( well fingers crossed) see another default currency in the next 5 years so I intend to use these funds to pay off my today debt that is in fixed interest with tomorrow's $$ unless the yuan takes over that is!
Oh am from Sydney...Only in Melbourne for spring carnival... Ha from power tools to the Cup, hairdryers and dresses! Seriously though this is why I love what I do...I get to pretty much choose where I want to be. Did I mention that I really do do this to be "off the grid"? Now fingers crossed I can keep it up and am not too far off the mark.
PS I am a single woman and have rarely felt safer in my entire life than Vegas. Summerlin and Hendeerson are the Vegas equivalent by the way of Syndey's north shore or eastern suburbs. New Henderson that is.....there is a lot, and I mean a lot of money still in Vegas. Obviously there are areas that I wouldn't go and certainly areas I wouldn't buy in. Common sense required.
TITLE CHECKS AND TAX RECORDS..... Are free and very, very simple...in every state..... Google "access Clark county"... follow the property look up link... Google my addresses given earlier..... Note wilderness wasn't amended down to the renegotiated price of 39k... I wasn't going to argue!
Every state and every county/ borough has this.. It is ALWAYS part and parcel of what I do to research a property... And check out the neighbor properties too... I love ones that haven't sold in years... Indicates home owner occupied....
Every state and every county/ borough has this.. It is ALWAYS part and parcel of what I do to research a property... And check out the neighbor properties too... I love ones that haven't sold in years... Indicates home owner occupied....
Jesus Christ Emma!
I thought you may have made a post or two, but this is ridiculous. Very interesting and useful but totally ridiculous.
I considered myself a pretty active poster here way back in the old days and all we had was dialup.
In more than 10 years I have made 344 posts. I know this because I was chatting online back then as a 'seasoned' poster to the Michele's and Rix's and Sims of the world when I was in LA on an overnight and 9/11 happened - yes I know I should have gone out more
In the 72 hours (give or take) that you have been a member of SS, you have made 12 posts. Including time spent going on holiday to Mel Cup. If I had kept up with your prolific posting in the time since I 'joined' I would have made more than 44,000 posts.....
I kneel before you oh pickup truck, power tool owning and foreclosure buying freak...
I thought you may have made a post or two, but this is ridiculous. Very interesting and useful but totally ridiculous.
I considered myself a pretty active poster here way back in the old days and all we had was dialup.
In more than 10 years I have made 344 posts. I know this because I was chatting online back then as a 'seasoned' poster to the Michele's and Rix's and Sims of the world when I was in LA on an overnight and 9/11 happened - yes I know I should have gone out more
In the 72 hours (give or take) that you have been a member of SS, you have made 12 posts. Including time spent going on holiday to Mel Cup. If I had kept up with your prolific posting in the time since I 'joined' I would have made more than 44,000 posts.....
I kneel before you oh pickup truck, power tool owning and foreclosure buying freak...
Jesus Christ Emma!
I thought you may have made a post or two, but this is ridiculous. Very interesting and useful but totally ridiculous.
I considered myself a pretty active poster here way back in the old days and all we had was dialup.
In more than 10 years (I know this because I was chatting online to the Michele's and Rix's and Sims here when I was in LA on an overnight and 9/11 happened - yes I know I should go out more
In the 72 hours (give or take) that you have been a member of SS, you have made 12 posts. Including time spent going on holiday to Mel Cup. If I had kept up with your prolific posting in the time since I 'joined' I would have made more than 44,000 posts.....
I kneel before you oh pickup truck, power tool owning and foreclosure buying freak...
is this an attempt at humour?
if not rack off
, this thread is one of the most interesting i have read for a while.
is this an attempt at humour?
if not rack off
Given that they're brother and sister I'd say so.
More ontopic - I guess the question for most Australians (perhaps not an issue for you Emma since you've become perm resi now?) is obtaining finance? I've heard it's difficult for locals to get loans currently. Is that a pipe dream for 'Aliens' to get bank loans at worthwhile LVR? Is creating a bank account and / or getting an SSN difficult if one has no family there?
Intrinsic Value,
Ummm, no, you are incorrect. Not an attempt at humour. It is in fact a genuine example of real humour. Check your dictionary
FYI I wanted Emma to post here (or anywhere) simply because there is so much garbage out there, as in evidence by that disgusting display of Boholt's. I thought Emma had a lot to offer people but didn't know where to express it. Emma is (as I am) totally transparent when it comes to sharing information. I suspected it would be (as it has turned out) a very welcome breath of fresh air for people to read what she had to say..
Not everyone goes out on their own with little cash and really makes a serious go of it. She deserves every success. Even if she is looking at making 44,000 posts in the next 10 years!
Attempts don't sit well with me - I always do the genuine article!!
And you have annoyed me in making me reply This will push my time frame to posts ratio way out of whack....
Ummm, no, you are incorrect. Not an attempt at humour. It is in fact a genuine example of real humour. Check your dictionary
FYI I wanted Emma to post here (or anywhere) simply because there is so much garbage out there, as in evidence by that disgusting display of Boholt's. I thought Emma had a lot to offer people but didn't know where to express it. Emma is (as I am) totally transparent when it comes to sharing information. I suspected it would be (as it has turned out) a very welcome breath of fresh air for people to read what she had to say..
Not everyone goes out on their own with little cash and really makes a serious go of it. She deserves every success. Even if she is looking at making 44,000 posts in the next 10 years!
Attempts don't sit well with me - I always do the genuine article!!
And you have annoyed me in making me reply
This will push my time frame to posts ratio way out of whack....dtraeger2k,
I can answer one bit of your question. SSN's are almost unobtainable - Uncle Sam has enough on his plate handing out free hospital care to Mexicans.
What you can get (and it amazed me how easy it was and how it made you seem 'real' in the US) is an ITIN number. International Taxpayers Ident Number. Same digits and fills the boxes on every form you will ever fill out in the US.
As my guru LA agent said to me 'Uncle Sam is NEVER going to make it hard for you to put your hand up and say that you want to pay US taxes'.
Call the US Embassy, I was given one over the phone!! although it was more than 10 years ago.
Once you have your 'social' people look at you differently. You 'exist'. Even if it isn't a real social...It should be your very first step - proves to everyone you are legit.
And this is it, almost certainly my last post for the next 10 years... I will have nightmares about ratios tonight
I can answer one bit of your question. SSN's are almost unobtainable - Uncle Sam has enough on his plate handing out free hospital care to Mexicans.
What you can get (and it amazed me how easy it was and how it made you seem 'real' in the US) is an ITIN number. International Taxpayers Ident Number. Same digits and fills the boxes on every form you will ever fill out in the US.
As my guru LA agent said to me 'Uncle Sam is NEVER going to make it hard for you to put your hand up and say that you want to pay US taxes'.
Call the US Embassy, I was given one over the phone!! although it was more than 10 years ago.
Once you have your 'social' people look at you differently. You 'exist'. Even if it isn't a real social...It should be your very first step - proves to everyone you are legit.
And this is it, almost certainly my last post for the next 10 years... I will have nightmares about ratios tonight
Thanx for posting!
What are your thoughts on Colorado Springs & Denver regions?
Are they investor friendly?
What are your thoughts on Colorado Springs & Denver regions?
Are they investor friendly?
Thanks Lawsjs.
Another question for you / Emma. You mention preference toward SFR and I did a bit of an uninformed / uneducated look across a few websites and found multiple family residences (mfr??) in Las Vegas and various/numerous other cities (Baltimore, Dallas to name a couple) for around $150k, often comprising say 4 units renting for 800/month each. Even if one or two were vacant this represents better yields than available in Australian towns/cities of similar size. Are these easier or harder to get finance for, particularly as an 'Alien'? Additionally, can I trouble you for more information on why you preferred the SFR's?
Another question for you / Emma. You mention preference toward SFR and I did a bit of an uninformed / uneducated look across a few websites and found multiple family residences (mfr??) in Las Vegas and various/numerous other cities (Baltimore, Dallas to name a couple) for around $150k, often comprising say 4 units renting for 800/month each. Even if one or two were vacant this represents better yields than available in Australian towns/cities of similar size. Are these easier or harder to get finance for, particularly as an 'Alien'? Additionally, can I trouble you for more information on why you preferred the SFR's?
Ok now i feel really stupid
appologies to everyone
i was really enjoying this thread, learning something new and saw that post and thought oh no someone is coming out and intimidating a new poster.
Did i say i was sorry
appologies to everyone
i was really enjoying this thread, learning something new and saw that post and thought oh no someone is coming out and intimidating a new poster.
Did i say i was sorry
Wow this is awsome info. By default I reason that this puts u on my the awesome list can't wait to see Vegas next year in June and get a feel of the place.. it's strange you mention Henderson And summerlin because that's what my work mate who flies there every couple of months said! Guess he was onto something cheers for your share. Hope ya win big at the cup
can't wait to see Vegas next year in June and get a feel of the place.. it's strange you mention Henderson And summerlin because that's what my work mate who flies there every couple of months said! Guess he was onto something cheers for your share. Hope ya win big at the cupIt's hard to find the old posters! I hope u decide to stick around lawsys...it's always good to hear from older posterss such as your self. Pleasure to meet(digitally of course) you if do continue on from here
An LLC is broadly analogous to what we call a discretionary trust, so actually, lots of people do use them in Australia.
There's no restriction on foreign ownership of property; the LLCs are usually used for asset protection/tax and for financing purposes. When financing, your LLC is considered "local" - it's an American entity - and you're applying for finance as a local. Purchasing in your own name, you're applying for finance as a foreigner, and that's much more challenging.
America's a big place, and whilst it's true that the dangerous places are much more dangerous than Australia's "no go" suburbs, there are plenty of middle class suburbs which are just as safe as most of us feel in our suburbs.
Emma, I'm loving your contributions, too. I'd also be interested to hear why you've decided to focus on SFR, as I've shied away from that domain for various reasons, though very much due to concerns about property management (I'm looking at complexes with enough doors to justify employing your own staff directly). Though if you're living nearby and self-managing, I can see why you'd see things differently.
Other concerns were LVR (you can get higher LVR on commercial than resi in USA; opposite to Australia), and insufficient absolute $ returns to justify the risk of investing in a foreign country. (Again, being resident in the USA, I appreciate that changes this aspect for you.)
I think Emma should do her own seminars. I information I have learned here by reading this thread is invaluable. Imagine what I would learn if she did a one-day lecture session!
Apartments
With the wave of unemployment, I noted that there are a lot of people who are moving back with their parents, or looking at cheaper apartments (particular those with families).
Perhaps an area of focus would be to "upgrade" the tenants like what Perp had been looking at so that it becomes more family-friendly?
I ran some numbers on a recent sale here and it's not attractive at all. Where's the Eldorado everyone is talking about?
With the wave of unemployment, I noted that there are a lot of people who are moving back with their parents, or looking at cheaper apartments (particular those with families).
Perhaps an area of focus would be to "upgrade" the tenants like what Perp had been looking at so that it becomes more family-friendly?
I ran some numbers on a recent sale here and it's not attractive at all. Where's the Eldorado everyone is talking about?
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This is a philosophical question: If properties are so CHEAP why aren't the locals buying?
I'm not just stirring here. Is it that the Yanks have seriously become the haves and have-nots, with 90% the once prosperous middle class now with no funds and no FICO score? Are there really a hundred million families who are simply out of the market and why aren't the more astute locals buying up?
The US housing market still has too many unknowns for me.
I'm not just stirring here. Is it that the Yanks have seriously become the haves and have-nots, with 90% the once prosperous middle class now with no funds and no FICO score? Are there really a hundred million families who are simply out of the market and why aren't the more astute locals buying up?
The US housing market still has too many unknowns for me.
