US foreclosures - Boholt Seminars - NO

hey guys
lets move away from grammer or grammar or whatever.lol.
this forum is about how we will invest in the usa.
investing is risky,not to invest is riskier.
im here to learn how to do it.
thanks to lwjs and emma i learnt so much.
im setting up tax documents for the usa,get an account with hsbc,transfer money and off i go and get real life experience.
who of you guys have bought in the last4-6wks in vegas?
one of you asked if we maybe should meet in aus or usa?
great idea.when and where?or is it poss to have a conference call on skype?
come on guys,tell us some stories how u bought ip in vegas or anywhere in usa.
pls read book by dolf de roos '52properties in52wks' i found it very interesting,since it is about market in vegas.
any comments?
 
Ok, sorry to get off topic.

But getting back to basics.

The gambling industry is not doing very well in the US.

In Las Vegas unemployment is up to almost 15%- the highest in the country. And it's risen a lot in a short time.

I don't want to be a naysayer.

But real estate investment is about demand vs supply.

With the fundamentals I can't see that things will go well in the short term, at minimum.

High and rising unemployment, a dependency on a single industry which is in decline, lots of new big buildings with no customers- I can't see the growth or sustained income in the future.
 
hi all
sorry missed a word out
my
should be my french, german
funny how things come out in typing
as for a skype meeting thats fine if the people involved are looking at investing and not just there to tell everyone why they should not invest
 
Until entertainment is unpopular in the world I cannot see a major problem with Vegas.

I haven't been for 11?? years but when I was last there I specifically went to look at property. It is an impressive place and testament to the fact that if you throw enough money at something it can be (at least partly) tasteful.

Emma has made it pretty clear she is not suggesting buying junk, and she has spent a couple of years looking for good areas. We have a chance to buy quality properties for a relative discount - currency and a hurting market. My argument is to buy quality. Either spend a long time researching yourself or follow the lead of someone like Emma who has done nothing if not put a lot of work into her purchases, firstly in choosing an area, then in choosing actual properties.

And she isn't selling them to anyone - she OWNS them and is keeping them!
 
yeah i think a few peeps are missing the point - no offence.

there are always sub markets inside markets, and LV would be no different.

the simple notion of using HUD tenants would be a good incentive for the tenant to behave and pay, and a great surety (sp?) for the LL.
 
Aaron.. Concur! Vegas is just my little market... Each to their own (thank god we arent all the same). Unemployment in Vegas is a matter of massive debate. Understated employment and the expansion of unemployment benefits have led to skewing across the board. Likewise illegal immigrants skew it the other way.

All i can say is high unemployment official figures though mean more Section 8 tenants who will hopefully be my lovely subsidized tenants for the 5 years I am in this market. Further, as a former hotel GM, I can absolutely state that with these casinos still achieving 80% occupancy, they may be slashing yield but they are still needing the same number of employees. As Jeremy said, buy decent housing... Would you, if you were in that socio economic demographic, be comfortable and like living in your new investment property... Because if the answer is yes, you will be able to find a tenant... Even if you do have to cut the rent at some point.

Now, back to looking at yummy properties.....
 
just going through papers to get started.
form w7 and form w8.
plus iqs form.i read through them.
maybe its my unsufficient english,but form w7+8 i need to lodge in Texas or Ny with the IRS?
info page showed no acceptance agent in australia?
then with the new IQ form would i need to file tax return in usa as well?
thanks for your help in advance
 
I think Emma has hit the nail on the head. When buying IPs (or renovating a rundown house into an IP) I've always done this to a standard I'd like to live in myself. I know this can cause cost overuns. But do it once and do it properly is my maxim. And personally I try to buy houses with character and kerb appeal.

A decent place in a good location, perhaps a little under the going rate should be tenanted all of the time. Or very easy to relet. Keep away from young tenants or anyone too mobile seems to have worked for us in NZ. Older tentants are much less likely to party or up and leave. 20 yo's you might as well fit a revolving door in place of the front door if our NZ experiences are true.

For discussion purposes what's the thought on this 89139 zipcode property...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Income-producin...Residential&hash=item4cf31b57a6#ht_884wt_1139

The National Heat Map page
In looking for a website I could search for USA properties nationwide in a specific price range came across this.

http://www.trulia.com/home_prices/

Interesting to see Ohio and the mid West states and Arizona look to be the cheapest.
 
Last edited:
No address makes this hard. 89139 has some new development that basically is the back of beyond and best of luck finding a tenant. 2007 they were building pretty far into the desert. You are in a 1st home buyers area and not a tenant desired area. Does this meet my basic need of walking to school, shops and transport to employment? Rents achieving between $500 and $1000? That is a massive difference! Any HOA? Ie home owner association fees... 89139 normally would be in an HOA environment..and I have driven there..... In some areas it is vacant house amongst vacant house... If there is an HOA, how strong is it or is it facing bankruptcy. Again tough to know without a street address. Could be fine or not!... Any liens? Any proof that this is indeed what it rents for...if $1500 was that what it got in 2006 or 2010? Today there were 13 foreclosed properties without HOA's that you could have got between 100k and 120k... All younger than 1996 construction and all would rent for at least $1200 within a stones throw of civilization, shops etc and all over 1600 sq ft.

To give you an idea, these were just today's in East Las Vegas that popped up within one of my search criteria...check out at the bottom of the MLS Sheet.. The bit that says Assoc fee? Make sure that says no.. The bit that says Repo/REO.. That should say "Y". But STILL go to Clark county and check title reads a banks name....

http://las.mlxchange.com/EmailView.asp?r=1969474628&s=LAS&t=LAS


So in other words, prove this is an REO. As I think it is an agent selling it it should be but until I see title saying a bank owns it.... I think you get the picture.

bottom line.. Too little information. Ask for an address unless I missed it. Oh, and differentiate between home buyers market and tenant desired.. Ideally get one that rents well and will be loved by a tenant until you sell to a home owner in just a few (ha, or not) years...
 
Last edited:
W7 & W8

bernie006@hotma said:
just going through papers to get started.
form w7 and form w8.
plus iqs form.i read through them.
maybe its my unsufficient english,but form w7+8 i need to lodge in Texas or Ny with the IRS?
info page showed no acceptance agent in australia?
then with the new IQ form would i need to file tax return in usa as well?
thanks for your help in advance
Click to expand...


There is one time and one time only to call the IRS and ask for help. Well that may be a stretch but it sounded good... Anyhoo... Call the help number they have and ask... 0011 1 215 516 2000. Ich denke, dass sie einen deutschen Übersetzer haben können.
 
LLC Registered Agent for virtually every state and has guaranteed a $65 per annum fee for basic service.. You will still need to pay for the LLC start up etc, make sure you are filing your returns etc. This is at least half of anyone else's but negotiated them down! If you are paying more, this could save an extra percentage yield....he is incredibly helpful and good at hand holding if you are going that route. He can also I believe send you the relevant LLC paperwork.. Note they re NOT attorneys... Review this thread for about LLC Registered Agents..


QUOTE
We act in all US jurisdictions, including Guam, Puerto Rico, and The US Virgin Islands, and we also have capabilities in Canada, and overseas. *I am certainly willing to help with anything I can, just let me know.
*
Brett Goodman
[email protected]
UNQUOTE


Another piece of the puzzle.
 
Just wrote this to someone..
Pertinent to looking at properties that ARENT foreclosed... It isn't that I don't look at flips or other sales it is just that the rules of engagement change...

QUOTE

You are right this is not a foreclosure but it also isn't listed as one either. If you notice on the MLS listing, the 6th line on the right reads:

Short Sale. N.**Foreclosure Commenced. N.** REo/REPO.****N

So it isn't pretending to be one. All this means though is the rules change..it is a private sale, it might be an instant flip... County records on title can take about a week or this dude could just be desperate. Either way, you now revert o offering what you deem the property to be worth...ie possibly a lower offer, you get to ask for the right for inspections etc
UNQUOTE
 
Interesting article.

Here is another one, regarding rents in SoCal - in many areas similar to LV.

http://lansner.ocregister.com/2010/11/18/socal-rents-up-at-fastest-pace-in-14-months/88770/


I posted on another thread about multi units as well as mentioning here. If you decide to do the US thing, then please do enough dd to be confident. Emma makes it look easy, and it is easier for her if for no other reason than she understands Americans. I happily admit I do not. I go to the UK and know I can talk to people and they understand me. The US is just not like that. Emma's portal into the foreclosure world is probably in this country almost unique. Years of living and working there (for City Hall no less) plus she understands property investing from an Australian perspective. On top of that she has spent years looking for _good_ areas across the US and then inside that city for particular areas she chose above all the others. And of course with that much work she has made very calculated plays, and they are by all accounts working extremely well.

Save yourselves a lot of problems and buy quality for the area you choose, ideally make it something you _could_ live in (a great Jan Somers rule) and if possible buy somewhere someone else from here has bought and not been shot. Although don't take that completely hard and fast, I don't think being shot by family members would count against any particular property:)...

mfr returns may look enticing, but believe me those figures are bandied about to be just that. You will NOT find 30% cap rates in Tribeca, NY or Malibu, Ca.
 
Last edited:
from another thread also, but applicable here

Apparently RealtyTrac recently released an updated report of foreclosure statistics


U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™

For the third quarter of 2010, which shows that foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 930,437 properties in the third quarter, a nearly 4 percent increase from the previous quarter but a 1 percent decrease from the third quarter of 2009. One in every 139 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter
Click to expand...

Nevada
Arizona
Florida
California
Idaho
Utah
Georgia
Michigan

All featured, as has concerns over the "robot signing" of foreclosure documents which may see new property owners fighting over a house they thought was theirs
 
Okay, TITLE INSURANCE!

Reality check. Banks at my level of investing are not going to be reverting title to a home owner that couldn't pay their mortgage. Maybe if the house had been at the $3 million level and sold for $1 million and the former owners have some great attorneys, maybe they will extract a lovely settlement from the bank, but then a bill will be passed in congress that says something along the lines of "for the sake of this economy, we can't let this happen anymore". You are further working on the assumption that these people all want their homes back with the mortgages they were paying back... No one I know wants a 200k mortgage back once they are free of it and new properties can be had for 70k .. Oh, and as for me as the new owner with title insurance? I will sue the title company. everyone sues everyone, lots of money is made and I will still have the property.

VIVA VEGAS?
Right now onto single industry.... Quick, quick, name the industry supporting Palm Beach, Tampa, Delray, Fort Lauderdale, even Miami? Quick! Only because I have spent weeks in this area looking at housing, I can tell you, Florida tenants are retirees and immigrants and most without money. I want a place there to be close to sailing the Caribbean, don't get me wrong... I will revisit it in a year or so but right now it is dead and will be for a long time. The rents at my level aren't there.

Vegas...37 million visitors a year. Home of Nellis AFB, which houses the most number of squadrons of any AFB. University of Nevada, yes the Gambling Institute....where just a few students seem to want to visit... Where are the largest number of solar alternative energy companies headed to, including Bright Source .. About to employ 6k...how many investors out there would buy an investment property near any one of these... A military town, or a University Town.....oh, heck, any town that attracts an odd 10 million visitors let alone 37 million.

Vegas isn't the issue WHERE AND WHAT YOU BUY IS.. In ANY town. Unless you think that because you deem Vegas a single industry town and will be bulldozed before Reno, Detroit, parts of Florida etc (the reason for avoiding single industry towns is in case the town dies after all), in which case you may well be right because of course an iconic town like Vegas could just shut up shop.... Or


Sheldon Adelson just invested $1billion into his ONE Vegas Casino after the GFC decimated his returns...two more casinos are opening up. Dubai World opened City Centre despite a decimated town. Would you invest that sort of $$ if you thought it was going to go belly up?

My gamble is that Vegas will bounce back faster than any city on the planet because no one else but the gambling world have literally more money than it is taking to bail out Ireland to feed into this obviously failing city. I am sure the government will be as equally fast in providing $$ for everywhere else.

I look forward to wearing my Elvis wig and drinking martinis in the new ghost town of Vegas... ;)

Bottom line is thank god for the economy because it produced me possibly the greatest chance I am ever going to have to make the funds I want and quickly. It is a chance but a very calculated one. As with any investment it is a risk but you have stop saying why and some point and say "why not". I just didn't want to be would have, could have, should have but didn't.

If Vegas isn't your thing, then don't buy there. I had ZERO desire to go to Vegas, had lived in the States for 10 years and scoffed at people who loved Vegas. I personally would never live there permanently and didn't go to "The Strip" for 3 properties so I am not going to ever tell anyone that this was ever going to be for anything other than investment. It just doesn't hurt though that I have grown to appreciate it.

No doubt Vegas needs to contract and apartment buildings that are boarded up need to be bulldozed, the mass influx of immigrants from Arizona nd California probably should go elsewhere and for goodness sake please stop sprawl but urban planning fundamentals will be in force in any city... And buying carefully will give you a tenant.

By the way I would love to know how many of the foreclosures in Vegas are voluntary.. I am guessing at least one in 8 if not more.. Everyone I know over there knows someone just walking away. It may be the same in other states but it is just bizarre.
 
Last edited:
I enjoyed my time in Vegas many years back, stayed at "Bugsy" Siegel's place "The Flamingo" :cool:

It amazes me also this system in America where you can walk away from your financial obligations. I can imagine calling the bank and saying, "yeah mate, keys will be in the letterbox, we've had enough...we only bought the house because we thought prices would go up, they didn't and this negative equity thing sucks. By the way...give us a grand cash by friday and we won't trash the place on the way out".

Try doing that here :D

Just did a quick google and saw this on CNNMoney

Vulture investors: They're back - and making a bundle

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- These are the glory days of the residential real estate investor. Low prices, rock-bottom interest rates and stable rental markets have created huge buying opportunities.

"It's awesome right now. I don't think we'll ever see another time like this," said Tanya Marchiol of Team Investments, which has operations in about 10 states but focuses mostly on the Phoenix market.

396Email Print CommentThese investors are known to many as vultures because they swoop in and buy "distressed properties" -- foreclosures and short sales -- cheap. Places like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Miami are popular because home prices there have dropped as much as 70%.
Click to expand...

And

Australians swoop in on U.S. foreclosures

Jim Reedy, owner of the Memphis-based property management firm Reedy and Company, said a recent sale he put together for an Australian on a $68,000 house looked something like this:

How to buy a foreclosure in a robo-signing world
With a $17,000 downpayment, the monthly costs for the buyer totaled about $700. That included the mortgage payment, insurance, management fee, taxes and setting aside 12% of the rent in an emergency fund to cover maintenance and vacancies.

Yet the house rents for $1,100 a month. So the buyer is making $400 a month, a 28% return on his $17,000 investment. And that's not counting any appreciation the home may see, or the currency advantage if the Australian buys now and the Aussie dollar falls in the future.

"'Our business is exploding," said Reedy, who buys foreclosed properties every day, literally right off the Memphis courthouse steps. He said the recent drop in foreclosures due to the robo-signing mess has crimped sales, but that he expects foreclosures to pick right back up again early next year.

Reedy is making money on both the home sale and the management fee. He pays somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000 for the home, then hires contractors to put another $10,000 to $15,000 worth of work into it. Then he charges 8% of the monthly rent to manage the property, find tenants and deal with any additional repairs.

Before this year, he said most people looking to buy these homes were Americans, sometimes referred to as vulture investors.

But now, about 30% of his clients are from overseas -- many from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, and also some wealthy Europeans.

Nationwide phenomenon. This is happening in other parts of the country as well.
Click to expand...

Vacancy rates (residential, commercial and retail) look decidely scarey in some areas with double digits achieved

I also had a quick look at a couple of ETF's

The FTSE NAREIT Residential Index Fund (symbol REZ) which includes Sam Zell's (The Gravedancers) Equity Residential which owns 579 properties and 152,821 units across the U.S. I've also added in Vanguards REIT ETF (symbol VNQ)
 

Attachments

  • VNQ.JPG
    VNQ.JPG
    47.7 KB · Views: 84
  • REZ.JPG
    REZ.JPG
    48.9 KB · Views: 74
Emma171 said:
Vegas isn't the issue WHERE AND WHAT YOU BUY IS.. In ANY town. Unless you think that because you deem Vegas a single industry town and will be bulldozed before Reno, Detroit, parts of Florida etc (the reason for avoiding single industry towns is in case the town dies after all), in which case you may well be right because of course an iconic town like Vegas could just shut up shop.....
Click to expand...

exactly.

market inside the market.

people are stil required to run the city with 37mil visitors pa. that's nearly double australia's population.

food for thought.
 

Similar threads

P
Dymphna Boholt seminar. Are they good?
Replies
2
Views
2K
Scott No Mates
Scott No Mates
N
Laury Melo: Unlocking Your Passion (Free) Seminar - Sat 17 Jan
Replies
0
Views
1K
nhg
N
M
HECS debt and death.
Replies
13
Views
4K
MarkB
MarkB
D
My partner's ownership predicament (help pls)
Replies
17
Views
3K
Terry_w
Terry_w
K
encouragement to invest
Replies
4
Views
3K
kum yin lau
K
Back
Top