Lodging a tax return in the US

3 bedroom foreclosed house, was under 40K. Older style but full brick with good roof and good tenant.

Hi Nopz,

Try USTaxCentral. They have an article in this moths YIP magazine and looking at their website they look after ITIN’s, EIN’s, tax returns in Australia and the US

Its a question of making sure you arent buying in a dying area, 25k is certainly at the bottom end, however in Florida I recently bought a townhouse at $28k, according to the local property appraiser website it sold for $170k in 07 and $130k in 04, it cash flows well and i feel in 5 years it will likely be worth 50% of at least the 04 price which along with the double digit net cashflow, I am very happy with.

The fundamentals of a market are of course key and the principal reason why I like Florida is the population growth, buy in an area of the state well placed to enjoy this growth and I believe you shall get returns similar to these. Although as a cautionary note from one who has made this mistake before in Florida there are areas which you shouldnt touch.

Hi Treasure,

Its a long answer because as you know there are so many different housing markets and within those markets there will be good and bad areas, but some of the ones, and types I would sidestep are;

Brickell, downtown Miami, epicentre of the condo building. These were the most high end condos and as such developers were falling over themselves to make it the most lavish which resulted in huge HOA fees, a lot of which is now unpaid. That being said I recently acquired the last 60 units in Capital Lofts for a client which is in this area, which is the exception that proves the rule in  my opinion.

Orlando/Kissimee, in this market you have to be extremely careful because a lot of this isnt built for the primary market its built for the holiday market, this means that as there is still over supply here if you buy a property which is in area mainly for holiday rentals you will struggle to compete with the more established and frankly the more local operators, and you may also struggle to get a US tenant because who wants to be living in a street full of holidaying Brit? ( I dont and Im a Brit).

A type of area I would avoid are areas which are tertiary markets  that were largely unloved before the recent housing bubble, its obvious but these areas will take longer to start to recover and the recovery will be slower.

There are areas of cities in Florida which were all built around the same time so you have mile after mile of gated communities all of a similar age, the problem with this is that when you buy in here these are going to be the new ghetto as they get older and cheaper the renters and owners will slide down the social scale and in time maybe only a few years there will be developments which were solid B class originally becoming c-/d grade which will have obvious impacts on your investment.

There are lots of areas away from the main population centers of South, west and central Florida which look good on paper but are easy to go wrong in, Citrus County, Marion County to name a couple.

just my opinion.

Nopz,

I registered with them and James (the one in charge) called me and emailed me the same day so I have had no issues with getting them to contact me.

Hi,

I like areas such as Cape Coral, which I feel is undervalued and a great location for growth -however I should also say I have a development there as well as lots of land so I am biased! I like Gainesville which is a college town in between orlando and Tallahassee,  it has fairly solid renters both from students and those staying on to work in the Medical research centers there. It was also out of the way of most of the pre construction madness that gripped Florida. If you have the money for a multiplex I like South Beach, solid rentals again and good growth prospects. There are areas in all the metro areas Miami, Ft lauderdale, West Palm Beach as well as orlando, Tampa etc which represent good opportunities, but as there are so many micro markets its a case of judging each deal on its own merits, and blanket generalisations-like this!, dont paint a full picture.

Tks

Mark

your welcome, anytime.