US property investing firms

bradking74

Please see the forum post about US Invest…..may give you some insight. I can't comment on HomeBuyersUSA but they all operate by the same mode….charge membership fee's to learn something that you can find out for free.

https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/property-investing/overseas-deals/4345304

What do you find so attractive about these firms ? The fact they do it all for you ? US Invest do seem to embelish the facts somewhat…..they make out they buy the homes, make out they do the refurb, make out they have a special relationship with a bank in Dallas to get you finance etc when the fact is they don't.

Thanks for the post I've long thought about using one of these companies .

i have paid for membership to obtain a USA property and spoke with others personally and perused what they offer. It is better to invest your time, money and energy to DIY. It will pay off in the longrun. I bought a place myself through a local trusted Realtor over in the USA and now I have had our  place in Phoenix for 10 months. I am getting rent and the place has appreciated in value and am really happy with it.

I have spoken with brokers and providers and I get the same answers: pay a premium for information (access to lists of properties etc).or get lost.  Once you pay up and get a place you will have a list of preferred providers (insurance, managers, etc) who will usually give kickbacks to your provider. Do not expect them to be so friendly once they get what they want – your $$$CASH$$$. When you have property and a tenant your provider will have no motivation to keep it simple- they will overservice you and keep turning over tenants and tradespeople. Sorry to paint a bleak picture but I know people who are in legal proceedings which are consuming them. and making them bitter.

So, you will pay a slice of your hard earned cash all the way along the line. You will not get philanthopists in the property investment game- they all want a piece of the action. It is a minefield out there and very hard to know who to trust. Do not be decieved, if you go with a provider there will be people taking a cut all along the line. After you get a place, a lot of value will be taken from the property and $$$CASH$$$ will continue to be sucked from you. Americans and an increasingly number of Austraians are BIG on networking in order to make money all the way along the line. It is called 'network marketing'.

Do not be deceived, tread carefully and get plenty of eductaion. I have no vested interest in any provider – some are more ethical than others. I built a website to warn people and inform people about investing in the USA. I am looking for another place and want help to find it- it has not been available though a provider like the ones you mention. If this post gets through I will be surprised but at least I tried to save a few lambs from the wolves. Feel free to contact me to get more specifics.

Membership fee for information easily obtainable by networking on here and DYI via google… save that 5k towards another property purchase

I don't want to offend people on here, but the membership fee seems to be the "moron" filter for some of these companies.

I have no issue with paying a finders/acquisition fee, but an information fee is a bit steep.

Zmagen, great question.

By far the most important issue for a foreign investor is the back end support once you have purchased.

Sign up to a few different websites, and get a feel for their service through their email drip feeds and their credibility. I have noticed cross overs with the same properties and huge price discrepancies. 

Tread carefully, but most of it would agree, it is an amazing opportunity, if you can get the management and back end support to work in your favour.

A company who values your relationship and repeat business will show their true colors post purchasing

I only know my own market, wouldn't dream of pertaining to be a USA expert.

"anal retentive to boot" lol, it's the only way to do business in my book. My clients label me a pest at first, but as things progress I think (hope!) they come to appreciate this method. Beats the "it's all good, mate!" approach any day of the week. )

I would say you do have to be careful of what you are buying in the states being overseas.  I am a property manager in the US and manage several overseas clients.  I have a list of things I would recommend before you purchase a property

1.  Hire an independent inspector one that works for you and only you.  They have no affiliations with the company you are buying the property from. 

2.  Actually find out what the ROI is at purchase is the property rented?  Is it section 8 or market tenant.  Is there an deposit.

3.  Look at the management agreement and pick out all un necessary cost and cut them.  All fee are negotiable.  The management company may not want to bend on a few things but overall you might be able to find out what is fluff or not

4.  This is most important READ your inspection Report like 10 times to make sure what you are buying is sound. 

5.  Ask as many questions as needed to assure you are doing the right thing by your money as remember its your money no ones else. 

6.  Remember this is an investment and there is Risk involved. 

7.  Get a good insurance company one that will stand by you at time of need and not one that will drop you the second a shingle is missing off the house. 

I find that sooo many investors have not done their home work gone off what other brokers have told them and just went with it.  When I sell a investment to a buyer they are getting a fully sustainable product that will last for at least 10 years without any major damages.  New Roof, ( 30 to 40 year timberline) New Electrical, New sewer lines, New bathrooms and Kitchens, and most important full Heating and cooling systems most tenants don't want window units for AC in their house.  So there is no way you would have issues other than tenant damage. 

All I will say is make sure you can easily see the full address up front and then Google it for past sales data and see the margins as you would with any US property.

Also another great resource is:

http://www.trulia.com

http://www.Zillow.com

http://www.city-data.com

Also look at the companies through Google and see / investigate and negative feedback and again this should be standard homework before paying any monies for US property.

I hope this helps

I find that to be a very generalizing and unfair statement, Mark. It's like saying "don't use a realtor because they charge". There are excellent turnkey operators out there (quite a few reputable ones on these forums too) who save international investors weeks, months or even years of time, resources and trial and error disasters, and some of them resell at very reasonable prices, based on their experience, teams and local know how, which helps them do the rehab at far less than it would cost the average joe (particularly the out of town average joe).

if you perform thorough DD and pick the right turnkey operator, you can get a great investment, even if its not "a bargain" (and I, for one, am very wary of "great bargains" even in my own market, let alone three continents away), often already tenanted and fully managed, with a fraction of the hassle and headaches associated with the DIY route. Well and truly worth compromising on 2-5% net returns or whatever it boils down to in every specific case for the foreign investor, who just wants to park their money abroad without having to worry too much about deal mining, management, rehabs, finding tenants, etc etc.

Choosing to go with a turnkey operator is a matter of investor criteria and preferred management style, nothing as clear cut as a "do" or "don't", in my opinion.