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My advice to you, and everyone, considering getting an LLC is to focus on value not cost. Strive to understand why the "same LLC" can cost more or less depending on the protection it affords – or work with someone who can explain this to you in a way you understand and feel comfortable with. Saving a few hundred, or a few thousand, on the front end can cost you hundreds of thousands on the back end.
Why not call a few companies and ask the same tough questions? Everyone will be happy to talk to you
Bitcoin has some stiff competition – Dogecoin
It's happening all over already
http://www.newsday.com/business/man-willing-to-sell-southampton-home-for-bitcoins-1.6630568
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/12/14/vegas-developer-selling-785m-mansion-for-bitcoin/
http://singularityhub.com/2013/04/10/man-puts-house-in-the-canadian-rockies-up-for-sale-in-bitcoins/
Loads more stories on this if people care to google around…
Bitcoin could be the next major world currency, or it could be a failed experiment, or something in between. Lots of spirited debate on that point
Here's a Bitcoin fund that took in 65Million in funding in 2 months – http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/11/us-etf-bitcoin-secondmarket-idUSBRE9BA15520131211
For people who have no idea what the hell Bitcoin is, here's a good infographic to get you started – http://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/the-definitive-history-of-bitcoin-infographic.jpg
I actually attempted to mine bitcoins about 2 years ago and was pretty unsuccessful. Had I known what I know now I would have tried much harder…
I was googling info on USA property investment loans for foreign nationals and noticed this thread was pretty out of date!
I wanted to revive it and provide some updated advice for people who stumbled here but are really looking for current info. So…As you can read; two years ago there were challenges for foreigners obtaining finance in the USA, these days (Dec 2013) it's pretty easy to be honest.
While there are still plenty of options for financing through private lenders, hard money lenders, vendor financing, etc (typically referred to as "non-bank" loans). It's quite easy to get financing in all 50 states through regular old banks at terms not far off what is offered to US locals. Expect to put down a sightly high 25%-50% downpayment, but otherwise the rates will be decent a 4-5% or so and the term length 10-30 years.
Rates on the 30 year fixed rate mortgage dropped since the GFC to a low of around 3.3% in the middle of the year (2013) but have been rising over the last 6 months or so. You can see a nice graph of this here http://www.barchart.com/economy/mortgageallrates.php No guarantees what will happen in the future, but lots of smart investors are betting on higher rates going forward.
Jay – that's for sure.
For anyone who wants to really get into this here is a good link – http://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/financial-services/assets/pwc-kyc-anti-money-laundering-guide-2013.pdf
The real fun will be when you read the version they bring out in 6 months time that includes updated/reinterpreted/changed guidelines
Decent financing is still out there. We recently secured an LLC genuine US bank financing for a 10 year term at near enough 5% with 30% down payment. Another client just bagged 15 years at 5% with 40% down payment. The catch for this particular program is that the loan amount has to be over 100K.
There are a few programs available to foreign investors with more popping up everyday. If you want to find one I'd suggest making a list of banks in the city state you want to purchase in and ring around. Try to get directly on the phone with mortgage specialists – the front office staff will have no idea how to help you and will probably just say "no". Be wary of time wasters though. There are a lot of mortgage brokers who tend to promise the world but then fail to deliver. A potential client just had someone from Wells Fargo promise a foreign investor loan and they are pursuing it aggressively. I fear it'll be a big waste of time for them, but will report back it they have any luck. Could be an easy avenue for many would-be investors
Yeh, there really isn't a better solution I am aware of
There are a couple of alternative solutions:– Have a USD denominated account in Aus and have your agent in the US transfer any funds back every quarter or so. It's an ok solution, but not great. Gets inconvenient when you need to need to pay a bill in the USA that exceeds the money your agent may have available. A lot of other drawbacks I'm sure you could imagine.
-There are lawyers who will open accounts for you with themselves listed as a co-signer. I'm not a fan of giving ANYONE access to my funds like that. But lots of people do it without ever having a problem. You can also use a friend/family member as co-signer.
At the end of the day the best way is really just to fly over there and open some accounts in person. Bring your documents, meet the banks criteria, done and dusted.
Good luck to all
There are a couple of alternative solutions:
