Forum Replies Created
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the contact details – I am not sure whether many others have been in touch with Renee, but I am an Australian based investor looking for US finance to increase my portfolio of single family homes, so reached out to Renee over the weekend.
Her response was that the FFIB only lend to foreign nationals if the purchase is for a second home, not for investment purposes, and they will not lend to LLC’s.
Just thought I’d share this reply, just in case others were in similar positions to me and looking to FFIB for finance.
If there are other investors who know of finance alternatives available, please drop me a note.
Cheers.
Hi Peter
It seems that most of the negative stories that come out of US Property Investment are from those who have purchased via buying groups, who are in this to make themselves a dollar first and foremost.I’ve been fortunate enough to be purchasing property on my own, sourcing my own Property Management and its been a runaway success. I have spoken to people who have bought via buying companies and paid 30% more than the very top end of what the market dictates.
Good Luck assisting those who need your help – the key is to have the right people on the ground in the US.
For what it is worth, I have invested, and am still investing in residential property in Atlanta, with continued success.
My main response to the opening post is that you cannot buy on price per square foot alone. You need to drive the streets – Atlanta's housing can vary remarkably within 400 meters and the house that you see for $45,000 can look the same as the house you see for $24,000 only three streets away.
In Australia you'd buy the cheaper house – but in Atlanta you're likely to be replacing copper piping, HVAC, and all appliances unless you have it tenanted immediately.
Atlanta is a cash flow / currency play though – don't expect massive capital growth from your investment here.
Interesting thread.
I have a few properties in Atlanta which I have taken out policies through a major insurance company, and have bought another property this week, only to be told that the minimum deductible (excess) is now going to be $5,000 (previously $1,000), which to me is a way of them saying they don’t want any more of my rental property business.
NYC88 – would you be able to PM the name of your insurance broker in GA ?
Thanks.
Hi guys
Although I have a Section 8 tenant in one of my properties, my Property Manager has tried to steer me away from future Section 8 tenants, mainly because of the administration involved in setting it up with the government.
From a landlords point of view, I’m with Jay – if you have a solid tenant in and take care of the property,they will look after your rental knowing they are on a good thing.
The better your Property Manager is at weeding out the bad ones, the less headaches you’ll have.
CL
Alex – would be interested in catching up next time I am in Atlanta (Oct / Nov). I think I have you on Skype – so will be in contact.
Another thing which I have been doing while back here in Melbourne is paying $400 for a Home Inspection on any purchase I make. Last week I bought a house in Atlanta for $46K, and paid $400 for an inspection which showed up over $12K in urgent repairs. A nice little ‘insurance policy’.
Took the option to withdraw my offer, and the seller offered me $200 for the report for his information. Not a bad result
Hey guys – great topic.
Further to your post Emma, I was recently in Atlanta on a property buying trip and thought I’d pop into Home Depot just to price white goods, kitchen cabinets etc and got chatting to a tradesman while in store.
Long story short, he has been great in finding me some local guys who I have used to help out get my houses into tenantable condition, and I will continue to use them as an alternative to my Property Managers own people when back in Australia.
Haven’t seen Lowe’s, but might be worth a look.
I walked into a Wells Fargo branch in Atlanta as was able to establish a personal account, as well as an account in the name of my Georgia based LLC which I transferred USD into from Australia.
To wire money to my Attorney for deposit, and settlement funds I needed to set up an Authority with Wells Fargo which allows me to initiate wire transfers via email (and they contact me for a PIN number, which they have issued).
It helps to have a relationship with someone in the branch who can answer questions via email, rather than staying up late and calling a Help Desk number.
Alex SC wrote:CL1706 wrote:Like a couple of people here, I am heading to the USA in late March with a view to spending two weeks in a city, and purchasing two or three properties as a starting point. Are there people here who had genuinely done this and made it work, and are willing to talk about it? Please direct message me if you have experiences (positive or negative), or are heading to the USA and would like to form a bit of a 'discussion group' prior to your trip. Please don't contact me if you're trying to spruik your business.God to love the last line of his post.Sorry had to take a rip at you. Their would be some Legit teams that can actually send you clients that are currently buying from them who are from Australia. No offense but that is not spruiking if it comes from an Australian client that is happy with the team they are dealing. Sorry not sure what you call it in Australia but we call it solid referrals here.
Coolest thing about owning a investment company is that we can pick and choose who we want to do business with as well.It usually takes one email or call to make that choice.
Food for thought, the ship runs both ways my friend ..
Alex
Alex,
You’ve taken my post the wrong way, or maybe you are just trying to protect the business you do there.
I’m looking to do this on my own, and was posting, in the hope of hearing from others who feel they can do this without the assistance of teams based in the US. I’m sure you do a great job, for the people who you assist.
Not sure exactly what you mean about the ‘ship running both ways’ in reference to my post.
Its just like having a ‘No Junk Mail’ sign on your letter box. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to consume – it just means I would like to do it without turning my Inbox into a sales conference.
Like a couple of people here, I am heading to the USA in late March with a view to spending two weeks in a city, and purchasing two or three properties as a starting point.
Are there people here who had genuinely done this and made it work, and are willing to talk about it?
Please direct message me if you have experiences (positive or negative), or are heading to the USA and would like to form a bit of a ‘discussion group’ prior to your trip.
Please don’t contact me if you’re trying to spruik your business.
