Hi Dobby,
Here are the details of the event at your request.

Melbourne
Wednesday, 13th June, 2007
7:00pm start  
Travelodge Southbank
9 Riverside Quay, Southbank
Bookings essential – limited seating

Coffee and tea is provided before and after the event. Self serve coffee and tea in foyer.

Noosa, QLD
Sat 16th June, 2007
2pm start
Ivory Palms Resort
73 Hilton Terrace,
Noosaville
Bookings essential – limited seating

Tea and coffee provided

Sydney
Tuesday 19th June, 2007
7PM start
YWCA NSW
5-11 Wentworth Ave, Sydney
Bookings essential – limited seating

Tea and coffee will be provided.

Hi Guys,

In regards to posative cashflow in the U.S, its all in the buy to begin with. We can all do our due diligence on growth projections etc. I mean Texas is predicted to produce the highest growth over the next few years and the Rio Grande region is expected to grow by over 40%.

Anyway the point I am trying to make is this. To get the best posative cashflow requires hard work and doing things outside the square. To mitigate your risk, buying under market at least gives you an exit strategy and reduces your risk a little. Buying in growth markets is essential but buying correctly is just as important. I mean just because a market is predicting solid growth, its not enough in my opinion when we are talking about offshore investing. The risks are to high. I mean for me, I am not interested in investing in the U.S or anywhere else for that matter for 10% returns. The risk is to high.
Sp my things is this, buy in growth areas but also buy under value from the beginning. The reality is this, the really good deals can be a little messy at times and some headaches are inevitable. However like everything, if you are prepared to take on problems and turn them into solutions then thats where you are going to make your money.

Let me give you a real life scenario that we just completed with a lady in Adelaide.

A lady just secured 10 acres of land from us only 10-15 minutes from Toyata in San Antonio. She has $175K equity in this land.
Why, because we solved someones problem with a solution. The seller was in financial trouble and had back taxes to pay on the land or else she was going to loose it. So we offered her a solution which would get her out of trouble and also leave some money in her pocket to start over. And we picked up prime land with great equity. To top it off, our investor only had to put down a $50k deposit and the seller is owner financing it interest free for 18 months.

So already our investor is ahead regardless of the growth Texas is expected to produce. 
Guys who ever services you use to purchase your real estate in the U.S just make sure there is some equity in the deal just to give you some leway incase you need to sell quickly.

Nobody can predict the future, especially in this real estate game, all we can try and do is buy in a way so that if things dont work out as expected, which can happen and has happened, you can have a way out. Hopefully without losing any money.

JJ&JO

The best way to get out is to probably sell it through a good agent. I am doing so with mine at the moment also.
Did you pay retail for your properties? Depending on there condition and how long ago you purchased them will all depend on what you can get for them.

Also you have a better chance of finding an owner occupier at retail prices if its a single family as apposed to a duplex.
My first property purchase in bufallo was a retail purchase. It was a single family home which i paid $39k for and it is on the market for $45k so as you can see there is not much in the game.

We have had to do some repair work on this home as well so once all is said and done, we will definately be making a loss on this home.

I think anyone buying retail in this market need to be 100% sure the home is in sound condition.
As i have said many times before, to make this market work for you, its essential to buy properties under market value.
Buy homes that need some rehab work and then rent them out. Thats what the locals do. Local investors do not buy retail in these markets.

You need to create it so that your ROI is at least 30% gross and above. Taxes are high, tenants are vulnerable and maintenance can also be high.

I am still making money here but i am doing it with a local and i have an excellent property manager that i found myself "

For Aussies though without the contacts, i recommend to stay away from this market or if you are going to enter it, make sure you dont pay retail "because you dont need to" do your numbers on a minimum 30% roi also otherwise you will probably end up losing in the long term.

Now that i understand this market in great detail, I would advise people to spend time on the ground there and developing there own relationships. Its definately not a market in my opinion for the light harted and its a very difficult market and lots of things to contend with for the returns you get.

I will continue to do a couple of flips pet year over there with my friend who lives there, but thats about it. If it wasnt for that relationship I would stay away for sure.

Long term you would do better buying in Australia than over there if we are talking paying retail.

Guys,

Nigel is correct, you do need to have an understanding of the market or be working with people that do.

Right now Texas is one of the best markets to be in for both capital growth and if you buy wholesale then you can expect reasonable cash flow as well. You do need to buy correctly though.” Its all in the buy guys”. That’s where the money is made.

At the end of the day regardless of where you invest, your investment is only going to be as good as the people you have surrounding you.

You need to be so careful because there are also risks. I encourage everyone to do as much due diligence as possible.

One thing that can be done to protect yourself is ” have clauses in the contract” so that if something doesn’t come back quite right, then you are protected.
There will be circumstances where a deal is presented but after investigation, the numbers aren’t quite what you were told. That’s why you do due diligence.
That doesn’t just go for the U.S. That goes for anywhere.

We just completed a deal in Stamford Texas with a lady in Sydney that just recently closed. We sent it out for a sale price of $525k. We had not seen the property nor did we work with the wholesaler before who sent us the deal. So once we found the investor who wanted this deal “based on the numbers we sent out”, Brian drove to Stamford and spent a day there inspecting the properties and paperwork etc such as the rent rolls and other important information.

To cut a long story short, there was minor cosmetic work that needed to be done. We estimated on average around $2k per property. Also the rent rolls were slightly out of date. Anyway she ended up still buying the 25 houses as they were a great deal. She ended up buying them for $465K though.

The point I am trying to make is that there is no cut and dry when it comes to real estate. The returns are good but it does come with being diligent and being active with your investments.

This lady is flying over to the U.S next month to view her properties etc. So don’t think for one minute its all rosy. All the normal risks and variables are there as they will be no matter where you invest. Investing remotely does have its challenges as well and it becomes so much more important to have good relationships set up.

I am fortunate because I am in a position to find great wholesale deals for Australians in the U.S.A. This is credit to Brian as he has worked very hard over the last 2.5years building a network in Texas with people in the industry. He gets these deals now because people have come to know that he can move properties and get them sold to his investors.

Even though we are getting good deals, people still need to also find themselves a good property manager if you are going to hold onto the properties. We have someone who does this for us however at the end of the day, its your investment and totally up to you who you use. Plenty of Australians now have real estate in the U.S and the great thing about this forum is that everyone has been willing to share there information and experiences. Different people use different accountants and property managers that they have found so the great thing is that there are plenty of resources.

The Texas market is definitely appreciating, so if you are going to want properties that are going to cash flow for you, the its going to come down to “the buy”. That’s the reality. Rents are starting to tighten therefore each property has to and should be looked at individually. There is still demand for rentals, its just that the prices are starting to drop. Buying under value or rehabbing and then re-financing are going to continue to create the good returns for you.

The other thing you need be aware of is to get the good deals, things need to be done outside the square box. I have had plenty of people call or e-mail saying some of the numbers they have seen are to good to be true. The reality is a lot of work goes on behind the scenes before a deal even goes out to investors. Plenty of negotiating and headaches have already taken place. Its really hard work getting good deals. It just doesn’t happen. That’s the reality of this business. And there are times when deals also fall through during the negotiations . That’s the nature of the beast if you want to be getting true wholesale real estate.

To give you just one example, we pick up TAX Sales. This is the sale of property by the government for non payment of taxes. The last 3 properties we have done for investors have been purchased through tax sales. Now to my knowledge the only way we can buy these properties is to physically go into the department, pay the back taxes owed on the property and do the paperwork there. I guess this is where things can get a little tricky with investors who have not worked with us before or don’t understand the U.S system and processes. Basically just for your knowledge, there are no sales contracts with this type of transaction as you are doing it with the government body. What happens is that when you buy the property, the title gets registered with there version of the Title Company and it can take up to 6 weeks for this to happen. That’s not 6 weeks before the property is yours, just 6 weeks before you will receive your “Warranty Deed” which is our equivalent of Title. Basically your proof of ownership.

All the details of properties are also registered on there government web site and once your Title is processed, you can view it on line. So its similar to Australia in that regard. When you buy a property here, it can take up to three months for it to be registered at the Title Office.

There are other means of finding good deals but the best way is to get your name out there with wholesalers who end up doing all the leg work for you. I am going to start putting together different educational information over the coming months (and when time permits) just on some of the things to be aware of when investing in the U.S. Other than that you can never supplement doing your own research as “Knowledge is the key” to success and also reduces risk.

At the end of the day, I look at investing offshore as another vehicle towards my goals and a form of diversification. Its definitely something that more and more Australians are starting to do and it is definitely worth while in my opinion providing things are done correctly.

Educate yourselves, understand the risks, jump on a plane and go and check it out! This way you can make informative decisions. Look at it as a way of diversifying your portfolio. I still think investing in your own back yard makes allot of sense as well.

Good luck with your research.

Providing Turnkey Real Estate Investments In The USA.
We also provide Owner Finance in a new emerging market.

E-mail:[email protected]
web: http://www.gr8realestateinvestments.com

ON SKYPE AT: chaddylansimons

Hey Arvid,

World changer offered some good advice.
May I also add there are risks involved and you can get burnt if you are not careful.

Also are you a property investor already in Australia. For what it is worth I don’t think new investors should consider investing abroad.

I think you need to have had some hands on experience in your own back yard first.

I say this because investing isn’t as easy as what people make it out to be and I think people investing in the u.s who are already investors go into it with a more realistic approach and understand the risks better.

We also talk about the “numbers” a lot in the investing world. You know how it goes “its all about the numbers”. This is true however when we are dealing in the U.S market, it’s really important to ensure that the numbers are realistic. The only way you will know if you are getting a good deal is to either educate yourself or develop a relationship with people there that you can trust.

To give you an example, one of my Aussie investors saw a house for sale on realtor.com and he thought it was a good deal. It needed rehab work and which ever agent he was dealing with said it would cost X amount of dollars to rehab the home. I say X because I cant remember the full story. Anyway so this investor then rings my business partner Brian in San Antonio and asks him if he can go into it with him and if he can use his rehab crew to renovate the house.
So then Brian checks it out for him and the true cost of the rehab was going to be a lot more than what the agent predicted.
Therefore the numbers he thought were good really wasn’t.

Something else to consider is to ask yourself:

What is it that you actually want to achieve? Is it cash flow, is it generating quick profits etc etc. This will direct you to a specific type of strategy if you do decide to invest.

Don’t by anything without comps and relevant paperwork on the property. Make sure there are no tax liens on the property also otherwise you will find yourself in a very unpleasant position. Properties which are advertised as rented out get the rent rolls as well.

There are great returns to be made providing you do it correctly.
However it does take effort and for anyone who thinks it’s a buy and forget experience, think again. This is not for you if you are not prepared to take control of your investments.

If you are however, you will reap the rewards.
One other thing as well, the really good deals will be gone before a real estate agent gets there hands on it.

Very rarely will you get genuine wholesale deals through an agent. I am not suggesting that you can’t; I am just saying that % wise there wouldn’t be many.

By the time you buy from an agent you would probably be looking at retail prices and this is definitely not necessary in the U.S.

Regards

Chad

Providing Turnkey Real Estate Investments In The USA.
We also provide Owner Finance in a new emerging market.

E-mail:[email protected]
web: http://www.gr8realestateinvestments.com

ON SKYPE AT: chaddylansimons

Hey Luke,

Happy New Year to you mate.I hope 2007 brings you huge success and happiness.

In reference to brokers and getting loans approved, it’s hard to find a good broker who is willing to put in the effort on foreign national lending.

Ben is certainly one of them. I have not yet done a loan through him myself but do intend to give him a go with my two properties in the Valley.

I have used another guy based in San Antonio who is also very good and is actively researching foreign national loans.

The first loan seems to be the hardest to come through.

It is a patient game and those going through the process need to be patient as it can take. It seems to take between 4-7 weeks from the time of applying to everything going through.

Not much we can do about the red tape, but finding good brokers to deal with certainly helps.

Regards

Chad

Providing Turnkey Real Estate Investments In The USA.
We also provide Owner Finance in a new emerging market.

E-mail:[email protected]
web: http://www.gr8realestateinvestments.com

ON SKYPE AT: chaddylansimons

Oli,

The U.S certainly does provide the opportunity for good yields and capital growth however you do need to do your homework.

Texas is one of the hottest markets in the U.S at the moment so that is a possible starting point for you.

Regards

Chad

Providing Turnkey Real Estate Investments In The USA.
We also provide Owner Finance in a new emerging market.

E-mail:[email protected]
web: http://www.gr8realestateinvestments.com

ON SKYPE AT: chaddylansimons

Hi ALL,

This was an e-mail from my Business Partner Brian who is based in San Antonio Texas and has been running an investment company from there for over 2yrs now.

He will be in AUSTRALIA late februaryearly March and we will be visiting Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Anyway we were having a conversation about the East Side of San Antonio and he wanted me to post his below e-mail.
The reason for this is thats its so important who you deal with and what information you receive. Dealing with knowledgable and experienced people is so important.

Basically both Brian and I want to highlight that not all of the East side is bad. “Only the slum areas and specifically Downtown are bad”.

Here is Brians response below and again we just want everyone to obtain the correct information. Nigel is correct that there are slum areas to stay away from, just dont confuse that with the whole of the east side of san antonio.

RESPONSE FROM BRIAN:

San Antonio is a great market to be in. There are great investments all over the city. To me it is completely insane to label a part of town as bad and not worth investing in. The east side is a great place to do buisness and to label this side of town as horrible is just insane!!! The north east side of town is where I live. The Stone Oak subdivision is in the north east part of town and is currently one of the most sought after places to live in the city. The South East is being changed by Toyota and the new Texas A and M college planned there. I love the east side for investments. Here is a recent deal we have done there.

Purchase price 96K

Retail Value 125K

rents at 1,100 (guarantee) to 1,300/mo

These types of returns are great!!!!!

I do agree however that you folks are correct about the “downtown area” as it is a horrible area and where the worst of the worst live. That is why I’m shocked that all of the aussies that I’ve met who are working with other investment firms are buying these horrible investments. The rehab that we worked on was from another investment firm that to be honest really duped this investor.

Which leads me to my last point make sure you pick a strong team you could be in the best market in the world if your working with idiots then your going to get alot of pain and headaches coming your way. I wish you all the best with your investments. I hope to see all of you soon. I have been offered to work with alot of aussie firms that work with you folks but I chose Chad because he has 100% integrity. I have always said that if I get an investor into a bad deal I would buy it back from them. I make sure that my joint venture partners that work with investors directly subscribe to this notion and I know that Chad would do this in a heartbeat. I’m proud to be associated with him. His integrity is what sets him apart from the rest!!!

Wishing you all the best and a safe Christmas.

Brian Payton

Providing Turnkey Real Estate Investments In The USA.
We also provide Owner Finance in a new emerging market.

E-mail:[email protected]
web: http://www.gr8realestateinvestments.com

ON SKYPE AT: chaddylansimons