":If you are going to buy in America you should only do so if you are wanting to build a separate income stream to what you have in Australia".

Hello Nigel, I totally agree with your above comment!!!

Just out of curiousity, did you need to be a qualified Real Estate Broker in San Antonio to run the business there? I am only asking because here in KS you have to be a licenced Broker, and I am looking in to getting my licence etc as the tax breaks as far as realtors/brokers owning investment property as opposed to the average investment LLC is like night and day!! Not to mention, the tax deductions I can pass on by being able to pay Property Manager expenses between entities etc.

Hi again
We have properties in Manhattan and Junction city right now, about 1 and a half hours West from KC, Missouri. Manhattan  is home to the Kansas State Uni, currently has about 23000 students (www.k-state.edu). Not a lot of factories/industrial type businesses, but being a hour or closer to Topeka (more industrial), less than 2 to KC,and less than 6 hours to Denver,CO made it a good place for us to start buying IP. (Zip code is 66502) sometimes using the zip code to search by is quicker I found, as here in the US..you can have the same town/city name in several different states! They are scheduled to begin construction on a BioChemical Research Centre in Manhattan this year, completed within 6-9 months at a cost of a few billion.The planners are estimating that at least 15000 jobs minimum will be created, with some estimating up to 25000, just in support staff to the researchers.
Junction City(zip code 66441) is mainly a Army town.Fort Riley is home to the largest number of Cavalry soldiers in the US, as well as being the place of the first Kansas State Capital. It has changed and continues to do so, from a rather old, run down town, to having more and more houses either totally renovated or torn down and nice new apartment building put up.We were fortunate enough to get some good deals on vacant blocks of land, big enough to build duplexes (3br/2ba) on for between $3 to $4K about  a year ago now.There are still blocks going for around $15K but these are becoming few and far between. Still, the houses being older & smaller are keeping prices from rising too quickly, at the moment! One of our main cost savings is being able to manage our properties ourselves coupled with the good fortune to own a siding/roofing company as well as a drywall company. So our remodel/repair and new construction goes really easily as we have good contacts with the other trades people out here we need ) 
Just my opinion about KC<Missouri, property is cheap there..BUT crime,unemployment and welfare is not a good recipe for success.There are some really nice suburbs out from there,with higher priced houses,so maybe that might be a better option.I have just concentrated on the above areas as they are within 10-35 miles from our home.
I  apologise if this post is way too long etc,but if anyone is interested to look at what is for sale I can send you links to the realtor we use, and several others who are reputable.We charge rent from $700 up to $950 per month,on houses that were bought at $25K and $35K, and the apartment blocks were around $90K a year or so ago for 6 X 2/ 3 bdr flats that were and still are 100% tenanted.

Hello
I must commend Josh on being totally spot on with his advice!  The old adage "you get what you pay for" still is very true even with foreclosure prices across the US. Personally, I cannot see how anyone can GUARANTEE a return of over 10%.We live here and work here, so have the ability to be our own managers as such, and still would not rely 100% on making a return of over 10% as being the gospel truth.A month or more of no tenants will reduce any income, and as Josh pointed out with "patience" yes you can make good profits, but this also comes after you have done your homework and really understand how losses may affect your investment. We have gone in to our real estate investing venture with the goal of building our equity as quickly as possible in a financed property, or for ones we have bought outright with the goal of being able to invest up to 5% of the purchase price in improvements, in order to be able to raise our rental income  and to offset being overly taxed on income, IE: trying to keep the balance between ingoing and outgoing monies to achieve the lowest possible figure that the IRS will tax us on. This is based on a 5 year plan, and at the end of that 5 years, we expect to have 100% ownership of all our properties, with none needing any major repairs etc in order to be either sold or "owner financed" to potential new home owners. This is just our personal plan and how we are going about succeeding with it.  It takes planning and really deciding on how and what you want to achieve, then coming here and talking to folks as Josh has said he did etc. I hope this helps in any way , and is not intended to offend anyone, but we are here now and this is our experience.
Unlike Josh, I do have a problem with some companies charging my fellow countrymen ridiculous fees to just "join" their particular site, then make statements that you can make a guaranteed return of 40% or more? Unless you are buying a property that is already tenanted you cannot honestly say you will have it rented within 2 weeks. Its great if you do obviously but what happens if its not rented after a month?Who loses out? I ask any companies operating in the US right now that can show me their written policy that , if not rented within their advertised "your property will easily be rented in about 2-3 weeks after purchase" claims, the company would compensate the investor for their loss of income, for each week that the property remains vacant. Finally, a tenant can and will move out if they choose to regardless of what they have signed. Then you, the investor,are back to square one. I totally understand investing is a risk in any country and any market you choose. Just in my opinion it would be nice to see a page laying out all the major pros and cons for potential investors prior to them paying anything.
We base all of our purchases on 2 things right now, being close to any type of Military base and close to any of the state colleges.Plain and simple, these are 2 tenant pools that we felt were more consistent in needing rentals for at least 12 months.So far, it is paying off for us in both income and increasing our property sales values.
Thanks for reading this far,
Sincerely
J.
PS: There really is no need to limit your investing to foreclosures only.From experience in the last 6 months we have bought a few nice homes/small apartment blocks for great prices comparable to foreclosure prices, with the added advantage of the properties already tenanted, and the people were happy to stay even with a change of ownership. We did hear it a few times said that they were happier that we would be the ones to be the managers as some PMs could never be contacted etc., and this in turn made for a unpleasant relationship between tenant and owner, leading to folks moving out and properties remaining vacant.KS laws require PM companies/individuals to be licenced brokers, once again these rules differ from state to state.Suggestion would be to check out the BBB before contracting with anyone who has anything to do with YOUR investment. LLC companies can also be checked for free online through the Secretary of State Office in the state you have investments in. You will be able to read info about the LLC and who it is owned by etc and if they are current and compliant.  I dont mean to sound as if I know it all by any means, but this is what we did and it has worked for us. We started with a $20K cash purchase of a foreclosure, then had bank financing with 40% down, and in 1 year have 65% equity in the financed properties. Current county tax assessed values are a total of USD $1M, for 2 apartment blocks(6 x 2/3 bdr apts in each), 2 rental houses, and 3 duplexes we built on land we purchased for $4K for each block. It can be done, so good luck to all )

Hello
Lived in Atlanta for 10 years before coming out to the Midwest.  I beg to differ on the statement  "Taxes on foreclosed properties are based on the county assessed value which occurs generally every two years."  Taxes are done by the county officials every year for every property, they are open to public enquiry via the internet at no charge. 
Atlanta has been terribly over built, and overpriced, hence the massive losses that have been taken by homeowners in the last 5 years. Yes, there are awesome deals to be had there thats for sure, quality built homes in nice neighborhoods, BUT..if the state is classed as having one of the highest unemployment rates in the US, then you have to expect losses as an investor due to no one renting from you.
You guys are doing a good job, dont get me wrong and I truly believe you have your clients interests as the  #1 priority for your business, so I hope you dont take offence at my 2 cents worth ))

Hello
Throwing my hat in the ring here )
We have targeted our investing to finding properties that are close to the local State College(Universities) as well as any major military installation. Our tenancy occupation is constant, even during the 2-3 months of summer when College is out as many of the folks maintain their jobs. also check on the areas unemployment rates to get an idea as to whether the property you consider will be affordable to the people living there. We looked at many cheap properties but decided that having an income producing investment far outweighed an empty one! Another bonus of renting properties to anyone in the military is that the income is paid directly to our company from their payroll,there is a constant need for short term rental (3-6 months) in many areas and most times the rates for rental will be higher to compensate for the short term lease.,and the personnel do take care of the home/apartment. 
There are many local newspapers from each county/major city in the US that are online to read. It will give you a good idea of what future plans are for potential growth there etc. Most counties also are online and you can access the monthly building permit applications/approvals. This is also another good indicator as to how much growth the particular area is going to have in the near future. If, anyone is interested in further reading I would be happy to help look up the area/county papers and send the link on. I know how hard it was when we first started our investing and we lived here!
Thanks for reading this far, and i hope it might help in some way,
Cheers
Jean

Hello
Most of this rock was distributed throughout the southern states of the US. Having been in the drywall trade for over 30 years, I can assure you it was used in Atlanta and Florida. I am NOT trying to put folks off from investing there etc, but it is definitely something that needs to be looked for and asked about when considering purchasing a property. There have been attempts to get the builders who used this rock in their homes to be responsible for its removal, no luck there! This rock was also used in remodels, so another thing to watch for when researching a property. As said previously its really nasty stuff that affects a lot of a homes components and the replacement and repair costs can be high.

Just my two cents worth, thought it might help a little.

Cheers
Jean