Property management = if you live in the US, as a brother you will be committing to going at least once a year to do a full property inspection. Manage the manager if you have one and get before & after photos of all repairs. I haven’t changed my mantra on this in 20 years…when your house comes up for rent…call it US vacation time but get 6 monthly inspections. Demand it. I am just leaving one of my ATL properties today that was vacant so scooted around them all, completely reno’d and updated this one..loved it and by Tuesday I will be back home in the Bahamas …well “home” when I want it to be :)

Keep your $$ as mentioned in the country you are investing in, play currency when advantageous (love going Oz now) and build a nest egg….US is just cheaper entry point and faster to play in as no stamp duty.
You are US so will save your sister the pitfalls and a lot of those pitfalls are just cultural differences of bring in the US you just have to assume it won’t get done unless you are physically present to ensure it does. Have fun. I am Oz but US/Bahamas based, my brother is Oz..both haha 20++ years US investing..

• This reply was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by  emma171. Reason: Typos

Sorry – Jay – just got – went to spam. In Bahamas this week working on my rehab down here.. not back Vegas until mid October!

Yes – very aware that ATL taxes are deemed vaguely “norm” but I don’t subscribe to that. Why I like cities where alcohol, gambling and tobacco taxes support the essential services paid for by property taxes in other places.

No, I wouldn’t buy in Toledo for all the tea in China either mind you. I like the odds stacked far higher in my favor.

Ziz – widget for widget Vegas property taxes are 1/3 the level of taxes I pay on the same square footage house in Vegas. Literally. In terms of repairs – if I spent over $500 a year on one of my properties in Vegas on repair/maintenance I would topple over backwards and it would be an a/c most likely broken. In ATL blasted gutter cleaning and repair alone can crank the $$…again – if you have your chance, buy anywhere that it doesn’t snow, rain,has grass, has trees… oh, yes a bunker in the desert works well :)

• This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by  emma171.

Go commercial…heck yes… Love it!!   Bejesus .. SFR fights over crap rproperties in investor owned enclaves?? That equals a downward spiral in rents the second there is any vacancy. If you aren't buying through someone with a holding interest like Jay then or buying through a licensed US buyers agent, you are motivated through someone ONLY by greed. only. No matter what spiel they do…

College Park, Douglasville…..NOOOOO..unless you really get someone in it  with you I would seriously research…or call anyone who has been there and ask the "would you invest in Douglasville"?  Oh  and 10 miles to buy even ice cream leaps to mind in general when I hear Douglasville but if you know seriously someone is in it with you??? Hmmmm, I would have to be convinced.. I am so not going there given ?any alternative short of a 20k purchase…..Even Lithonia I MUST see something SUPER special near shops, schools or transport…special….. Do you want photos of Lithonia for rent signs…BUY WISELY.. Would YOU rent there???   Since day 1 I have said since this is so flipping basic…. Is it walking distance to schools shops and transport…google drive the streets.. Do the houses look alike? 

Jay will buy what he thinks will rent because he holds.nYou can sue a US buyers agent or rlicensed real estate agent like me if we misrepresent but these others???? ROFL…. ZERO RECOURSE and the more taste of money they get without any follow through, the more greedy they will become…. If you paid 4k for nothing last year, they will charge 5k for nothing this year…. 

Please ask if they are a US resident … Then if yes, which NONE are to my knowledge… Are you licensed??.

get over 6 months ago… So you missed SFR … ATL was somewhere that we all went to after everywhere else was bought out….. For the briefest period of time….Next phase… Today's prices are just no validity to SFR, I am very happy flipping for some of my investors but only because I don't charge commission it is viable at this point for those who want to move their funds back toa desert holding environment.

While I personally think the SFR phase is a case of "NEXT" (…..Jay's model would be HIGHLY tempting at this point…) and getting excited at that, these are my thoughts….

IF YOU MUST INVEST IN ATL….. FIND A CERTIFIED FOREIGN INVESTOR SPECIALIST (LICENSED)…  (or again, use someone like Jay)…..REMEMBER – THE SELLER PAYS COMMISSION HERE………. so, NO 4.5k mark up…. find one with rehab connections or buy a property that doesn't need rehab and be specific.

They are someone who has this knowledge ( I get bombarded with the spam for the course – this was from just ONE operation):

QUOTE

Expand your business globally with this dynamic course. Working with the International Investor.  

Over 200 agents have completed this course in Georgia and it is being requested in multiple states for the near future!

• Playing The Small Market Game.
• Five Moves to increase your odds for Success
• Leverage your success globaly.
• How Foreign Investors Can Buy Real Estate in the USA.
• The EB-5 Visa Program
• What is FIRPTA (Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act).
• Understanding the Tax Ramifications of Real Estate Investment

UNQUOTE

Honestly, the day of using an unlicensed "facilitator" as a foreigner to purchase US property are over….most properties (ignoring short sales for now) are regular sales or flips. There are thousands of US licensed real estate experts in foreign national sales  – CALL YOUR local branch of the National Association of Realtors and ask for their list or just google.  As a licensee I am constantly being bombarded with offers for their "sold out courses"….

ATL… seriously????? Now????

Seriously, I am not actively looking at SFR ATL – it makes practically ZERO investing sense unless something LEAPS and as Jay said, it is a huge win to sneak one in but I bet you your spruiker won't be giving you that one – they would be holding if they have the $$………. ATL will be a second home for another 4 years for myself and overseeing our investment group but seriously????  This is a tough market, tough environment for properties and at 90k (on a property that last year was $40k-60k??) especially without having seen a rental increase?? ATL would be one of the the last places I would invest in (ha, it WAS the last SFR market I looked at…and needed to be 10-15k under any other market and at least $125/month higher rents to justify moving here….. investors are like locusts, when they picked dry their preferred market, everyone came to ATL…)…. first picks widget for widget?? Investor friendly states……. .pick ANY desert environment, any NON state income tax environment and ANY city that you aren't going to get raped on fuel surcharges for repairs etc…. if it changes, the locusts will come back.

The bulk of properties under 90k in ATL are shortsales or dire location etc and the exception proves the rule….Again, the day of having to use a facilitator based in Oz who is unlicensed, has never seen your property, doesn't directly do or oversee repairs and is motivated by greed and bulk sales is gone. Short Sales: If you have the earnest money to tie up in a short sale, 8 months to twiddle your thumbs and accept that you will end up paying 30-50% over list price… go for it…

The big boys are outbidding, outlasting and licensed… with billions of dollars and only needing a yield of 6% (see below)…. if you are paying a facilitator on TOP of all the usual fees – AND a property manager to rent the place, AND hyped contracting fees???

SOOOOO….

Call any agent in the area you are looking to invest in. 90% of the sales on the open market are no longer foreclosures they are short sales (add 40% to the list price and you MAY end up, 8 months down the line with one) or flips/regular sales – unless you are buying auction steps.

Using an above type buyers agent, you can find a flipped or regular house near schools, shops and transport, have an inspection/engineers report and ask the seller to fix any items that come up – just like any property purchase… ask for new appliances, a home warranty to be thrown in etc… if you are cash, you are king over a financed deal…..they WILL throw in the kitchen sink….

Then call any of the 1000 property managers in this state (YOU MUST BE A LICENSED AGENT TO DO PROPERTY MANAGEMENT)… sadly why the unlicensed "facilitators" on this forum can't do it inhouse and you get whacked with extra $$ on that – because they can't rent legally…most are very very overworked and underpaid so take control as WI mentioned on a post somewhere.

TRADES & REPAIRS… where 99% of people will get hyperinflated quotes..

Someone asked paint and a/c I think…..If you are in ATL you are happy to get a second quote on repairs from my guys… don't abuse it with a million free estimates but they deserve the business… tell them you know me (Emma with SelectUSAProperty LLC)……

William Virgil of Stellar Home Painting will paint a 2 storey house up to 2100 sq ft  for $1600 in 2 tone paint (including garage etc)…Ph. 770-910-4664 – he will take no more than 3.5 days to complete (I padded by an extra 1/2 day)

Gary Freeman of Freeman Heating and Air is a great solid guy – a/c cages are $275 Ph. 404-384-8125

Ironically it is often cheaper to go with Lowe's for carpet install and purchase as once you have multiple stairs you get a bit screwed…. so $97 whole house install – however going rate is inching up – about $2.25 – $3.00 a yard for install of tile/vinyl/carpet etc…. 

BUY YOUR MATERIALS ONLINE AT http://WWW.HOMEDEPOT.COM or http://WWW.LOWES.COM – that way if you need a new toilet, it can be waiting at pickup and NOT be ripped off on the purchase!  They may need supply lines but seriously, the $88 in ATL all in one toilet or the $69 all in one in Vegas means you know DARN well they shouldn't charge you $200 for install!

FOR EVERYTHING ELSE THERE IS REDBEACON – owned by Home Depot

EVERY TRADE UNDER THE SUN IN YOUR AREA LICENSED AND BONDED AND YOU CAN GET 4 COMPETITIVE QUOTES… be very very specific, say you don't pay for esimates but seriously GOOGLE THIS..

http://www.redbeacon.com

Ask for before and after photos always… and have your property manager give a once over before paying… you may have to pay them an extra $$ for doing this so check in advance.

Did everyone read this…??

Bloomberg News,

Peter Horbulewicz started noticing investors from New York and California at Atlanta-area foreclosure auctions about four months ago. Working for private equity firms such as Colony Capital LLC and Blackstone Group LP (BX), they’d clutch plastic folders crammed with cashiers’ checks and astonish locals with how much they were willing to pay.

“If you go head to head with them, they always win, because they always overbid,” Horbulewicz, a Polish immigrant turned American house flipper, said during a foreclosure auction outside the Gwinnett County courthouse, northeast of Atlanta. <moderator: sorry, article was too long to paste in its entirety.  Please see link

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-17/private-equity-in-atlanta-after-picking-phoenix-clean-mortgages.html >

SelectUSAProperty LLC

WI

yep, these numbers make about as much sense to me as buying in Dallas GA would or within the dump smell zone of Dekalb.

Let's face it …. seriously, VERY VERY SERIOUSLY, for those who SERIOUSLY know the market ( who aren't spruiking), would you SERIOUSLY be buying SFR Atlanta still? Maybe but MAYBE I am seeing 2 a month that I would even VAGUELY think of…MAYBE… I lie, it has been 5 weeks since I recommended a property. Seriously?  Would you advise your mother to invest her last cents into ATL SFR right now??  At 80k give me Vegas or even FL … at least CG is much more likely to be higher.

Heck go Jay or Ziv etc….

How many are bidding on those 1 or 2 SFR's worth it in ATL….?? 40 bare min.

BULK SELLERS HAVE TO KEEP SELLING SOMETHING AND THEY WILL BID ON VIRTUALLY ANYTHING…. – slowly the standards drop… who cares, they are out of the deal after sale – so slowly it becomes a deterioration of standards – whether that be yield, quality, age or location.

Greed dictates it – 100 people want to buy 200 properties at 4k odd a pop but there are only 2 properties a month you or I would buy as an investor…. what do you do??? People are willing to throw money at you just to get a foot in the door??? Who cares?? Seriously… buyer happy for now, spruiker happy, who cares or should?

For anyone who has ever said "I would only recommend what I would buy myself" they are NOT recommending ATL SFR. Not for yield, not for CG (go FL for CG go Vegas DEFINITELY for CG)…..definitely not for location. The exception proves the rule.

I love how the spiel has to change to justify still selling properties that make ZERO sense to an investor  thinking of entry level USA……

Take a VERY close look at these properties that you are getting emailed at the moment… SERIOUSLY?????

I am leaving the forums to pursue "next" but I remember a long long time ago when I was thrown out of a Dymphna Boholt Seminar (for mentioning the unheard of name Zillow back then)…..and I spent months upon months going through how to use zillow and trulia and redfin etc and SWEARING that I would never ever ever even VAGUELY recommend anything that I wouldn't personally buy.

I have stuck to that.  I don't get turned on by selling, I get turned on by the gems that are out there and the game of fixing it, getting H&B use and the hunt.   Still know every property, every tenant and every faucet within every property…. I LOVE it. HATE selling and couldn't quite frankly… doesn't do it for me… finding a gem?

Now is the time in the US market to make serious money but short of good flips (my favourite, favourite part but for those being screwed on repairs, don't even attempt it unless you are on the ground) it sure as HECK isn't in SFR ATL – if that changes so be it……. So I will leave it – MOVE ON EVERYONE… Get to the next phase…

THESE NUMBERS DON'T MAKE SENSE TO ME. 

Find the GEMS for YOU – they are NOT what these people are selling….  have HUGE fun and make a BINT….and find the niche in real estate that you love – and I mean LOVE and don't compromise.

I would rather help 20 people in every phase though than 200 people flounder in random SFR purchases….

Just me I guess.

Jay

I think you have hit the nail on the head… it is the calling in of the loans that is creating the interest and the attention to those who can manage it to pull the funds together to purchase is highly tempting.

This HAS to be coupled with the fact that the SFR market is being hit by all those who declared bankruptcy 2 years ago and are back out with a vengeance with FHA loans.

Moi.

Hate to say it but concur with Tash… here is something I sent out to my guys … seriously test the theory.

Atlanta

If it is under 50k , it is 90% by Dekalb dump, HUD owner occupiers or a short sale. Over 60k are flips. Over 80k are flips that WERE 40 – 50k last year and the yield haven't increased (Dekalb Dump = "Map of France" = Bouldercrest/Panthersville/RiverRoad/Linecrest/Ward Lake)……..not a "no" – just a  potential to STINK LIKE HELL in the wrong wind – avoid by 1/2 mile or do a sniff test….or make your own decision and just decide that you understand that you are buying for potential yield churning… I wll post a separate post on it.

There may, just MAY be a rare, rare exception but rents haven't increased so think 40,000 times before investing in Atlanta right now for the price and yield. Double taxation (size), tougher tenants, tougher environment, higher costs and a million leaping on the bandwagon.

Atlanta made sense for about 6 months after Vegas died…… and there may be the RARE exception still but this is a TOUGH market by comparison to the "easy" states of the desert environments. Every day I spend in Atlanta, I am grateful for the investment opportunity that existed in Vegas and thank my lucky stars that it was there but there is an absolute line in the sand and it is well upon us – again, exceptions exist and are great – but think EXCEPTIONS. Maybe that will change, I don't know but I can say this:

I get every property, every day, every second that comes onto the market in Atlanta and I know the bandwagon's spiel but I can tell you RIGHT now, it comes with a rental pool that just isn't west coast, it comes with a lot of issues and dear HEAVENS,  THINK HARD.  Guns, drugs, unemployment, inherent whatever, higher repair costs, overheads, theft, I live it, I breathe it…… just think.

In full disclosure I am a licensed real estate agent in Atlanta – it seems odd to think that I, as a dual citizen HAVE to be licensed to do what I do and everyone else doesn't have to be anything….. As an agent all I can say is think 43 times over and REALLY analyse your returns….. for capital growth with a total outlay over 80k, pick a boom/bust town – go anywhere else… for yield… do your calculations again and again….if it still makes sense, great.

If by some miracle anyone was right about shadow inventory and it isnt sucked up by the 200,000 investors that currently mean 39 bids on any even vaguely decently priced property (not that I have seen a single property I would recommend for investment purposes in Atlanta by my criteria in about 3 weeks), then I will be the first to lead the charge back in…. actually, after a year in Atlanta, and I am committed to Atlanta for another 5 years for myself and everyone I deal with at bare minimum, but after a year there, I would never actually come back here unless prices SERIOUSLY were back around 40 – 50k.  It took Vegas to dry out and Atlanta to still be 20k cheaper for me to even think about Atlanta in the first instance.

Please don't get caught up on the stories of a market 4 months ago.

Ask those on this forum  – last year, this house was sold to your for 40k, would you buy it at the price today? 80k? In Vegas, I could find that argument – but it is of the understanding that it is for capital growth……in Atlanta…. I can't.

LONG before subprime, there was the US market, it was FANTASTIC, it still is….but it is different…..

Novel concept…..Think the next phase of US investment and DON'T EVER settle for less than makes sense for your investment goals – recalculate 43 times before spending a cent.

It ticks me off… the US market is a GREAT investment market for property but not at "any cost".

DON'T GET RIPPED OFF.

I'm with Jay – a GREAT Section 8 tenant is amazing (have one for what?? 4 years now)…. they worship your house and are fabulous. Look for those with 7 plus rental years in their current place, go visit them and if they give you cookies (and I am NOT biased), they are wonderful….

I have ALWAYS been an advocate in any other state than Alaska….- the inspections are no more or less than you would want for your property anyway but tenants are tenants of any socio economic demographic.

Eyeball your tenant. Section 8 or not. Period. Full Stop etc.

The only thing I will say is that for a non resident you will need a Property Manager willing to go the extra hog. You must present the HUD statement, the Deed, the property management agreement, 2 forms of your identification, fill in the W8 ECI and the W9, have your property manager fill in the Lead paint disclosure, your ACH agreement, get all the utilities on and etc etc……

A process but no more or less than anything else that can potentially be worth that…