Hi coasta,

I’ve opened an account with HSBC in Australia, denominated in USD. When I transfer money electronically on the internet (International Telegraphic Transfer) from my Commonwealth Bank Account to myaustralian USD account with HSBC, I incur a $22.00 net bank fee from Commonwealth and a $10.90 fee from HSBC. These fees do not depend on the amount of money transferred. The exchange rate is pretty good, less than 1% different to the current mid-market rate. You have to specify with your bank that you want to transfer AUD and you want HSBC to do the currency conversion. You could avoid paying fees altogether by opening another account with HSBC denominated in AUD, you can then deposit or transfer money in it and the transfer them from the AUD account to the USD account at no cost.
I do not know when I will be ready to buy a property in the USA, because I can’t go there myself at the moment, therefore I am going to need the help of one of the so called turn-key operator, or something similar, but I haven’t yet decided which one to trust. I do believe that the opportunity in term of house prices is not going to disappear any time soon, but the parity with the USD could disappear much quicker. That is way I have started buying USD.
One other option is to use something like Oz Forex. The advantage is that you can do a forward contract and lock in the current exchange rate to buy USD up to one year down the track, so that you do not park your money at zero interest rate in USD if you are not going to use them soon. For a forward contract with Oz Forex I think you need to pay a 10% deposit and the contract has to be for minimum $30,000.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
Giacomo

I do believe you can do it, but I would really love to hear from someone that has actually done it.  Let us know how you went about it.

Thanks,

Giacomo

Dear Nigel,

I didn't say I do not want to pay for a service, and I do not intend to do it myself.

I definitely will need some professional help if I decide to go ahead and invest in USA property. I am currently considering either to use a company like MyUSAproperty or to enroll in your mentoring program. We meet a few weeks ago and you have been very generous with your time and your proposal is very appealing. It is just that before I decide which way to go I would appreciate the opportunity to talk to someone that is or has been in my position, to see what they think or what their experience has been like. This is the reason of my post directed to investors like me rather than people or companies selling a service, which eventually I will probably need and I do not have a problem to pay for if I believe they offer value for money.

Regards,

Giacomo Angeli