Speedy

The selling of junk US properties is a global activity. And just as many US companies that run the gambit of poor to out right felonias activity as described in this thread

Bottom line you get what you pay for……Just seems like sales agencies are really preying on those that want to believe in the 20k house that’s going to give them some huge return all in the comfort of their Easy chair

Of course there are basic s one should follow when buying properties

Would a buyer in OZ just wire funds direct to a seller or would they use an attorney or closing company?

Alex,

I have a good client in Detroit that I lent money to for years and 99% of the deals worked.

Richard, I would be happy to refer him to you…. He has a sweat equity program that you may be able to get your property into that will at least get you a little cash flow with no further investment.

Not to be negative however if your home has sat unattended and un loved for a year in inner detroit which it probably is, there is a high probablity its beyond salvage. IE has been completly stripped of copper appliances heating and air conditioning etc. Unless you bought it boarded up and it stayed boarded up.

Youngstown is one area I did not make any loans, although I did a lot in columbus and like certain parts of OHIO.

For anyone reading this forum. This transaction as described from Mr. Davies if accurate is out and out theft and fraud.  It would be interesting to see if this company actually bought the properties and did not just steal the funds that were wired direct.

All real estate transactions as matter of law do not need to go through a title co. or attorney, they can be handled privately and be legal. However for a out of town regardless if your foriegn or US investor to wire money direct to a marketing company or sales orginization is very danegerous and not recommended. Proper procedure is to wire funds to National title co. or Closing attorney. And you have to be careful with closing attornies as well not all are what they should be…

Mr. Davies your recourse is to file a criminal charge of theft with the District Attornys office in which ever county you wired your funds. And to the State attorney generals office in which ever state you invested. Companies like these need to be shut down.

here in the states we have so many fraudsters its not funny, To then get Aussie fraudsters on top of it makes it that much more difficult.

The scenerio you describe above is far more common than one would like to think. And if you buy the cheapest war zone hood properties in the US. It does not matter if you visit do everything right excetra your going to lose your money or you will put so much money continually in the property that you will never ever get your money back and will be just flushing it down the toilet bowl.

I know there are some good operators in Aussie helping folks, and they make their fee's. but the ones that are bad are really bad.

AH we agree on one thing strongly and thats property management.

When I get to Miami I will make it a point to come and meet with you.

Alex may be coming to See us in Oregon in December.

I don't drink anything that is brown,, only clear

Ok mates lets hug it out

Alex. I will send you info on lots I have been buying in the s east

Also I have a reputable contact in Detroit

I personally would not invest a dime there but flip a deal i am happy to pass on a contact as you know Detroit and Wayne county is a challenge for anyone who does not live 5 miles from the props and anyone who lives that close would never buy one

Cheeves what do you do are you a real estate agent, or are you a first Gen wholesaler?

Google earth is a great tool you can really hone in on areas and see first hand the differences between each neighborhood.
anyone can get on google earth and see what I am talking about. and they can see what your talking about… Your talking about close in ft. meyers but even in those areas you will see plently of blocks where there is less than 50% build out….

My point is some people will buy a house that looks grand and call it Ft. Meyer but its 100 blocks out in Lehiegh stuck by its self like you point out. But on a photo it looks like a nice 5 to 8 year old home. And In my opinion those particular properties are great if you want to live in one or use as a rental as for appreciation of any significance its going to take decades in certain part of ft. myers. You certainly can't buy a near new construction ( as long as you buy from 1st gen wholesaler) any cheaper in the country and have florida weather if you like florida weather.

Alex,

the US stock market would not exist without sight unseen investing.

Up until recently I was telemarketing at least 5 times a week from some New York brokerage selling the lastes and greatest un registered security.

Huge amount of international fruad going around regarding energy and metal investments.

I just came back from Upper British columbia where these miners had a huge gold claim. It was laughable, If you know the term Gippo Logger that is what these guys were. Your money and my ideas and we will go far.

JLH

Rob,

If you have not checked on property tax's then you need to put the brakes on Texas just about the highest tax's int he country and can make or brake an investment.

I have one client that owned 30 homes in texas and never made a dime because of expenses. He sold them all and is investing in our fully managed program. And this is an investor that owns millions of dollars of rentals, all over the country, I met him here in Oregon. We are a nice divisification for him. He fix and flips and occasionally fix and flops like all of us.

What you want to look for in texas is the NON OWNER occuppied tax… It can be much higher than for an owner. Tax's in texas can be 2 to 4 times as high as other markets.

Before you invest just call a Real Estate agent that is neutral and then call the county tax collector. Tax's will very from neighborhood to neighborhood in texas not just county.

In markets I work in owner occuppied taxs with the exemptions can be half or more of non owner occuppied and what happens is that the house gets foreclosured.  ( which most if not all of the properties your looking at have been) and they had owners in them and when you look at the tax's they are very low. Then the deeds is recorded your not living there no exemption is allow and your tax's double. And when your looking at rates at 2 to 4 % per year its can be 200 to 300 a month on a Dallas home.

Not say where your looking will be that high but it can. I have a buddie who paid 225k for a house he lives in, in dallas and pays almost 6k per year. and thats owner occ.

So just be dead sure before you pull the trigger in Texas.

Best of Luck to you.

If you want to see what we do send me an e mail and I will send you our web site.  Our model is hugely popular in the states not so much in AU as its a foreign ( no pun intended concept) Much safer than buying on your own but returns are realistic not over blown like you see on the spruikers web sites.

Best,

Rob,

Why would you choose Dallas out of courosity with all the other markets in the country, and especially markets that have much lower property tax's and have much better chance for captial growth.

I understand the economy in Texas is good and the properties have been stable compared to other areas.

Most of my US clients that have gone there exited because of the running cost and the market never moves.

Best

JLH

I like the ones that have a 15 inch fan in front of the Oven going full blast trying to blow hot air in to the house.

On this thanksgiving weekend I guess thats not so funny as they are not as fortunate as us

glad to see that the local area planners have made headway in their infrastructure issues.

Not to be argumentitive however I know for a fact that there are 500k platted lots of record in Lehigh Acres.

My point with the assessment for sewer and water is that in all probability the tax's for a lot with public sewer and water are going to be higher than those lots without, Someone has to pay for those utilities and the most common way for municipalities to do this is through 1910 act or 1915 act Bonds that attach to the tax bill. One would just need to look carefully at your tax bill to determine this.  Just like if they pass a school bond or liberary bond.

Any way no particular axe to grind with this area, Although i do know other Florida clients of mine that will not invest in Ft. Myers B/C of the issues that we are talking about.

And if I was on a limited budget for a retirement home ( used to not be but now who knows:) ) This is an area I would consider, When I bought those 2 foreclosures for 35k each… it was my opinioin that this was probably the most cost effective place to live in the entire world. You get all the US has to offer in the way of medical, stable government, police protection weather ,etc. And these were 5 to 7 year old homes. They were in the country as you say were there are blocks of 100 lots with only a few homes on each. But heck for the price, I don't think you could really touch them.

Now at 85 to 95k there are all sorts of options around the sun belt CA desert AZ desert and FL. And everything being equal in that regard I personally would look to other areas… Just my personal opinion.  One has to remember in the height of our false market these same houses sold at 250k and the lots we are speaking of were selling at 75k to 100k.

I bid on one 120 home package from a bank about the same time, Alabama builder got caught with inventory, the houses were scattered all over Lehiegh.  We bid just under 100k each and did not get the deal and as it turned out these same houses finally went to auctions at the above mentioned 35k which was the bottom of the market. Like I said these same house's now are 40 to 45k and some 50k to first generation buyers. the 85 to 95k you mention is after fix up and Profits to those who are in the turn key business as again has been described above in detail.

Still not bad price points if you like the area. As for a long term investment supply and demand are the factors that really dictate capital growth. the exisiting stock will only rise to what is being sold as new construction at the time and then back off 10 to 20% because they have been used as rentals.

In that case one could no doubt pick up one of these 20k lots build for about 50 to 60 a sq ft. and be in a brand new home at 100k to 120k. So 85 to 95k for the exisiting stock is probably were its going to set for awhile,

In addition one of the main reasons these homes have risen in value is the effect of the off shore investor be it GB  CA or AU.
these countries are creating their own markets in these areas

Anytime you have a highly orginized and financed marketing effort targeted at one product  "turn Key US homes"  the sale price of these items is going to be significantly higher than what would sell for in a local market without these external pressures. Take that buyer away and values drop back to supply and demand within the local community.

the reason certain parts of the west coast have not had these huge price drops is because of this supply and demand.

One only needs to look at San Francisico. Price's leveled and maybe there are a few deals but there is nothing like the 70% to 80% price drop as you saw in FT. Meyers areas.. were a 250k house sold at auction for 35k…. that is simply a supply demand function….. Way too many houses and no real local demand.

Now you can drive 90 minutes inland from San Francisco to whats called the Sacramento and San Jauquin valleys. Where you have the west coast version of equity wipe out.   Stockton, Modesto, Merced and many other smaller towns. Builders went in search of cheap dirt. put up thousands of homes with no real local market demand or jobs to support, Investors came in from the Bay Area like flys on poop, paid what to them was a cheap price just like. The same theory the Aussie is working on, Their houses on the pennensula like Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Cupertino San Jose, values rose incredibly were average prices were close to 1 mil for a modest 3 and 2 built 50 years ago. They look at these central valley homes at 350 to 400 and think what a deal. market collapes these homes lost huge amounts of equity, second generation investors are picking them up in the 100's.

Same scenerio in Los Angeles. prices within 20 to 30 miles of the coast line have generally held with some of the real high end getting wacked, But the inland empire houses have gone from the 300s into the low 100s and under. Same land rush speculation fever that was common in the day.

Would I want to live in Garden spots like San Bernadino, Riverside, Imperial valley heck no….

But I think that gives the audiance a little perspective of whats happened. And make no mistake as I said these 3 countries are having profound impacts on our Real Estate by buying up these properties. I for one am greatful. It creates cash in the market place… most of these need some sort of rehab so hard goods are being bought and wages being paid.

Do the foriegn investors get the best deals, In most cases no way. the locals beat them to it. And of course you have enterprising Aussie's coming here and setting up shop… With you see capital growth in these wipe out areas I have described. Not really in my mind because of the avaliablity of lots and the price to build new… And when the renters start buying houses then the rental market will get back to were it used to be. I think this is 5 to 10 years off though,