Forum Replies Created
Perfect. And appreciated…
Would it be possible for mods to post a sticky??
Michael 888 wrote:Also everyone please note that the Andrew Allen spoken of above IS NOT THE ANDREW ALLEN who is a member of this forum and Somersoft and is a buyer's advocate/agent in Brisbane Qld, who contributes useful and worthwhile information in his posts.Well said and PLEASE pay regard to that comment. Thank you very much Michael 888. They are very different animals and I am unsure how to best publicise it.
It is worth spending the time to decipher Jay’s posts. Hidden deep inside them (like the Da Vinci code) are buried messages of great intellect:)
Aside from several layers of obvious rorts in the purchase scenario, I put it to you directly the ‘property management’ you speak of will be nothing more than a complete disaster for anyone. Either you are directly advertising or you simply do not have a clue as to how much money you have lost.
Here is an idea. Why not find a direct real estate agent in the area you want to buy and give them a call or email them. That way you KNOW you won’t be paying excessive fees.
Everything in the US is available online for free (as Emma says Redfin, Trulia, Zillow) so why would you want to pay $500 (or any amount) for absolutely nothing?
On the contrary, I would run a mile from any company offering ‘finance’. The only realistic finance you will get in subprime areas is from hard money lenders and I would suggest the ‘majority’ of the financed amount is profit for the company itself and little to do with the actual property.
The more ‘products’ they offer, the more opportunity they have for excessive profiteering.
If you are buying an LLC, it IS a flip. Make sure you are comfortable with the money the company is making from you. You will (and I mean will) be paying more than you need to, so be certain you want to do that.
I would also be deeply suspicious of any Australian company offering property management. Rental guarantees, guarantee nothing but would suggest to me that you have provided the company you bought through with enough profit to pay you a rental amount from the purchase price itself.
Along with Speedy I would be very interested to know if Andrew Allen is legally able to work in the US. He is basing himself there, surely he has a green card or residency to allow this.
What qualifications does he hold to sell RE or securities there or, for that matter in Aus?
Additionally – who taxes the income from the money he earns whilst based in Orlando and clearly making $Aus from $Aus clients.. IRS? ATO?
Interesting questions…..
One last point. Given the resources of the ABC were unable to get a comment from Mr Alllen despite repeated requests over a number of months, I think the journalists at the Warrnambool Standard deserve extra special mention for locating and getting a comment from him in so short a time frame. Job well done boys! (or girls)!
Richard,
I think it would be much appreciated by everyone here to see in your words what you went through. As most would not know there is a lot in your story that is (in Emma’s words) abhorrent that didn’t quite make it into the short segment allowed.Little things like you paid for a property but it turned out to just be an LLC that they hadn’t even bothered to ensure held title to the property yet they required you pay upfront for extremely expensive repairs – which In turn (of course) were not carried out….
Richard has an outstanding paper trail on all of this. Even if it took a month to write up and you did a 10 part write up it would be fascinating for people to see what actually happened to you.
Naturally, we know you will tell the truth because Andrew Allen has publicised his wish to take legal action against you so he would be certain (or his lawyer would) to correct any factual errors you make. It’s only fair to let people have a say on a public forum about factual errors or exaggerations that occur – and we all know this can happen.
Take it a step at a time, I know more than most and I can assure everyone the story is staggering to hear – and I don’t know anything like all of it. It will benefit a lot of people, who knows, we might just hear from the elusive Mr Allen himself…
AntheaProperty:
Surely you are joking!!!Moneyforjam posted this a couple of days ago:
Here’s a link to the 7.30 report http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-24/aussies-lured-by-dirt-cheap-us-housing/3970128?section=business
For the record Andrew Allan of my USA property is trading under a number of different companies in disguise. Additional ones that were not mentioned in the report that people should be aware of are:
http://Www.usbuyersagent.com
http://Www.atlantapropertydirect.com
http://Www.usapropertyportal.com
http://Www.memphisinvestmentproperty.com
http://Www.usaaccountingsolutions.comOf course they offer a full service!!! God in heaven don’t be so stupid please!!!
engelo10 wrote:I love it how everyone with products posts when a newbie needs some advice. I love this forum man hahahaha
Engelo10: it might look a bit daunting with US property guys ‘all’ selling things (speedy and I certainly do not) , but look at it this way: None of the guys posting here (Emma-the honorary guy, Jay, Alex, TxCC, Ziv, Kyler etc) would care if you or anyone else bought through any one of them. Sure they are letting you know they are ‘there’ but with so many eyes watching, a rorter would last 10 seconds. In fact Kyler proved it by posting a request he had received to deal with a certain Aussie company he was suspicious about. He made a post asking what people thought and one of the guys ‘selling’ immediately commented that Kyler was correct to be concerned and to keep away. Kyler had no reason to question – he would have made money, but he did the absolute right thing and didn’t tarnish his good name by dealing with a ‘bad’ company.
From that point of view these people posting and ‘selling’ things are creating a very safe and legitimate environment. From my perspective I would recommend any and all of these guys for anyone to learn from/buy through. A ‘shonk’ would be outed and embarrassed in an instant – the pool of knowledge on this forum is immense.
I am aware there has been some correspondence to Gavin (of 730 fame) from the lovely Andrew Allen of MyUSA that Andrew has not had a chance to put his side of the story across. 730 said to me they tried multiple times to get in contact, but maybe they are lying.
What better place to argue Andrew’s case than on a site like this – with his peers who ‘sell’ who would surely understand the difficulties Andrew faced dealing with Gavin? We know (or I do) that MyUSA keeps a very close eye on what is written here, so one would expect a defensive comment somewhere here would you not?
Get the point? These guys posting here are real professionals and keep each other VERY honest. Keep it up I say.
What has annoyed me from the beginning is that there is good money to be made – what wrecks it for everyone is the out and out scams. And I am not talking about someone like Steve M standing up and slightly exaggerating by saying 'you too can get 30% net buying US property' but the multiple layers of profit that these guys reap from every sale. 30,50 up to 100+% – and then probably finance the profit as well.
It was my broker in LA who first said 'I would go to jail for doing that in the US because I am a US citizen and a licenced agent'. My sister is likewise hamstrung by being licenced.
It didn't come out in the show but Emma found out one of Gavin's properties he 'bought' through the LLC (which he also paid for!) had not even got title to the property he had paid for. They WERE that incompetent. Emma fixed it, but not only were they ripping Gavin off blind, but they also were not competent enough to even check that title had transferred.
It would also be interesting to know exactly what jurisdiction these massive profits are taxed in. Surely the ATO would be interested if no one else.
This must seem like the promised land for these guys. They were a relatively small part of the interview we both did, but there is no doubt they are 'huge' players in the quasi legal offshore marketplace.
Maybe I am being silly and they are just filling a need in the marketplace for people who want to be ripped off. I don't get why they are allowed to continue as much as I don't get why they still get people throwing money at them. I would like people to throw money at me as well, but they just don't!
Same guy. I wouldn't trust him with anything more complicated than a mouse trap – let alone a '44!
The money for the toys has to be coming from somewhere – they are not inexpensive trinkets, and there is at least one place we know of (for sure) where 'super normal' profits have been (or are being) made.
Thanks DWolfe.
To add to moneyforjams great links above, check out this:
trentrichards.comNothing like courage in the face of adversity!!
Ziv,
It seems to me you do not overstate, acknowledge the difficulties and are therefore completely realistic. You add considerably to the body of 'legitimate' advice on the net and I think that is important to recognise. US/UK or Japan – it is very interesting to understand and appreciate the differences. These you point out and nothing I have seen from you sugar coats or boasts in any way. I appreciate the difference.Money for Jam – Thank you very much for those links. Very interesting (though somewhat firghtening!) and much appreciated.
Everyone else: Thanks for the support, though I would rather be devastatingly handsome than 'kind' – its better than nothing:)
Speedy, we both did our best. That was your story basically, and my sister (who handed everything to them in 1:20ish of interview) flew from ATL for that. It had so much more to go, did not even scratch the surface. In a way I felt sorry forAndrew Allen – he is but one of many. They have enough for a 10+ series on US property, the questions we received did not seem related to what I saw.
Gavin (I was personally involved with) and the Policeman in Qld (apologise for not remembering the name) have been shattered by their experiences. I hoped for more resolve but any of us could have been caught by the same scams when we started. I hope no one else watches this and thinks ‘well – that couldn’t have happened to me…’
Thanks, but they were given everything. A complete nuts and bolts ground up expose of the US RE market and they (Greg Hoy) showed nothing but the rip off ‘glitter’ in relation to two companies. They had enough for an entire 4corners expose on the US market.
I dislike the MyUSA thing, but believe me, they are doing nothing other than exactly the same as dozens of others. They may mean well in the beginning, but greed takes over almost immediately.
I give up trying to explain, but please be very cautious with everyone flogging this stuff…
An ersatz story IMHO, but thank you for the comment.
Disappointed.
MyUSA was the original driver for this but the others of their ilk were given an equal serve.
A good start but much left to be said. FWIW my interview ran 40+ minutes and barely touched on the subjects shown. Emma171’s went double that.
Better than nothing, but I would put it as nothing more than a good start…
I do not know what will be the outcome of the story when it shows (hopefully tomorrow) but I want to make it very clear my experience about being censored was the same as Speedy above. Without Speedy there would have been no story – I think a lot of people will owe him a lot of thanks.
I wrote on another website (partly in frustration after having spent a year trying to explain what the issues _really_ are) that bad things happen when good people say nothing.
I was pissed off that what I knew was an obvious scam was tacitly being supported through deletion of MY comments that were 100% accurate. Speedy sent me a link to a post and once I knew there were two of us I was not going to fail in ‘outing’ the story.
Sadly, at least one of the people in this segment would have not been financially ruined in retirement if more people had the guts that Speedy did.
Lets see what tomorrow brings…
PS: I commented above about the segment being on provided Swan and Gillard didn’t do anything very silly. I didn’t allow for Peter Slipper:)
You and I would get along fine Freckle – I don’t think we would disagree on much, give me a call if you are ever in Sydney:)
