Student accommodation  will only be purchased by investor. There is a massive oversupply of this type of product and a reduction in the number of students coming to Australia.

They are a terrible investment. They have no growth and can go backwards in value and you are looking at only one market.

There are much better investments around

You mean more beneficial to them because they make more commission lol

Hi 

I dont generally look closely at what others do. I spend a lot of time getting what I do right. However in you look at the overseas posts engelorumora who deals in Kansas seems like a good guy also Jay Hinricks has a great knowledge. I met Alex one of his associates when I was in Florida a few months ago. Rob Keeler my partner in Florida has a lot of knowledge of the US commercial markets.

I think there are great opportunities especially as we are seeing finance especially n commercial property coming back in a large way. It makes a lot of the cash on cash returns look very attractive.

I think part of the problem is that people on the whole believe that property is much easier than it is. Because of that people do not do due diligence on what they buy. It is my experience that most people spend more time on what blueray player they are going to buy compared to property. Now you may think thats strange however I sit down with clients every day and am amazed at some of the silly things that they have done. Like buying over priced properties through marketing companies. However we live in an age where it is easy to look on line to see what properties are selling for.

To me its simple do not take anyones word do your own due diligence. I tell people that I work with that you should question what I tell you because at the end of the day its your money not mine.

Wilko I agree with you about development, its difficult to find projects that stack up. Once someone has a permit they think they are sitting on gold. However there still has to be profit left in the project. So I think you need to look at bigger projects where there is less competition especially as funding is still difficult.

I think some of the comments Freckle makes are valid. There is no doubt that hedge funds are buying properties especially at the top end paying in some cases full price i cash.

Then look at markets like Texas that are currently booming and this was in a market that did not fall during the GFC so there could be a chance of the property mrket becoming over heated.

However it is also important that we look at the vacancy rates and rental increases over the last few years. Again in cities like Dallas rents have gone up by around 21% in the last 12 months. Property vacancy rates are now under 3% in many cities. This does show strong demand and a lot of people would like to have home ownership again. As finance gets easier I would expect demand to increase. 

America is a great place to invest but full of spruikers and well meaning people who do not know what they are doing.

The secret  to successfully investing anywhere is the location but also who you deal with. Who you deal with will determine whether your invest is great or a nightmare. I believe a lot of people may have lost money however they just don't know it yet.As an example many of the so called sellers are wholesalers and are not even based in the cities they are buying you property in. There are people in Australia who have not met the suppliers they deal with 

The fact is that there are great deals in America especially as the markets are now recovering. 

The good news is that a number of people on this site do have great advice such as Jay and engel.

I have been involved in the US market since 2005 and have a full time business partner on the ground who not only understands the residential market but is also a commercial specialist. So if you are considering investing in Americia look at the following check list

Are they based in America or do they have a partner in the state or city in which you are buying.?

Have you established the correct tax structure and tax file number for your LLC?

Do they personally inspect every property they buy for you?

Do they supply full property management?

We have been able to open accounts but you generally need to use an attorney and you need id that has been notarized. The decision as to whether banks will do is this is up to individual banks. Generally your paperwork needs to be 100% to do this.

Not everyone who involved in the industry is a ripe off merchant but a lot are. The secret is always do you own due diligence and do not take anyones word for anything.

I even tell my mentoring students if I make a suggestion do not take my word for it do your own due diligence because at the end of the day its there money not mine.so spend the time and do your due diligence carefully before committing your money to anyone.

Freckle what you say may be right however there are large numbers of families moving to both Florida and Texas. I think you have to be selective and careful in what you buy.especially when hedge funds are buying up  large amounts of property. I think this market still offers great opportunities but you have to be careful and do plenty of research.