Sorry argie,

To me it seems like a MLM scheme. Here is why:

“A percentage of these people will decide to upgrade to the Homestudy Program and every time someone does you will earn $600. (If you are not a Homestudy
graduate you will only earn $450 per sale)

Plus if they also become an Online Affiliate, for anyone they refer, you will also
earn…[Read more]

Nice try argie. Good luck to anyone who falls for it.

Check the gas meter or the electricity box. There should be a tag on there showing when it was installed. This is a good enough indication as to when the house was built.

Regards,
Ozi

Get a new solicitor… quickly

Ozi

Its news to me too! What happened?

Regards,
Ozi

Hi Luke,

I agree with you that everyone needs a place to live in, even in winter, but it is very difficult to rent out a place in the middle of winter over there. This is what i’ve been told by property managers.

I’m not saying “don’t invest in the US”, just emphasising the fact that this won’t suit everyone’s comfort levels. Many new comers…[Read more]

Brisbane,

As I stated previously, investing in the US isn’t for everyone. It may be a great strategy for some, but I’d say not for most (especially beginners!). Another thing to keep in mind is, if your NY property is vacant over winter, it is extremely difficult to find tenants during this period. Who moves home in the freezing cold? If this…[Read more]

Paul,

Obtaining finance in New York as a foreign national is almost impossible. Many people have bought over in NY in the past year or two paying cash and still haven’t had success refinancing. So if you don’t mind laying down 100% deposits, go for it. It probably will be cashflow positive as you won’t have any loan establishment fees (which are…[Read more]

I saw it too. It was SPAM. Most likely removed by the moderators.

Ozi

Hi Paul,

No I didn’t buy in the US, and for very good reasons. It may suit some people’s investment strategies, but not mine.

The USA is a LARGE country. Where exactly are you looking? I spent several months researching Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse in NY State and also spent 2 weeks over there doing my due diligence on the ground, meeting…[Read more]

Hi Paul,

15-25% returns are gross figures. You need to look at the NET returns and evaluate the risk involved (which is quite high) I would recommened you do plenty of research before taking things further.

Do a search on “USA” in this forum. This topic has been covered many times.

Regards,
Ozi

Tony,

Maybe try a US based site?

Ozi

Sold for 400k more than what the valuer estimated? How much did the house sell for? That is a HUGE gap, unless we are talking multi-million dollar properties here!

If it was me, I would be asking the valuer for a refund.

Regards,
Ozi

What do you do to get rid of the strong tea smell once you’ve cleared all the dust? Or what about all the streaky tea stains you’ve left all over the floors?

Ozi

Having a pool in your IP will significantly reduce/limit it’s rentability. Most tenants don’t want a pool as they are a hassle to maintain and not cheap. I don’t think having a pool will increase the rent either.

Regards,
Ozi

Hi Xenia,

I agree with you about property management. My PM down there isn’t all that switched on at times. They aren’t the best when it comes to administration. hehe.

I just managed to contact the agent selling my house. He was really apologetic. It turns out he got the street name wrong in the ad, and not the street number as I thought.

Regards,
Ozi

Hi Housemender,

I appreciate you responding to my post and for providing such terrific advice. That is very generous of you providing your services to the forum.

I am reading your email now and will respond shortly – thank you

Oh, you have already helped one person (me), so I guess your post has been worthwhile [exhappy]

Kind regards,
Ozi

Hi Mick,

I think you are correct in saying that all offers must be presented to the vendor, regardless of how “low” the agent thinks they are. The only problem is, even if they say they have presented the offer, is there any way of checking whether they really have? If there is, maybe someone can provide details as I sure would like to know.

Regards,
Ozi

Thanks for posting that Kiwi! I guess Tim Shadbolt’s confidence in obtaining another $80M over the next 12 years is good news for Invercargill. I’d be interested to see what he does with it. I agree with him that protecting resources will be a big thing, but getting people to visit Invercargill will be important too.

Cheers,
Ozi

Hi Xenia,

Thanks for your advice. I spoke to a trade mark attorney on Friday and will be speaking to a couple more next week. The said the same thing as you. I will most likely get some searches done to see what they find and recommend.

In regards to setting up a business name instead of a Pty Ltd, my business partner and I didn’t really see any…[Read more]