When you work for yourself, you don’t get any leave.

Just a question to the Americans. In Australia, we have a RTA. Rental tenancies authority. This is a government dept which looks after tenancy matters, disputes, etc and also holds all bonds, usually 1 months rent, until the end of the tenancy. The property manager signs off on a form that the home is undamaged, etc and the tenant applies for their bond back from the RTA. Is there something similar in the U.S.?

Couldnt find anything on google.

Similar experience with HousebuyersUSA.  Salesperson hadnt even been to the U.S.  Upfront fee for a look.

Property-Scout,
I agree with regarding Top Rental Returns.  My only issue is that there is NO mention of maintenance costs, letting fees (1 months rent) or vacancies in their figures.  They say to allow 6 weeks per year for vacancy plus ongoing costs.  It makes a big mess of figures.

I had a look at these guys website. There is a property on there, a duplex in Atlanta, that I was offered about 3 months ago from a us wholesaler. Can’t remember too much about it but I do remember that it was a whole lot cheaper than what it is now so they’re all on the gravy train. I see they allow $191 p.a. In maintenance costs. Is that realistic? A visit by just one tradesman will cost more than that. No allowance for vacancies, letting fees or replacements between tenancies.
All their figures represent only the first year. Unless youre planning to cash up in 12 months time, factor in vacancies, repairs and maintenance and then look at the % return. Aussies can get 6% leaving their money in a term deposit.

Another pay upfront mob.

Interesting exchanges happening. For what it’s worth, I actually agree with both of the posts above. The US is different from Oz and as we Aussies are the “aliens”, I guess we have to respect the differences. We want what they have, which is investment opportunities, something sadly lacking in Australia at present. So it makes sense to understand that there are differences and always will be. The days are long gone when the world looked to the US for innovation and trend setting. I find Americans quite conservative and not as keen to embrace change as we do. The banking system is a prime example. Yes, the US system is quite primitive but it works for them, I guess.

GKCH makes the most valid point. We are all trying to make money. There may be different views on how and personally I welcome the spruikers because each has a different perspective and sometimes a different method. At the end of the day, I don’t believe any of us are here because we’ve nothing better to do, we all want to make money, so how you do it and who you trust to help you do it will come down to your own DD and feelings.

I have looked at the US property market ever since the GFC and I think there are some outstanding money making opportunities, but I also think we Aussies are getting a bit carried away with the % returns compared to Oz and are ignoring the differences between the two countries at our peril. One non-paying tenant, one long vacancy, one trashed home can make a big hole in the figures. We all hope we get lucky and it doesn’t happen to us, but be aware that it can and does happen, even in OZ. Be prepared for it and factor in the ongoing costs, and anything else is a bonus. Just my 2 cents…..

Alexsc

I didn’t mean to denigrate Americans. But the horror stories I am getting are coming from Americans themselves as well as Aussies. What I am referring to is the buy and hold investor not the hands on investor. An australian investor mostly wants hands off investment in another country. The spruikers of us property provide little or no figures on maintenance costs etc. Some allow $300 per year which unrealistic but it makes the bottom line look good. All I am saying is that things break, things wear out and things get stolen. Any Aussie investor needs to factor this in to their calculations Aussies are also used to vacancy rates around maybe 0.5 to 1%. Tenants can pick and choose more easily in the US than here and the property needs to be up to scratch.

Your style of more creative property investment has more appeal and I would be interested to hear more about that.

Once again, no offense intended but things are different in the US to what we are used to here.

Well, I tried to buy one. Turned out no renters were allowed in that subdivision. Didn’t find out until closing, but did get my money back. I only lost on the exchange rate. Worth checking things like that in the future though. It’s made me a bit cautious.

Rick,
i was refering in the eighties to aussie farmers taking US loans which turned against them when the dollar took a plunge.  Nothing to do with 19% interest rates here.

Some economists say the Australian housing property market will crash.  I dont believe this will happen, but we are seeing a slow decline in prices.  I experienced it in the 90's and it is happening again now.  Interest rates are predicted to fall 1% after the previous month when they predicted they would rise 1%!  The reason interest rates will come down is because the economy is stalling.  Australia's resource section is the one area that is booming and even that is being hampered by the high Aussie dollar.  The rest of the economy is in almost recession mode.  I am in an industry that is suffering very, very badly to the point that some businesses will be forced to close within the next 18 months unless things turn around.  Some have already closed their doors.

I, for one, hope prices dont decline further as I have property investments in Oz which I know are not worth what I paid for them 5 years ago.  The price hasn't crashed but it is less than 5 years ago. I spent some time as a REA myself and have seen these cycles many times. Prices will recover but only when there are buyers. At the moment there are very few buyers, period.

My only slant on this is that if an item is on sale, buy it.  It doesnt matter where it is, the only problem is if the item stays on sale too long it becomes the regular price.