Gaz,

Re your comments below

"I would like to know how Karina from http://www.selectamericanhomes.com makes her money. I assume she is not in the business of providing charity and would be looking to make a dollar somewhere as anyone is in business."

We are fully transparent  and have full disclosure of our fee structure.  We get paid by charging a facilitation fee if a client ends up using our service.  We do not mark up any of the properties and charge no upfront fees or membership fees.

Karina Perez Ronderos

Select American Homes LLC | Phone +61 412 900 111

http://www.selectamericanhomes.com

Cheekos,

Some of the outer suburban areas offer attractive newer constructed homes, good schooling and lifestyle choices and are popular with families. I much prefer them to the downtown area that has older homes and is a very rough part of town. 

There are opportunities throughout many of the counties surrounding Atlanta.  Obviously the more you are prepared to spend the better home/area you can buy into. I would not be tempted to go for the absolute bottom of the market (lower priced older) properties chasing the highest returns as these come with more risk in my opinion.

Prices are definitely on the increase and the deals that we were able to secure last year are no longer available at the same prices. There are still however some gems out there but you need to look hard for them and they are not that easy to secure with multiple bids on just about all good quality properties.

If you are after 20% gross yields then you are probably too late for that. If on the other hand you are after a more realistic yield the deals are still out there.  My personal view is that we have a limited window of opportunity to buy at these prices.

Newer constructed homes can still be purchased for well below replacement value. With the cost to build at around $90 square foot, homes at around $30 square foot still represent tremendous value. This of course is if you are buying a good quality product.  Properties in neighbourhoods that people just don’t want to live in are worth next to nothing regardless of the cost to build.

In regards to spruiker bashing, well its a shame that many come on here with an underlying agenda. Read between the lines and make up your own mind. There is a lot of scaremongering going on and all it does is confuses people and adds no value to the forums. 

The best thing you can do is educate yourself on US investing so you can tell the difference between a “real deal” and a “dud deal.” Once you are able to recognise the difference for yourself all the noise being posted becomes insignificant.

Karina Perez Ronderos

Select American Homes LLC | Phone +61 412 900 111

http://www.selectamericanhomes.com

Tash, I read your comments below regarding our company and thought I should clarify a few points.

"BTW: Beware of wholesalers/flippers (especially when they are based in Australia like SAH) you may do OK, but you can guarantee they will do OK before anyone they flip to – and that is forgetting any management issue that might arise when they are long gone (ie the day after you hand over the cash)."

Just to clarify,

Select American Homes (SAH) facilitates the purchasing, renovating and tenanting of homes in the USA for international investors. I am located in Australia and have a full team on the ground in Atlanta that manage the end to end process. I have personally been investing in the Atlanta Georgia market for over 2 years now and have purchased 10 properties for myself along the way.

I have set up Select American Homes to assist international investors to purchase foreclosures at wholesale prices (without the middle man mark up).  I understand investors need more assistance than just purchasing a home so we facilitate renovations and property management with reputable Atlanta based companies.

Just to clarify what we do and don't do.

We DO NOT mark up the properties we source. Our client always pays the price we negotiate with the banks plus our facilitation fee which is fully disclosed. There are no hidden fees or charges.

We do not charge upfront fees or membership fees to view properties.

We do not receive any commissions or kickbacks from any of the vendors we engage.

We believe in the opportunity and personally invest in the market we recommend to our clients. We do not put forward any property we would not be prepared to buy ourselves.

We DO NOT sell LLC's to clients. All properties settle in LLC's that have been set up by our clients.

We do provide clients with video footage, photographs, comparable sales and cashflow reports.

I love what I do and am very proud of the properties we have been able to source for our clients.

Here are just a few examples of the properties we have been able to source for our clients. I think the examples below speak for themselves and show the value we bring to our clients.

These are all homes that have been recently purchased and I have provided video footage and addresses so you can view them on zillow (Just type in the addresses at http://www.zillow.com to view property details, comparable sales, rental estimates etc). Zillow is a great tool for anyone considering buying in the USA.

These properties are located in good areas and we managed to secure them at very competitive prices. (in some instances the lowest sale price in the subdivision)

1945 Lena Carter Road Buford GA

We purchased this home for our client for $86,200

You can view video footage of this home at this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y5rZccSrhQ&list=UUtQZwox-2O4ZBo5XwrUGL3g&index=1&feature=plcp

201 Biltmore Way, Stockbridge GA

We purchased this home for our client for $80,200

You can view video footage of this home at this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRT4XwJbzYs&feature=channel&list=UL

442 Camden Woods Dallas GA

We purchased this home for our client for $56,500

You can view video footage of this home at this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8JnAxrPWzo

6524 Mallard Cove Flowery Branch GA

We purchased this home for our client for $48,200

You can view video footage of this home at this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E87LcJezVm8&feature=g-upl

Tash, I don’t think anyone needs “to beware of Select American Homes”. We are not here to rip anyone off. I don’t claim to be the cheapest in the market or facilitate the cheapest renovation or cheapest management service. We do however engage reputable vendors that offer a competent service at a reasonable price. No question if you did it all yourself via the home depot route you would be able to save some money on your renovations.  The reality is most international investors don’t have the time or simply don’t want to do it all themselves. We are here to help those that would like a hand.

Karina Perez Ronderos

Select American Homes LLC | Phone +61 412 900 111

http://www.selectamericanhomes.com