Interesting. Just read that Qantas is increasing it's flights to Dallas/Fort Worth next month to a daily service. Last May when they dropped the San Francisco route in favour of DFW it was only 4 flights a week…in January it was increased to 6 flights a week and now starting July 1 it will be a daily service.

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2012/06/19/qantas-ramps-to-daily-service-for.html

Hey LiamT,

I've been investing in Texas for a while now…both residential and commercial stuff.

This might give you some idea that price have been rising steadily for a while. It will be harder to find a good cash flow deal in my opinion. I don't invest in the lower end of the market type of stuff. Austin has it's share of the lower end homes just like any market does but the average price in Austin is pushing $250,000-00. I have seen better cash flowing deals in Dallas & Houston. I also haven't seen any decent finance available outside these cities. I got 2 of mine financed in Dallas at 30% down on really good terms and conditions.

I dunno if it's my natural suspicious nature but this thread seemed to have a few first time posters that were very pro towards US Invest so I started some basic research. Most of these first time posters made remarks about having a US office and an Australia office so I looked up the website to find out where their US office is located. The website states :

2650 se 7th dr. Pompano Beach, Miami Florida.

A quick google search shows me that this office resembles a nice residential house…looks like a classy area. Nothing overly wrong with having a house and your US address I guess but what started the hair on the back of my neck to raise was further Google searches. Have a look at this link. http://anthony-mellone-convicted-felon.blogspot.com.au/ notice the part at the very bottom of the page….where it states the address he uses to register new companies ??  I'm not suggesting this guy has anything to do with US Invest….just appears to be a few irregularities that would need some explaining for me to be comfortable.

Hi Mihovi,

Name any other US city that has lost 200,000 people in 10 years. The loss of tax revenue when these people leave is having a huge economic effect to the point the state of Michigan is considering a takeover of the city of Detroit. The fire commissioner has a policy of letting unoccupied homes burn to the ground. The city has already razed 4000 homes in 2 years.

According to the article in "The Standard"………http://www.standard.net.au/news/local/news/general/former-southwest-man-denies-shonky-us-housing-deals/2534442.aspx?storypage=1

The MyUSA Property website features the following disclaimer (although I couldn't check as the site has come down): “There are a number of factors investors must take into consideration when buying in the USA as it is very different to the Australia property market. Investors must consider the areas, property type, vacancy rates, socio economic demographics and future potential of the market before purchasing.”

Isn't this the very reason why investors paid them all the fee's etc ? They claimed they were a buyers agent so wouldn't it have been fair to assume that these guys had considered all of this and done their homework on their properties before flogging them off to their victims ??

Jeremy, Relief to see that you don't look anything like John Laws !! Agree….given the extensive information I thought it was light on but nonetheless at least a start. You would know from information we exchanged for the story. Funny thing Jeremy…I forgot about Jason Paris. My wife & I went to a seminar last year at Currumbin RSL on the Gold Coast. I had been given some local real estate papers last year and it was an ad to go see some information put on by US Property Sales Australia and was in conjunction with Coldwell Banker at Palm Beach. Turned out it was an info session put on at the end of one of their auction nights. They gave a brief talk about how many offices they (Coldwell Banker) have in the US. Before it began I had a nice glass of red on the balcony overlooking Currumbin Creek. Then I saw a lady by the name of Dee Lampe (think she has changed her surname since but thats who I recognized her as). She is the mother of Jason Paris. I immediately said to my wife……"this is a scam if she is involved". Anyway….curiosity got the better of me so I wanted to know what they had to say. <moderator: delete personal comment> Selling Las Vegas condo's or at least thats what I recall. Anyway……I never took it further but as I said….the funny thing is I completely forgot about Jason Paris in my warnings and gripes about MyUSAProperty !! But overall as I said at least the wheel has started turning. <moderator: delete personal comment>

Very much looking forward for this to go to air. I did speak to the journalist doing the story and did have a very minor contribution thanks to you Jeremy….. although not as much as I would have liked due to time constraints.

Like you….back last year a lot of my posts were removed or censored by the moderators with my ranting about the activities of these companies….some of the names I used were considered defamatory but I stand by them 100%.

Lets keep spreading the word so hopefully these guys will be run out of business. I agree….the honest & genuine ones that contribute to this forum such as Jay, Alex, Kyler, Emma and Texas Cash Cow show that you can make a successful investment in the USA….just need to deal with the right people who know what they are talking about instead of the “pretenders”

This forum isn't designed for advertising your services guys. One sure fire way to get people offside is to join up and start this crap !!

Perhaps try joining in some of the topics and give some helpful advice or suggestions first of all to get some credibility.

I am with Cheeves on this one…..don’t like the word “guarantee” as part of the equation. Nothing is guaranteed in life and that most definitely extends to property investing no matter if it’s in Australia or the USA.

But for the sake of the exercise and to get things rolling along as you intended I have already purchased 3 properties so far with more planned. Not large compared to my Aussie property portfolio but small steps I guess.

No1. This is a commercial block of dirt of which I am 1 of 10 members in a LLC that owns it. Located along Houston’s energy corridor where all the big multi-national companies are located. 2 acres with no return but we are all in  a position to hold it and the plan is in the next 12-18 months to build a commercial property to cater for the medical precint located all around us. Longer term hold. I won’t elaborate on this transaction as it is not the norm for people on this forum. Didn’t use any company based in Australia….this was all people I already met, knew of and trusted but the reality is…I don’t need a team for this one at this point in time.

No2. This was a single family home located north of Dallas. A local builder was able to build brand new for me at a cost that matched existing homes that I could have bought or refurbed. He was an experienced investor himself and had a large enough portfolio that it required his own full time property management that he set up. I came under the same management team. I was able to get finance from a local bank in town that the builder knew. Again this wasn’t through a company….I was introduced to the builder from another Aussie who had been through the same process and had recommended him to me. Reflecting back it was about as turnkey you could get without it being a turnkey operation. I set up all my own LLC’s etc and was in the US to open bank accounts etc. The builder was even able to give me a $5000 rebate on the contract on completion so I ended up with money in my bank account after it was all done. Am I happy with the service and outcome so far ?? I can honestly so I have had no issues at all with the home. Rent is paid on time each month, property inspections go down well (the good thing about a new home was the builder needed access to check on things at random so in the tenants eyes it wasn’t a formal inspection by the Property Managers). Money goes into my bank account and the bank takes the repayment out…nice and simple. Would I do this investment a second time round…..honestly I don’t think I would simply because I don’t think I would have 2 properties in the same location. (Even though I thought it a good omen that the local private college has a Kangaroo as their mascot !!)

No3. This was again a single family home but in Dallas itself this time.  I used a turnkey company after doing some due diligence.  If anybody hasn’t read any of my earlier posts…I actually got a job with MyUSAProperty when they began….not that I wanted a career…I thought it would be a great way to see what they knew & I perhaps didn’t. I was in a position in life that I wasn’t working full time so had a few weeks to kill to run through the training (brainwashing) programme for new recruits. My god I thought I had stumbled into a time share conference with the heavy sales tactics and processes. Even found out that the trainer was from the timeshare industry after a couple of days. These guys were not the slightest bit interested in what their clients purchased…they just wanted the sale and move on to the next victim. The pressure to get a sale was like watching the movie “The Boiler Room”…no joke. It did teach me something….the Aussie based buyers agents are so reliant on what the US based wholesalers tell them cause they have NO IDEA about where their homes are or what area’s are good or bad. I left after the training much wiser but I have to tell you….freaking out about all the clients these guys have led up the path when they were around. Anyway you get the idea…I had a pretty bad taste in my mouth from that experience so made a conscious decision not to have anything to do with an Aussie based buyers agent…they are too far removed from reality. I found a company based in Dallas that actually owns the properties they sell and provided me with homes that were refurbished and leased already. Finance referral to a local bank was made where I was financed as a foreign national with a 30% downpayment. I have the place leased through their own property management company. My only issue to date has been a dead shrub in the front garden….the HOA took offence to it and issued me with a notice to replace it or I would be contravening the by laws. I got in touch with the PM and it was replaced in 24 hours and the tenants put on notice to water the garden. Early days I guess but I am happy with how things are going to date.  As an owner I have access to a web portal where I can download copies of lease agreements, see when the rent was paid by the tenant, see when it was deposited into my account and ask questions and get replies from the PM. Pretty convenient when I am on the other side of the pond.  I used Peter O’Reilly from Texas Cash Cow who contributes to this forum….don’t normally give someone a plug but if they do a good job……Most likely to use him again for No4. He isn’t based in the US himself but the company is and they don’t exist purely to have Aussie investors…they cater mainly for the US investor.

But back to your question….can they guarantee my investments are safe and well looked after to their best abilities…..I don’t think anyone can honestly. I haven’t been able to find anybody in Australia that does so would take it for granted they wouldn’t be found in the US either. Sometimes the investor needs to be accountable for their own actions. That still comes down to actually going over and having a look at where your planning to invest and what you will get for your dollars. Meeting the people that will partner you and seeing how they operate gives many advantages. Ask to speak to other clients is something I always do as well.

Hope this all helps.

Byron

Luke B,

Have to repeat what has already been said. Warning bells sound due to.

a) Not game enough to list an actual address ? The obvious is that the wholesaler is making his margin and then US Invest makes a bit more on top of that again…end result you pay way too much for the property

b) Paying a fee upfront to get some information ? Look…it's nothing that mysterious investing in the US. These companies try to cover it all in cloaks and vales and make you believe they have the big secret which they are willing to pass on to you once you pay there fee's. All the information is freely available.

c) Companies based in Australia rely 100% on the wholesalers in the US. They have never seen the property in most cases and have no idea what they are selling

In summary they prey and rely on unsophisticated investors. I understand you can be time poor and the fact you can sit back and just hand over your money sound appealing to some but your going to be taken for a ride.

Send me a PM and I can pass on some details on how you can achieve what your trying to do without having to worry about points a, b & c above