Forum Replies Created
I have to admit I don't know what a spruiker is but I totally agree that the there's a difference between these property marketing companies which seem to be like a single focus estate agent that is just marketing these properties because its the latest hot item.
There used to be a joke in Florida a few years ago that when a traffic cop pulled you over he would ask for your Realtors licence, when asked why he would say that not every one in Florida had a driving licence……..{I didnt say it was funny,} I suppose the point im making is that when there are sales to be made salesmen appear, and when there aren't sales they disappear.
HI, Ive no experience at all of Kansas City. Quite a few people on here seem to rate it though.
munecita20027739 wrote:I think the key is to pay wholesale, once you add in the flippers exhorberant price increase after they paint and flip the house to you and then add another couple of thousand for the buyers agent you are simply paying too much. leave the flipper out of the equation and you will do much better. You really need to understand how much these flippers are adding to the price, its not uncommon to see houses selling through the buyers agents that were bought for 15k and selling for 60k , be extra careful and don't buy anything if you can't verify what the original sale price is. (I don't mean the 2000 or 2002 sale price I mean the one the flipper acquired it for) you can check http://www.zillow.com or go to the county website to see if you can locate the last sale price.
Completely agree with this post. A lot of the activity mentioned above is just a scandal waiting to break, its totally rife in markets such as Detroit, Buffalo etc. People are buying because the rents are so high compared and the sellers use the zillow estimate to back up totally spurious prices.
Please dont use Zillow as a method of getting a current valuation it can be two or three times the actual value, its useful to find previous sale prices, pictures, home sq ft etc, but thats about it.
Each County has a property appraiser where you can check the previous sales of any house, its normally simple to use and almost always free.
A lot of these people are building up levels of mystique around the property industry that isnt necessary, there are lots of online wholesalers in the US in these markets people can try Econohomes as a starting point.
I was also wondering Nigel how the banks agree to you assigning the mortgages to the new investors? I was quite surprised to see that was your offer, as even in 05/06/07 when everything was a lot more relaxed they still didnt like to do that.
No problem…they mention it on their website, I just dug out the link http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=97860,00.html
Yes ive done it many times since 2004 both for my property holdings and companies and have assisted for other investors and clients. Regards what criteria im not sure what you mean but its just following the IRS's rules on how to fill the forms in, and they allow it to be treated differently between online and through fax/mail, im not sure why they would do that, but I know they do.
Your right as far as online applications go but, if you apply by mail or fax then as long as the llc is in existence you will get a EIN without the need to have a ITIN.
I have a contact that will, at the moment though they will only lend in Florida, on condos which are FHA approved and single family homes, both have to be more than $70,000 in value however. 70% ltv, sub 6% apr.
APerry wrote:Hi All,Something Nigel should emphasise more is that the properties his clients are buying come with loans in place that are assumed by the buyer (something you can't do over here). One of the major issues with the US, for Aussie Investors, is the difficulty of financing properties on decent terms.
Regards
AlistairThat's very useful, also the post SpeedyGonzales made about alot of these companies being marketing companies rather than property companies is astute.
great article, thanks
Hi Cheeves,
I really believe its down to personal preference and there are no black and white, clear cut, right and wrong. For many people it seems to work, I dont like it for few reasons firstly the fact that in some communities in South Florida, Im thinking in particular west palm beach which have good stock the amount of section 8 tenants is such that the areas have become more rundown which will impact on the long term capital recovery of the units which is probably my most important factor when I look at a development.
But again, you have more experience than me with section 8 and for sure it works for some people and there are advantages such as higher rents and as you say the act of reporting will have on the tenants.
simple wrote:fWord, if my memory serve me right, in US rent dictated by goverment body. You canot charge 'as you wish' like we do in Australia.
So, you may have many people wanting to rent but, it may not nesesarly drive rent prices up.Anuone here with more inside info of rent reculation in US to confirm?
There are rent controls in very few States, specifically California, DC, New Jersey, New York and Maryland. Even if there are rent controls in these States each individual city has the right to opt in or out of it. Also most rent control laws exist on apartments built before a certain time which is normally late seventies.
The majority of States have laws that specifically stop rent control from occurring.
While about 20% have neither laws that permit or exclude it.
Rent control would stop me from investing in any area that enforced it. Most states allow you to charge what you want but they have caps on housing assistance, section 8, which is normally in excess of what the local market will pay anyway. Rents in many areas are down due to the amount of properties on the market especially in the 'shadow market' the market which is not apartment communities, there is a large demand for rentals as people who are foreclosed and those who rent off those who are foreclosed need to move, also especially in South Florida where there are an abundance of new housing units, condos etc renters are actively trading up to much nicer units/developments, however the low base of housing means returns of 15-18% net are achievable in b/c class areas/developments.
Regards,
Mark
SpyglassltdHi,
In answer to your question of why a tenant can afford to buy it when a mortgage holder cannot I think it comes down to as you say the lower cost, it also is a fact that many erstwhile homeowners can afford to pay the rent but cannot afford the other aspects of home ownership such as Tax, Association dues, maintenance, insurance which in the US traditionally fall n the landlord. I find as a general rule that occupiers who have lost their houses to foreclosure make great tenants. Also many many homeowners simply walked away from their houses with say a $199 k mortgage which today has a value of US $30k for obvious reasons.
Most areas have Section 8 which is the government housing assistance, they generally get higher than market rents but come with their own set of problems, I think its down to personal preference but I avoid section 8 where possible.
Hope this helps-
Regards,
Mark
SpyglassltdHi,
It depends on the type of entity you are getting the EIN for. Shoot me a quick email and I should be able to help,
We invest in several different areas of the US for clients. Personally I like investing in Florida because ive lived there for five years and traded hundreds of houses and know it really well, and believe in its medium term fundamentals. We also buy in places like Indianapolis for clients but this is to execute a specific strategy which works best on low income houses.
I don't like Detroit as the taxes are super high and from Novemeber this year you need to pay the taxes for the upcoming year when you take ownership. Also there are a lot of sharks especially in the UK who are basically agents of agents of agents and essentially fifty percent of the investment price is commissions.
There are great deals to be had all over the US but I think it comes down to either investing in areas which you know or in areas where the person who you are trusting to supply you with deals knows. In my opinion any time you have more than one agent involved in a deal you should walk away as you will be paying double commissions, and its not always transparent what they are.
Regards,
Mark
SpylassltdHi Jason,
There are lots of different levels of debts and liens and some can survive the sale of the property eg tax liens and others cannot eg secondary mortgages and workman liens. This is part of the foreclosure process to work out the varying levels of seniority of debt and who will receive money from the closing table.
That being said a hard and fast rule that I have is always get a Title search and Title Insurance policy on any property you buy in the States, its inexpensive and gives you peace of mind that you own the property free and clear with no surprises around the corner. apart from liens it also ensures that the chain of title has been executed properly and the right sort of deeds were used in previous conveyances eg a quit claim deed in the chain of title would raise alarm bells for me and need to be investigated as it is only transferring any claim on the property they may have whereas a warranty deed is transferring the property absolutely.
In a nutshell the Title Search, will throw up any registered liens or other ownership claims on the property and the title policy insures you against there being any others, or any ownership issues relating to liens etc that were or were not discovered on the Title Search. Most companies can turn them around in about three-five days and for a house of say $55k will cost about $65o or so. There are many many companies that issue title insurance but most are underwritten by major players like Stewart Title and these people would be happy to recommend resellers wherever your property is located.
regards,
