Thanks Terry, looks like I will have to talk with someone directly about the situation to make sure it does get done correctly. As for grandma's capacity, she is of sound mind at the moment at least. I know what you mean about pressure from other family members and that was a big concern, especially since she has 8 children who will all have their…[Read more]

The site for the Sydney Olympics was basically a wasteland prior to the Olympics, since they have come and gone there have been whole new suburbs that have taken off, notably around Rhodes, North Strathfield, Newington and Homebush etc, all these high rise apartment blocks along the river that were just not there before. The train stations along…[Read more]

Thanks for your helpful pointers

I have been in Fort Myers for a couple of days, and so far it has been a real eye opener. The place is a lot different than I expected, but it is a really nice area and I look forward to more trips here in the future.

I was able to set up business bank accounts for my LLCs with Wells Fargo, so that is great to…[Read more]

I recently had a similar situation. My brother and I purchased a PPOR a few years ago and recently I wanted out and he wanted to buy out my half of the property. I was surprised to learn that it is basically like buying a house off a stranger. So yes you will need a solictor for the necessary paperwork to ensure the bank approves the finance and…[Read more]

Thanks for your nice words.

Do you think there is realistically any chance of meeting with a bank who will allow me to obtain a loan for a property? I really think I need to leverage to really take advantage of the situation over in the US. And having to save each time to buy a new house outright is taking too long and in a couple of years I have…[Read more]

I work not too far from Chinchilla in the Coal Seam Gas mines in the area, stayed in a camp there for a few months, now I stay over in Dalby (about an hour away).

There is no doubt that at the moment Chinchilla would be a good investment and give you positive gearing for any investment you have there. But the mines will not last forever, and when…[Read more]

He works in Oz, up in QLD with me, and he has no Japanese heritage (unless his wife is Japanese but I do not believe so).

And thanks Richard, but I was not asking about an Australian institution to lend foreign currency, but good to know nonetheless.

The loan was in AUD, that is one thing I would have to ensure on. The last thing I want to do with an investment property is add currency exchange risk to the investment, there is plenty of other investments having to try to mitigate.

Interesting thread. Every time I speak to someone in Australia about our US property pursuits they seem very interested and are either actively pursuing a similar goal or have at least done a bit of research in the area. I think that there is still some way to go yet and plenty of opportunities for people wanting to invest. 

The market is slowly…[Read more]

Hi Bigfirerichie,

We've looked into opening an account with HSBC. The problem is, they will only allow you to open an INDIVIDUAL account in the US which is pretty useless as you're technically not allowed to deposit rental payments into it. This is because the US government views collecting rental payments as you operating a business and hence…[Read more]

I agree with Emma. We bought a property in Florida earlier this year and did exactly what Emma mentions in her post. It is quite easy and as long as you have a property manager that you trust (shouldn't be working with them if you don't trust them) then you can just ask them to wire you funds back to Australia whenever you need them. At the…[Read more]

I have a feeling that you are almost hoping a property is negatively geared? Even if the property is positively geared, you can still claim all of the expenses you have? And you will still have to declare your rent on your tax return anyway?

I mean sure you may pay more tax with a positively geared property, but you will still come out on top.

Hi Everyone,

We've been using an Australian real estate agent who is working Florida. Her name is Judith and she has been great in helping us buy our first property. Happy to pass on her details or if you have any questions then shoot us an email. We've written about our experience on our blog http://www.streamlineinvestingaustralia.blogspot.com

Thanks for the information Catalyst, and to clarify, I have had experience with property investment, however not much with renovations and hence I do not want to make mistakes.

Also our blog may offer some advice, but mainly is just to display our experiences so far, mainly with US investing as that is where we have had some experiences.

And to…[Read more]

Catalyst,

I assume some posts were deleted that I am missing?

Looking at our profiles – LillianWA has been a member since 9/8/2012, and I have been a member since 5/12/2010?

And also I do not believe I did any promotion anyway?

My personal opinion with investing is that it should not be a stressful experience. Don't get me wrong, it can be frustrating and a lot of hard work. But at the end of the day I do not want to have to be worried that things can go terribly wrong for myself financially.

This leads me to be a bit more 'safe' when it comes to investing and maybe…[Read more]

I believe both are fairly strong rental markets, one benefit we see attached with Maitland is hopefully there is some effect from the mining in the area that will increase the demand for renting.

Looking at both areas, they both seem to be able to provide relatively strong yields, up to $400 per week for a $300,000 property seems to be quite achievable.

Looks great so far! Though I must say when I first got to the site I thought I made a spelling mistake in the address bar, I did not recognise it at all! But it looks really good, easy to navigate as well.

Cheers
James

New South Wales, Australia…not North South West, would be a funny name though, nobody would be able to find it!

Depite your actions, most people are simply not loyal to their bank of financial institution. So it is of no wonder they are no longer loyal to us, it is disappointing but I guess that is just how things are.

It is strange, because you think showing loyalty might be a way of differentiating themselves from the other banks. But like you have…[Read more]