Ben,

Odds are that the company you were dealing with were a dodgy scam so your instincts were probably correct. You need to do plenty of research and educate yourself about the US before you consider investing there. Read through some topics in this forum…you will learn some stuff in that. After you read a few you will start to pick up who has the knowledge and experience. There are the guys from the US such as Jay, Kyle, Alex, Cheeves, who all operate in different markets and have many years of experience between them all. Then there are some Aussie investors such as Emma who I think lives in the US and helps Aussie investors. World Investor has been doing well and knows her stuff and Speedy Gonzales seems to be having success.

Then once you have a plan in place you need to spend some dollars and jump on a plane and go and investigate the market you have chosen for yourself and spend some time doing some due diligence. Yeah it all adds up to dollars so if your only considering 1 property in the US then it's probably not worth the effort. If your considering multiple or building a portfolio and treating it like running a business then it's worthwhile in my opinion. It's not a sit and forget type of investment and it will require your input and monitoring although Jay has the only type of opportunity that I think would qualify as sit and forget type of investment.

Looks like Texas is leading the way with new home construction as well…

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/housing/2012/06/texas-housing-juggernaut/2288/#

This video is also a good link for anybody wanting to know a bit more about Texas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmqKic5Y8DI&feature=player_embedded

Emma,

Texas…pro tenant ?? No you have it wrong. Texas is very pro landlord. One of my places….just went through an eviction process and he & his contents were out in the street in 21 days straight.

In Texas, there is no defense for non-payment of rent. Rent is due on the 1st of the month….it's officially late by the 3rd. On the 3rd day a Letter of Demand was hand delivered by the PM. Most property managers in Texas use a promulgated TAR form (Texas Association of Realtors). The TAR agreement provides a demand notice of three days for tenants to vacate the property. If it's not paid by the 3rd day an eviction notice is filed with the county courthouse. Within a few days the sheriff delivers papers to the tenants. Generally you then have from 6-10 days for the judgement to be awarded to you. Once judgement is awarded they have 5 days to appeal otherwise a Writ of Possession is issued and the Sheriff will oversee the tenants and their possessions being removed to the street.

My only bugbear….if the contents weren't removed within 24-48 hours…I would have to pay and arrange for the contents to be removed and disposed of (thankfully they were!!)

Generally speaking…the red states are good

Totally agree with you Emma.

Investing in the US is no different to investing in OZ in that there is different courses for different horses so to speak !! EVERY investor is different and has different needs and objectives. Tell me if I am wrong but the person you were speaking to yesterday you mentioned has only ever been used to investing on the basis that homes only ever go UP in value ? So concentrated on equity via appreciation ?

We don't do large tour groups. Most of our buyers come on their own accord under their own travel arrangements. We do suggest some places of accommodation close to our office for convenience and you get our corporate discounts at them under no obligation. Most will spend a few days meeting property managers etc & looking around at the homes for sale or sold. The object of large tour groups is to promote a sense of urgency so you feel you have to buy so you don't miss out. Reminds me when I was over last I had a couple of clients that wanted to come with me. As we were looking at homes this lady kept on saying oh I don't like this and oh I don't like that. When we stopped to buy a coffee she pulled me over to the side and said I want to buy those two homes. I said to her but you spoke like you didn't even like the homes and she replied well I didn't want the other person buying them !! Funny when emotions and investing combine….

Gavin,

Well done for speaking out. I hope this serves as a training tool for people contemplating investing in the US real estate market. Looking forward to hearing the whole story from you. You have the support of many on this forum believe me.

Kyler,

STAY CLEAR of them is all that I will say. These guys were part of the break up remnants of the company MyUSAProperty featured on the story. I'll say no more !!

The interesting part is that the woman’s father….the one that shot Mr McNicol…he had recently won a million dollars so the McNicol family is taking civil action against him as well.
I agree with Kyler….wouldn’t touch Detroit as a foreign investor….best left to the locals to play in

Since we are speaking of economists….

The First Law of Economics…the only thing more dangerous then an economist is an amateur economist.
The Second Law of Economics…..the only thing more dangerous then an amateur economist is a professional economist.

Remember…amateurs built the Arc….Professionals built the Titanic !!

Hey Worldy,

Most definitely 100% full income verification loans. Tax returns for last 2 years, payslips, evidence of deposit etc etc. No major hoops to jump and most of my clients get a pre-approval in place within a week before we let them go to contract on a property.

To be honest the most technical part is after approval and getting the Deed of Trust (mortgage) witnessed and Notarised here in Australia. After it is notarised and gets the Notary Seal you also need what is called an Apostille Seal which is issued by DFAT. All to do with the Hague Convention and international law and signing outside of the USA but that's also straightforward once you get pointed in the right direction