Hi Queengucci and Dave,

Yes ,Building ,  renovation ,material costs and labour are much cheaper in the Usa than Australia.

But you have gotta be careful who you deal with.I know many people who have been overcharged for building work,especially foreigners.not only that but never pay up front .Always give installments and check the job on the way through,otherwise the builders get lazy and slack off on quality.

Also for a further saving, if you know the right people, you can get workers that work for a very reasonable rate for you to reno yr houses.
I would always advise you oversee and lead them in the job though to make sure you know yr getting a good quality job.

There are also some really good places that you can buy chepaer building materials.
For example ,on the propertys we have been reno ing in Texas ,we have been getting some materials from Habitat for humanity.It is a business which gives all its profits to building houses for people who would never ever be able to afford them otherwise.
How it works is alot of the big companys give them their products as a tax deduction for them(being fully written of on thier books)and they are doing something that really makes a difference.
Other companys give the HFH company any seconds
 of building materials or discontinued stock. It works out well for everyone!!

Very interesting Ben !
is there any one of these tenant data bases in particular that most property managers and real estate agents use and record the bad tenants ?Can anyone go and check info on tenants?

thanks man

Hi Zoe,
sorry about yr situation.
On the positive though if you are able to take up a possible option to still purchase the property a)having it fully renovated by the deprtment or

b) purchase it at a much cheaper price allowing for extra equity for you after repirs done.
you may get an absolute bargain?!!

By the way is this proeprty in a certain outback nsw town in the south area?
Its just alot of things you have mentioned ring a bell with some propertys that werre sold recently while i was in town and vandels came in the night of the sale(DHC)auction and burnt it .
any way just interested.

all the best,
im sure yll get  a fair deal in the end,but dont be anctious to get out at any cost as it might turn out to be a better deal in the end.

hi Greengucci,
you can try Ben carmona ,he does many different loan s for foreigners.I got one through him last year.

hes on
 www.bencarmona.com

Just a word of warning about the usa investing.
Make sure you speak to at least 5 different foreigners who have already done it.
Make sure they have had at least 18 months experience also.

Also Generally speaking:
Just be careful before you go big into it as it is very easy to make a loss being so far away.
Without being over dramatic ,MANY people have fried their money over there !
It works very different over there to in oz also.
      For example you never ever should pay "retail" as you will probably not get it back when you re sell it. 
as there are so many under valued deals people will of course buy them first.(especially with the sub prime issues!)

     Also be careful if yr doing "buy and hold" deals as it is tough to get them managed in certain areas.

Bets regards

Hi guys,
yes definately dont buy if you havent seen a house for sure!!
In regards to Broken Hill ,Skippygirl is correct .It is pumping! My properties have all either double and tripled in the last 3 years.I am confident it should at least double again in the next few plus years too as there still is very cheap properties available.
*(just be careful with the 300K+ props are they are still slow moving ,sale wise.)
South BH is getting better for sure and mostly had a bad name from the aboriginal communes in there.They have since sold those off and disbursed the ternants to all different areas of broken hill .The South is actually a quieter area than the north these days .
 The mines are exploding also and the town has proved that even if the mines close it can stay afloat as since a few years back the mines only employ 500 workers.
There is talk of BHP doing some deals just outside the Hill again too.Imagine that hey ,the huge superpower company coming back to where they were born!
At the end of the day just do yr research and be careful as resource booms do come to an end eventually ,so have an exit strategy and a plan once yve made yr profit.

In regards to the LMortgage insurance go to a good broker and they will get you a loan easily. ANZ ,adelaide bank,commonwealth etc etc will do a 80% lo/no doc loan for you at 80%LVR.

kind regards

Hi Bardon,
good to hear from you man !
Spewin yve lost out man big time.
It has been a huge learning experience for me also,
I ended up breaking even on my last 2 in buffalo but have another one im considering luquiidating at the moment for around half what it owes me.
I might try your agent next.

Bardon Hope everyhthing else in life is good for you man

kind regards
luke

Hi Christine ,

welcome !!

The postcode 78242 includes a lot of different subdivisions eg,Indian Creek,Gateway Terrace,Lackland City,Sky harbor,Hidden cove,Dove valley estates ,Ridge stone,Valley hi etc etc.So Its important to have a good look around and check out the area "on the ground"actually being there in person.
Then you know what yr buying into.

Certainly do all yr due diligence aswell eg,on yr computer and phone calling alot of different people with opinions in the area.

I have some properties in san an actually and it has taken some time to get it to all to run smoothly thats for sure. I have found a big difference in the way we aussies do business (generally speaking)so it takes time to make it all happen.

Try http://www.realtor.com for retail prices but you really shouldnt pay these prices as there are plenty of under market deals available.
also try  http://homes.point2.com/Neighborhood/ this site to get a vague idea of the areas demographics etc.(note :these sites can be highly innacurate at times also so be careful.

all the best

Luke

Hi Emma,

good on you for going for it!

I love nsw west and have a few properties out there. There are good sections in dubbo,bathurst for sure just do yr homework.

I also believe wellington(props a bit cheaper too) and orange will go ahead in the next few years due to the biggest jail in aus in wellington and orange has a new highway and hospital too.

 Also if you want to venture further out ,Broken hill is booming at the moment.It is about to double again (and has just doubled in value once already, in the past 4 years)

Hi mate,

no probs at all !

Married life is great thanks man but my little wifey was in a head on car accident a couple of weeks ago.

Praise God she is ok ,it makes you appreciate every moment definately!

On the topic mate Michael s site is
 http://www.michaelplaks.com
he has some good advice on there for related issues also.
Just remember thought that Micky is very busy and popular and there can be a delay in getting yr tax done,but he
is always trustworthy in getting done .he has a big reputation.

all the best guys and gals
Kind regards

Luke