Not to mention a vested interest in keeping the foreclosures coming, so prices keep down and they can keep picking up them cherries

Agree, that seems to be the way – jump in when that gap is nice and juicy, jump out (or at least stop purchasing for a while) when it shrinks, repeat to taste and satisfaction, throw in some cap gains properties in other areas for good measure, and yum, no matter where it is you're cooking up your portfolio. I doubt it's a "YES" or "NO", "Here" or "There" as a permanent commitment, more a "Where and what RIGHT NOW" kinda mix…

Mattsta – you need alot more information to work out what your friend's deal was all about.
Can I suggest maybe studying a bit more about property investing generally before jumping into the (HUGE!) US foreclosure market?

These forums are a great place to start!

Also planning to experiment with holiday/student rentals with my next Japanese purchase.

Trend?

It's like you live in my head ))

Well, I know close to nothing (save what I read here) about investing in the US, so I'll stick to what I know. For a start, let me say that, if you're indeed a conniving spruiker, at least you're an eloquent, well informed one, so kudos on that at least. I'll leave the rest of the US related dissecting to those who know their turf, and concentrate on what I can answer –

 
Well,  it's not exactly refundable, it's refundable to those who end up using your services. Big difference there, unless I'm mistaken?

Well, again, no – you're making MORE money when people buy your properties, but you're certainly making (a fair amount of) money from people who become members, and furthermore, if they end up choosing not to buy from you, that money, if I understand correcly, remains in your possession. Not saying there's anything inherently wrong there (well, there might be, depending on what content becomes available for that fee), just trying to use the correct phrase here – You certainly DO make money from people "becoming members". Again, if I misunderstand your refund rules I apologize in advance.

It's not your current model, because I don't sell properties to anyone, nor do I buy them from anyone (except when I'm conducting business on my own behalf) – I represent others as their agent in Japan. The only similarity here is that we're both in the real-estate business, as far as I can see – you sell a product (property owned by your company, wherever it may have come from), and I sell a service. I also charge in advance, by the way, but this is for people WHO WISH TO USE MY SERVICES – not for people who want to see what it is that I do or what kind of property they can get by working with me. Again, not saying there's anything wrong there, only that we're nothing alike.

 
I don't quite get your drift there – you research the market thoroughly, locate what you think are the most suitable deals for your purposes (selling them, rehabbed, to clients), then purchase those properties, rehab and tenant them, so they're owned by YOU and are already making YOU some decent money, whether you're holding on to them or selling them at a profit – if you were to stop right there, and just sell them on the open market like everybody else that research would have already been well justified, in my view. Instead, you choose to sell them to a list of selective clients, who "qualify" by paying you $995 in advance. And, once more – not saying there's anything inherently wrong there, but let's call it like it is – your research is for YOUR own benefit, and clients who choose to consider purchasing from YOU are considering purchasing YOUR properties, found by YOUR research, at a profit to YOU. The fee that they pay is to see which properties YOU own and are considering selling to them.

Just out of curiosity, should your website potentially display these properties freely, and you were to charge this fee, oh, I don't know, say when a person actually wants to buy one, as a booking fee of sorts and before you go through all the hassle of qualifying them, what exactly would you have lost, save for a few hours corresponding with that person (what I call establishing a relationship with a potential client and don't charge a cent for, but maybe that's just me)? What do you stand to gain by forcing them to pay this only to view potential properties (and I've yet to read what else they get, asides from your precious time informing them of aspects of the purchase)?
 

I understand your pain, I really do, and we also experience alot of this, but unfortunately, this is business – you get window shoppers, tire kickers, time wasters etc. We also charge in advance for our SERVICE (which, again, is nothing like your model, as we don't buy, own, transfer or sell property), and take the time and effort to explicitly explain to potential clients that the properties they see online are samples, may not be available by the time they qualify and pay their fees, and should be used as guidelines to what can be achieved. We only charge when someone decides to work with us, though, and make sure they are aware that they are now being charged, as we will now be spending our resources to assist them in their intent to purchase in Japan – NOT when they're considering it or in exchange for informing them of what we can do for them or what's involved. Like you, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your model (although, if all they get for their money is your list of available properties and explanations as to what's involved purchasing in the US, I do have a problem with it), just that we're nothing alike.

No offence taken, we're actually very proud of our transparency and lack of "exclusivity" as you call it – and we're very happy to spend time informing our clients how exactly they can take advantage of the market we're in, and what it is exactly that we'll be doing for them, so that they're able to clearly see what it's worth for them. All we do is open up communications channels between cultures and environments that are normally not aware of each other – and if you think it's easy to get the properties that we advertise by yourself, I'd love to see you try and hear how you went – yes, it's possible, once you establish the experienced, multilingual, savvy and well connected team that we and others like us have (and there aren't alot of those out of the big cities and big budgets in Japan, where good cashflow deals are all but non-existent). This takes time and effort, saves a whole lot of time, effort and costly mistakes for the client, and costs a whole lot of money to set up – and this is exactly what we (proudly) charge for. By the time someone from another country finishes chasing up one of these properties, assuming he can convince the seller, realtor and agency legal reps to accept them as purchasers, we would have been able to build him a small but profitable portfolio, probably at half the overhead cost of his single unit purchase.

This is without even touching on the fact that the best deals out there (again, what you're seeing on the website are samples, updated every several weeks – you can imagine some of these properties are offered on and accepted a bit quicker than that) don't normally reach our (or anyone's) website, as they're advertised in a quick email first, and often "snatched" over the phone before they get published, by a qualified buyer who had us (or somebody else) ready to pounce for them. But of course, you know how all this works – the only difference is really in when and what we charge our clients for, and whether this is all that we make (in our case and that of other buyers' agents and proxies), or just as an added "bonus" or "insurance" (in your case).

Again, I may disagree, depending on what it is you give your clients for this membership fee and how exactly you refund them if they're unhappy with the content – and this was what my comment regarding free content was aiming at. I'd still love to hear what it is you offer your clients for this $995 fee because, no offense, charging them just to view listings that you've researched, purchased and rehabbed because you want to sell them at a profit, doesn't cut it for me personally.

$995 to look at a website? wow! there's a marketing strategy to try!

No, on second thought, I hereby decalre, (like facebook!), that looking at our website shall always remain free!

wish it was as simple as that