US invest

1) Deal with a US licensed real estate agent for ANY purchase – if you feel they did not put client above self – you have legal recourse – I am not saying real estate agents in the US are all upstanding citizens but if you find you have been screwed right royally – you have recourse

2) WHAT MAKES THEM AN EXPERT??? WHAT PRECISELY ARE YOU PAYING 4k FOR – ask the person on the phone – HAVE YOU SEEN THIS PROPERTY IN PERSON, WHY SHOULD I BUY THIS OVER THE ONE 3 DOORS DOWN, 3 BLOCKS DOWN ETC??? Any US real estate agent can give you FREE OF CHARGE the list of active properties for sale in the market of your choice – pick ANY of them… seriously…ask them to sign you up for free listings of available properties – then find one that meets your needs (i.e. tested rent on Trulia, looked at comps etc) and ask your Australian based US expert why they would recommend THEIR property over the one you have just randomly selected – and ask them specifically – they are OBVIOUSLY experts in that location…. why else would they charge 4k??

3) NEVER EVER buy from ANYONE who doesn’t give a precise address……

Dear HEAVENS, please please please don’t get ripped off. You need a PRECISE address, you need line itemed repairs (as in HOW much was the carpet replacement and how many square feet were replaced) … you NEED to see before photos and after photos – there is no such thing as an over 15k repair in the US unless you are pulling the damn thing back to studs, dealing with over 2400 sq ft and a truckload of repair items or dealing with a custom fit off and 90% of the properties are project homes and yes, an all in one toilet only costs $69 in Vegas and $79 in Atlanta type thing -and that is RETAIL from BUNNINGS equivalent (Home Depot) – add labour…. and even then, why not just buy a property that DOESN’T require that many repairs…. pay more and get one move in ready!

Be suspicious, be VERY suspicious – you know what, if VERY suspicious – ask them not to do a SINGLE repair, and just have Home Depot quote it – I STILL bet you wouldn’t hit 15k on most repairs.

Did you KNOW Home Depot and Lowe’s do $97 whole house install of carpet (yes, they mark up the underlay to make $$ but even so… over 1400 sq ft in carpet and you can win out)

Carpet – Assume $0.63 a sq ft to $0.90 a sq ft
Underlay – $0.49 a sq. ft for 6 lb underlay but go up and pad it (no pun) to $0.65 (you can buy underlay of course for $55 a bag = 30 yds so you can see the price difference if you use some crazy US calculator)
Whole house install – $97 (stairs extra)..

That is the TOP end of retail….. as in, you could pick up the phone and call your local Home Depot or Lowe’s Store or look on line for that and get those prices..

Now, tell me again how much you are being charged on that line item……. I am guessing that if you are an Australian foreigner, I am out on some massive limb that you are paying more than that…. and you know what, I will go so far as to say that your “expert” spruiker selling you the property from Australia would have less clue about repair costs than you do right now having read this.

In other words, call your “Australian expert” out…. ask them about their level of expertise is – I mean as a buyers agent they MUST hold a US real estate license, right? That is after all what a buyers agent is……… if they pass “how much does a toilet cost in the US?” or can discuss a 3 ton a/c unit and explain what the street you are buying on feels like to them, then yep, maybe you could start considering them….

Otherwise, buy a ticket to the US, meet any of the people on here who ARE based in the US and decide from there.

sorry, I have heard about 10 too many horrible, horrible, heartbreaking stories and I am just sick of it. WE ARE AUSTRALIANS, STICK TOGETHER AND WE WON’T GET SCREWED.

Call 4 property managers and interview them, call 4 general contractors and interview them…. I really am at the point where if you are completely screwed, google the nearest Home Depot and ask them to go out and do the work – they are steep but I bet you a million dollars they aren’t marking your repair up as much as the contractor who hears “foreign investor”.

I had a blasted contractor try to charge one of my guys $300 to replace the most useless of ALL articles in the US – a garbage disposal unit – they are (even straight up retail) only $84.95 and take me approximately 20 minutes MAX to swap out…. my regular plumber would charge $160 so trust me, if you don’t stay on top of contractors… you will get screwed.

HA – I have a better one… my FAVOURITE A/C tech who does all my coil cleans for our A/C units and annual inspections plus filter swap outs (for $55 a house) tried to charge us $166 to replace a thermostat…. guys, a programmable thermostat at MAX is $45……???!!!!! So, um, next question – how much do you charge by the hour???? Well we charge $70 an hour… right…. so um, how long again does it take you to replace a thermostat??? (NOTE, I can replace a thermostat in precisely 20 minutes)… um 30 minutes… right….. right um…. right um….

Minimum call out fee? $70 – fine, no problems….. anyhow, you do the maths….. just about keeping people honest. CHECK YOUR INVOICES!

Rant over – I don’t mind marked up prices for good honest work, just don’t even THINK about ripping us off.

Put it this way – as I happen to be doing paperwork today:

Article 2 of the Code of Ethics requires that a Realtor (and all states have the same in their licensing rules I am just not looking at that right now…) avoid the exaggeration, misrepresentation, or concealment of pertinent facts regarding the property or transaction…. (like they bought it for 40k and are trying to sell it to you for 60k – if they did, you have recourse). Client above self – legally enforceable if you are using a buyers agent (again = licensed real estate agent in the US – not idiot in Australia with a pretty brochure).

If you have a licensed real estate agent acting for you in the transaction, this applies. In fact ANY real estate agent – even if they act for the other side they will still have a duty of honesty to you- so ALWAYS ask – what did this last sell for and when (forget 2006 prices – that isn’t the point – you are just wanting to know it wasn’t sold in the last 3-6 months for 40k less than you are paying for it and if you are okay with that) – the follow up is… if you do not know, please find out for me from the seller etc, get it in writing and satisfy yourself – at least then you have legal recourse if misrepresentation occurs. Ask for comps – both sold and rentals that are within 500 yards and are the same square footage and bedrooms. You can cross reference these from the GIS located on any county website.

If you buy through an LLC – it is a FLIP – you are NOT protected on the purchase even if you end up with a lemon and there was GROSS misrepresentation of yield, repairs, location, condition etc.

“We have secured these properties” are the first words you need to be VERY VERY aware of – if they have secured it, it is a flip and heightened due diligence is required.

I can not emphasize enough – you are ONLY legally protected if you use a US licensed real estate agent and make DARN certain that you ask them – WHAT DUTIES DO YOU OWE ME AND ARE YOU ACTING AS MY AGENT ON MY BEHALF – even implied agency will get you some recourse. If you buy a flip (or an LLC) you are NOT protected if you find out that the house was bought for 40k, marked up by 40k and the whole thing collapses in 2 months time.

How are you? Simple thought process.

Question where to buy in USA

Alex = being in USA

so simple answer makes sense to speak about USA

just picking…

Hope all is well.

Yes must admit Pretty cool place here in the USA ..LOL  just got back my self from west Coast trip ( San francisco ) Malaysia _ Singapore next trip may 17th _ 23 ) So look forward to that trip. April _ Oct is usually the business travel season for me.

hahahahahahahahah both

Engelo10: it might look a bit daunting with US property guys ‘all’ selling things (speedy and I certainly do not) , but look at it this way: None of the guys posting here (Emma-the honorary guy, Jay, Alex, TxCC, Ziv, Kyler etc) would care if you or anyone else bought through any one of them. Sure they are letting you know they are ‘there’ but with so many eyes watching, a rorter would last 10 seconds. In fact Kyler proved it by posting a request he had received to deal with a certain Aussie company he was suspicious about. He made a post asking what people thought and one of the guys ‘selling’ immediately commented that Kyler was correct to be concerned and to keep away. Kyler had no reason to question – he would have made money, but he did the absolute right thing and didn’t tarnish his good name by dealing with a ‘bad’ company.

From that point of view these people posting and ‘selling’ things are creating a very safe and legitimate environment. From my perspective I would recommend any and all of these guys for anyone to learn from/buy through. A ‘shonk’ would be outed and embarrassed in an instant – the pool of knowledge on this forum is immense.

I am aware there has been some correspondence to Gavin (of 730 fame) from the lovely Andrew Allen of MyUSA that Andrew has not had a chance to put his side of the story across. 730 said to me they tried multiple times to get in contact, but maybe they are lying.

What better place to argue Andrew’s case than on a site like this – with his peers who ‘sell’ who would surely understand the difficulties Andrew faced dealing with Gavin? We know (or I do) that MyUSA keeps a very close eye on what is written here, so one would expect a defensive comment somewhere here would you not?

Get the point? These guys posting here are real professionals and keep each other VERY honest. Keep it up I say.

Hi Luke B,

I'm going through the exact same thing as you.
I have a company that will do the lot but am finding it hard to justify paying 4K per house when I've been researching how to do it all myself.
I'm going through a registered agent in the US for setting up LLC.  I have contacts for property managers and realtors but  just having difficult with how I go about setting up a bank account for the company.

Let me know how you get on.

STAY AWAY FROM MEMPHIS!!!!!!!

Lol, ahh Jay.

I didn't say anything about my area which i know, like a fat kid loves cake.  I love my market and am making a killing, the C class is payed off in two years on average.

I'm not the only one here that at the end of the day it's cash out and cash in, if the investment makes since why wouldn't you do what u have to make it work.  I have made my mistakes and learned how to keep myself from being one of the horror stories.  It's not hard to make 20 ROI for somebody when you can do it for yourself for 30 to 40.Memphis is a dumb compared to Kansas City.    What type of rents are you getting with those houses for 40k, I'm getting 1,000 to 1,200 for mine for that price.  But, to get back to the subject of thread.  It was about the person considering buying a Memphis USA Property scam <moderator: delete language>.

Sounds like a one stop chop shop to me.

These folk are simply resellers with massive mark ups on substandard property.

As an example.

Of their site we have the following property listed for $72k with all the associated <moderator: delete language> to entise you to buy and make you feel comfortable.

448 Brookfield Way Jonesboro, Georgia 30238

If you then check zillow or redfin or any other RE site you find that you could have bought  this property for $35k unrenovated.

The reno they will do will be a cheap reno with a max spend of $10k so they will be marking up the property $27k or nearly 100% profit margin.

This is only one example and the first one I checked so no doubt most of their offerings will follow the same business model. Leopard and it's spots and all.

If you need to buy through an organisation like this, that promises to hold you hand the whole way (they won't), then really you shouldn't be investing in the US.

Cheers