Nothing against LLC’s – as you said put your property IN LLC’s. Don’t buy someone else’s LLC that may (or may not – particularly if you deal with Andrew Allan) have a property in it. Big difference!
These guys are not Real Estate agents, they are not allowed to legally sell real property (probably not allowed to even work in the US) so they get around that by buying and selling LLC’s.
They are buying something they know nothing about and selling to someone after adding a bewilering range of fees and charges onto the purchase price.
I hope everyone understands.
Got it. Very shady indeed.
LLC…. only method of avoiding title cooling periods set up by many states to stop flipping…. So, if you do not know who will buy the property that you are flogging, you simply purchase under an LLC, then find some gullible foreigner willing to pay your hyper inflated prices and cleverly even make them pay for the very LLC that allows you to flog the property and circumvent all the rules stopping title transfers…
Theme: LLC = asset protection (right up until lawyer pierces the corporate veil but they don't mention that bit)… Therefore we love and care so much about you, random foreigner we are screwing, that to protect your asset, we have set up an LLC for you and we will only charge you $900 to do so and give you a US bank account in the process… Even though you could set up an LLC by yourself for $350 in total including business license and articles of incorporation (just go to http://www.nvsos.gov and click under "how to start a new business)… And the US bank account is pretty damn useless and also something ANYONE can set up for free from Australia <moderator: delete language>!
Oh, they care deeply about you…. They are EXPERTS at screwing you…funny how they can all sell fear and that you need an LLC but not how to look up title documents or find who bought the properties next to yours or how much they paid……
All free information from your local county government websites…..
For Clark County Nevada…… Go to http://www.clarkcountynv.gov Click on assessor property search and see…… Oh my gosh, look you can see neighborhood sales within 1000 yards of your property….. You can see who owns them, when they bought you can see the original deeds…. Fab tool for whether you are buying in an investor owned enclave….. Obviously if all have been sold in the past 2 years… Think scary!
No, we won't tell you that…. Or that if you have an asset worth only 60k, and you have 500k of liability insurance and that is all you own in the states, the chances of being sued are tiny to infintessimal if you keep your property to code and seriously???? 500k is two brain tumor operations on a tenant directly paid by your insurance company due to your gross personal negligence of a well documented fault.
No, we just need to sell the fear that you MUST have an LLC that you MUST have set up for you because we are just so caring about your asset and the chances of being sued…….which sounds like 100% likely…. Not tempting fate here but I have managed to survive a bloody large number of properties over the past 13 years in the states without being sued…. I would like to think that prevention rather than paranoia would be a good consideration. Um, really silly question but of all those out there in this massively litigious society …. How many of you have actually been sued and was it EVER not handled by your standard landlords insurance? I actually can honestly say I know of ONE person who was sued in Nebraska (snow) by a tenant and that is only here say.
LLC's definitely have their place and I have several BUT BUT BUT… Just be aware there is more to the LLC route than meets the eye in this instance…
If you want an LLC, set it up for yourself in the name of your choosing… follow the operating agreement if you file one, make sure you understand YOUR obligations for it and what to do……. Then think… Hmmmmm, maybe umbrella insurance is a good idea…(ie they pierce the corporate veil they get to me, they then hit my umbrella insurance).
That video is pretty scary….
Good Insurance coverage and killer lawyer do more than a LLC. It's doesn't really give you much protection.
Where does this person claim they are working from? I seen reference to Orlando but I never heard of this guy….. I work with a National firm in downtown Orlando myself. Whomever he is and if in fact he lives in Florida; you can verify if he is licensed and or has any complaints against him by visting this website: https://www.myfloridalicense.com/wl11.asp
example: you put in my name John R Keeler and you can verfify the licensing and current status.
If this guy is not from Florida; there should be a website in the state he works from that has licensing information. If he is not licensed as a Real Estate Agent / Broker then there certainly could be some reason to be very concerned here.
John-USA-CommercialRE
Email MeLicenced? Qualified? If you don’t even need to be competent why would you bother with anything that would require hard work? I would be very surprised if he is even in the US on anything other than a tourist Visa.
If you are in the area, check out his office at 201 N Magnolia (at least it was very recently). It might be interesting to have a professional visit a genuine LLC scam artist in his lair:)
If you know a local agency to complain to, please pass on the details to Richard Davies (Gavin) on this website.
These guys are giving your industry a bad name and hurting the RE market.
It is possible that he fits under the ‘wholesaler’ category.
Below is an interesting post on the difference between real estate agents / brokers, versus real estate wholesalers, and the respective implications regarding Florida law:
Many investors prefer to buy from wholesalers as opposed to licensed realtors, as the former only deal in ‘off market’ properties which are not on the MLS (ie open market). There are pros and cons to both approaches.
Due diligence is king, as always.
Except this guy buys from wholesalers – and doesnt care what he gets.
I pass on sales to others that i could potentially whole sale if i had a buyers list for them. It just comes down to good honest people. I know realtors that are crooks also, they just do it with a state license, lol.
Qualified isn’t perfect, but it is a start – and there is a legal recourse (of sorts).
I would rather buy from a legal crook than an illegal one:)
I had a bad experience just thousands of others not naming any company in particular but they all do the same thing which is flipping for want of a better word.
I lost 60K and almost my home but instead of getting angry i took them on.
I set up my own US property firm
We don’t sell homes for a start
We just sell the service and source property to meet investors needs with no financial interest in the property as it should be.
I too have heard so many people tell me their stories about slick sales men but if there is just one thing i can advise it is this.Get the full address before making any commitment you may laugh and think of course but you will be very surprised how many just will not disclose it because that opens the door for you to do your research through zillow.com and trulia.com and the like.
If ever there is an issue getting the full address walk away fast!
this should solve 90% of the problems providing you do your homework.I actually wrote to the 7:30 report (email) thanking them on their story and for 3 years now asking ASIC to play ball with this industry for tighter regulation in most cases these companies change their names every so often or have 2 separate companies running full of smoke and mirrors.
Anyway my 2 cents worth i don’t get to the forums too much but glad to provide my insight where i can.
In most cases there is 10% commission on sale to the Aussie agent on average but some may secure as much as 30k if they are doing the US part as well, I should know i get asked to flog the same over priced crap on other sites almost every week.All the best
Jason Simpson
http://www.cashflowgold.com.auJason
Before you were selling or sourcing in Detroit now I see you are everywhere. If you do not use a wholesaler how do you deal in so many markets
Nigel Kibel | Property Know How
http://propertyknowhow.com.au
Email Me | Phone MeWe have just launched a new website join our membership today
If your investing in Detroit only buy once you have driven the neighborhood on a sat. between 10 and 4
emma171 wrote:No, we just need to sell the fear that you MUST have an LLC that you MUST have set up for you because we are just so caring about your asset and the chances of being sued…….which sounds like 100% likely…. Not tempting fate here but I have managed to survive a bloody large number of properties over the past 13 years in the states without being sued…. I would like to think that prevention rather than paranoia would be a good consideration. Um, really silly question but of all those out there in this massively litigious society …. How many of you have actually been sued and was it EVER not handled by your standard landlords insurance?
It happened to me, in April, in Australia. And no, it wasn’t an insurance matter.
emma,
LLC is so over blown both with US investors and others… Rental properties and tenants are just not a litiguous bunch….
The cost of maintaining the LLC would be better spent buying an umbrella insurance policy that you go through with a fine tooth comb and that will give you all the protection you need.. You get sued turn it over to the insurance company,, and let them fight it out Not many tenants have the funds to go up against insurance company and there is not an Attorney in the US or the planet that would take on that type of client on contingency… 35 years 1000 plus properteis owned managed sold,,, never once have I had a suit from a tenant…. the liablity if there is any comes when you sell a property, and there is a lack of disclosures or you withhold information that you should have known… But then you should be using a US real Estate broker that has Eand O insurance that will step in and protect the seller. I am thinking the OZ investor needs the LLC simply to get a ITIN number if its necessary for that then its necessary,, However you can file your own LLC agreement in many states for $50 bucks.
Another by product by the way of the TWH model… Absolutly no liablity on the investors side no need for LLC and all those costs.
The transactions that we did with the doctors group,,, they bought the mortgages in their super fund name… we send wires each month to the super fund end of story,,, No big expense for them on the accounting side…Not that I intended TWH to have this convience and safety factor just a by product…. our US investors love it.
At the end of the Day one of my early mentors ( he owned a Jet boat engine manufacotring company in LA sold it and made a big bundle)) And he gave me my first 3 bounces in a Cessna 310 when I had never landed a twin before)))
ITS ABOUT WRITE ON'S I COULD CARE ABOUT WRITE OFF'S I WANT ALL THE WRITE ON'S I CAN GET and to this day I always use that stratigey,, write off s are nice but write on;s are much better.
JLH
I agree 100% with you Jay, but also Emma171 is right, as well. In a nation where everybody can sue everybody for any reason, the existence of the LLC is mandatory for an investor in order to protect his/her assets. I've heard stories when the owner had to pay large amounts for tenants injured (real or…) on their property. My insurance agent told me stories about people buying mansions based on the money they've got from a car accident or some other type of injury… He told me that (I didn't know this fact and I bet that most of you don't know it, as well) Michgan is the only state in the US where the insurance medical claims can be unlimited! That's the reason many people, especially those living close to the border of Michigan to the other states, move in Michigan only for this reason.
I, personally have what Jay suggested: an umbrella policy hold by my umbrella LLC which covers ALL the other LLCs , owning the properties. The premium is 50% than regular (based on the multiple properties) and it gives the advantage of covering a lot more than the usual insurance.Just a follow up to the 730 Report Story, I spoke to the producer of the story regarding My USA Property that went to air, Greg Miskelly, tonight and asked him if they had heard anything from Andrew Allan and My USA Property. He said that they had sent phone and email follow ups but had heard absolutely nothing from him. He believes that story in The Warmnbool Post was all hot air on Andrew’s behalf. The My USA Property site has gone down and I have not heard from Andrew Allan at all until basically straight after the story. Greg reckons he’s gone in hiding for a while.
I guess the only concern from that point of view is that I do recall Andrew talking about expanding his business to Saudi Arabia, among other countries outside the US. Obviously his name is not going to be worth promoting, but I suggest that people keep an eye out for companies promoting US properties overseas and let me know if there are any simularities with the marketing regarding My USA Property.
Is there an R/E professional anywhere here without umbrella insurance? I think my earlier posts were on that theme….. mind you, again, if heightened concern – whack it all on….. will eat yield but still. I said several but I think it is 5 LLC’s and took most out because the huge consideration is refinancing – for a US person anyway – sorry FNAP’s.
E&O and Umbrella… have to love it. I carry 3 mill.
Actually in Alaska tenants tend to sue – something about 3 weeks of -60 degrees and you want to start killing anyone for anything and being couped up in the dark….
I miss Alaska….
RICHARD
OMG – just read your post – expanding to Saudi will be PERFECT….. I lived in Bahrain for 7 years… trust me, he will literally be like a lamb to the slaughter……… unless he heads to the .5 million level+ he will be eaten alive.
MIA is huge for the Gulf nationals (Oman, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi) but they won’t suffer fools… just hope he isn’t targeting the expat community…..
If it is firm, Richard, as you know better than most….. we should get ahead of it and you send a letter to Al Jazeera and Gulf News etc…. the expat community is SMALL, a heads up from “home” will be taken VERY seriously….
HE can’t hide there. If he ticks off the wrong person….. lol…. removing a website would be the LEAST of his worries.
J.Simpson wrote:I had a bad experience just thousands of others not naming any company in particular but they all do the same thing which is flipping for want of a better word. I lost 60K and almost my home but instead of getting angry i took them on. I set up my own US property firm We don't sell homes for a start We just sell the service and source property to meet investors needs with no financial interest in the property as it should be. I too have heard so many people tell me their stories about slick sales men but if there is just one thing i can advise it is this. Get the full address before making any commitment you may laugh and think of course but you will be very surprised how many just will not disclose it because that opens the door for you to do your research through zillow.com and trulia.com and the like. If ever there is an issue getting the full address walk away fast! this should solve 90% of the problems providing you do your homework. I actually wrote to the 7:30 report (email) thanking them on their story and for 3 years now asking ASIC to play ball with this industry for tighter regulation in most cases these companies change their names every so often or have 2 separate companies running full of smoke and mirrors. Anyway my 2 cents worth i don't get to the forums too much but glad to provide my insight where i can. In most cases there is 10% commission on sale to the Aussie agent on average but some may secure as much as 30k if they are doing the US part as well, I should know i get asked to flog the same over priced crap on other sites almost every week. All the best Jason Simpson http://www.cashflowgold.com.auHi there
I agree with your comments – if an address is not provided walk.I am amazed at how many investors will buy blind regardless. Buying property from these groups is akin to playing Russian routlette, how can you possibly make an informed decision when you have no idea what you are purchasing.
WI
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