Recommendations for USA all-in-one property managers

Hi C-man,

Send an email to [email protected] I am happy to recommend my contacts that I have bought through. They do everything you have mentioned on behalf of the investor.

Regards,
Engelo

Hi guys,
I'm new on this forum; I just took a look around on different topics and got amazed by the multitude of miss-information or miss-direction of the  investors trying to enter into the US real estate market. I'll try to help as much as possible.
First, let me introduce myself: my full first name is Ovidiu, but just call me Ovi, as it will be easier for you to remember it. Currently, I live in Vancouver, Canada since 2006., when I moved from the US where I lived between 1995-2006. I was on a work visa (H1- as a mechanical engineer and after that I worked in the construction industry. I couldn't get the Green Card in time and for this reason I moved to Canada. I have my own renovation company for almost 6 years (based on the experience gained in the US ) and I'm extremely familiar with the construction practices in the North American continent.
I'm crazy about smart investing; I invest in metals (gold and silver) and real estate. It took me almost 8 month to learn how and, more important, WHERE to invest in the US, as EACH U.S. state/county/township/city has its OWN specifics! Keep this in mind and don't GENERALIZE! Also, I've seen in some other posts that people get sentimental about some properties: some love new ones, some love the areas, some like the neighborhoods,etc.,etc. Guys, as investors NEVER do your calculations based on what your heart tells you, GET A PENCIL AND A PIECE OF PAPER AND DO THE MATH. As I say all the time to my potential investors: "doesn't matter where the property is located; it can be a tent in the middle of Antarctica, or a shelter in a middle of Sahara, as long as it CONTINUOUSLY brings money and is a long term money making machine, that's a good investment ".
I lived and worked in the U.S. on most of the Eastern cost and Midwest and I'm very familiar with the American mentalities, way of living, goals, expectations, quality of life, etc., which, again, are different from location to location.
As an investor, the main focus has to be on the cash-flow, that's what everybody knows; in order to have a great cash-flow you have to consider the ratio price of acquisition/income first of all. As much of the income coming from rents is pretty close to an average in all the US states, the main factor influencing the cash-flow is the purchasing price. Secondly, other expenses such property taxes, management fees, HOA (Home Owner Association) fees, maintenance fees, insurance premiums are affecting the cash-flow, but in a minor manner.
From the investor's point of view I want to present some so called traditional places for investment in the US and the DOWNS of investing in those areas:
    – Las Vegas, Nevada – low purchasing prices (advantage), but very high vacancy rate. The world's gambling capital move from Vegas to Macao 1-2 years ago. As the locals say "Vegas is a ghost city" now. Only the "Strip" area is somehow populated, the rest of the city is filled with Mexicans. I had good connections there and it was very obvious that investing in Vegas will be a mistake.
  -Florida – very few properties worth buying, as lots of Canadians did what Chinese people did in Vancouver in 1987: they damaged the local real estate market through acquiring properties at the ASKED prices, waaaay above the real price, due to a false comparison with Canadian market (extremely expensive compared to the US market – probable comparable with the Australian). Lots of residential rental subdivisions changed their profile, the landlords practically splitting them into smaller properties (condos-apartments) and selling them to prospective investors. Suddenly, most of this types of properties had no more management, no more security, no more maintenance crews, etc. and ALL the areas were invaded by low class people, drug-addicts, gangs, etc. One of the worst and full with criminality area in Florida is Kissimmee (Disney properties), together with Orlando. The purchasing price for a rental house is pretty low, but the cash flow is diminished by the high HOA fees + management fees.
 – Arizona – Phonies is a very nice area with low investor potential in my opinion. The good rental areas are Tempe (University area) where the rent is pretty small and the HOA fees are high. Add the management fee and you'll have a very small cash-flow.
  -North-Carolina  – economically stable, but the acquisition price is high and the cash-flow is small.
   When I say the cash-flow is small I compare all the above areas with the ONLY area worth investing in the US: MICHIGAN State, with the cherry on the cake: DETROIT.
 I've been in all the above mentioned states and tried to find good investing potential, but, believe me guys, all those areas gathered together don't have even 5% of the potential Detroit offers. Let me explain:
    – the acquisition price: extremely low when compared to the other cities. 90% of the houses in Detroit are SOLID BRICK and not wooden frame.
    – the rent is high and pretty much stable all over the city: around $850/month for a 3 bedroom house
    -extremely low vacancy rate : most of my renters are Section 8 tenants (welfare program with rent paid by the US Government).
So far, the Section 8 tenant program has an almost 2 years backlog (there aren't enough houses compared with number of prospective tenants)
    -very low eviction rate, due to a simple fact: if a Section 8 tenant is evicted by the landlord, he/she won't ever get help from the Government. Anyways, most of the Section 8 renters are represented by single women with children. The Property Management company I'm using has a very tough screening process (that's why it takes up to 1 1/2 – 2 month to completely rent a house); in 14 years they didn't have to evict anyone – their vacancy rate is practically 0 !
    – very low bottom price; what is today $40K, was 150-200K only 3-4 years ago. Sooner or later the prices will bounce back – that an economical and financial law.
   – almost 0% maintenance reserve, due to the fact that all the properties are completely rehabbed before being rented out.
   – minimum cash-flow of 16%. For bulk purchases, the cash-flow can get up to 25%
    And many, many other reasons…
    In some other post, somebody who visited the US said that in the beginning was afraid of the black people. Man, he wasn't in Detroit for sure, where 98% of the population is black. But, as one of those guys once told me: "I live in Detroit and I'm not afraid to be here, but if I'll have to go to Toronto, I'll sure be very scared." You see, Detroit is a huge city (144 square miles – 3 cities as big as San Francisco can easily fit on that area), and only 3-5% of it is worth investing, and for this you have to know the city extremely well. Detroit is a block-by-block city and offers very nice opportunities for those willing to invest here. You don't have to be afraid of the criminality rate in Detroit or anywhere in the States – you are buying a property for investment purposes, not to move there. As long as you have high cash-flow from your business and are covered by the US laws you don't have to be afraid
<moderator: delete advertising>
   Another guy, on another post here said: "There is no tax on capital gain in the US". Wrong ! If you keep the property less than 1 year and sell it the tax is 30%, if you sell it after more than 1 year is only 15% out of the profit. Also, if you don't intend to sell it and keep it just for rent, the tax is 10%. Anyways, there are legal ways to dodge the tax in your advantage. <moderator: delete advertising>

Hi Everyone,

I am seriously looking to invest in Las Vegas, can anyone share some thoughts, ideas, tips or information regarding this?
Thank you all in advance for your replies.

Aussieus,

Get in touch with Emma171… Check this forum.

http://www.selectusaproperty.com/

Best of luck…

Cheers,
O

Aussieus, in my opinion you are making a mistake. Vegas is good if you need a vacation property for you and your family. I've got out from an auction in Vegas at $2000 (!) for a very nice property (Foreclosure, 2700 sq.ft, 3 bedroom, very clean, with almost nothing to renovate). Who you gonna' rent it to? People is fleeing out of Vegas, looking for some other locations with more economical potential. You want to find tenants 3-4 times/ year and pay the filling fee each time to the property management company? I doubt it.
Also the cash on cash-flow is not very good in Vegas. The cheap properties are in North Las Vegas which is full of bad neighborhoods and nobody wants to move there, except for Mexicans maybe, who are NOT long term tenants. If you are looking to buy in a good area, the house will be around 60K, but the cash-flow will be to low in this case to even consider spending the money. Think as an investor: where are the most of the money to be made? Don't worry about how nice the location is or how cheap the property is compared to what was 3-5 years ago. In some cases the old prices won't come back and the properties won't appreciate to the old levels and in my opinion Las Vegas is a very good example. Don't make the mistake to listen to realtors!!! 99% of them don't know anything about investing, cash-flow and thing connected with this. They know only good and bad locations and that's pretty much all. They are fighting for their commissions. In 12 years in the US I didn't find even one good real estate agent-investor. I don't say that are not good , but I didn't come across any, so far. So, be careful. Take a piece of paper and a pen and do your math; how much do you want to invest, how much do you want to get out of your investment ?(the answer has to be: THE MOST).

Hi Mihovi,

Name any other US city that has lost 200,000 people in 10 years. The loss of tax revenue when these people leave is having a huge economic effect to the point the state of Michigan is considering a takeover of the city of Detroit. The fire commissioner has a policy of letting unoccupied homes burn to the ground. The city has already razed 4000 homes in 2 years.

Mihovi,

Nice sales pitch and your information could not be farther from the truth… or maybe your stretching it just a tad bit.

No one has zero vacancy and no Section 8 houses has zero maintenance,,, with those statements your credibility on this forum should just be sent to the round file…

The idea on this forum at least from my perspective is to put some reality into the Turn key and rental owning business.. And make no mistake its a business not a set it and forget it venture when an investor takes all the risk of ownership.

And to make statements that Detroit is the only place and  the other statements as I mentioned above well thats just not in the best interest of someone living half a world a way.. And thinking they will have those kinds of experinces.  If it was that easy the houses would never have gone down in value that much and everyone would be rich!!!

Why don't you expound on the benefits of Devils night and or the well oiled machine that is Wayne county  

I think the audiance on this site will pretty much disregard your statements.. At least I hope they take them with a grain of salt.

I did 200 plus deals in Detroit personally some good and some total nightmares… Its a tough and rough town.. And can be just downright dangerous…. for the uninitiated.

   …And I don't see where your point is. Yes, the new Mayor Bing plans to level down another 300 houses in the next 5 years. What's wrong with that? How does this influence my investments? While some other so called "hot spots for foreign investors" strugle with high vacancy rates, Detroit is not beween them, for sure. It still has aroun 1 million houses for a 750 K population (more houses that people, as you see), but what counts is the number of LIVEABLE houses. Don't think that the City bulldozes the houses in good shape; NO, they get rid of all burned and extemelly bad shape properties, most of them in junk areas. I don't see how this affects me, as an investor, in a negative way. On contrary, it helps me to get more stable tenants and rapidly get the new properties filled up pretty fast. High competition at a rental level for prospective tenants means more stable and higher returns for investors! I'm sorry for all the guys who lost their properties (most of them on TAX foreclosures in the Detroit area), but this means better things for me as an investor. I'm not sentimental here at all, when it comes to making MONEY. Even if the whole city of Detroit looks like a war zone ("Beirut" zone as it's called by the locals), this doesn't bother me, as I don't live there and it's helping me to make more,safer and faster money than anywhere else in the US.
     Regarding the TAX MONEY: doing a small calculation we average 400 houses/year  taken out of the TAX circuit. That means an average 2k-2.5k for each house/year in property taxes. My friend, who is one the biggest wholsalers in Detroit sales around 150/year to investors. Another company has an average of 100 houses/year. So, the taxes taken from the investors and wholesalers are probably higher in amount than the taxes taken from the house owners. What is realy bad is that the City is so greedy (due to their misplacement of the funds-they never have enough-isn't this the case with all the Goverments? ) that they are practically inventing new ways of taxing the investors ! But this is another story as I see you are not someone who is interested to invest in Detroit, only to criticize the area…

mihovi,

Your just really out there,,, 300 homes to be razed,,, what planet are you on…. Jesus,,,,,, 300 to 400 are burnt down every year on devils night…

The fact is Detroit has a surplus of over 10,000 SFR's and some say as high as 40,000, And this is from Banking industry sources that follow this data like Hawks Banks have lots billions in Detroit  ( of course other places as well).. Even the Hedge funds will not buy discounted paper in MI and OH.. there is a reason.

Yes you can make a living there and the locals can and do,, but you have to work it and work it hard and smart…

For someone in OZ to trust some company there in my mind is very risky,,,,

Remember OZ investors as you will see with my post above by and large invest for very long term… The fact is you and most of the other turn key guys will not be in business in 5 years… I know I lent to 20 to 30 of the top ones for 7 years and only 2 or 3 are still going … just the nature of the bizz….

OZ investor is way to smart to beleive this line of communications and I am shocked the modirators have let you hawk your company as you are….

I am the first to admit I am pretty opinionated about certain areas and have had to reign in my candid thoughts as I made an ass out of myself a few times.  Your doing it now my friend.

JLH