Aussie looking to invest in the US

[Michael Pang]

Hi - Thanks in advanced for reading this post and for any advice you can provide me.

I'm an Aussie looking to invest in the US real estate market. My fiancee is actually from the US (dallas) so I figured that it should assist me in overcoming any foreign ownership issues.

I'm just starting out and have been fortunate enough to come across this site. There're so much information and so many real estate strategies out there it's mind boggling!

I feel that the GFC (and subsequent decline of property values) provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to acquire good quality assets.

I'm not looking for a quick profit (although if the opportunity presents itself, i wouldn't turn it down :p). Rather, I'm in this for the long haul.

My intention is to steadily build a portfolio of quality properties with the objective of achieving the following:
1. good ongoing yield/cashflow - my initial goal is to be able to generate $20k a month in rental income. So I'm looking to buy
in areas where there is strong rental demand.
2. capital gains in the next 3-5 years when the property market recovers and values increase to pre-GFC values. So I'm really looking for undervalued properties here.

My issues are that i'm not too sure where to start and where to look as the US is so BIG! At a high level, all I know that is
that the areas that are most affected by the GFC is california, arizona, nevada and florida. Should i focus my attention on
these areas?

In addition, I'm not familiar with the US tax system, ideal property structures/vehicles or acquisition cost/ongoing maintenance cost in the US. Basically, I have a whole host of questions circling in my head!

If you have any advice on providing me with some direction on where to start, it would be greatly appreciated!

Apologies for the general nature of this message and thanks once again for reading.

Mike