New investor with lots of funding ** looking for direction

[Timothy Valley]

Hello all, I'll get right to the point and try to keep this as short as possible. My day job for the last 10 yrs has been with one of the largest trading companies in China. I've made a lot of connections with wealthy individuals there who more and more are looking to make investments into the US market. Less to do with "investing" in the US and more to do with simply getting some of their money out of China. Therefore their expected ROI is much lower than typical investors. Their eagerness has really peaked so I'm looking to capitalize. I have very little real estate background (have bought and sold my last 2 homes by obtaining my real estate license). However, I'm looking to get into real estate investing in a significant way. I'm reading and absorbing as much as I possibly can. However, I could use some direction on what I should focus my learning as well as what specific area of expertise of mentor I should be searching. Essentially, what would you do in my situation? What should I be focusing on organizationally? Should I set up an investment fund? What would be the best setup for me specifically as someone who will only be contributing sweat equity? I live in Los Angeles and was leaning toward apartment building that I could then help turn around and manage but I am 100% open ears to any advice or direction anyone is willing to give. Thanks! Cheers

[Greg Dickerson]

@Timothy Valley China has a lot of restrictions regarding investing outside of the country including limiting the amount they can invest especially in the US right now. Your investors need to check rules and regulations on the limitations as well as tax implications.

You should definitely consult an SEC attorney to discuss proper structure and offerings when dealing with foreign investors. Most countries have their own equivalent of the SEC so they need to research on their end first. It’s not super complicated in the US just a little more paperwork and cost. There a couple of ways to handle foreign investment capital so you need to research your options and choose the best method for your situation. One of the easiest is you would include certain language in your filing to allow foreign investors and then withhold a certain percentage of all their earnings and send to the IRS like a withholding tax and the investor would file a return directly with the IRS and handle taxes in their own country.

Next step is to immerse yourself in every aspect of the type of property you want to invest in. You need to know the business intimately before you accept investor capital for your deals.