Investing in US property from Australia

[Deborah Clark]

Hello 

I have been enjoying all of the Bigger Pockets content and I thought Id seek any advice you all may have on investing in US property from Australia. Specifically I  (with my husband and business partner and two little girls)  am on the path to early retirement through my business and interested in the buy and hold strategy

It kind of feels like a needle in a hay stack to me right now - as I am not familiar with areas etc

I would love to know about challenges others may have had trying to do this, tips 

We are happy to come over and do some boots on the ground searching, living in areas etc as opposed to buying sight unseen, but obviously flipping etc is not on the cards for us. 

Anyway thanks so much for any insights! 

Deb

[Deborah Clark]

Thanks for your replies everyone!

I will look into Arizona thanks for the tip! Definitely wary of spruikers - it’s certainly a risk for me investing from afar. But we’ll be definitely coming over to see things and meet in person etc before investing. 

Wow Kevin - I went to Wollongong university too 😀 small world! I love it here in Kiama. I agree with you for sure - need a property that’s pretty much ready to go. We were hoping to buy in a fairly promising area. The prices here a so much more reasonable than in Australia. I guess our only issue is financing - I have heard that we would need to pay cash instead of using finance which would definitely limit things in terms of acquiring multiple properties in fairly decent areas. 

We do have a decent income and own our home outright so there’s that which may help finance I guess? But not sure where to begin! 

Very broadly I am looking at areas near Austin, TX that are still affordable, Charleston SC or nearby but really I’m open to all suggestions! I’d love a small deal to start with then build up etc

Ideally id love to buy somewhere we’d feel comfortable visiting regularly with our little girls. 

Thanks so much everyone really appreciate it!