Introduction of a first-time investor from overseas

[Gregor B.]

Hello BP community!

My name is Gregor, I'm in my mid-30s and from Austria/Europe. My interest in US RE was awakened back in 2008 during our road-trip through Florida when my wife and I travelled to the US for the first time. I remember as it was yesterday, when we were so impressed by the huge houses with the pool screens next to the canals in Cape Coral. "How awesome it would be to own something like that. But let's be serious, there's just no way to ever own something like that." So we did not spend any more thoughts on that (back then) unrealistic dream. This year we spent our holidays again in the US and this time, I started being more serious about it, registered here, listening to podcasts such as the BP money show (which helped me a lot with bringing structure in my financial houshold – thanks to @Mindy Jensen and @Scott Trench), reading RE/finance books, etc. What discouraged me was when I realized that foreign investors need to overcome a lot of hurdles with respect to RE investing in the US. Since I don’t want to quit my journey before it has even begun, I want to ramp things up by bringing structure to my plans and starting to actively engange with the BP community after being registered for quite some time.

So, what am I currently facing with respect to my RE journey and what are my investing plans and goals? Since I’d be investing from overseas, everything seems to be a bit more complicated:

• The biggest hurdle I’ve to overcome in this context is definitely the financing part, which seems to be an adventure on it’s own for foreign investors – a lot of lenders do not lend to foreign investors, some only lend to foreign investors, who are not first time investors, etc.

• Once I can tick off this part of my checklist, I have to connect with a CPA, who has experience with working with clients from outside the US.

• After this is done, I guess I can serioulsy start to think about buying a property. In terms of properties, I figured that turnkey properties are the way to go for me. In a picture perfect world, I would like close on my first property within the first half of the next year.

• From the first deal onwards, my goal is to build a cash-flowing rental property portfolio with properties located in different markets.

• While doing so, with the gained experience and knowledge, I want to help other people, who may be in the same situation I was initially in, with their journey.

I’d be happy to connect with people/companies here at BP, who/which are working with foreign investors or can recommend contacts in this regard (lenders, CPAs, turnkey property companies, etc).

What can people/companies working with me expect from my side? I consider myself as someone, who wants to make life easier for my business partners and give something back. That means that I put as much of an effort as possible in my projects and highly value my partner’s time and business – which is especially important, when dealing with people, who are working/living thousands of miles away and in a different time zone.

I hope, these few lines work as a proper introduction and help to jump start my journey.

I this context: all the best, best regards and enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
Gregor