ok. Have sort of been putting off answering this, as I have found it a mixed bag, but as no one else has commented....!
I am from Australia and first invested in a couple of 'turn key' properties in the U.S after attending a 'boot camp' over here. Everything that could go wrong did, and I basically lost all my money over a period of about 2 years. Could blame a lack of 'due diligence', but I really didn't know what I should have been diligent about, or how to go about it.
As they say however, you learn from your mistakes, and I thus learnt a hell of a lot!
Despite this experience, I could still see there was money to be made over there, but it requires a much more 'hands on' approach. Having no money left, I started playing around with tax liens (can be had for only a few hundred dollars, but you only get the interest), and tax deeds (where you actually get the property). Got a few blocks of land which have appreciated nicely, but found houses were too expensive for me in the markets I was looking in, and often required a lot of work.
Kept researching markets and persevering ( again learning a lot from my mistakes along the way!), and about a year ago, got my first house which I 'flipped' in 3 days for a 6k profit (paid 14k for the house, which needed a lot of work). Am on my next deal now, which I got under contract for $43k. Needs 20-30k for a full rehab, has an ARV of apx $110+k.
I am planning on organising the rehab on this myself, but I have made several trips to the area already, met and talked to people locally, and started building a network of contacts.
This project has taken a long while to get going, as I had to get finance for it (I think I mentioned I had very little money!), which is EXTREMELY difficult if you are not a U.s citizen. 'Find the deal and the money finds you' does not apply to non-citizens!
Generally:
The banking system is really hard to negotiate for non citizens- you are a 'foreign alien' and treated as such. Strong reliance on paper cheques, notary signatures and the time the post takes between countries complicates matters to a surprisingly high degree.
You will have to travel over there a LOT, particularly in the beginning. No amount of Google earth or internet searches replaces actually seeing and getting a feel for neighbourhoods / properties / areas in reality. Areas you thought would be great can turn out to be duds and vice versa. You can't trust other people for this - where you finally choose has to suit what YOU are looking for and you have to be comfortable with it.
Once you have settled on an area, you will need to make MORE trips to develop personal relationships with locals.
If you do all this, you will find people who are really helpful, and keen to see you succeed (and hear your funny accent!). My loan has come through the help of people I have met over there, as have many other recommendations / suggestions. This has given me the confidence to attempt my first 'remote rehab', although it will still probaby need another trip soon.
If finance was not a problem you could probably do this much quicker than I have (I had to save up between trips!), but you might also be more prone to not finding out everything yourself from the ground up. There is a hell of a lot to learn, as there is really no point of similarity between the way the u.s. And Australian real estate markets operate.
Don't know if this was the sort of info you were looking for, but hope it helps!
