All Forum Posts by: Diogo Alves

I'm interested in learning about the Austin market as well. For those who invest there, is it feasible to find 1% rule properties? And how's the market looking for appreciation? Still rising or reaching the top?

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Originally posted by @Andre Crabb:

Hello BP,

Over the past couple days, after listening to some AirBnb-related BP podcasts, I had some new ideas for how to start in real estate and would love to get some feedback.

In short, after being a digital nomad for over a year, I want to find the best way to get into real estate while taking advantage of being location independent. My belongings fit in two backpacks which I carry on for flights. I can pack in minutes and move no problem, as long as there’s wifi and the commute fits in my (still 9-5 ish) work schedule.

Pure Investment (Live elsewhere) - buy a property and rent it out (whether SFH or MFH). Nomad advantage: living somewhere cheaper. However, this doesn’t necessarily allow me to be active in building my portfolio quicker.

Spacious House Hack (Traditional)

Multi Unit - buy a MFH, live in one unit and rent out the other(s).
Multi Bedroom - buy a SFH, live in one room and rent out the other(s).
- Nomad advantage: AirBnb out my room/unit if I choose to travel somewhere, and/or move through the units as they vacate to rehab.

Temporal House Hack (Seasonal) - Buy a property to AirBnb. Rent it out and travel during the high season, live in it during the low season. Nomad advantage: living somewhere cheaper on a roughly six-month basis.

Temporal House Hack (Concurrent) - Buy a property (or two) to live in and concurrently list it/them on AirBnb. Nomad advantage: when someone books it for a week/weekend, I can pack up and head to the other property (or a hostel if needed) for that time.

Maybe some of these make no sense. Maybe a mix of a couple ideas would be best. (Another choice is which market/city to do this in, which is another big decision. Certain markets might be better for certain strategies, for example the AirBnb ideas might do better in Florida rather than the midwest.)

What do you think? What would you do if you were starting from the beginning?

I'm especially curious to hear from anyone else who's a digital nomad or location independent. Thanks to @Zeona McIntyre and @Paula Pant for their inspirational podcast episodes.

Cheers

Hey Andre -- it's been a year since this post, curious which strategy you went with, where you've lived, and how it's going?

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@Dean Letfus -- we talked about how investing the US is far better than NZ, but your comment above (a year ago) about finding both cashflow and appreciation in areas like Papakura intrigued me. Are deals like that still around? Has the path of progress pushed to a different direction in Auckland? Lastly, if you do find even minimal cash flow in Auckland, do you have appetite to invest here for the cash flow & appreciation, or would you still go for cash flow properties in TN?

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(Didn't find this in any other forum, if it exists please link me to it.)

The 1% or 2% rules are great rules of thumb, but they mean very different things (and can constraint investors to unrealistic expectations) are varying price points.

All else equal (assume a SFR or 2-3plex, not a crazy cheap or crazy expensive market for operating costs), do you have a schedule of what rule applies to what purchase price band? (or is ARV band a better alternative?)

For example: [All numbers illustrative only — would love to hear what you use in the brackets]

Purchase Price Below [$30k] — Use [2.5%] rule

Purchase Price Below [$60k] — Use [2.0%] rule

Purchase Price Below [$120k] — Use [1.5%] rule

Purchase Price Below [$200k] — Use [1.0%] rule

Purchase Price Below [$300k] — Use [0.8%] rule

If so, would love to hear what market / properties types you use that rule for.

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Welcome Charity! I'm a new investor living outside of the US but currently researching Memphis as a potential market. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions, and would love to learn more about what areas of Memphis you're thinking about investing in!

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Originally posted by @Dean Letfus:

I've had a few clients in similar situations. They al thought they could get lending as they were basically Americans. Not one of them has ever been able to close. All have gone through our hard money or regional bank set up to get started. Hopefully your situation will have a batter outcome!

What kind of blockers did you clients face that prevented them from closing with a conventional mortgage?

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Originally posted by @Marisa R.:

Originally posted by @Alexander Knowles:

Awesome story! Where are you originally from? What visa status did you have and were you based in the U.S or did you do this from afar?

Thanks

I am From Australia, started researching US around 2011

Foreigners don't have restrictions when it comes to buying property in US, as long as you have the cash you can buy.

In Australia our country has restrictions on what foreigners can buy and cut off point on how much

Esta visa, which means you can stay in US on upto 3 months at one time

Amazing story, Marisa! I'm a US citizen living in New Zealand looking to do exactly what you've done! Would to hear your thoughts on:

1) What is the most important team member to find before you buy a property in the US from abroad? How did you get comfortable working with that person and building trust, and how long did that take?

2) How did you manage a rehab from abroad? Assuming most of your properties you never saw in person?

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Originally posted by @Victor Lacerda:

Hey BPs!

I live in Brasilia, capital of Brazil. I work in the real estate business in Brazil, commercial and logistics. I started to study the American market about two years ago now I'm ready to take the next step.

I pretend to invest in turnkeys and after start fix and flip houses. Any international investor on this path?

Anyone have already helped foreigns invest in America? Feel free to PM me.

Regards from Brazil.

Welcome Victor! I'm also originally from Brazil but currently living in New Zealand and looking to buy my first investment rental property in the US. Would love to hear more about what you're looking for and how you're going about investing long distance. My goal is BRRRR but will probably start with turnkeys. Cheers.

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Originally posted by @Chinyere Okoli:

Hey @Diogo Alves! I am kind of doing the same thing at the moment. I have a pre-approval from one bank but I too am worried what the hurdles will be to actually close. I think I'll follow your advice @Chris Mason and try to move everything into an account for the down payment and closing costs. Would they need pay stubs?. They didn't ask with this first pre-approval though.

Hey Chinyere, good to hear the pre-approval went through. What did you need to submit for that? And was it with a large bank like Chase, Citi, etc..? Let me know how closing goes! Good luck!

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Originally posted by @Chris Mason:

Originally posted by @Diogo Alves:

Hey guys! Question -- would a traditional bank give me a conventional mortgage for my first investment property if I live outside of the US and earn income outside of the US?

I'm a US citizen, file taxes in US, have credit history in US (FICO 700+). I'm just not physically present in the US and likely would not be when I apply for the mortgage.

Anyone done this before? Would love to hear how it went / any hurdles you faced.

Cheers from New Zealand.

When Fannie Mae doesn't claim to have a firm grasp on something, she just throws it into the "self employment" income bucket. So it'll depend on what you've been telling the IRS that you've been making for the last couple years.

Fortunately, NZ speaks English, so no translations of bank statements should be needed.

If you are buying in a market where any Realtor, or anyone else, asks the question "how fast can you close?" then you need to go ahead and move the down payment and closing cost funds into a US bank account two months before even visiting zillow or redfin.

Thanks @Chris Mason -- to clarify, you mention the 2 month transfer into a US bank account so that the most recent statement cuts show that funds as already being there?

Will they want anything to prove my current employment in New Zealand (pay stubs, NZ bank account statements, etc..), or will they solely look at my recent US tax returns?

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All Forum Posts by: Diogo Alves

Diogo Alves has started 2 posts and replied 29 times.

Post: Newbie from Austin, Texas. Interested in multi family / Brrrr

Post: Digital Nomad + Real Estate

Post: Greetings from the new guy. Auckland, New Zealand

Post: The 1% / 2% rule by purchase price band

Post: Hello! New investor in Memphis

Post: Conventional mortgage, income earned abroad. Have you done this?

Post: Foreign Investor - How I turned $500K into $2M

Post: New International Investor from Brazil

Post: Conventional mortgage, income earned abroad. Have you done this?

Post: Conventional mortgage, income earned abroad. Have you done this?