All Forum Posts by: Josh Keys

Michael
Trulia for previous sale prices, comparables and key local demographic info.

I use yahoo real estate for overall vacancy rate info for a local area.

Cheers
Josh

Agreed. Having said that though, I also stumbled across this site the other day that contains some interesting stats about worldwide property prices in comparison to income (and other useful info). Basically, what this tells me is that, while the income/price ratios in places like Sydney, San Fran, NYC are high - they are far from that of Tokyo, Paris and Singapore etc. Obviously, im a bit of a stats nerd but I find this sort of info extremely interesting. It makes me question whether a significant decline WILL take place in the highly desirable cities of the world if people continue to these prices and the gap between the rich and poor increases in these areas? Also, it makes me wonder whether the old income/prop price ratio is a good indicator of where a market is going to head.
http://www.numbeo.com/property-investment/rankings.jsp

I know most of you on here are US investors, but im interested to hear what you guys think about this, and how it bears on future property prices worldwide and within your local area...

Originally posted by jawsette:

What you really have is the homeowners emotional price being brought down by the market forces from the bubble high to the current market prices.

Very well put. I think this is currently happening in Sydney, Australia at the moment, where property has not experienced the crash like the US, and people are still paying $700-$800k for an average 2 bedroom house in the inner city. While the supply is limited and the employment situation is strong you have to wonder how much it can keep rising here. Seems to be fueled by emotion.

This is almost 2 mths old (and is probably not news to some on here) but im sure it is still relevant. It has given me an insight as to where might be a good place to pick up a buy and hold bargin.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-Cities-for-Real-Estate-usnews-375742734.html?x=0&mod=real-estate

Richard
You certainly arent the only foreigner on BP looking to purchase US property! Im based in Australia. theres a few of us and a few other Europeans that have made it work.

I also started out looking to purchase foreclosures but eventually purchased Multi family homes. It seemed tough (for me anyway) to get the good foreclosure bargins without being based in the US. The bargins seem to go too quickly for us foreigners to get things moving. Some have managed it though. I also found that the cash flow is significantly better on MFHs. This makes sense for us foreigners as we need to pay extra for property management, insurance etc...

I know of people in Kansas City, Atlanta, Phoenix and Detroit that assist foreigners in purchasing US property. Let me know if you want their details.

You dont need to be a resident or have a social security number to purchase in the US, but suggest getting an ITIN prior to doing your first US tax return if you do buy. You may also wish to look into getting an LLC setup for asset protection.

Paying cash is probably the only way you can buy there as US banks arent really interested in lending to foreigners. Just be careful of the forex exposure cos its a killer if using your home currency. fyi I purchased my place using seller financing. Ive posted some finance links earlier.

Check out the foreigners buying in the US forum on here. Alot of your questions may have already been covered.

Cheers
Josh

Josh - are Apple sponsoring BP? :wink:

Best of luck Uwe. Hope all goes smoothly us you come up to closing on 29th April.

Thanks for the clarification Steve.

Inland empire is not something I would ever have associated with California. You learn something new everyday!

Originally posted by Brian Levredge:

If you go out to the Inland Empire, you can get homes for cheaper and the rents are still decent. The problem out there is that real underemployment is running about 25%. That's not really a market you want to be investing in. In short, you don't want to be looking at doing buy and holds in areas where appreciation outstripped cash flow long ago.

Brian - can you explain what you mean by appreciation outstripped cash flow long ago in Western NY?

Not sure whether you are referring to upstate New York or NYC. If referring to NY state prices in comparison to Ohio - I have to disagree. Prices in the Buffalo region (incl Jamestown) + Albany and Rochester etc are extremely low and yields are strong.

Advantages of NY state:
- reasonably low vacancy rates in comparison to other cheaper areas. Look at yahoo real estate and best places for more info on the area you are looking at though as it varies greatly
- strong yields due to low prices

Disadvantages of NY state
- high taxes and expensive to setup an LLC
- job market. high unemployment in the rust belt

I dont know much about the california market so am unable to comment on your comparison. From what I have seen rents in NY state are very affordable. Certainly not high.

As far as NYC, I doubt you would see many investors on BP purchasing here for cash flow. More so for long term growth if/when they expect the market to pick up. The yields would be terrible given the rents in comparison to prices. This is the case with most expensive cities though. eg San Fran, Boston. Happy to be proven wrong though.