All Forum Posts by: Christophe Noualhat

Hello everyone,

I hope this question finds you well.

After visiting a few U.S. real estate investing websites for French nationals, I am receiving offers for full packages investments in Detroit.  

I would like the opinions of this fine crowd on BP about distant investment in Detroit... still a bit risky for a distant investment ? good opportunity ? 

I am sharing a link I received today

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v17s8ca1xx07x0i/AADfA4a...

Thanks in advance for your replies,

Best

Christophe

Thanks @Dave Bingham , very informative !! indeed having a PM doing the legwork is mandatory when investing from abroad... I will need someone that takes this seriously and not just as another numbered file... I hope Eric jumps into the discussion for (even more) added value !!

@Wayne Brooks thank for mentioning this, indeed if there is a zoning issue and the unit cannot just become a threeplex then it would indeed be a can of worms and require to put it back in its former state... as a duplex... 

@Waverly Rennie Tu étais dans quelle branche à Mada ?? Je n'en suis qu'à une dizaine d'années de développpement mais j'aimerais bien conjuguer les deux avec des investissements forts pour préparer une transition vers les ONGs idéalement... et être plus proche de la réalité...  Je suis preneur pour la feuille d'infos, c'est toujours utile... merci !!

Hello @Waverly Rennie, nice to meet a former Tana resident on BP :) thanks for sharing the experience ! "Tented" house means what I think it means ? putting a tent over the house and gaz all over the place to get rid of termites ? or is in something else ? I know in some parts of France that the treatment is localized and some liquid is inserted into the wood where the termites are to get rid of them... 

Thanks @Brandon Turner , a mention by the master himself, I am humbly honored !! great podcasts !! I listen to them on a regular basis ! Thanks for all this useful information, makes me wish I was actually present in the US to apply and be more active !

Wood Destroying Organisms... gotta love acronyms :) thanks for the clarification @Eric Odum ! And thanks @Dave Bingham for enhancing my vocabulary... ingress is a new one I had never heard before (and google isnt helping much sending me to an online game !!).

Termites are quite scary... especially if you rely on your property manager to detect and treat on a regular basis to make sure no WDO get in... Dave, all the maintenance advised is great but is this something that could be done remotely by the PM ? would they actually go to check the property every so often to make sure moisture is kept away, branches are trimmed, gutters dont leak etc.. ? sounds like the agent I'm working with is perfectly right to keep me away from these... he just didnt explain the whole Termite business to me :)

@Dana Whicker, @Nancy Brook, thanks for the tip, I did not think of craigslist as it is mainly used in the US and I thought it was mainly a west coast thing... rent from Zillow doesnt seem too far from what I saw on Craigslist...

@Dave Bingham can you please explain "prevent ingress by WDO.", sorry I dont have all the lingo yet :)

Thanks

C

Hello @Nancy Brook, thank you for your message. 

I am looking for what is referred to as "buy and hold" if I did my homework properly. I guess my agent/broker/Property manager is trying to keep me away of properties that are too old, wood frame or both at the same time... The one I have my eyes on is nice on the pictures (as a particular design), put at a price well below what is estimated by Zillow and apparently (still trusting Zillow) could rent for a fair amount... It does not seem to be needing any repairs either...

If I am able to go further with this property I might take you up on that offer to have another pair of eyes with a toolkit look at it....  the property is in Venice....

Cheers

C

Hello @Eric Odum

Thanks, that does make sense indeed... my main issue is as @Dave Binghamand @Walter Pape mentioned the unofficial split and the fact that the seller does not seem to be willing to take care of that situation himself and let the buyer do all the retroactive work... being so far I realize that it could open a can of remote worms that I am not ready to be eating yet !! 

I'll keep looking for another opportunity... might have seen a nice one but it is wood frame apparently and my agent advises against wood based construction in FL, any advice on this ?

Thanks

 Chris

Hello to both of you and thanks for the extensive answers.

The split unit is not declared and there wasnt any permit issued as far as I can tell (thanks for the links @Dave Bingham, but that information was disclosed. There is no question about the fact that this situation needs to be resolved as @Walter Pape was saying. How is this done ? is there a need to request a retroactive permit ? is it possible ? can the sale be attached to the presentation of a permit by the owner ? Is it just not worth the hassle at all ?? Considering it is the best rent/property price ratio I have seen so far, I am ready to look at all legal avenues but will stop at the first sight of shadyness of course... 

Also you were talking about inspections, does this illegal third unit voids any chance of having an inspection done ?

Dave, the rents are indeed month to month so this could explain, and yes, I will need to see every single corner of the house and intend to do so... my question was if there is a possible clause that can be put in the offer to ensure it or if I just should not put any formal offer in writting unless I have seen everything.. 

Finally, when your write "value of .35 or higher", what do you refer to ? what is this 0.35 value that you are looking at ? 

Thanks again for the chance to exchange, 

best

C

Good morning everyone (it is morning for me and most likely this post will appear when it will be morning for you)... 

Yes I am from a far-far-away land called MADAGASCAR (and no, there are no penguins, lions, giraffes or hippos... only lemurs !!). 

I'm a european expat living there currently and looking across the ocean to invest in real estate in the U.S. I have been listening to a few podcasts from the hosts (which are great so thanks for offering this for free and making this community alive !) and read a few forum posts. 

Being the quiet type, I have not posted on any of the fora before today...

for those interested, a bit about me, for those not interested please scroll down.. 

I have 2 former dwellings from when I used to live in France which are now being rented. One is almost fully paid and basically paying the other as the rent is much lower than the the mortgage. For those who don't know the French market, it's nothing like the US market and ROIs are much much lowers if any...

I also recently aquired a set of 20 garages which offer a better ROI than apartments or houses and splits the risk of unpaid rent in exchange for more management... but I have a retired Dad :)

In the past couple months, I have been in contact with a few companies and individuals specializing in investing in the US for foreigners, some looking more dodgy than others but overall seeming to be doing OK... I have concentrated my research on FL and in the Tampa area, for no specific reason or personal preference...

In the past few weeks, I have been in contact with an agent/broker doing this kind of work and having a team for the closing/taxes etc.. able to manage the property and all, he seems good and has provided lots of time without asking for a penny (which is the job of a RE broker, only its a lot more time consuming when the buyer is not present ...)

Now I have my eyes on a property (it will be the 4th offer through him, the previous ones did not go through) and I would like to ask seasoned RE investors here a few questions...

The house is advertised as a duplex 2/1 + 1/1 but after the visit I was told that an extra split had been done so it looks now like a triplex 3* 1/1 ... This split has not been declared, what are the consequences and how to align with "the law" ? What will be the consequences in terms of taxes or other ? 

The current rent seems very interesting vs cost of the unit (2% rule reached and were probably over 2%...), split unit electricity and water in the landlord's name. From the outside the unit has been deemed in good condition and the neighborhood is ok (going uphill), criminality is low.

Rent seem to be high for 1/1s, the agent tells me it is because there is no offer for low rents in the area. The agent has not seen inside the house because 2 of the tenants were at work and the landlord did not want to insist on disturbing the 3rd one as he is afraid that if his tenants know he is selling they might leave... The owner is an elderly person who wants to ramp down on his investments. He has owned this unit for over 20 years... 

The house has been on the market for a year now and is listed at 60% its original price...On paper it looks very good... 

Any experienced investor see anything fishy ? anything I am missing ? Anything I should be looking at ? 

Thanks for reading me !

Best

Christophe.