Good to see you here @Al James
I'm a fellow Australian with 2 cashflowing properties in Tas. Have owned a couple in the US too (Atlanta and Kansas City) but have sold both and am about to start looking for some more.
You are correct that it is a very different scene in the US. Great cashflow opportunities, but also in my opinion a lot more nuances. You'll see houses for $5,000 with a pretty good rate of rent and you might think the only way is up. But those places might never make you money. You might hold them for 15 years with no appreciation. And you need a bulletproof vest to collect rent.
You'll also find places half a block apart at completely different prices. The lines between good and bad areas can be very abrupt and difficult to see. It's not always the fact that a railway track runs through the middle. Sometimes it's something like a municipality boundary, which doesn't show up on Google maps.
I bought a turnkey place in Atlanta years ago which has gone pretty well (I just timed the market well) but I was living in Aus through that period and found there were a lot of expenses that could have been avoided if I was living nearby (or visiting more regularly), or if I had a larger portfolio. For example, there were plenty of repairs and maintenance issues charged by our property manager, and as we were overseas we were unable to check that all of them were legitimate. Also the costs of using a separate US accountant, managing an LLC etc, all added up. For one property, those costs chewed up a heap of our cashflow. I think if I could have done 5 properties at that point (around $40-$50k each) then that would have been enough to spread the overheads around, justify more frequent trips to the US etc and turn it into a much more profitable endeavour.
I have some friends in Pittsburgh and have been looking into that market for quite a while now. I think there are some really good cashflow options there. I have also actually just arrived here (yesterday) and plan to look at some things through Jan/Feb, hopefully pick up a few places in the new year.
These are just my opinions and I haven't really made this work yet - so take what I say with a grain of salt. But this is what I would tell myself if I was just starting to look at the US:
I would suggest taking your time to find a market that you like the look of. A lot of areas with high cashflow are rust belt cities that have lost a lot of industry (and population) over the years. Some of these cities are rebuilding, eg bringing a lot of new industries into the city. Pittsburgh has things like Uber, Google, healthcare.... Some of the others are probably doing similar things.
The US markets may be nearing a peak at the moment too, so that's something to keep in mind. Some areas may be more susceptible to a drop in prices than others. In the previous crash it seemed to be places like Phoenix, Miami, Las Vegas that suffered the most - places that had a heap of growth in the years leading up to it.
If you're going to do this, plan to buy more than one or two places. Aim for 5+. Also, don't go for the slums, go the next level up - eg SFRs in Pittsburgh for about $30k - $60k. You also might want to consider mutlifamilies. They can be even better than SFRs for cashflow. There's a bit less cashflow at higher price points but if you're trying to do it from Australia then dealing with the lower grade tenants will probably be too much for you.
If you are doing it from Aus, then you'll be completely dependent on the people you're working with. You'll want a property manager that you trust completely. If you have friends/family anywhere in the US then I'd strongly consider that area as a starting point. It could make a huge difference, just having somebody to check up on the property manager from time to time, or somebody who can actually give you contacts for a few reliable contractors etc.
If you need to finance them, there are lenders now who will do asset based loans (don't need proof of US employment income) and will lend to foreigners. You should be able to find some on here. I'm reluctant to recommend anyone as I haven't actually used any of them myself yet.
If you do decide that Pittsburgh is for you and want to speak more about it then get in touch. When my own cash dries up I'd be interested in finding money partners so if that's something you're considering (given that you're based in Aus) we could look into that at some point too. I'm not ready for that yet though, and need to have a few successful Pittsburgh places under my belt before offering to spend strangers' money on it. Either way good luck with it all, it's an exciting scene, I'm sure you'll find something that suits you.
