All Forum Posts by: Laura Williams

Hi Zacharias!

I own 3 rooms in a hotel in Cape Town and am a little familiar with the real estate there. The hotel chain that manages my hotel was just bought out by the Marriott. Marriott just made a huge investment to get a share of the African market there believing there will be a big increase in tourism and the economy. Some of the nicer areas of Cape Town have alot of foreign investors and some of the house in the best areas are selling for millions...about a 10 fold increase since 10 years ago. From what I've been able to tell it's hard to find good cash flow numbers there as of the last few years in the better areas. One of my friends has done ok with buying really run down places and flipping there. As far as being a foreign owner it's pretty easy, you will just need to get a SARS number (which is the equivalent of IRS) and you will need to file a South African tax return on your rental money once a year. Also be very careful to keep records of all money that you wire to buy the property as you will need those to transfer the money back to America. The banks there require it otherwise they won't release your money when you sell. Some anti money laundering law.

I'm not familiar with other cities in Africa other than Cape Town which is beautiful and first world. I have heard that some cities like Durban are in decline so best to really check out where you are investing. Also keep in mind if you are looking for loans the interest rates there are high probably between 8-11%. You can actually put money in a savings account there and get a 4-5 % return unlike here. So the high interest mortgage rate might effect your return as well. Also the laws there are in favor of tenants if you ever had an eviction, not a landlord friendly court system from what I hear.

Let me know if anymore questions.

Thanks will stop by

@Engelo Rumora

Thanks Engelo! I have only ever owned apartments so houses is new for me. Always heard they were a pain and lots of upkeep but trying to figure how that effects the return. 10% seems to be the number to set aside for vacancies and repairs ( or 15% for less recently renovated ) so thanks for confirming that.

If you don't mind me asking I noticed you own a few properties in Kansas City. Do you know of any banks there that offer good terms for a blanket mortgage (think that's the correct term). I found this place online wwww.commercialloanprovider.com but would like to find a place someone has used before and could recommend at least as an option that finances in Kansas City.

I'm pretty sure I will buy soon there in Kansas so any advice or recommendations (building inspectors, lawyers for forming LLC, etc. ) would be greatly appreciated as you seem to know the market there :)

@Raymond B.

Thank you for the info. I appreciate it. I didn't know that :)

Welcome and thanks for posting about your experience @tylercaruso. If you don't mind me asking how much have you budgeted towards expenses and maintenance on your homes? I know some of the homes Dan has are on the older side. Just curious to get a feel of what to budget for that so I can figure out a roundabout cashflow. I'm also interested in purchasing in the exact areas you bought in through Dan. Has the property mngt been good for you? Did you set up a LLC ? Sorry for all the questions :) Any info would be helpful. I would PM you but new on here too and haven't figured out how to do that yet.

Thanks @Brian H. ! I can't find any information on him from other investors who have actually done a deal with him although his post claim he sells quite a few units a month. I would also be curious if anyone else on these forums has any real life investing with Dan Reedy and or has experienced his property management service.

@Brian H. did you ever meet or buy any properties from Dan Reedy? Curious your experience and feedback as his numbers do seem good on his website.

@Michael Gilmore and @Jason Stallings was wondering if either of you had purchased through Mid South Home Buyers and what your experience was? I'm thinking of buying from them and would love to have some feedback. Thanks guys