All Forum Posts by: Sam Daniels

I came across this interesting article in the Financial Times recently.

The basic premise of the article is while home ownership is falling among US citizens, among immigrant families, the rate is high and has been increasing steadily.

"Although they represent close to 13 per cent of the US population, immigrants accounted for nearly 36 per cent of growth in home ownership between 2000 and 2010," the article says.

"The number of homeowning immigrant households is projected to rise by 2.8m in the decade ending 2020, compared with a 2.4m gain in the previous 10 years.

"They will account for more than 50 per cent of the rise in home buying in six gateway states such as California and New York."

Anyone paying much attention to this in choosing where to invest in the US?

At face value it seems to strengthen the case for states such as Texas, Florida, Nevada and Illinois. In terms of exit, maybe selling could be easy down the track in states with greater migration, especially at the lower priced end of the market.

Would love to hear what others think.

Sam

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Hi guys,

Looking for a good property manager in Kansas City able to take on between two and six single-family homes in various areas including 64130 and 64109. Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

Sam

Welcome @Thomas Bernard. It's good to see Europeans getting interested in US investment property too.

Sam

Hi @Rachel Leonard. Good to see another Aussie on BP, I am sure the forum will be of great help to you. I own one place in Atlanta bought 18 months ago just as things were taking off and can second what most others have said here. Large institutional investors really moved in hard here. As you say though, the level of interest in Atlanta means more buyers if you can pick up anything cheap.

Sam

Hi @Don Watts

Good luck with the move and with your investments. I hope you enjoyed your time in my home country (although I am now based in Japan).

Obviously you will find the prices in Atlanta much more reasonable than Australia, even accounting for recent gains in Atlanta attributed to large funds buying up inventory.

If you are selling a place in Perth when you move back maybe you have timed the top of the market!

If I were in your shoes, I guess what I would do depends on the VA loan - can you fix the rate? Deploy it across multiple properties or just one? And how much can you borrow?

While you need cash flow, I'd be careful not to chase yields too heavily given the potential for interrupted cash flow, hassles etc, especially when you are taking on a big job looking after a relative.

Sam

Hi Yuni. Finance is still tough for foreigners unless you want to do a hard money loan. One option is to borrow against assets in your home country (if currency is strong) as an equity release or margin loan and use in US to get a foothold. Other option is to use cash and seek to do equity release on these early purchases when credit loosens up.

Sam

Hi Wei Hong, I tend to use Incorp (www.incorp.com) as a registered agent service. Depending on the scale of your investments and future plans, it's worth doing a bit of research on the best state to incorporate in. As Marco says you don't necessarily have to incorporate in the state you are buying in, although you would have to register your LLC in Texas if you set it up elsewhere.

Another thing worth considering for your first purchase in the US is to find an accountant you feel comfortable with and use them as the registered agent and let them set up your LLC. It costs a bit more than entirely DIY, but sometimes when you are starting out it's nice to have someone on your side, and someone to forward mail to you etc. For subsequent purchases/incorporations you can go it alone.

Re costs for accounting. My accountant (in Detroit) charges about $150 to do my annual returns plus $150 per property. LLC incorporation was $400 or so, and annual fees about $100 - some of this is statutory fees paid and passed on to me at (or about) cost price.

Hope this helps.

Sam

Hi Jeremiah,

Welcome to BP, I am sure you will find it worthwhile. I started out like you and now own a small but growing portfolio of US investments in various states. Happy to help you out if there's anything I can do.

I have to say Marco is right about the two things he mentions - the Aussie property market is overvalued and finance for foreigners is tough to obtain at competitive rates and LVRs.

I expect this to change gradually, but for now, for those of ordinary means its about scrounging whatever cash you can to get a foothold while prices remain low.

Sam

Hi Dan,

In Fort Pierce, Kissimmee and Ocala.

Regards, Sam.