All Forum Posts by: Saul L.

Give me Glenfiddich single malt 18 yr old Scotch, any day.

@Shoshana Shulman - I would be very very wary of sinking every last cent of my available cash into a C+ property in a different country. You have zero wiggle room when something goes sideways - and it will eventually. (Not sure if that $500 cash flow includes allowances for cap-ex- but I hope it does.)

A few comments on your post:

"For that investment of 68,000 dollars, I have half of it in cash, and the other half would have to be a loan. I would earn 500 dollars for that half as well, so now I would be earning 1000, after all expenses, instead of 500."- That's theoretically  before debt servicing on the 50% financing- so your cash flow will in effect be less than $1000 

"I would consider hard money lending, but I need to be 100% sure that my money is guaranteed"- From my experience- there is no such thing as 100% guarantee on HML. Its a high risk business in any event and all the more so for a foreigner without very deep pockets, local knowledge and experience in expensive and time consuming foreclosure procedures.

In short - my advice would be to stay with the current partner (or look for someone else acceptable to buy him out), continue enjoying the $500 current cash flow and look for alternative and diversified places to put your other hard earned capital.

@Catherine Underwood - 

From my experience of a number of years as a non-US RE investor this issue requires a few hoops to jump through but is really not a problem once you are set up.

I would look for a US licensed CPA based in the UK- (This should not be too difficult to find.) The advantage is the ability to meet face to face, exchange documents and possibly liaise with your UK CPA. As far as I know there is a double taxation treaty between the UK and the USA- such that you would be credited on your UK return for any tax paid in the US. You would need to retain their services to submit an annual report to the IRS, a copy of which your UK accountant should receive as well- and there is not much more to it.

You will need a US tax number (called an ITIN) before you will be able to pay taxes- normally the CPA can handle that application as well.

You might want to look at these: 

The simple path to wealth by JL  Collins- 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0464853478/ref=cm_sw_em_...He also has a very user friendly and easy to read blog.

The richest man in Babylon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0464853478/ref=cm_sw_em_... - Distills the concepts of financial responsibility into parables  on ancient Babylon. (Not for everyone because its written in almost biblical english- but brings the basics to the forefront)

And would reiterate the recommendation you got above for Rich Dad Poor Dad.  It is a trans-formative eye opening book - You know your nephew, but I dont think its "overload" by any stretch.

@David VanWert - I have used www.accredited.am extensively in the past for accreditation. 

They are a free service- quick and very easy once you are set up to get a confirmation letter online.

Best of luck.

Found the blog post-https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/4527/44793-i-burned-my-house-to-the-ground

Maybe an idea.

If you really want to help you will have to think out of the box. 

@Jeff Rabinowitz wrote a blog post where he describes how he invited the local fire dept to burn his house down for training purposes, and if I remember correctly they also cleared the plot afterwards at their expense. Everybody wins.

You can try https://www.thepropertyhub.net but sadly its not nearly as good as BP. 

@Shahaf Benita - Why dont you just give your bank a call and ask them. ?

Ive never gotten a conventional loan from a US bank directly. Too many hoops to jump through. 

@Shahaf Benita- Welcome to BP and US RE investing.

Did the bank indicate they would be prepared to authorize you a loan at all ? As far as I know mainstream US banks will not lend to non US citizens full stop- I would clarify this point before transferring money in an attempt to get a credit score. You may have to go the HML route for your first deals or raise the money from Israeli banks against Israeli properties if you have them.

For international transfers I use transferwise.com - most cost effective option I've found. 

BTW- I believe the card you have been issued is a debit card. With no credit score and no SSN unlikely you were given a credit line and credit card.