The property manager found me an insurance a couple of month late (because the houses were bought through a georgia corp. belonging to non US citizen) with a cost above expectation.

It is self image --prestige and self satisfaction.In single family homes--some investors are comfortable and like to rent only to Section 8 people --some like middle class -- middle price range --and some like upscale --When you are buying a property --consider your offer based on higher --12% to 15 % cap rate --- and when selling --go with market rate -For any one getting into commerical properties-- need to join that specific owners group and subscribe to magazines --such as Apartments, Hotel Management , etc If you have money--and think out side the box--You can buy upscale -- Hotels like Hilton --which is not doing good and can buy at good price --and convert to a Senior Citizen home or a Student Housing --- and have 20% plus return.If more peopel get involve in Apartments --we need to start a separate topic--forum for that

However, a well run, beautiful, nice, well placed school should increase property values overall which increases the taxes taken in by the cities long term.Keeping in mind that sometimes "positive cashflow" for a city is "money out" of the citizens pocket when viewed through the lens of scarcity of resources.

Hi Everyone ,Let me first introduce myself to the community.My name in Kenrick from Aruba(the caribbean), I am a young entrepreneur on the island also involved in real estate.In this discussion I will elaborate more about types of real estate investments in Aruba & where I see opportunities.Aruba is a part of the Netherlands, but still we are autonomous, this being said the Netherlands still has some responsibilities with Aruba and other caribbean islands.Aruba has its own currency & its own government.For more info on Aruba: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArubaReal estate in Aruba:Arubas real estate I would describe as a strong market, we have seen only growth in real estate prices this after more then 20 years after a market correction due to the closing of a refinery leading to job loss and Aruban citizens migrating to other island.Aruba in the past years have seen major condo projects & is still being invested primarly from Venezuelan investors with there condominium projects.Property land prices have been rising as supply does remain short of the demand of houses.Land:In Aruba if you want to build your own house, 2 ways you could do this either buy a property land or a government owned land leased to you.Property land being the most expensive(most valueble) & government owned land being the cheapest  with restrictions are still available depending on size average size needed is 300 sq. meters or more.Housing projects is still a big business because of supply and demand, dividing big pieces of property land and developing them into housing project is a good business with draw back in regards to getting permission from government departments, must have a concrete/paved road, infrastructure in place all expenses for the real estate investors costing time & money with could lead into a delay of a year or more.Opportunity:Opportunity to buy either a big piece or a small piece of land which could easily be divided can easily double your money in 3 to 6 months time.

That is losing 600,000 school age kids and gaining 800,000 senior citizens.

Finally, you can always ask them to appoint a U.S. citizen as a guarantor (their son/daughter for example).

We live and work in Europe but are US citizens.

-A few takeaways from my first purchase:-You can obtain financing on a mortgage less than $20K (Fifth Third Bank, Citizens Bank, and Dollar Bank are a few lenders which low volume financing).

but I am not getting to that number.I should note that I am paying all cash since I cannot qualify for a loan or mortgage (I am not a citizen/resident).does this sound like a good return (8%)?

I probably have a few more hurdles to jump through being a foreign citizen, so I will be looking at a portfolio loan or even a partnership.