US lending to foreign investors

@Ozzie in Texas, you mentioned Florida weather in one of your posts. Don't you find the Gulf of Mexico issues similar?
My Houston friends regularly have flood issues which would be a bit scary

 

Absolutely. That's why I decided to live in San Antonio - which is 200 miles away from Houston.....and about 150 miles ago from the nearest coast.

Areas outside of San Antonio experienced flooding, as well as tornadoes, during the recent hurricane that hit Mexico. But San Antonio, itself was fairly safe and experienced no major damage.

During the recent storm / hurricane, I was actually driving to work and could see the tornado that hit San Marcos (about 80 miles away) in the distance. That was scary. The sky turned pitch black.....and rain was incredible.

 

Good to know you are quite sheltered there. In a deja vu moment I was just on Facebook and one of my Houston friends just posted a photo of their dog staying with them at the Grand Hyatt in San Antonio. I don't think I've ever seen a dog staying at a hotel before

 

That was my experience and surprise about Paris. The most dog friendly hotels and restaurants ever. I love my pets.....but seriously.

 

Hi, would like to ask, if I were to buy US property, l would engage someone's service to source and maintain etc, but as what my mom asked me, how can you be so sure what the person sourced is genuine and the property would really be under your name? What if it is a scam to get your money? How does one check if the property title really belong to you in the end? Thanks in advance.

 

The same way as here in Australia - you have a solicitor put through the transaction to put your name on the title.

 

Thanks for the reply D.T!
My mom had something to say too when l told her there should be some professionals in the background to do legit stuff, she said what if it's some B grade actors hired or some dubious documents produced to dupe you?! How would you know what an American legal document look like?!
I guess she won't be buying anything!!

 

When buying, regardless of where you buy, title is.......and has to be......transferred in your name.

And that is your legitimate proof that it is yours.

Hmm......and then of course, there are some countries that you can never assume anything.

Assess the risk of the country you are planning to invest. If you consider it to be safe, and the rewards are good, go for it.

 

They are not invalid questions. One way to protect youself in this case it to source different proffesionals yourself. If you are offered a 'one stop shop' who is willing to lend you the money, find/sell the property, handle all of the management, deal with settlement - then you are potentially at risk.

Source your own team to seperate these parties. You would be damn unlucky if they were all in it together.
The US isnt completely safe. but it is one of the better countries to not get scammed.

Blacky

 

Considering investment opportunities in other countries is great but I think natural disasters will be the least of my worries. That's what we have insurance for any way.

The biggest worry is going to be rental cashflow and capital growth and even if you work that out you then need to work out the tax systems and the conversion rates and their fluctuations.

Then you have to factor in the fact that state by state US economy can be very volatile. Detroit is a great example of how expensive properties could drop down and be purchased for a few hundred dollars over night.

Then you have to factor in the land release that is quite common and the fact building houses cost a hell of a lot cheaper than Australia so again your competition can increase and thereby tamper your capital growth.

Then you have to find a good property manager half way across the world to ensure your property is occupied most of the time to ensure cashflow and maintenance. You probably have to make a trip to have a look before you buy and also find solicitors, financiers etc

How much return could you possibly get for all that effort, headache and risk?

Why not spend the same effort in a country such as Australia which is underpopulated, many factors are already known to most people and the capital growth as well as rental demand is far easier to estimate?

 

Why do you think lenders there only focus on their own state rather than being national like australian lenders?

From my research I think i prefer dallas over the other texan cities though - do you know much about it?

 

The US banking system is full of small banks and lenders all catering to their state only or even their own county.

 

It's called choice DaveM.

Please understand that the US and Australia......while we share the same language .....is very different beast.

If you are going to invest or even live in the US.......understand that in many ways, it is a more regulated than what you are use to. You, as an Australian investor, know of the BIG 4 who dominate the Australian market.

In the US, lenders and banks are registered and regulated in the state/s that they operate in.

As an investor, you need to decide not only where to invest ........but how you invest.

That is, do you fully fund in an area without financial backing of a bank.......or do you look at what's available and figure out if it is worthwhile to pursue.

Others may tell you that financing isn't available......but that isn't true.......it is just more difficult to figure out your market as well as how to finance........as well as if you think it is a worthwhile to pursue.

Many here.....from reading their posts.......did it without financing in areas that they believed would provide them a return on investment based on their own research.

Anything is possible within your own defined priorities.

 

Yep I have lived in the US twice, the banking system is very different to here.

 

Ozzie - good to read your posts here and elsewhere...the big banks will need you there in person and requirements are tough, non banks dont need you there in person, and allow you to take out loans without being in the USA and you are able to open bank accounts these days from AUS without travelling....re investing in the USA you wanna do your DD and ensure you are not sold the idea over skype from some US ****** who has bought a mailing list. The BIG banks focus on AML rightly so....even the swiss inv banks copped their whack and rightly so...

BTW - I love Texas. One of my favs back there Feb latest.....

Cheers Ivan

 

I reckon you should all look back at posts on SS on USA, 3-4 years ago, on how to structure to buy, zillow etc

This thread is making little sense because someone is telling you that you can source finance but this is exclusive to Texas, but we can do this in Australia, why invest in USA unless it is cashflow positive, Texas did not stack up 4 years ago. No one has posted the numbers I have asked the poster for this twice now.....ignoring this one

Am I the only one that wants the numbers, come on guys surely you need this first, investing 101
red flag alert.........



mtr

 

Hmm - MTR. There are banks and lenders all around the US lending to foreign nationals. And all the information is at your finger tips. Google it.

There are also hard money lenders - usually private investors who lend to those without good credit score/history and have a higher risk profile.....and are charged a higher rate interest accordingly.

Smaller lenders and mortgage houses do tend to work in exclusive markets......and then there are larger banks who work in many more markets. That's US banking. Don't take my word for it. Google it.

 

Absolutely agree with you. Anyone operating from a bank/list of properties that they try to on-sell to unwise investors would be a red flag for me as well.

If you are going to buy, buy what's on the market.......listed on reputable property listings like redfin and trulia. Trulia is a good source for further info about the neighbourhood, including crime rates and schooling rankings.

Or work with a buying agent - they can narrow down the search for you based on the perimeters you've set and will send you daily updates as anything new comes on the market.

 

MTR said: ↑

There is something for every appetite. What you define as stacking up in your books may be different to someone else. If that were not the case, we'd all be trying to live in the same street.

Dixon Group is operating out of New York.

I left one of most expensive cities in the world - Sydney......and personally, I chose not live or invest in another expensive city in the world - New York. But other people do. And good on them.

I would suggest New York wouldn't cut your profit/risk profile either.

But that doesn't make it bad......just different.

 

Where abouts? What brought you here and back.