Off shore property investing?

[mattinvestor]

Is anyone else looking into the idea of offshore investing? I think that it may be a lot of work, but if you are a pro it could become very lucrative.

[mattinvestor]

i'm seriosuly thinking of buying an info product that I found which talks about investing in properties in the USA. I think I need the guidance from experienced investors who have done it before successfully, as I don't think I'd know where to start if I tried it all on my own...

[speights boy]

What cities in the US have you visited?

[Simmo]

I've looked into it too....briefly.

You'll want cash because you'd be nuts to leverage it (that is if any financial institution will let you), and reasonably sized gonads to be comfortable losing some of it....

As speights'y said you'll need to know where to invest...you won't find 50K houses in California, and those suburbs that you do find them in may be empty...yep empty suburbs.

In short, it looks like good fun for experienced cashed up investors, not such a good place to try and start out though.

[Dissindat]

And California is bankrupt. Stick to States that at least try to balance their books and stay close to jobs.

[speedy gonzales]

mattinvestor

I would be interested...what is the product your thinking of buying to get some info on investing in the USA ? It would be pretty difficult to get some unbiased info from someone who isn't selling you property in some way shape or form. I've been investing in the US for just on 2 years now. I was lucky enough to be in a position when I started out to spend many hours on the internet doing some real basic ground work. It then took me at least 6 trips to the US and various cities to confirm what I had researched so far and meet some people over their. You would be foolish to listen to the hype from any companies outside of the US selling you property. I could rattle off at least a dozen or so Aussie companies that profess to know all there is to know about US real estate investing....sort of like the companies that would have professing the merits of investing in Gold Coast units off the plan to all you Kiwi's years ago !!
For 2 of my homes that I have purchased I was able to secure genuine bank financing from a US bank. 30% down payment and a rate of 5.75% over a 20 year term. The rent I get covers the property taxes, insurances, PM fee's and P&I loan repayments and I still have a monthly surplus. I am a great believer in leverage.

My tip to you...go for
1. Cities or states that are growing in population (ie avoid Detroit, Cleveland, Toledo...most of the mid west
2. Cities or states that have jobs and a lower unemployment rate (ie rule out California, Nevada, Florida
3. States that have a balanced budget

I'm not against the cities like Detroit etc altogether...if you lived local and ran them like a business you could succeed but the fact is your a foreign investor and can't do it from afar.

Also don't get fooled by the high returns. Most of the places in the sub $50K range that offer high returns also offer you high risk...no brainer I know but many are being lured by the so called high returns.