Offshore Investors in the USA

[sarahk]

Hi

Just wondering if anyone had any advice for non-residents (ie we don't actually want to live in the USA) who want to invest in the US residential property market.

I know that it can be hard to get realtors and buyers agents to take you seriously - that you really do have $$$ burning a hole in your pocket.

So, what do we need to know?

Sarah

[chachi]

Sarah,

To be honest, I don't think many agents/brokers here in the US have much, if any, experience with foreign buyers. As you pointed out, most seasoned agents/brokers are not "eager" to work with foreign buyers for a couple of reasons. It is hard enough to qualify a local buyer, so imagine what it would be like to qualify one from another country that you don't know from a hot rock (one of my silly expressions). I believe there is still a withholding requirement here in California upon the sale of a property by a foreign seller.

You may have more luck contacting the US State Department about any Federal regulations with regards to purchasing property here in the US.

[Phoenix Realtor]

Hi Sarah, you anti-American you... LOL :D J/K

One of my clients lives in the UK and has bought here in Scottsdale Arizona from me. They are coming back out after the summer to buy some land and build a home on it for vacation purposes as they too do not want to live here. Of course they were cash buyers. I'm not sure what your cash position is, but if you can pay all cash, you should have no trouble what-so-ever.

[sarahk]

It's not for me but for my fellow man! This post at propertytalk (http://www.propertytalk.co.nz/postx2113-0-0.html) (a local forum I support) gave us food for thought.

Sarah

[Phoenix Realtor]

Hi Sarah,

I went there, and read more than I should have (time goes by so fast these days), then I went to REW... (now that I've seen your picture) I definately had many conversations with you when REW was new, some public and some PM.

As far as that guy goes, I would have to pass to. I do not like to work with most investors. I do not have the time to write 5-10 offers per property. Even if he did get 7 accepted deals in seven days work. I'd rather take the day off, which I rarely do, so that should help make the case of how anti-investor I am. It is really because we are spoiled here in the Phoenix market. I suppose if I was starving my attitude would be much, much different. You see, I could show 10-15 homes over a few weeks period to a local buyer (having maybe 5-10 hours total time invested) and earn anywhere from $12,000 to "no limit" from that one deal. Depending on price range. I have a guy right now looking around $2.5, and a young couple looking up $3.2 (mid-twenty's, brats... LOL), so they get all of my attention.

Plus, one never knows for sure if the "investor" is really going to end up paying off for them or not.

"Everyone is an investor until it comes time to sign the contract." We have a ton of these types in our crazy market... all talk.

[sarahk]

I saw another post on propertytalk (http://www.propertytalk.co.nz) this week talking about how the local agents know when there's been a company x seminar over the weekend because their fax machines and phones go mad. I don't really see those people as investors - just tyre kickers. The fact that they give up says it all.

the company, X, has a guarantee that if you follow their program and don't succeed they have a money back guarantee. But the guarantee requires you to have 5 sale and purchase agreements at 80% of valuation - every week for a year!

If I was an agent I wouldn't deal with them either.

Real investors, on the other hand, should be quicker to deal with. As a realtor you know if the property is priced for owner-occupiers or investors so you know who to show to.

For the most part realtors we've worked with do about 30 minutes per work per property - because we're not trying to visualise where the furniture will go, we just want to know that it's nice and liveable. The rest is done by us afterwards (due diligence) or in negotiations.

What I've found though is that NZ realtors don't understand the purchasing motivations of investors and try to sell as if you were an owner-occupier. We've found a few who are good, such as Chas Wilson (http://www.realenz.com/cwilson/), and we work with them.

[Phoenix Realtor]

LMAO...

I fell for that crap, once. It was back in 1996 or '97, I had a property advertised in the local newspaper one Sunday and got a ton of calls on it. I was so impressed with myself... I thought "I had better keep that ad and run it again" since I had never received that kind of response before. Turned out, they were all from the same hotel... all wanted to write offers 20% (or whatever the # was) below asking, most were from out of town, etc. What a waste of a day.

The next two times that seminar was here, I ignored them. The following time, I gave all the leads to a newbie agent I was training. His eyes really lit up, until I told him my story. I had too after seeing how excited he was about all the leads I was giving him. I have since made it up to him though, I give him roughly 10-15 new buyer leads a week right now and he is making money for both of us and is happy as can be. He even took my wife and I out to the most expensive dinner I've ever had jsut a week ago! $450-ish after tax and tip for four! Holy crap!

[HHI Golf Guy]

If you're looking to buy high dollar property in the Hilton Head, SC area one of my web clients specializes in homes and property for non-US residents.

[JJF]

We welcome the opportunity to assist you or others invest in the US. We are single family home builders at Cape Coral, located on Florida's West Coast. Due to high demand for investment homes from overseas investors with Euros or other tender, our in-house sales and finance have become experts at qualifying overseas investors through US banks. Please visit us at www.eurotechhomes.com or contact me at jjf@eurotechhomes.com

Good Luck, JJF